“Don’t feel that way. April solved the last clue. If we had just taken our time and made sure that we entered it right, you would not be feeling quite so dumb.”
They turned at the sound of the toilet flushing and the bathroom door opening and watched as April stepped out, her pale skin now almost translucent. She headed to the living room and retrieved a few sticks of gum from her purse, wedging them all into her mouth at once.
“Are you okay, sweetness?” Sean asked.
“That...that was the most disgusting thing I have ever seen. Could you not just have said that it was candy without shoving it in your face?
“I had to be sure,” Kayleigh smirked.
“Whatever. What about the clue?”
“It’s an easy one. Should I enter it?” Sean asked, hands hovering over the keyboard.
“Do it.”
With a flourish, he typed in the number forty-eight and watched as the video feed returned. The man in the robes was gone, but the girl remained. She sat in the chair, head slumped, just as she had been the first time they had set eyes on her. The trio sat and watched for a while, waiting for something to happen, but other than the girl moving a few times restlessly, things remained the same.
“What now?” Kayleigh asked.
“McGarry’s,” they all said in unison.
ADAM WIPED DOWN THE high-top and placed three menus on the table. “Well, this is a pleasant surprise. You guys are never here in the middle of the week. Are we celebrating something?”
“I’m on vacation,” Kayleigh said.
“If that’s not a good reason for a drink, I don’t know what is. What can I get you?”
They placed their drink orders and took a quick look at the menu, even though they all knew it by heart. Putting her menu under the napkin holder, Kayleigh looked around the bar. She was surprised to see it so busy on a Tuesday, but then noticed the trivia guy setting up his gear in the corner. That always brought in a crowd. In the dining room area, a large group sat at a long table, brightly colored balloons tied to each of the chairs. A blond-haired boy sat at the head of the table, a party hat sitting on his head, held in place by a piece of elastic strapped under his chin. Gift bags and presents were set around the table, the other kids in the group greedily eying the gifts intended for their friend. Kayleigh turned back to her roommates and said, “Why do adults insist on bringing kids to a bar? Isn’t Chuck-E-Cheese still in business?”
“Do they sell booze there? I’m sure this is the only way some of those adults can get through those parties,” Sean said.
“Fair point. Do you guys want to get in on some trivia?”
“Why not? I’m not so sure I’ll be of much help, though. I’ve been studying common codes and ciphers all day, and my brain is fried,” Sean said.
“It’s just a bit of fun, Babes. I’ll go get the stuff,” April said, bounding over to the trivia table and entering “The Three Amigos” as their team name.
They ordered some finger foods, which April initially avoided before finally giving in to temptation. The trivia contest began, and they breezed through the first set of questions, which were always easy. By the time the halfway point approached, the trio was very much into it, the lure of winning house money that they could use for a future visit bringing their competitive spirit to life.
Fiddling with his equipment, the trivia host bumped up the volume, glaring at the kids at the birthday table as he did so. “We are about to take a break, but let’s first recap the top scores after the first half,” he said in his best radio DJ voice. “In third, we have The Lawrence Townies with thirty-one points. Just the Tip is second with thirty-two points, and your leaders at the end of the first half are The Three Amigos with thirty-five points.”
The other players looked on enviously as Kayleigh let out a loud whoop and high-fived her teammates. “We got this,” she yelled.
“Now, before we take a break, and I grab a beer, let’s hear a round of applause for Billy Cameron, who is celebrating his sixth birthday today.” The adults at the long table clapped and fawned over the boy, while the rest of the patrons delivered a half-hearted smattering of applause. “Let’s keep it going for Billy’s surprise guest. Let’s hear it for Sparkles the clown.”
The front door burst open, and a clown came bounding in, launching into a cartwheel, his massive red shoes barely missing the ceiling fans overhead. Spinning around, he snatched a handful of candies out of a bowl on the hostess station and threw them in the direction of the birthday table. The children screeched in delight, scrambling to grab the mints then scattered across the tabletop.
“What is this absolute fuckery?” Kayleigh said, glaring at Sparkles.
Reaching into the pockets of his oversized clown outfit, Sparkles pulled out a load of balloons and a small hand pump, after which his gloved hands became a blur as he fashioned balloon animals for each kid at the table.
“It’s awful, but I can’t look away,” Sean said, watching as Sparkles began doing some mime work.
“A mime and a clown rolled into one. Kill me now.”
“He’s cute, Kaylz. The kids love it. I wonder where he got that rainbow wig,” April mused.
They watched as the clown made his way to the end of the table and began tickling Billy, who squealed in delight. The little boy recovered and tried to return the tickle favor. Sparkles grabbed his belly, threw his head back and laughed, the sound sending a chill down Kayleigh’s spine the moment it left his mouth.
Jumping off her stool, Kayleigh tried to get a closer look at the clown, but as he laughed once more, his real identity became evident. “Terry,” she gasped. “That’s Terry.”
“Where?” Sean asked, looking around the bar.
“Sprinkles or Sparkles or whatever the fuck his name is. That’s Terry.” Kayleigh skirted around the high table and made a bee-line for the dining room, but found her path blocked by a group of diners heading to their table. “Excuse me,” she yelled, trying to carve a path through the center of the group.
At the sound of her voice, the clown looked her way, a look of surprise on his face. The make-up made it appear as though he was still smiling, but panic was quickly setting in. “Okay, kids, Sparkles has to go. You be good girls and boys,” he said in a poor imitation of Mickey Mouse.
The parents looked shocked as he bolted for the door, obviously expecting more for their money, while the kids booed, and little Billy burst into tears.
“Get back here, Terry,” Kayleigh hollered, still trying to get past the group, who seemed intent on blocking her passage. Finally breaking free, with Sean and April then hot on her heels, she ran out into the street and tried to get a bead on Terry.
McGarry’s sat on the corner of a busy four-way intersection, so he could have gone in any direction. “There he is,” Sean called out, pointing in the direction of City Hall. They caught a quick glimpse of Terry rounding the corner at the far end of the building, his clown shoes and rainbow wig then in his wake.
“He is so fast,” Kayleigh panted, still winded from her exertions inside the bar.
“Should I go after him?” Sean said.
“Dude, you are in worse shape than me. That vaping is gonna kill you.”