Un2talented (Book 3 of the Un2 Series)

A burst of vibrations in Mikey’s front pocket alerted him to an incoming call. He pulled out his phone and held up an apologetic finger.

“Yes . . . sure . . . I’ll be right there.”

Mikey hurriedly returned his phone to his pocket and sighed.

“Sorry, guys, I’ve got some stuff I’ve got to take care of. Would you mind just heading back down that hallway and letting yourself out through the kitchen? I’ve really got to hustle. Thanks!” And with that, Mikey turned and sped across the aviary and exited towards the front of the house.

Cadence turned to Leslie, “Do you need to sit a while longer? It probably wouldn’t hurt anything if we lingered.”

“No. I think I’ll be okay. I just want to curl up under a nice, soft blanket with a cup of coffee. Hey, Gary, what do you say we get out of here?”

Gary, who had shifted his attention from the peafowl to rolling around in the lush, green grass along the bank of the pond, righted himself and trotted over to the pair.

“What do we have here?”

Cadence extracted a Pheacock tail feather sticking out from the fur at the nape of Gary’s neck. She pulled the plume through her closed hand to feel the velvety barbs. It felt silky-soft and surprisingly warm.

“I guess this makes two souvenirs,” she said quietly to herself. “Shall we go?” she added in a more audible tone.

Leslie checked his pockets for his keys and phone and decided he was all set to leave. Once the threesome re-entered the kitchen hallway from the aviary, Gary trotted ahead and then ducked back into the open freezer.

“Gary, what are you doing?” Leslie called. “I swear, sometimes I really don’t get you!”

By the time Cadence and Leslie reached the freezer, Gary reappeared, carrying a bundle of blue jeans and a pink t-shirt wrapped around a pair of gym shoes in his mouth.

“Where in the world did those come from?” Cadence asked.

“Oh, um, they’re just some stuff we had with us when we got here,” Leslie replied awkwardly as he stared at Gary.

“Okay?” Cadence replied, confused.

The three exited through the screen door and proceeded toward their vehicles. Leslie stood beside the van and unlocked the large side door emblazoned with his four-legged doppelganger. The airbrushed mythical beast in the mural was, indeed, the largest selfie Cadence had ever seen. The van’s carpeted interior was the epitome of a 1970’s “Shaggin’ Wagon”, complete with bean bag chairs and lava lamps. Gary hopped inside and then appeared in the front seat. The passenger-side glass lowered, and Gary stuck his head through the open window.

“He likes to navigate!” Leslie yelled as he closed the side door and waved. He circled around the van and entered the driver’s side.

Cadence entered her car and checked her phone for messages, as was her habit. There was just one. It was from Dorian. It read, “Call when U R done. Can’t wait 2 hear! ”

“Got the job! Too much to text. See you soon!” Cadence always typed out full words. She hated the texting shortcuts and Dorian knew it. He used them just to poke at her. She called up the map app, hit the button to suggest a route for her return trip, and wedged her phone into the bracket velcroed to the dashboard. Leslie’s van came into view as Cadence adjusted her rear-view mirror. He honked and waved as he drove past and pulled onto the service drive. Cadence pulled out behind him.

The drive back to the highway meandered through acres of stately manors. The homes themselves tended to sit far into the interior of the estates, the entry gates and adjoining walls giving the only clue as to their possible architectural styles. Cadence had been too preoccupied to notice how beautiful her surroundings were on the way to her interview, but now enjoyed them as her nerves unwound.

“How wonderful it would be,” she thought, “If one day I had these people as neighbors.”

Cadence drove on autopilot as her daydreams of the rich and famous carried her all the way to the motel’s driveway. She snapped back to reality when she noticed some activity down near the end of the parking lot. Dorian was wrapping up a conversation with Sherriff Hannah, leaning into her police cruiser parked next to the El Camino in front of room one-seventeen. She figured they were talking about the guy that had skipped out on his bill, so that didn’t surprise her. What did catch her attention was Leslie’s airbrushed van sitting just beyond the other two vehicles. The squad car drove off and Cadence pulled into the vacated spot.

“Hey, Cady!” Dorian chirped.

“What’s going on, here?” Cadence replied as she exited her car.

“Sheriff Hannah came out to check the room for signs of foul play. She didn’t find anything. I told her everything I know, including the bit about the mystery woman giving me the truck as payment. She bought it.”

“She bought what, the story?”

“No, she bought the truck, silly. She gave me more than double the room rate. Maybe Granny will let me keep some.”

Cadence nodded in agreement. Dorian pointed at the van.

“She just finished looking over the room when the other room occupants pulled up in their van. They don’t know what happened to the guy, either.”

“I’m not surprised, “Cadence replied, “I just freed those two from a freezer earlier this morning.”