Death By Rodeo Part VII
My name is Sunny Alexander. And I’m Henry James and we’re writers for Dark Sides of the Truth magazine.
It took us a little longer than expected to get to the rodeo arena. Kind of tough to navigate the streets of Houston Texas when you can’t see ten feet in front of you because of pelting sheets of rain.
“Can’t you go a little faster Sunny?”
“I can barely see well enough to stay in a lane. You think you can do any better?”
“Probably. At least I wouldn’t be trying to drive in the dark with a pair of sunglasses on.”
“Oh yeah. Okay much better.”
The rain was incessant, turning the rodeo grounds outside the arena into vast wading pools of standing water. We pulled up as close as possible and sat waiting for the squall to lessen, hoping we could use a tiny break in the weather to make a mad dash for the gates.
It didn’t appear as if Mother Nature was listening to either of us this morning.
“Henry we can’t sit here all day. I’ve got an umbrella in the back seat.”
“Hang on…is this it?”
“Yeah.”
“Sunny, this is one of those umbrellas that fits like a cone of silence over your head. It’s not made for two people.”
“Well then one of us is going to get soaking wet old man and it’s not going to be me. Not like you’ve never gotten wet before.”
“Fine princess. Have it your way. Let’s go.”
After crossing the remaining distance to the arena we found ourselves staring at heavy link chains wrapped around both gates held in place by a padlock. In this weather it was a given no one would be out and about and the arena would be buttoned up.
Plus, we guessed most of the rodeo folks were more than likely nursing various degrees of hangovers from a night of partying at 8 Seconds.
It would be a perfect opportunity to snoop around without being noticed.
Problem is, we still needed to figure out how to get in.
“Since you’re the lock picker in the group you wanna give this padlock a go?”
“No. In case you haven’t noticed it’s raining.”
“Seriously Sunny? Trust me, you’re not going to melt. At least I don’t think you will. I mean, there is that thing Dorothy did to that witch with a bucket of water. Maybe that’s why you don’t want to get wet?”
“Oh you did not just go there. Get out of the way Henry. The chains are pretty loose. I think we can pull the gates apart enough to slip through.”
“See? How easy was that?”
“Yeah and you eat like a bird and barely weigh a hundred pounds. I ain’t seeing my fat ass squeezing through there.”
“Fine give me a minute. At least it’s dry in here. Help me move the chains around.”
After unlocking the chains we immediately locked them again. The last thing we wanted was someone to come wandering in and find us poking our noses where they didn’t belong.
“You know Henry, you should really try dieting and exercise once in awhile. That Buddha belly you’re working there is going to pop a few buttons and put somebody’s eye out.”
“You wanna give it a rest Alexander?”
“Just saying old man. So now what?”
“We need to find where they store the equipment. You know, some kind of tack room, a storage area of some kind.”
“Like behind those gates with the numbers on them?”
“Doubt it. That’s where the livestock pens are. Easy access to the chutes. I’m thinking somewhere to the right of the chutes underneath that set of bleachers over there. Come on.”
“Uh, Henry, no, I don’t think so.”
“What?”
“I’m not going anywhere near him.”
“Him who?”
“The damned clown that’s who.”
“Sunny what in the hell are you talking about? There’s nobody in this arena but us.”
“Then why don’t you tell that to the clown? Look Henry. Sitting on top of gate number three. Oh shit he sees us. He’s waving at us. We need to go Henry.”
“Sunny I think you’re losing it. There’s nobody there. Nothing.”
“James, I know what I see. You’re jacking with me right? Are you telling me you can’t see him? He’s right over there for God’s sake.”
“Nope. So if you do see him and he’s waving us over we need to go over.”
“Oh hell no. The only place I’m going is back to the car.”
“Sunny, please. You know how this works. You can see him, I can’t. You need to suck it up and we need to follow this lead.”
“I can’t Henry. I just can’t.”
“Come on princess. What’s the worse that could happen?”
“Dammit! Stop saying that!”
For several seconds we stood there in silence. There was only one of us who could see this particular apparition and she wasn’t enjoying the view at all. This wasn’t like the time we encountered a ghost doctor who helped us solve a twenty five year old murder case. It wasn’t the first time we’d both seen a spirit.
But why was it only Sunny could see this one and why in the hell did it have to be a clown?
“Is he still there?”
“Yes, and he’s got an evil looking grin on him, like he’s planning on making us his next meal.”
“He still waving us over?”
“Yes. Please Henry, don’t, make, me, do this. It’ll probably give me a heart attack if I get near that thing.”
“Oh for the love of God Miss Melodramatic, let’s just get this over with.”
“Oh my God, Oh my God, Oh my God.”
“Come on Shaundrika, just a few more steps.”
“Oh my God Henry, Oh my God.”
“Okay, you still see him right?”
“Yes.”
“Stop whispering. I can’t hear a damn word you’re saying.”
“I said yes! He’s sitting on the gate right above our heads.”
“Then talk to him.”
“No you.”
“I can’t see him remember?”
“What do I say? Hello Mr. Dead Clown. Shitty weather we’re having don’t you think?”
“Don’t be ridiculous. He doesn’t give a hoot about the weather. He’s dead remember? Besides I think I know who he is.”
“Who?”
“Daniel Culpepper. Randy’s dad. And I think he wants to help us find out who killed his son.”
“Is your name Daniel Culpepper? Are you Randy’s father?”
“Well?”
“He’s nodding. Shit!”
“What?”
“He just winked at me. I think he’s coming on to me.”
“Don’t flatter yourself Alexander.”
“Shut up Henry. He’s on the move.”
“To where?”
“How the hell do I know? He wants us to follow. Come on.”
READ ON — DEATH BY RODEO PART VIII
Part I, Part II, Part III, Part IV, Part V, Part VI, Part VII, Part VIII, Part IX, Part X, Part XI, Conclusion
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