couple of employees looking confused, apparently a brand-new mascot wasn’t enough to worry them in the middle of other concerns.
Dave continued to appease the guests, using a mixture of glamour and comp tickets, while I worked the crowd. It took a good half hour for Dave to make everybody happy, and then he clapped the employees on the back, told them to keep up the good work, and whistled for “Salty” to come along.
When we were out of everybody’s earshot, Dave said, “Did you find anything?”
I understand some werewolves can manage speech in canine form, but I haven’t mastered the technique. So I whined in response.
“Bugger!”
After a quick stop for me to drag out my tote bag, which Dave then carried for me, he led me back to the admin building. Not the basement, I was happy to see, but his office. Unsurprisingly, it was decorated with nautical knickknacks and a glorious selection of Adventure Cove souvenirs.
“I thought you could use a place to Change,” he said.
I nodded, then looked at him expectantly. Eventually he got the idea and turned around. I quickly Changed back to human and pulled my clothes back on. “I’m sorry,” I said once I could speak again.
“At least nobody was hurt this time,” he said, and sat at his desk. “The devil of it is that one of those people is a reporter. I tried to glamour him, but he’s a hard-nosed sort and I don’t think it took.”
“I’m sorry,” I said again.
He rubbed his eyes wearily. “I may as well close the park down now and get it over with.”
I really just intended to pat his shoulder comfortingly when I went to stand behind him. The one- armed hug was a natural extension. Ditto for stroking his back. I think I went over the line when I started playing with his hair, and inhaling that increasingly addictive scent of his was no help. But he’s the one who kissed me, and that was enough to set our course. Every man should practice kissing for three hundred years.
We were about to move on to bigger and better things when there was a knock on the door. We hastily rearranged ourselves and our clothing, and Dave said, “Come in.”
A man in coveralls with that same acrid smell I’d sniffed in the park came in. “I heard about the trouble earlier. You sure you want to go ahead with tonight’s show?”
Dave shrugged. “We may as well. It’ll probably be the last, so make it a good one.”
“You bet,” he said. As he turned, I saw a company logo on the back for “Great Balls of Fire Pyrotechnics.”
After that, the mood was broken. “Time for one last Pirate Dave appearance,” he said. “Since you missed the fireworks last night, would you care to join me tonight?”
“I’d love to.”
We didn’t speak on the way to the fireworks pavilion. Of course, the fireworks would be visible from anywhere in the park, but the best place was the pavilion, a semicircle of bleachers in front of a small stage where Pirate Dave would announce the show. Directly behind the stage was the man-made lake that was the center of the park, and the moored barge from which the fireworks were shot.
We were about halfway there when the silence got to me and for lack of anything else to talk about, I said, “I never realized gunpowder had such a distinctive odor.”
“Oh?” Dave said politely.
“I assume that’s what I was smelling on the pyrotechnics guy.”
No response, not even an Arr, that be the way of it.
“I’d never smelled anything like that before tonight, but I noticed it on one of the other fireworks guys out in the park.”
“Hmm . . .” Dave said absentmindedly. Then he stopped. “What did you say?”
“I said that fireworks smell really strong, and I noticed them on one of the employees earlier.”
“None of the park employees have anything to do with the fireworks because of insurance regulations. We have a contract with a pyrotechnics company, and they never come until just before the show.”
We looked at each other as we both came to the same awful conclusion. The saboteur had done something to the fireworks! Dave took off, moving so fast I could barely see him, let alone keep up.
Since there was no way I could catch him, I ran into the nearest souvenir shop and buttonholed the salesclerk. “Have you got a walkie-talkie or a phone? Some way of getting in touch with security?”
“Yeah, but—”
“Tell them