Ambergris: A Stop at a Diner

Grey Walker had been driving since sunset with his partner asleep in the back seat. It had been a long day for both of them, but he wasn't worn out. Still, he thought he could use a cup of coffee. He pulled off the highway at the first sign of a place to eat. As he slowed, he could hear Amber stirring in the back seat. "Where are we?" she asked as she sat up and rubbed her eyes.

"At Chet's Diner," Grey replied as he drove the SUV into the parking lot. "I need a cup of coffee and you could do with some grub."

"Grub?" Amber replied. "Oh, you mean food." Amber sighed. "Fine," she said while pulling on her white leather walking shoes.

Grey backed the SUV into a space near the door and shut off the engine. A quick glance at the rear view mirror let him know that Amber had already left. "Just once," he muttered to himself, "I'd like her to use a door like a normal human being." But she wasn't one, not anymore than he was. But at least he made the effort to act human, to pass the sniff test so to speak.

Amber was busy playing with the locks on the door when he arrived at the top of the three steps at the diner entrance. "Stop that," he chided. "Let's go inside, and leave the locks how you found them."

"Unlocked, it is," she replied as she pulled open the door. "I hope they have hot apple pie." After following Grey inside, she added, "and raspberry ice cream."

"Behave yourself. No ordering anything that isn't on the menu. And no leering, lusting, or whatever." Grey felt uncomfortable the moment he crossed the threshold. He smiled at the waitress before choosing a booth with a good view of the place. The diner was larger than it looked from the outside. Maybe it was a matter of perspective, but Grey wasn't taking any chances. "Amber, I want you to take a good hard look around us and tell me what you see."

Amber smiled, recognizing his code for using her special sight. She turned her attention toward the other customers. "The two men in the dining room are hunters. They didn't get anything today and are discussing their plans for tomorrow. Their truck is parked to the side of the building. There are several shotguns and rifles locked inside. The couple in the other booth are on their way to a funeral. She's pregnant, as of last night, but doesn't know it yet. They've been trying for years, but couldn't afford the treatments. They are discussing taking in their orphaned relative, wondering how hard it will be for them to get custody of the boy."

"What about the people who work here?" 

"They are good souls, but they are worried about us for some reason. We are the odd couple. They know you have a gun on you and are wondering if you are here to rob the place. There's a gun near the register and the cook has a shotgun in the kitchen. I think we should order food when the waitress finally shows up."

Grey never ceased to be amazed by Amber's ability to see things in their entirety, to grasp the whole of a situation. He set down his menu and turned over the coffee cup that had been sitting on the place mat, signaling that he was ready to order. Amber had done the same, adding two packets worth of sugar before the coffee was poured.

Grey settled for the burger platter, which included a side of fries and a pickle. Amber ordered breakfast, scrapple and eggs with a side of pancakes. After coating everything in maple syrup, she quickly devoured the meal. Still hungry, she ordered some apple pie a la mode, settling for vanilla ice cream and raspberry sauce. She took her time with dessert, savoring every bite. She would have licked the plate when she finished, but a look from Grey was enough to stop her.

Amber followed Grey as he walked to the register to pay for the meal. She stopped at the booth where the couple had been. Their dishes had not been cleared away. When her fingertips touched the tabletop, a sense of foreboding hit her. Dark shadows stalked the couple at the motel where they were staying. She met Grey at the door on the way out. Once outside, she slipped into the front passenger seat. "We need to check into that motel just down the road. People there need our help."

"I see that you are feeling better," Grey remarked as he started the engine. Amber smiled as they pulled out of the restaurant lot and headed down the road to the Wayside Inn.

The Grotesque Corpse - Chapter 3

The Kung Pao Diner & Deli

While Maya pulled her car out of the Municipal Center garage, Sage made a phone call. “Hi, this is Sage Marlowe. I’ll be at the Kung Pao in about ten minutes. Meet me there.” Nine minutes later, Maya pulled into the diner’s parking lot.

Maya and Sage sat in a booth near the front window. The waiter arrived with a broad smile on his face. Maya smiled back. “My friend would like a cup of coffee and I would like my usual.”

“One order of sweet and sour pork fried rice, glass of green tea iced, and coffee double-double. Coming right up.”

Sage watched the old man march off to the kitchen. “I thought he retired.”

“Dad? He quit running the kitchen, but he likes to come in from time to time to help out. He’ll expect me to leave a big tip when we leave.”

Sage was on her second cup of coffee when Officers Baer and Walker arrived. Niome took a seat next to Sage. “You weren’t in the morgue, so I figured the two of you came here.”

Jerome sat next to Maya. “Any chance we could get some coffee?” A few minutes later, Mr. Lee arrived with two black coffees in Styrofoam cups. “What’s this?”

“It’s the cop special,” Mr. Lee replied. “Black coffee to go.” And with that explanation, he made himself scarce.

Sage grabbed a handful of sweetener packets and some non-dairy creamer and passed them to Jerome. “Thanks,” he muttered. “They ought to fire that waiter.”

“They can’t,” Niome replied.

“Why not?”

“He owns the place,” Maya replied. “I suppose you want to know about our hairy corpse.”

“Of course, we want to know about Bigfoot. Is this a one off? Or should we notify animal control?” Niome pried the lid off her coffee and took a sip.

“It’s not Bigfoot or any other large furry unknown. It’s some sort of chimera of unknown origin. It’s best if you and your partner stay out of it.” Maya stabbed a chunk of pineapple and waggled it at Niome as she spoke.

Sage wrapped her fingers around her coffee mug and closed her eyes. Jerome turned his head to address Maya. “Sure, but you’re gonna let the civilian help. Seriously, that don’t make no sense. I mean, look at her.” Sage opened her eyes and turned her head to face him. She reached across the table and touched his hand. For an instant, he saw himself through her eyes. He shivered. “Damn! What the hell was that?”

“In the old days, they called it sorcery. Nowadays, it’s just a parlor trick,” Sage replied. “Promise me that you’ll stay out of it unless I invite you in.”

“It’s that bad?” Niome frowned. Sage nodded. “Fine. We’ll stay out until needed. I still need a coroner’s report to close the file.”

“I’ll have one for you tomorrow morning,” Maya promised.

After the two officers left with their coffee, Sage sighed with relief. Her mood brightened with the arrival of Edgar Carson. “I thought they’d never leave,” he said as he sat next to Maya. Staring across the table at Sage, he said, “Okay, I’m here. What do you want to talk about?”

Smiling at Edgar, Sage replied. “I have a case for you. I need some background information on a man named Scott Casey. Find out where he works, who his friends are, and anything about his family and background. Be discrete.” Sage grabbed his notepad and pen, wrote down an address, then slid the two items back to him. “That ought to be enough information to get you started.”

“I thought you were going to threaten me for stalking you or worse.” He glanced at the information she had jotted on his notepad. “Does this have anything to do with why you were talking to the cops?”

“Yes and no. This is a closed case as far as the cops are concerned. As far as you are concerned, this is just a background check. I know you’ve checked out mine – what there is of it. And I know you still have questions about me. This takes precedence.”

“Yeah, I still can’t figure out how you knew where the girl was. That was just bizarre. Cops had all sorts of people helping them look. You walk in and -boom- they find her, like, within hours.”

“We can talk about that later, after you’ve finished looking into Scott Casey.”

Edgar rose to leave when Maya’s phone rang. “Oh,” he said reaching inside his coat, “I brought the book I borrowed with me.”

“Thanks,” Sage said as she took it from him. Before Maya could say anything about the phone call, Sage smiled. “I know. Time to go see Nana Lee. She’s waiting for me.”

“She said something about bad signs and black magic.” The two women slid out of the booth and traveled through the diner’s kitchen. Exiting out the back, they climbed a flight of iron stairs to a second-floor fire door that stood ajar. Inside the hallway were a few empty lunch trays waiting for someone to return them to the kitchen.

The door to Nana Lee’s room was open. The heavy scent of sandalwood wafted out into the hallway. Inside the room, Nana had already set out a pot of jasmine tea for the three of them. In front of her on the table was a pile of twenty-four rectangular bamboo sticks; a stripe of black paint bisected half of them. She waived her hand beckoning the two to come sit with her. She poured two cups of tea while they sat down. She offered them a puff of her cigarette, but they waved her off. “I left them so you could see for yourself.” She began to slowly peel the pile apart, placing the sticks into ordered groups revealing two distinct hexagrams. Nana Lee regularly consulted the Yijing before venturing out. She didn’t need to consult the text to know what the signs meant.

Maya glanced at her watch and noted the time. “Thank you for the tea, Grandmother. I need to get back to work.”

“Go then, Sūnnǚ. The Shenlong and I still have much to discuss,” Nana Lee waved her away.

Maya looked at Sage, who smiled and nodded. “You have that report to write about the bear that was shot this morning. I need that file closed.”

“What about Animal Control?”

“Call them. Tell them you want to keep the animal for a necropsy. They won’t object.”

Nana Lee watched her granddaughter retreat. She took a sip of her tea then a drag on her cigarette. Sage knew better than to break Nana Lee’s silences without permission. There was the clatter of someone gathering dishes out in the hall, followed by the sound of a screen door slamming shut. Nana Lee turned to face her guest and nodded her head. “You have a question for me, yes?”

“I have a chimera with the head of a bear, the body of an ape, and the feet of a rabbit. Are these in any way tied to the Chinese calendar or zodiac?”

Nana Lee gathered up the pile of sticks in front of her and placed them into the bamboo cylinder. “The rabbit, yes. And the monkey, maybe. But the bear,” she paused and scrunched up her face before shaking her head, “no, there is no bear.”

“That’s what I thought. I’ll have to look elsewhere.”