Free The Red Hotel (Sissy Sawyer Mysteries) by Graham Masterton Page A

The Red Hotel a bad write-up, because he’s stupid. No head, see? No head equals no brains. It doesn’t literally mean that some guy’s going to get his head cut off in real life.’
    T-Yon turned to Sissy and said, ‘Is that right? I mean, I
hope
it’s right.’
    Before Sissy could answer, however, Billy added, ‘Don’t get me wrong. I do believe the cards are giving you the heads up that Everett’s in for some trouble. But it’s not going to be, like, death-and-destruction type trouble. I don’t know. Maybe the Baton Rouge planning authorities are going to give him a hard time about his fire doors. Or – look at these rats. Maybe he’s going to have mice running around in some of the bedrooms and he has to call in the rodent exterminator. It could be that his restaurant gets some one-star reviews. You know, maybe some of the guests are going to get food poisoning or something.’
    He picked up some of the cards, and said, ‘Look at these pictures. You don’t seriously think that anybody is going to be baking human fingers into pies anytime soon? It’s
symbolic
. That fat guy outside the kitchen window, maybe he’s a local cop who wants a kickback for protection. Pie, fingers. You know – getting his fingers into the pie.’
    ‘But what about Vanessa Slider and her son?’ T-Yon asked him. ‘The cards specifically say that they’re looking to get their revenge.’
    ‘Yes, but –
again
,’ said Billy, ‘you don’t even know if this chatelaine woman is really her. She could represent one of her relations, or some attorney who thinks that Vanessa Slider was done out of her share in the business when she was sent to the pokey, and is trying to claim it back. A writ can do as much damage as a double-headed ax, don’t you think?
More,
probably.’
    He paused. ‘All I’m trying to say is, this is the twenty-first century, and even if what these cards predict is always spot on, you have to interpret them according to the way life is today, not like it was back in eighteen-oh-when.’
    Sissy collected up all the DeVane cards and slowly shuffled them. ‘There’s a lot in what you say, Billy,’ she admitted. ‘In fact I taught you most of that myself, when I first showed you how to use them.’
    Billy spread his arms wide and said, ‘It’s logical, right? Like, for instance, even if T-Yon
does
go back to Baton Rouge, there’s no way she’s traveling there in a horse and buggy. Jesus. It would take her the next six months.’
    ‘Well,’ said Sissy, ‘we’ll have to see what the cards tell us next. Here’s your Predictor card, T-Yon. Ask your question. In fact, you can ask more than one question, if you want to. But again – don’t tell me what it is.’
    T-Yon laid the card on the coffee table, closed her eyes for a moment, and then opened them up again and said, ‘Done it.
Three
questions, actually.’
    Sissy laid the cards out in the Cross of Lorraine pattern, with three cards in a fan shape at the top. Billy leaned forward in his armchair so that he could see better, and said, ‘Go, Aunt Sissy! Let’s see you unravel the mysteries of the future, right before our very eyes!’
    Sissy looked at him sharply. ‘I hope you’re going to take this seriously, Billy-bob. Otherwise you
can
go kick your heels outside. And your ass, too, while you’re at it.’
    ‘Sure, Aunt Sissy. Sorry. I just think the DeVane cards are really cool, that’s all. Scary as all hell, but really cool.’
    Sissy took hold of the edge of the first card and she was about to turn it over when she felt a strange prickling sensation in her fingertips, as if the card had given her a very mild electric shock. She let go of the card and looked around the living room, frowning.
    ‘What’s up, Aunt Sissy? Aren’t you going to turn over the cards?’
    Sissy could feel some disturbance around her. She wasn’t at all sure what it was. For some reason it put her in mind of the last time she had visited Florida, and the foyer