“I know we aren’t supposed to talk ill of the dead,” Penny said. “But the Delilah Mason I knew was a kooky conspiracy theorist and a first-class bitch.”
That brought an abrupt halt to the conversation.
After a moment, Gabe murmured, “Better than a second-class bitch, I suppose. If you’re going to be unpleasant, thencommit.”
“What makes you say that, Penny?” Harper asked.
Tariq jumped in. “Delilah was opinionated. And never afraid to speak her mind. And it’s true that in the last few years she fell down some conspiracy rabbit holes—”
“Such as not believing in science,” Penny said.
“She had an issue with the pharmaceutical industry, yes. But she was a good person, deep down,” Tariq replied.
Penny snorted and took a deep quaff of her beer.
“So, funny story,” Gabe began, apparently hoping to quell the tension at the table. “Guess who burst into our theater storage facility yesterday? Knocked over a bunch of sets and props.”
“The fire department, again?” asked Tariq.
Gabe nodded. “Scared the hell out of our prop master.”
“Again?” Harper noted. “It’s happened before?”
“It has,” Gabe said. “They were doing a training exercise and thought the building was empty.”
“Don’t they check on that sort of thing first?” asked Penny.
“You would think so, right? But it’s kind of like the Wild West out there on the former military base,” Gabe said. “Most of the old army buildings are abandoned, and evidently no one knows who’s in control of what, or who’s doing what on any given day. At least they didn’t set it on fire without clearing it first.”
“Thank heavens for small favors,” Tariq said.
“Speaking of abandoned buildings,” Harper said. “A couple of my students talked me into exploring the old barracks. Claimed someone had seen a box with symbols on it.”
“This the vampire thing?” asked Gabe.
“The alleged vampire thing,” said Harper.
“I heard about that,” said Gabe. “I assumed it was a Halloween prop.”
“I suspect it’s actually an old medical cabinet,” Harper said. “The kind doctors used back in the nineteenth century. Not sure where the vampire story came from.”
“Why would a medical cabinet be in an abandoned building?” asked Penny.
“I was wondering that, myself,” said Harper. “The old military base seems full of mysteries. What was it like growing up out there, Tariq?”
“Oh yeah, do tell,” said Gabe.
“Pretty much like you’d expect,” Tariq said with a shrug. “Nothing special.”
“Don’t you know?” Penny asked the table. “Tariq doesn’t talk about his past.”
“You’re right, now that I think about it,” said Harper.
“I’ve tried plying him with drinks, still no dice,” said Penny, her eyes on Tariq. “The man has a hollow leg, as my dad used to say.”
Tariq just smiled.
Harper noticed a DJ was setting up. She had forgotten it was karaoke night.Great.
