Potts followed me out and stopped when he saw the Buick.
“This is your car?” he said. “I mean, you’re really driving this Buick? It’s a classic. I’ve never seen one of these in person.”
I hated the Buick. I only borrowed it when I had no other choice. It was a bulbous sow, lumbering down the street, grunting and wheezing. I felt like Betty Rubble when I was behind the wheel, wrestling the beast around corners.
I opened the back door for him, and he sprawled across the seat.
“Wow,” he said. “This is huge. It’s like a bedroom back here.”
I drove a block, parked in front of the hair salon, and called Grandma. No answer. I left Potts in the car and I went into the salon. It wasn’t big. Dottie and Irene Hurley had their own styling stations and they also did nails. They were younger than Grandma, but not by much.
“Edna left with Ruth Kuleski,” Dottie said. “She got a quick nail color change, and Ruth drove her somewhere. Edna said she was going on an adventure. And Ruth said she was going to have lunch with her daughter.”
“An adventure?” I asked.
“That’s what Edna said. Off to find a treasure.”
Crap!
I ran out of the salon and took off for the Mole Hole. I forgot about Potts in the backseat. I crossed over the railroad tracks and he started humming.
Double crap.
“Where are we going?” he asked.
“The Mole Hole. I need to check on something.”
I pulled into the lot and skidded to a stop. “Stay here,” I told Potts. “I’ll be right out.”
I marched into the bar and stood for a moment, letting my eyes adjust to the dim light. Two girls were working the poles and the bar was packed with lunchtimers. I approached one of the bartenders and asked if an older woman had come into the bar.
“There’s an older couple in the booth to the right and a single woman is halfway around the bar.”
I scanned the bar and spotted Grandma. She was eating a burger and watching the stripper directly in front of her.
“One more question,” I said to the bartender. “Have you seen Charlie Shine today?”
“No one sees Charlie Shine,” he said.
“How about Lou?”
“Salgusta? Never heard of him.”
“Anyone in the back room?”
“Some furniture movers. It’s getting redecorated.”
I walked around the bar to Grandma. All the stools were taken so I sidled up next to her.
“Looks like a good burger,” I said.
“It’s excellent,” she said. “And this young lady on the pole is amazing. She can do an upside-down and a split. And she can do a full squat to get money stuffed into her G-string. I wish I could do that. My knees aren’t what they used to be. What are you doing here? Did you come for lunch?”
“No. I’m here because I thought you might be here.”
“I came to investigate the tunnels, but I thought I’d have a burger first. The Mole Hole makes the best burger in town.”
“Finish your burger while I peek into the back room. We can’t access the tunnel if the room is occupied.”