Elaine Viets & Victoria Laurie, Nancy Martin, Denise Swanson - Drop-Dead Blonde (v5.0) (pdf) by Unknown (howl and other poems .TXT) 📕

my gosh.'' As Skye entered the basement, she stopped dead in her tracks and gazed at the sea of Marilyns. There were Marilyns of all shapes and sizes crowding the room. A half a dozen dressing tables had been set up in the middle of the space, so the impersonators could add the finishing touches to their costumes before making a grand entrance when it was their turn to go onstage. Sev- eral battles over the use of the mirrors were currently in progress.

Bunny fought her way through the throng and clutched Skye's arm. ``Ruby's still missing, and that FBI agent was here this morning demanding the disks.''

Skye steered Bunny to the side of the room. ``Did he search the place?''

``Well.'' Bunny's gaze slipped from Skye's. ``Not exactly.''

233 234 Denise Swanson

Skye felt the urge to shake Bunny until whatever she was hiding popped out. ``What do you mean, not exactly?''

``I . . . uh . . . you see, I sort of knew where they were, so I gave them to him.''

``What!'' Skye's roar caused an ocean of blond heads to turn in her direction. She bared her teeth in what she hoped resembled a smile, and motioned to them to go back to getting ready. ``You told me you didn't know where Ruby had hidden the disks.''

``No. I told you Ruby didn't tell me where she hid them, not that I didn't know where they were hidden.''

Skye took a deep breath to stop herself from strangling the woman. ``Where were they?''

Bunny grinned. ``In the ceiling of the ladies' room. I fig- ured she stashed them there the day she got here when she was hiding from Wally.''

``But Simon looked there, remember?''

``He was looking for a large woman, not a small white envelope that blended in with the tiles.'' Bunny smiled smugly. ``I, on the other hand, knew what I was looking for.''

Skye shook her head. There was no use in being upset with Bunny; she just marched to a drummer most people couldn't even hear, let alone keep step with. ``Now that the FBI has the disks, I wonder if they'll still help look for Ruby.''

``Damn!'' Bunny's expression was stricken. ``I'm so stu- pid. I shouldn't have given them to the feebs. They aren't going to care what happens to someone like Ruby now that they got what they wanted.''

``That's not what I meant.'' Skye put her arm around Bunny and squeezed. ``Of course you should have given the FBI the disks. It was the right thing to do.''

Bunny didn't look convinced, but she let the subject drop and asked, ``Any news from Wally?''

``No. He said Officer Quirk saw the guy who tied Charlie up and stole the Easter Bunny outfit leave dressed in the costume, but he thought it was Charlie. Ruby wasn't with him at the time.''

Bunny's nails dug into Skye's flesh. ``Charlie's really okay, isn't he?''

``He's fine.'' Skye thought she would scream if one more DEAD BLONDES TELL NO TALES 235 person asked her that. ``It's too bad he didn't get a good look at the guy, but Charlie said he wore a cap, sunglasses, and a bandanna over the lower part of his face.''

Bunny nodded and Skye turned to leave as one of the Marilyn look-alikes tapped the older woman on the shoul- der. ``You said I could go first, but that lady with the baby insists she's first. It's essential that I be first. I'm doing Marilyn before she was discovered.''

Baby? Skye glanced in the direction the Marilyn had pointed and saw a woman who had dressed her infant in a satin gown and put a tiny blond wig on its head. Skye sure hoped the child was a girl.

Before Bunny moved away to settle the dispute, she said, ``What I don't understand is how Charlie's attacker got into the bowling alley without being seen by someone.''

``The only thing I can think of is that he came in with the kids and parents, and we just assumed he was some- one's dad. I figure he slipped into the storeroom to hide, was surprised to find Charlie there, and after he tied him up he saw the costume and decided that would be a good way to search the place without anyone being suspicious of a stranger poking around.'' Skye narrowed her eyes. ``In fact, I think he's been here every night this week, dressed in various outfits and looking for those disks, or trying to get to Ruby.''

The prestar Marilyn had been joined by a Marilyn dressed in a white halter dress, its skirt somehow wired into a permanently flipped-up position. They were both tugging on Bunny, trying to get the best spot in the show.

Bunny shook them off. ``You're right. He was probably the guy in the gorilla mask, and the Elvis impersonator. The creep even won two prizes. When he's caught, I want those back. He's disqualified.''

Skye grinned. Trust Bunny to see a different slant to things.

A Marilyn in a slinky evening gown pushed the other impersonators aside and grabbed Bunny. In the trademark breathy Marilyn Monroe voice, she said, ``Some son of a bitch stole my lip gloss. Call the police.''

Skye shook her head and edged over to the stairs, escap- ing the mad Marilyns before Bunny got her involved in the case of the missing makeup. 236 Denise Swanson

The bar was already full. They sure were making a lot more money than usual on drinks and food this week. If the FBI didn't shut them down for harboring Ruby, and the Las Vegas goon didn't burn them out, Bunny's attempt to increase business would be a success.

Skye was checking to see that everything was ready when she heard her name being called. Simon and Uncle Charlie, seated at a table near the front, were beckoning to her.

Skye joined them