Peggy Dulle - Liza Wilcox 01 - Death Is Clowning Around (16 page)

“What!”
I bellowed.
“I saw his body.
His throat was cut open and there was blood all over the stairs.”

“I’m sorry, honey, that’s not what the official report says.”

“They’re powerful enough to pay off the ambulance drivers and the coroner?”
And then it hit me.
Did he just call me honey?

“Yep.
I made a call and was told to back off by the local Santa Dominga police.
It would be your word against theirs and I’m afraid they carry more weight.”

“If they’ve paid off the local police here, do you think they’ve done it where the other camps are located?”

“Probably.
I think I’ll call my FBI friend back.”

“Tony’s mom thinks he committed suicide, doesn’t she?”
I was near tears.
I couldn’t imagine what Tony’s mom was going through.

“Yeah, I suppose so.”

“Can you call her?”
I pleaded.

“Leave it to you to be more concerned about a stranger than your own skin.”

“Please, Tom.”

“I’ll call her.”

“Thanks.
I’ll try to get you the evidence you need for the search warrant.”

“Only if you can do it without putting yourself in danger.”

“I’m a blue badge now.
I have the power, remember.”

“Tony was probably a blue badge, too.
He’s lost his power.”

“No, he was only an orange badge.
I’m higher than that.”

“Well, okay blue badge person.
Still you need to be careful.”

“Okay.”

“How are you doing in your search for Jessie?”

“I’m not any closer than when I started.
But I’m sure these clowns didn’t kidnap her to make her a porn star.
They’ve got buses loaded with kids who come every week.
They don’t need to kidnap them.
It’s got to be personal.
Would you look into something for me?”

“Sure.”

“Beverly and Carl adopted a child a month after Jessie was kidnapped.”

“That sounds convenient, doesn’t it?”

“Yeah.
I saw pictures of her.
She could be Jessie, I suppose.
Children change so much over the years.
After you get the information about the adoption, would you have them ‘computer age’ Jessie’s picture?
I’d like to compare it to Lori, the McGowan’s daughter.”

“I can do both.
When are you going to call me back?”

“Tomorrow sometime.”

“Okay, stay safe Liza.”

“I will.”

“Goodbye, honey.”

“Goodbye.”
He said it again.
I’ve never been called honey by anyone in my life.
It sounded weird but nice.
Time to get back to the kids and the clowns.

Chapter 18

Back at the dorm, the kids were definitely getting restless.
It was easy to figure out why –
they
were getting on each other’s nerves.

“Leave me alone,” Julie screamed and ran out of the room.

“That’s my control!”
Jason bellowed and grabbed it away from another child.

“Why isn’t anyone listening to me?”
Matt cried.

I walked over to the videogames and pulled the plug.

“Hey, why’d you do that?” several of the kids barked.

“You’re either going to get along or not play.
Which is it?
Personally, I don’t care either way.”

Jason handed the controller back to the child he’d taken it from.
I plugged it back in and they continued their game.

Then I took Matt’s hand.
“You know, sometimes I have the same problems with the kids in my class.
They just don’t listen, do they?”

“No.”

“What do you want them to do?”

“They need to get ready for dinner.
Dan says it’s time to put on our clown costumes.
But they won’t listen to me.”

“Sometimes you need to offer the right incentive.
Do you know what that means?”

He grinned.
“It’s like a bribe, right?”

“Yeah.”

“What can we use?”

“I think we’re having ice cream sundaes for dessert tonight.”

His eyes lit up.
“They’ll like that.”

“Go tell them.
I bet they’ll get ready.”

Matt skipped away and I went over to Dan.
“Make sure we have ice cream sundaes for dessert tonight, okay?”

“Sure, that’s an easy request.”

Dan left and I watched as Matt went to each child.
As soon as he spoke to them, they jumped up and went to change.

I went in search of Julie.
She was sitting on her bench crying.
“Can I join you?”

She looked up.
“Sure.”

“What’s going on?”

“Those stupid girls.
They said that I’m not old enough to go on the trapeze.”

“How old are you?”

“Twelve.”

“That seems old enough to me.”

She smiled.
“Do you think so?”

“Yes and I’m the Boss around here, right?”

“Yeah.”
She nodded her head and wiped the tears from her eyes.

“Why don’t you get dressed for dinner and I’ll make sure we have a session on the trapeze tomorrow.”

She hugged me.
“Thanks.”

I went to Henry.
“I’m going to go shower and change.
I’ll be back in about thirty minutes.”

“Okay.
It will take us that long to get all these kids ready to go.”

“Do you want me to stay and help?”

“No, I can handle it.”
He glanced around and then looked back at me.
“I think.”

I went back to my room.
Tina was already dressed and dancing around the room.
“Hey Liza.”

“You look like you feel better.”

“Yeah, tonight will be the bomb!”

“They’re all the same to me.”

“Oh, no.
Tonight will be different.”

I sat down on my bed.
“How is tonight different?”

“It’s just more intense and more free.
It’s the best night at camp.”
She nodded and smiled, looking like that bobble-head doll that Todd had seen on the dashboard of the kidnapper’s van.

Great, that’s just what I need.
A wilder night meant more drugs.
The kids didn’t need to be exposed to them; they’re zombies by the end of the night.
I nodded at Tina, got in the shower and quickly changed into my clown suit.
Maybe the kids could eat in the dorm tonight.
Fifteen minutes later, I was dressed and ready to go.
I didn’t even bother to talk to Tina, just waved and rushed back to the kids.
The dorm was empty.
Where were they?

I found them in the dining hall already eating.
Dan and Henry were serving them.

“Why are the kids here already?”

“I’m sorry, I forgot to tell you.
Actually, I totally forgot myself until I got a call from Carl.
The kids eat early on the third night.
We bring videos and lots of popcorn and snacks into the dorm and the kids spend the night there.
We get to party tonight.”

“Who watches the kids?”

“They have a couple of older teenagers who come in and take care of them.
One of them is the McGowan’s daughter, Lori.
She’s great with the kids.”

Perfect.
The kids avoid the drugs and I get to talk with Lori.
This night was turning out to be perfect.
I sat with the kids and had
a
cheeseburger.
Dan was true to his word.
We had ice cream sundaes for dessert.
The kids finished quickly.
I think it was the promise of the latest videos that drove them back to the dorms.

I lined the kids up and started them back to the dorm.
Carl stopped me at the door.
“We’ll take it from here, Liza.”

“I don’t mind walking them back.”

“No, this night is for the adults.”
He grinned and winked at me.
“That’s why we take the kids back early and get babysitters.”

“A few of them are still having adjustment issues.
It would be better if I go with them.”

“No.
We’ll take them back.
If we need you, we’ll come back and get you.
Now go and enjoy yourself.”

Carl left with the kids and I wandered back into the auditorium.
The rest of the participants were starting to arrive.
I got a couple of waters and drank them.
I’d already eaten with the kids, so I wasn’t hungry.
I wandered around while the others ate.
Everyone seemed fine, talking and enjoying the food and company.

After dinner, the lights dimmed.
I put on my mask.
Carl made his usual spectacular entrance down the rope.
The music pounded and the clowns took off their masks and danced with the participants.

I felt a tap on my shoulder.
It was Henry.
“Hey, Boss.”

“Hi Henry.”

He pulled my mask off.
“Hey, we don’t wear these tonight.”

I felt the difference in the air immediately.
“Hey!”
I tried to put it on again.

He giggled.
I’d never heard him do that before.
Then he ran off with my mask.
So much for avoiding the drugs in the gas.
I went over and drank another water.
I felt another tap.
It was Beverly.

“Hi, Liza.
Are you having a good time?”

“Of course.
As always.”

She handed me a shot glass full of a purple liquid.

“What’s this?”

“Clown juice.”

I tried to hand it back to her.
“No thanks.
I’m doing fine.”

She pushed it back toward me.
“It’s just a vitamin mixture to replenish any you might have lost by all the activities this week.
It’s harmless.”

“Vitamins and my stomach don’t agree with each other.
I’ll just end up throwing it up.”

She pushed it toward me again.
“Drink it anyway.”

I immediately put the glass to my lips.
It was a command not a request.
And I’d inhaled enough drugged air to respond without thinking.
I downed the liquid and Beverly left.
“I’ll be back with more, later.”

My mind was swimming but I knew enough to get the crap I’d just swallowed out of my system.
I went to bathroom, put my finger down my throat and heaved!
Throwing up wasn’t something I did well.
In fact, even when I was sick I’d fight it.
I’d never make a good bulimic.
It took a few times but eventually my cheeseburger and some of the purple liquid came back up.
Not enough to make me feel sober but hopefully enough to keep me from doing something I’d regret later.

Back in the auditorium, it was chaos.
The dancing was more suggestive and there were several couples kissing and groping each other on the mats.
The swirling colors of the clown costumes were moving.
How is that possible?
I knew it was the drugs, but couldn’t get them to stop.
Watching the orgy that surrounded me made me think of Tom.
I wonder what he was doing.
He looked so good in his police uniform, better than these stupid clown suits.
Maybe I’d give him a call.

I slipped out of the auditorium and retrieved my cell phone from my room.
Two seconds later I was on the roof and dialing his number.

“Hello?” he said, sounding groggy.

“Hello, love.”
I replied and then giggled.
I never giggled, but I couldn’t stop myself.

“Liza?”

“It’s me!”

“What’s the matter with you?”

“Nothing.
I just miss you.”

“I miss you too but you don’t sound right.”