My spidey senses were on high alert, but there wasn’t a lot I could do either. If Portland PD was swamped, imagine one lone ex-nun, trying to talk to all those people.
Also, there was the fact that I had to stay off Tansy’s radar, too. I didn’t want to hinder our working relationship. Working with her fulfilled my need to be of service to my community.
So what was a girl to do but look up places some of these gurus might hang out and put myself in the same vicinity? Surely they were as good a place to start as any. They seemed to have all the piping hot tea, as Coop would say. Maybe some of that tea would lend to some valuable information.
I’d seen a post on Instagram from Mixin’ Vixen, a.k.a Sally, who’d declared tonight they were all celebrating Mitzy’s life at one of the more trendy nightclubs in Portland called Baby’s.
Among the many posts toasting the brilliance of celebrating her life at a nightclub rather than her demise, I saw two of the volunteers who’d been locked in the janitor’s closet post that they planned to be there. Apparently, there was nothing else to do while they waited to see if they could leave town or not.
Naturally, Nikki was one of them, and I don’t know that she’d be caught anywhere near me after I scared her off the other night, but I was sure going to try to talk to Julie, the girl who’d found the hammer for the guy who’d help set them free from the room.
I don’t know why I couldn’t let this be. Maybe I just wanted it all to go away for Coop, so she wouldn’t linger in this negative space she was in. I won’t fib and say the mystery of this isn’t intriguing and that it’s not part of the reason I’m skulking like some creeper in the background of this mess like a stalker—that would be untrue.
Yet, I think what bugs me the most is the idea that if, in fact, someone had murdered Mitzy, they’d get off scot-free just by virtue of how overloaded Tansy and crew were. It smacked of an almost perfect crime.
The very thought made me angry. Coop left hanging and sad made me angry. So right then and there, I decided to do something about it.
I couldn’t help it if I ended up in the same place as some of the key players in this drama, could I? Coincidence was a real thing. Who’s to say—maybe I wanted to go dancing and I happened to end up at a place meant for twenty-somethings who like loud music, exotic drinks and dark corners?
And that meant I needed some help getting nightclub ready. I hoped Coop would lend a hand despite her funk.
I also hoped Higgs was up for some dancing.
He didn’t know it yet, but he was my hot date—wink-wink.
Higgs stared at me thoughtfully as we stood outside the nightclub. “You look beautiful, Sister Trixie.”
I curtsied, running a hand over my skinny jeans. They were a little snug these days from all the amazing family dinners Knuckles cooked up, but I loved the flowing white peasant blouse Coop had loaned me. She’d belted it around my waist with a chain belt that draped over my hip and insisted I wear these crazy spiky-heeled red boots that I could only walk a few feet in before I had to grab onto Higgs for support.
She’d really thrown herself into my hair and makeup, giving me a smoky eye with a dramatic winged-out eyeliner. She’d quite willingly done my hair and makeup, but she’d been very quiet, and it was beginning to unnerve me.
Higgs preached patience on Coop’s behalf, and I had to keep reminding myself, she seemed to be whipping through the stages of adolescence right now, and this, too, would pass.
But I sure hoped it would pass soon. It was hard enough to know she struggled with expressing her emotions. To be this depressed but not have an outlet had to be frustrating.
Hooking my arm through Higgs’s, I blushed, my cheeks going hot. “Thank you, kind sir. You don’t look so bad yourself. Now, are you ready to snoop around but not really snoop around but snoop around?”
Higgs threw his head back and laughed. He looked quite handsome in his navy-blue blazer, white T-shirt and navy-blue slacks. “Snooping activated. Lead the way.”
Entering the club was like entering another dimension. It was loud, with a thumping bass that vibrated right to my core as I looked out at the bodies pressed together from end to end in the space. Lights flashed and a DJ with a colorful knit cap scratched on his record player behind a glass case.
I didn’t know how I was ever going to find any of the gurus, let alone think straight with all the noise. I was a nun for all the parts of my life that may have been spent clubbing. I felt totally out of my element. But if I was good at anything, I was a pretty good actress.
So I decided to take that angle as Higgs led me to a corner where we had a good view of the dance floor and surrounding areas.
Someone came by with a tray full of shots that glowed in the dark, but I shook my head at the pretty waitress. I didn’t need alcohol to muddy the waters for me, thank you very much. I wanted a clear head when I talked to them.
Higgs nudged me and hitched his jaw toward the far corner of the room where the laughter seemed especially loud. Seated on a cushiony purple sectional, all of the gurus were in attendance. Sally, Mitzy’s assistant, Margot, Corinne, Nikki, Julie and a couple of other people I didn’t recognize.
They’d popped a bottle of champagne and were pouring glasses, holding them up and saluting something Margot was saying.
She was one person I hadn’t talked to yet,
