and Ray and I reconciled after three years, we bought the bungalow, and Erica had moved into this old Victorian on Wells Street. She lived in the first floor apartment, and the landlord lived on the second floor. This time of year, the landlord was most likely holed up in a hunting lodge somewhere with his old war buddies. The entire house was dark when we pulled into the driveway.
I rang the bell then used my key. The apartment smelled musty. Danny followed me in and waited while I turned on the lights.
“Wow. Cool.” The dozens of fake butterflies dangling on fishing line from the ceiling captured Danny’s attention immediately. “She likes butterflies.”
I nodded. My fears grew.
The kitchen was clean and orderly. No one had cooked here in days, maybe months. Her bed was made, her clothes hung. Her suitcases remained tucked under the bed. Erica wasn’t here, and I couldn’t find a clue as to where she might be.
I tried to find her yearbooks, but failed. I’d have to go by my dim memories of Maury Boor for now.
I shut off the lights and led Danny out to the driveway again. “Danny, I need to go to The Cat’s Meow. Would you mind staying in the car while I go inside?”
He shrugged.
“Will you promise to stay in the locked car and wait for me? I don’t want to come out and find you missing again like at Dr. Albert’s office.”
He gazed at the floor. “I promise.” He lifted his head. “Do you think Erica is at The Cat’s Meow?”
I slid into the car and started the engine as he scrambled into the back seat. “I don’t know. She was there the other night. She was at a motel near there this afternoon. I just have to ask if they’ve seen her.” With any luck Briana Engle, Gumby’s wife, would be there to answer my questions. I didn’t feel like sidling up to anyone else in the place.
I backed out and headed out of town.
“What’s wrong with Erica?”
“What do you mean?”
“She’s weird.”
“She is not weird.” I glanced at Danny in the rearview mirror but couldn’t make out his features in the dark. “Why do think she’s weird?”
“I don’t know. She’s just different.”
I had to give him that. Erica was different. When depressed, she was unapproachable. But with the right medication and phase of the moon, she was exuberant, charming, outgoing, and talkative. These days, she seemed dark and restless, a precursor in the past to hospitalization. Her heavy drinking was new. She’d stayed away from alcohol in the past because of her medications. I mentally kicked myself for not paying more attention to her. I’d fooled myself into believing her days in the psychiatric center were over.
But Danny didn’t know Erica was different from the usual. He meant she was different from everybody else, and not in a good way.
I couldn’t decide if he was very intuitive or just becoming a bigot like his father.
Either way, my number one priority was to find my sister.
Sunday night at The Cat’s Meow didn’t draw a full house, judging from the parking lot. Only a dozen cars sat in it, surrounded by the dead cornstalks that looked on like sentinels. In one vehicle, a couple was steaming up the windows. I parked as far from them as possible and crossed my fingers Danny wouldn’t notice them.
I turned around to look him in the eye. “Now remember, you promised to stay in the car. Do not get out. Do not unlock the doors. Do not speak to anyone. Okay?”
“Okay.” Again, I heard the “yeah, right, lady” in his voice. I knew my fears for his safety far exceeded his confidence in his ability to care for himself.
I ran across the muddy parking lot and opened the front door. A bouncer sat alone in the foyer.
“You got ID?”
I pulled out my driver’s license, flattered he thought I might be underage.
He looked at my picture. I had long hair when it was taken several years ago. “You were hot.” He handed it back to me.
In an instant, I felt old and ugly, two things only amplified by the interior of the strip club.
At first, the loud music and disco lights stunned me. It took several seconds for my eyes to adjust. Then I spotted the dancer gyrating on the stage with a G string, feather boa, and pasties, sporting boobs the size of cannonballs. I felt shortchanged, overdressed, and embarrassed for her and me.
The half-dozen men