The following month was extra busy working at Tres Chicas. There was a special fashion convention going on in our town and we were going to have a booth set up at it. Britta and I were working overtime making dresses and jewelry to present especially for the convention. And on top of that, we had to run the shop. We were buying the finest materials we could afford to go into our work, and crossed our fingers that we would have good sales because those materials did not come cheap. I actually lost some sleep while going over in my head how much money we would lose if our stuff was a bust.
I woke up at five o'clock the day of the convention to put on make-up and dress up for the convention like I actually was fashionable while in reality I would've showed up in sweats and a baseball cap. But then Angela would've fired me. I picked up Angela and Britta along the way to the convention center. It was a tedious process setting up our booth, but eventually we had it looking nice and presentable. Once the convention opened, we were lucky to have sold about ten dresses and two dozen pieces of jewelry in two hours. How well did we do in sales? Let's just say that by the end of the day our pockets were heavier than the boxes of merchandise we had to lug back with us.
"We're in the money!" sang Britta as we walked to our car, barefoot. We agreed that our feet were killing us from standing in heels all day.
"Party at my place!" I said. And what a party it was. We broke out the wine and the chick flicks and then around midnight started spewing out nonsense due to being completely drunk. For some reason, we had the TV on a channel that was airing the second Lord of the Rings film. Angela kept giggling uncontrollably every time Legolas showed up on screen. Britta and I had taken to adding phrases with the word "gay" in them after every character's lines. We had just gotten to "Did you see two hobbits?" "They're gay hobbits!" when my phone rang. I answered with a slurred "Hello?" The other end was silent for a moment.
"Felina? Is that you? You sound drunk."
"I am," I said, giggling. The person on the other end laughed. "Who are you?"
"This is Donna. I'm calling you about another case we have, but maybe I should just call tomorrow."
"Really?" I murmured. Merry had just said a line in the movie and I quickly added "AND THEY'RE GAY TREES!" There was complete silence on the other line for a moment.
"Um…okay…I'll just call you tomorrow…after twelve."
"YOW!" I shot up out of bed and started jumping around frantically. Something cold had been put into my pants as I was sleeping. I heard laughter and turned in time to see Britta running out of my room. "BRITTA!" I pulled the bag of ice out of my pants and went running after her into the kitchen. I grabbed her arm and shoved the bag under her shirt.
"EEK!" she shrieked, and quickly fished the bag out of her shirt and threw it into the sink. She glared at me and then picked up the phone off the kitchen counter and thrust it at me. "It's Donna."
"Hey, Donna, what's up?" I said, taking the phone. Donna was laughing.
"You're crazy, Felina," she said. "Anyway, we have a new case that I think is gonna be pretty cool. Ever heard of the Bell Witch?"
"I've heard stories. Like the ghost of a witch haunting John Bell and his family," I said, pouring myself a bowl of cereal.
"Right," said Donna. "We're going to be investigating the Bell Witch Cave. There have been reports of apparitions, unexplained sounds, and poltergeist activity."
"Awesome. When are we leaving?"
"Is Friday good for you?" asked Donna.
"Yup! Count me in!" We hung up and I did a happy dance while pouring milk into my cereal.
"Was that you getting a date?" asked Angela, walking into the kitchen. I gave her a weird look.
"Uh…yeah. I'm starting a same-sex relationship with Donna," I said sarcastically.
"Hot," she replied. I blinked.
"Sometimes you worry me, Angie," I said, shaking my head.
"That's why you love me!" she replied cheerily.
"Brrr, it's freezing in here!" I said as I entered TAPS headquarters the following Friday. "Can't you guys turn up the thermostat?"
"We're leaving in half an hour! Shh! Stop whining!" Tango said, coming around the corner. Correction. Coming around the corner with a hot new haircut and a five o' clock shadow. I stared. He did not look like he was twenty-two.
"Who are you and where did you put Dave Tango?" I said. Dave just laughed and gave me a hug.
"Nice to see you again, Felina!" he said.
"We've met before? Was it in a Days Inn? And was I drunk?" I joked. Dave just looked confused. I sighed. "Never mind." I followed him into the office where everyone else minus Jason and Grant was gathered and talking. There was Dustin, Steve, Brian, Donna, Tango, and me.
"Dustin!"
"Felina!" I ran over and gave Dustin a big hug. I used to have a crush on Dustin when we had first started out with TAPS. I liked him because he was nice-looking, funny, and dependable. But like all guys like that, some girl got to him before I could. So we stayed friends and now he was like a brother to me. Actually, all the TAPS guys were like brothers. Really mean brothers. I think Donna would agree.
"Brian!" I totally bypassed Steve to go hug Brian. "How's the little one?"
"She's doing great. Finally walking and talking," said Brian.
"Got any pictures?" asked Donna.
"As a matter of fact, I do!" said Brian, taking out his wallet. Donna and I were hovered over Brian's shoulder, cooing at the photos of his little pride and joy when Jason and Grant walked in.
"Hey! How's it goin'?" said Grant.
"As some of you already know…or, as Donna already knows…" Jason said, nodding to Donna, who grinned. "We've come across a slight change in plans."
"We're going to a residence in Clarksville first. Then we're going to the cave," said Grant. "The homeowner has an eighteen-year-old daughter that keeps getting scratches and bruises on her. There's also the feeling of being watched, objects moving, and they have a cat that they say will start fighting with thin air. But the reason that we're making this a priority is because recently as the mother was preparing dinner in the kitchen, a fork flew out of the silverware drawer and jabbed her in the cheek and she had to get stitches."
"Whoa," said Tango.
"That's a lot of activity," said Steve.
"It is a lot of activity and that's why we brought a big team for both cases. Activity is all over those places so we can spread out," said Jason. He checked his watch. "Well, we'd better get going."
Jason, Grant, and Donna were in one van, Brian and Steve were in the tech van, and Dustin, Tango and me brought up the rear. We had decided to stop in Roanoke to spend the night, so the drive ahead was about ten hours. About five hours into the trip, I started to get restless. I was bored. I looked up at the front seat and saw that Tango was listening to music and Dustin was snacking on marshmallows while driving. I decided to mess with Tango. I pushed my fingers between the headrest and the seat and gently pulled the hair on the back of his head and pretended like I didn't do anything. He just smoothed a hand over his head. I then leaned over and started gently blowing through the cracks. The moment he started to shiver, I ducked down and pretended I was asleep, but peeked through my eyelashes to see his reaction.
"Dude!" Tango exclaimed, rubbing the back of his neck and turning to look at me.
"Foof?" asked Dustin in concern with his face stuffed with marshmallow.
"Something keeps messing with my head!" said Tango. "First something messed with my hair and then I felt a breeze on the back of my neck!" Dustin just pointed at me. Tango poked me in the stomach and I squeaked. I opened my eyes and glared.
"I'm bored. Entertain me." I put on a pout much like Steve's. Tango sighed. He reached his hand behind my ear and pulled out a coin.
"Here's a quarter. Go knock yourself out," said Tango with an evil grin on his face. Dustin nearly choked on a marshmallow while laughing.
"What did you just say to me?" I lunged forward and half-tackled Tango to his seat.
"Children, children!" scolded Dustin, swatting at us with one hand.
"Agh! Stop! You're pinning me on the walkie-talkie!" said Tango. I let him go and a moment later we heard Steve's voice.
"Do I even wanna know what's going on back there?"
"Oh—sorry—you guys weren't supposed to hear that," Dustin said into the walkie-talkie.
"Wait—what's goin' on?" said Brian.
"Dustin's kinky," I said, giggling.
"Tell us something that we don't know already."
To be continued...