“Uh, that’s all right,” Greg said, swallowing.
“Freya can be a bitch that way,” Janea said, sighing sadly. “She gets more attached the hornier I get. What I really need about now is a good screw. But we’ve got work to do.”
“Yes we do,” Barb said, trying not to smile at the agent’s wide eyes. “But I’m going to change first. If I have to move, I don’t want to be doing it in heels. You can’t run in them worth a damn.”
“Oh, it’s just a matter of learning how,” Janea argued. “You get up on your toes and sort of dance like a ballerina. It’s not hard. Hell, I dance in higher heels than those all the time. And run. You just have to have the calves for it. And you look so good in heels.”
“Well, I don’t have the calves,” Barbara said. “So I’m going to change into running shoes. You can wear whatever you want.”
“Yes, Mother,” Janea said, grinning.
“I’m going to head out,” Greg said. “Especially if you’re going to be getting naked.”
“But guys look at me naked all the time,” Janea pointed out, reaching for the tie at her neck. “Don’t you want to?”
“Maybe later!” Greg said, backing out of the room.
“Damn,” Janea said as the door closed. “I was hoping for a quickie.”
“Not with me in the room,” Barb said, shaking her head.
“You only had to watch,” Janea pouted. “Besides, you’d be getting dressed and stuff.”
“What did I do to deserve this?” Barbara asked, pulling out her jeans.
“You needed somebody more experienced than you on the case,” Janea pointed out. “And boy did you get it!”
Barbara wasn’t sure what to do when she got downstairs. There were a few tables of gamers in the hallway outside the Dealers’ Room, which had closed for the evening. Janea had pointed out that it was unlikely the killer was a gamer. Most gamers just stayed gaming through the con and didn’t interact much. If the killer was stalking the cons for targets, the gamers were not the place to look.
Most of the rest of the people seemed to be gathered in small groups talking in corners. She passed out the double doors to the outdoor atrium that the hotel was wrapped around and found the smoking area. There were a couple of groups gathered on the steps down to the pool area and a larger group around a table on the north end.
It was cold outside but Barb had sensibly added a heavy jacket to the jeans and long-sleeved shirt. She stood outside uncertainly, just looking around, and tried to listen to the conversations around her while opening up her channel carefully. When she didn’t get any feel of evil immediately she closed her eyes and tried to mentally reach out.
“That’s impolite you know,” a girl’s voice said by her ear.
Barbara’s eyes flew open and she looked down into a round face by her shoulder. The person had sounded like a girl but was clearly a full grown woman, about five five with dark hair and… stout. She was wearing a heavy jacket and had a cigarette in one hand and a beer in the other.
“You shouldn’t just go throwing power around,” the woman said, shaking her head. “Among other things there are people that would want to eat it. It’s very dangerous to let anyone know you’re powerful.”
“Perhaps I’m powerful enough I’m not worried by it,” Barb said, blinking in surprise.
“Nobody’s that powerful,” the woman said. “And just probing people is terribly rude.”
“I’m doing it for a reason,” Barbara replied, defensively.
“I didn’t figure you were just hunting for a good guy to get laid by tonight,” the woman said, grinning. “I used to do that at Sabbats. It’s a good way to figure out which guy’s likely to be worth it. Oh, you steer wrong sometimes, I know I sure did. I picked up one guy who was a real loser that way. I mean, he had power but he was such a slacker he never used it and when he did it was for all the wrong reasons. But I wish I’d known about it before I met my ex. I mean, I learned about power and auras while I was with him and when I really read his aura I was like: ‘What in the hell did I do?’ It wasn’t bad enough he wanted to have sex every fifteen minutes, and he wasn’t good at it I’ll tell you, but he just was so closed up. I mean, he had power, too, but he was so selfish it was like he held it in like a miser. It was the same as everything with him, he just used it for his own fun. He never cared if I had fun or not, I’ll tell you that, but it was all the time or he got really angry. Oh, my name’s Mandy. What’s yours?”
“Barb,” Barbara said, her eyes wide.
“I like the jacket, Barb. You don’t seem like a pagan, are you? You look like a mundane, I was really surprised when I read your aura. You’re right, you’re powerful and it’s god power. Who’s your god?”
“The Lord,” Barbara replied, calmly. “But I don’t go around Bible thumping and I get along just fine with pagans.”
“Wow! You’re a Christian? I’ve met some Christians who said they were powerful but it was all so much bullshit. They were so closed up it was incredible. I thought Christianity must suck power right out of you. I’d like to meet the pope just so I could see if he’s powerful because if he’s not nobody will be, right? But you’re powerful, I can see that. You have the most amazing aura, it’s very bright and light blue mostly. Light blue is really unusual, I guess it’s because you’re a Christian. There’s tinges of red, that’s usually a sign of somebody who’s not sure what they are but I don’t think that’s related to your religion, you seem really grounded in that. What do you do?”
“I’m a homemaker,” Barb said after a moment to catch up. The woman not only spoke nonstop she jumped all over the place and talked a mile a minute. And she didn’t seem to care much about what she talked about.
“What’s a mundane homemaker doing at a con?” Mandy asked. “I mean, we get all kinds but you don’t seem like the con type. Are you enjoying yourself? Not much happens on Friday night, Saturday is when it starts to pick up. Of course this is a small con, the big ones like Dragon and WorldCon start on Thursday usually and go until Monday. But even then it’s pretty slow on Thursday. Have you thought about going to DragonCon? You could really costume with those legs and tits; you’d look great in a chain-mail bikini or a corset. Yeah, a corset would really set off your looks. You should get a good corset. There’s a guy I know makes corsets, he’d love to fit you. Great hands, I wish I could afford his stuff, but it’s really expensive. He can make a corset for anybody, though. He made a corset for my friend Tracy and she’s, like, an M cup. And she’s got this condition called mastitis so her tits are, like, solid and they stand straight out. All the other guys that made corsets had tried and given up but Kevin made one for her. He’s down in the Dealers’ Room, you should see him tomorrow. Medium height, great head of blond hair, you should see the Eomer costume he made, he looks just like him. Norm would look great in an Eomer costume but we could never afford it. I mean I’m barely making anything dealing tarot and Norm can’t get a job. He’s a trained diesel mechanic but nobody will hire him cause his dyslexia is so bad. What’s funny is that he can read just fine if it’s right to left, you know, but regular writing just is like impossible for him. He’s really been helping me with my studies though. He used to be LeMay but he’s with the Goddess now but when he was LeMay he really got into some very hard readings and he learned a lot that he’s been able to help me with. He’s really smart but he reads so bad that he can never pass the tests they give him for reading so nobody will hire him. Which is really stupid since he’s a really good mechanic and he’s built all sorts of stuff for us at the house. We’ve got the best altar you’ll ever see and the whole circle thinks it’s great. So what are you doing at the con?”