Fireworks exploded overhead, lighting up the night sky as I sprinted across the country fairgrounds. With Canada Day just around the corner, endless amounts of red-and-white sparks showered down from above, and I could hear the enthusiastic ooohs and ahhhs of the dazzled spectators seated and spread out across the open grass area Annie and I had run through earlier when racing toward the Agri-Zone in response to Buffalo’s rampage.
Annie.
What the hell was she doing? She was such a sweetheart, yet her involvement in Jasper’s bribe betrayed a more cunning and strategic side. I think what bothered me the most was the way she had played dumb and gone along with everything, despite sitting on a crucial part of the equation that had led to Jasper’s death.
What else had she been faking? Were her feelings for me phony too? They sure as hell felt genuine. Then again, maybe I had been so burned by Stormy and Rya that at this point any interest from a lovely lady would have me seeing stars and not what was right in front of me. I shook off the thoughts as I continued to run away from the still crackling fireworks booming in the sky, with intermittent rounds of applause and cheering from the country fair patrons, who were loving every moment of the evening’s big Saturday night festivities.
I reached the pavement area I had spent the better part of the day traveling back-and-forth across as I pursued the truth about Jasper’s murder. I caught myself yearning for the simplicity of my life just a day earlier, when Jasper and I were just a couple of down-on-our-luck chumps drowning our sorrows and commiserating over our affairs of the heart. I zig-zagged around packs of teenagers drinking beer and smoking weed and in-between stacked barrels, scattered throughout the pop-up parkland serving as markers for both the walkway and the numerous carnival games that had shut down for the pyrotechnics show. By the time I passed the ring toss and water gun squirt station I was close to my destination.
I went to the same entrance that had been locked earlier, when I was desperately trying to get out of sight while looking like a beat-up, sweaty, and shit-kicked Krusty the Clown, thanks to my altercation with Kelly Lewis and Buffalo. This time the door was ajar.
I opened it slowly and stepped into the darkened hallway. Inside there was total silence, save for the echoing of fireworks continuing to explode in the distance. I slowed my breathing and crept forward until I reached the locker room. I quickly checked the EDC sheath on my hip, ensured my phone was on silent and other items were where they needed to be, then slipped inside.
The change room was even darker than the hallway, and for a moment, the only noise was the slow drip of water from one of the shower heads I had used to clean myself up, before almost calling it quits and walking away from the Cloverdale Rodeo and any efforts on my part to try and find Jasper’s killer.
Suddenly, there was the clang of metal, followed by the pounding sound of fists striking a locker and muffled swearing. I slinked along the wall until I could see the silhouette of someone in front of Jasper’s locker. They had a crowbar and were using it to pry open the upper part of the same door that Declan and I had locked after we stashed the bribe money inside of my locker—something it was clear the man in front of me was unaware of.
I slid my hand along the wall until I found the light switch, then flicked it on. The person in front of Jasper’s locker whirled around, caught red-handed, an expression of total shock on his face. He was a balding, mustached, and slender fellow dressed in a black T-shirt and blue dungarees, whose sweaty brow was furrowed into a nasty glare as his eyes adjusted to the light. He gripped the crowbar tightly in one hand.
We stared at each other for a few moments before I spoke.
“Gus Tibbs,” I said, finding myself face-to-face with Annie’s father.