Free Richfield & Rivers Mystery Series 2 - Stellium in Scorpio by Andrews, Austin

woman of
disreputable character. When she was sober, her walk was a stagger, her massive
head of bleached-blond hair looked as if she'd tried to comb it with an egg
beater, and her makeup was Ringling Brothers. She was forty pounds too heavy,
and her clothes needed another trip through the wash cycle; nonetheless, she
had sadness behind her soft green eyes and a ready smile that made me mentally
slap myself for being judgmental. So she liked sleeping with mobsters. Maybe they
told her she was pretty and bought her nice jewelry. Who was I to judge?
    Callie
introduced us and explained we were on a literary mission. Karla didn't seem to
care why we were there, as long as we would sit and chat. She obviously didn't
get much female company.
    A
half hour into the conversation, Karla let out a big sigh. "Always
wondered about all that crap on the ceiling. Some little chickie came in and
sold him a bill of goods about the hotel bein' a livin' person and some
jibberish about the planets. He just wanted to get in her pants, was my take on
it." Karla laughed. I furrowed my brow at Callie, who avoided my stare as
Karla rambled on.
    "Aaaanywho,
that was pre-me, so I didn't give a shit. Exceptin' he spent a zillion dollars
of what woulda been my dough on the damn thing. People like it, I guess. So
whadaya wanna know about it?"
    Callie
explained that the kind of color commentary Karla had just provided was exactly
what she was looking for, and she artfully moved Karla away from the
astrological design of the ceiling and onto her love affair with the builder.
It was a subject near and dear to Karla's heart.
    "So,
Mo and me was just, ya know, like in our second childhood and in love, humpin'
all the time, not worryin' about nothin', then a couple of his buddies come
along and they decide to build these kinda gigantic houses out here in the
middle of nowhere! Ya know, for me, the desert was just like, well...deserted!
But Mo, he was like a sand-schlepper, so we pulled some money together and
times was tough, but then, I don't know, he hooked up with the right guys, and
well, here I am in this desert palace, as Mo called it." Saying his name
made her chin tremble, and tears came to her eyes. "I miss Mo. He was my baby."
    "I'm
sorry," I offered.
    "Yeaaah,
he was hot stuff, Mo was. That's him," she said and picked up a photo off
the mantel of a chunky, Italian-looking stud. She gave the picture a big
lipsticky kiss. "I got life-size cutouts of him stored down in the hotel
basement. Used to have 'em in the lobby, but people said it made 'em sad. God
forbid they should be as sad as me, huh?"
    Next
to that photo were other pictures of her and Mo at the beach, both looking
well-fed, but less decadent and decidedly happier. There were photos of Mo
kissing a large golden retriever, and Mo with an attractive woman. Must have
been a relative, I thought. Or Karla would have chewed that portion of
the picture off with her teeth.
    Karla
put her chipped red nail on the image of the woman. "That was Mo's first
wife."
    "So
you must have liked her," I ventured, definitely surprised.
    "Sure,
'cuz she was dead right after I met her. They had a couple a kids together, and
she blessed Mo and me on her deathbed, so I figure, why not let her sit up on
the mantel and look good, ya know, 'cuz she don't look so good now."
    I
was beginning to wonder how our conversation could transition from wonderful
Mo, the love of her life, to Bruce Singleton, a shorter-lived love. I decided
diving right in was the best solution.
    "So
I guess you met Bruce after Mo died..."
    "Bruce
died too! You hear about that? I just don't have any luck with men. Bruce was
comin' over from another club to run the Boy Review for me. It was
originally called Boys in Review Daily. BIRD. In honor of the big-winged
finale. Mo named it that. The Bird Review. But we was gettin' so many
calls from people wantin' to know how to get rid of starlings or clean out a
martin house, for God's sake! Can you believe