Who Glares Wins (Lexi Graves Mysteries) (31 page)

"Uh, you think that means us?" Lily shrieke
d, bumping me from behind again as the crowd
crashed into
us.

"Run!"
I shrieked in reply. “Hold on!”

We pushed our way through the exit, skidding to a halt as a blinding flash went off in my eyes. I blinked, re
-
oriented myself
,
and dashed towards the employee door
,
leading from the lobby,
with
Lily's hands now digging into my waist. In all the chaos, no one seemed to notice a plush pony staggering out of the way
;
or if they did, no one said anything as they flooded past us to the exits. I ha
d
never heard grown men scream before and the
cacophony
was something else.
I struggled to pull my pass from my pocket and stuck my arm out from under the costume, making a couple of attempts before the light turned green.
Then the door slammed shut behind us, cutting us off from the panic.

"Let's get out of this." I dragged off my
half of the
costume, stepping out of it and letting it crumple to the floor
,
while helping
Lily out of hers. We wrenched our headsets off. "We can hide it in here," I said,
opening
the door to... the men's washroom. Maybe not. I tried the next door and hit the jackpot. Cleaning supplies. We loaded the costume in our arms and tossed it into the corner, slamming the door shut.

"What do we do now?" asked Lily. She was red in the face
,
and I figured I probably was as well.
I hated to think what my hair looked like as she reached forward to smooth it.

"Let's go to my office," I suggested. Lily followed me as I picked my way
there
and we went inside. I skidded to a halt.

"What the..."

"OhmyGod, Lexi!"

Someone had spray
-
painted BACK OFF BITCH in huge red letters across one wall of the office. The paint
was
still dripp
ing
. We stood there
, staring
at it awhile longer
,
then Lily started, grabbing my arm.

"Let's go," she said. "And we have to get Ruby. She might be hurt. I won't forgive myself if anything happen
s
to her."

I took one last look at the
ominous
message
as I
passed Lily's bag to her
and
grabbed Ruby's
. Then,
we
dashed down
the back exit, walking around the building to the front. By the time we got there, one police car
had already arrived
and
we could hear
the distant wail of an ambulance. People walked directionless, panic etched
in all
their faces.

I grabbed the nearest event assistant. "What happened?"

"The power went
off
and someone started screaming.
T
hen this guy staggered out with a knife in his chest and collapsed in the lobby."

"Is he dead?" gasped Lily.

The guy shook his head. "I don't think so
,
but there was a lot of blood. The first
-
aider is looking after him until the paramedics get here."

We backed off and Lily rooted through her bag
. She
found
her jacket
and threw it
on over her skimpy shorts and tee. "Did we cause a stampede?" she whispered.

"No, everyone panicked. It wasn't
because of
us." Everyone was still
in a state of alarm
. More employees flooded out front, leading the scared guests away in groups.

"I never want to do that again," Lily said.

"Me neither."

"Another pony humped me," she said, her voice cracking slightly. "I got dry
-
humped by a
Super Pon
y
!
It was bad, Lexi, really bad. I feel dirty
,
and I never feel dirty. Not even in high school when Jack McCool and I…
"

"
Don’t tell me! Anyway, i
t wasn't a
Super Pony
. It was a randy dude in a pony suit
,
who got carried away." I thought it best not to mention the video camera I'd seen
aimed
at us at that
moment
. With luck
,
it would only be used for home
entertainment,
and never make it to You
Tube. On the plus side
though
, if it did, the costume was so good, no one would ever know
we were inside
.

"I need a drink."

"Me too."

"Not from a trough. A proper drink. One with ice cubes and an umbrella. Maybe a cherry."

"Hotel bar?" I spotted Ruby, frantically waving to us and waved back.
Two feet in front of her
,
a man took one look at her jiggling, tripped
,
and did a faceplant
. Ruby calmly stepped over him and carried on.
"I see Ruby. She looks okay."

"Lead the way."

I elbowed my way through the crowd, aiming for
her
. I had to
stop suddenly as a camera flash exploded in my face and a small silver Dictaphone was thr
ust under my chin. I blinked as
a smiling blonde popped into view.

"Shayne Winter, Montgomery Gazette," she said. Ah, the familiar face from earlier. I'd seen her smiling
,
byline photo on the front page countless times.
She seemed to cover every story in town.
"Can you tell me what happened in there?"

"Uh," I looked around wildly
,
but there was no one to save me
,
or
foist the perky reporter onto
. "There was a power
outage
and everyone panicked."

"Is it true that
the violence
has been escalating at this conference?" The voice recorder was thrust under my chin and I recoiled.

"No! It's
a
Super Pon
y convention!
Everyone's really happy."

"Except for right now," Shayne pointed out, tossing her hair. "Did you witness the stabbing?"

"No."

"What about the pony fight? Did you witness that?"

"No!"

"I heard one
Super Pony drop
kicked the other. Can you verify that?"

"I didn’t see anything. L
ook
,
I
’ve
got
ta
go. I'm needed." I wasn't needed. I needed that drink. Badly.

"Can you tell us what The Montgomery Hotel plans to do about t
his disaster?" Shayne continued as I edged around her.

"Um." I paused, thinking wildly. I was so not the best person to comment on what would happen. "The show must go on?" I squeaked
, pushing
past Shayne
. I
grabbed Ruby by the hand
,
and with Lily behind us, propelled us through the crowd. We took the bar's own entrance
,
as the lobby was sealed off, police tape already fluttering across the doors. I was glad
not to be within
earshot when
Edward
Killjoy
was
notified.

Screw being on duty, I ordered three very alcoholic drinks
,
and found a table in the corner
where we could watch as the EMTs
loaded up a blanket
-
cov
ered body
. There was
an oxygen mask over the man’s
face, and
they
to
ok him away in the ambulance. We
watched a police officer exit the building, a plastic baggy with something heavy and bloody inside. Two squad cars lingered out front
,
and the uniforms sprang to attention as a black SUV swung into the lot, parking at an angle to the curb.

I sipped my drink and watched as the tall, dark
-
haired man climbed out and looked around him, no doubt surveying the scene. My heart flipped. Maddox was yummy. My heart pounded a little faster and I had a
fleeting
moment of absolute relief
seeing
he was here.

"Is that who I t
hink it is?" said Lily, looking up from her drink
to see what
was drawing
my interest.

I watched as Maddox walked indoors with one of the uniforms
, their heads bent together
. "Yep."

"You are so busted."

"Yep."

"Today has been awesome," said Ruby. "I've never had so much fun.
We are doing
more
stuff
next week
, right
?
I only have part
-
time shifts at the bar.
"

"
Let’s t
ake a break," I told her.
“Maybe do some light reading. Watch a movie.”

An hour later
,
Maddox caught up with us in the hotel bar.
After he
took in Lily and Ruby's outfits
as well as
my slightly
disheveled
suit and hair
, he
raised an eyebrow.

"What are you doing here?" he asked.

I pointed out the obvious. "I work here.
Temping.
Pay attention."

Maddox laughed
, his mouth breaking into a broad
,
white smile
that made
the creases around his eyes danc
e
with amusement
. "You know what I mean."

"We're taking a break," I said. "I got roped in to help at the convention
,
and Lily and Ruby came by to help me out. Oh, God, I made another horse
-
y pun
,
didn't I?"

"It's easy to do," said Lily. "We've been saddled with that crap all afternoon."

“I loved it,” said Ruby, gazing at Maddox. “I know you.”

He frowned at her. “Do you?”

“What’s going on?” I jumped in before Maddox realized who she was. Not that it was important
,
but I didn’t want to answer any questions that would lead to the question he didn’t know yet that he wanted to ask. I took another drink.
I sensed
I was getting a headache.

"So you've been
at
the exhibition center?" He directed the question at Lily
,
but his eyes were fixed on me. I tried not to shrink. Did he know? Did he suspect?

"Yep," said Lily, bouncing in her seat, the alcohol having had
its
appropriate effect. "Ruby and I are pony girls today."

"What are
you
doing here?" I asked Maddox, like I couldn't guess.
“There wasn’t a
ny
murder.”

"There was a stampede in the conference center. Early reports indicate
d
two of the plush ponies got into a fight and
widespread
panic broke out. Someone got stabbed
,
so we’re treating it as an attempted murder
. We haven't found the
pony perps
yet." He looked at our drinks
,
then back to our faces in turn. "Do you know anything about that?"

"Me? No."

Lily added, "We only make hay while the sun
shines."

Maddox just shook his head. "I was in the area when the stabbing report came in. It looks like he's going to make it. The knife missed all the vital organs
,
but it was still messy. You might want to get an industrial cleaner. Or a throw rug. Listen, I'm going to finish up here
;
then I have stuff to do at the office. You want to come over later?"

"Sure. Are you cooking?"

"I can get food. I have some pony nuts you can snack on
…
" Maddox smirked. "And I want to talk to you later
,
so stick around," he finished ominously
before walking
away.