Free Wild Ride by Jennifer Crusie Page A

strange bullet.” Ethan looked down at the base of the fortune-teller, frowning harder. “Can I borrow that magnet for a second?”
    She picked up the magnet from the top of her bag and handed it over. “So you think it was a high-tech thing? Not the FunFun from the gate?”
    â€œNo, it was the statue from the gate. We found it behind the Mermaid Cruise.” Ethan dug in his pocket and brought out something that looked like a ring of barbed wire. It got sucked right to the magnet as soon as he brought it within a few inches.
    â€œWhat’s that?”
    â€œThe round that hit me. But bullets are made of lead or steel. Not iron.”
    â€œThat’s a bullet?” Mab said, and then shook her head. “Never mind, I don’t care. So you found the gate FunFun. Thank you. Put it back where it belongs and I’ll fix it. I need to work on this now.”
    â€œSo who have you seen in the park at night?”
    Mab sighed. Maybe if she cooperated, he’d leave faster. “Until eleven, anybody in the Beer Pavilion, but they make a beeline from the front gate to the Pavilion and back again, so they’re easy to avoid. After eleven, it’sjust the people who live here.” When he waited, she elaborated. “Glenda, Gus, and Delpha back in the trailers. Young Fred in the apartment over the paddleboat dock. Cindy and me in her apartment over the Dream Cream.”
    â€œWhat about Young Fred?”
    Mab frowned. She had work to do. “What about him? He lives over the paddleboat dock. He’s a terrible comedian. He keeps an eye on the gate for Gus.” She thought about Young Fred. “He’s not a happy person. I don’t know why he doesn’t leave. He doesn’t like it here. Not the way the others like it.”
    Ethan shook his head. “I saw him last night on the dock after you ran into the clown. He was watching you.”
    â€œHe watches everything. He’s bored.”
    â€œWho inside the park would betray it?”
    â€œNobody,” Mab said. “Glenda and Gus and Delpha live for this park. Cindy runs the food concessions, and she plans on staying here forever. She told me that when she dies, she wants her ashes scattered in the Keep lake while the carousel plays ‘What Love Can Do.’ ” When Ethan frowned, she added, “It’s her favorite song, but it’s not going to happen because the carousel doesn’t play ‘What Love Can Do.’ ”
    â€œRight,” Ethan said. “The others, then, the help, somebody with a grudge—”
    â€œYou’re wasting my time. The permanent help, the people who would know the park the way you’re thinking, they’re all local, and the park is what keeps Parkersburg going. My uncle is going to get named mayor for life because he’s restoring it. Nobody in town would do anything to jeopardize this park—it’s their lifeblood. Your Man in Black is not local.”
    â€œWhat about—?”
    â€œI don’t know anything else,” Mab said, her patience exhausted. “Look, I only have two weeks left to finish this park before the big Halloween weekend, and if some moron is vandalizing it, I’d appreciate it if you’d find him and stop him, but other than that, I don’t know what’s going on.”
    â€œOkay,” Ethan said. “Keep your eyes open. Tell me if you see anything strange.”
    Mab looked back at the Fortune-Telling Machine. “Right.”
    Ethan nodded and began to walk off and then turned back to her. “Anybody ever say anything to you about demons in the park?”
    â€œOnly my grandmother, who sold anti-demon charms, so she had a financial interest in the rumor. And my mother, who was nuts.”
    Ethan nodded. “How about Fufluns? Anybody ever say anything about somebody named Fufluns?”
    â€œNo,” Mab said, frowning. “You mean FunFun?”
    â€œNo,”