Sandy Tobias

"Well...yeah."

"So you expect us to continue to be friends...no that's not what I mean because I'm sure we will be friends. That...you know that we'd have reason to see each other."

"You just said we'd continue to be friends, so why not? How else are we going to jerk Matt and Shelly's chain?"

"I'm glad. I mean that we'll still be friends and see each other at least once in awhile."

"With all that you and I have been through and will go through and you doubted that?"

"I guess I really hadn't thought that far ahead until now."

They were quiet then and one by one they dozed off. Casey was first up and did her best to be quiet as she took a quick shower and dressed, and dried her hair as she picked at it until Jay tapped at the door. She opened it and smiling said, "You had a nice nap."

"I think I died. Did you put something in my beer?"

"I'm innocent. Now let me get out of here so you can use the bathroom." Twenty minutes later he appeared in his briefs and she stared at him again. "You're determined embarrass me aren't you."

"Because I'm in my briefs? I can't believe you embarrass that easily."

"Well I just didn't expect you to do that again. Here we are in a small motel room. It was shocking enough in your house. God, I'll bet Tanya...oh shit, I'm sorry Jay," and she started to cry.

He went over to her and holding her close told her, "It's okay Casey. I'm sure things like that will happen, at least once in awhile."

Her arms were around his naked torso and she held him as she put her face to his chest and said, "I don't know where that came from."

He moved her back enough so he could look into her eyes as he said, "Let's just forget it okay?"

"I better let go of you so you can get dressed."

He smiled and said, "It's my turn to ask you, do you realize what you just said."

"Oh my god, that sounds so different than what the truth is."

"More fire to drive Matt crazy with," and he smiled and retreated and got dressed. Then he said, "Let's go find something to eat and go see this Gina Mosley and the Gina's Hideaway. Um...you are ready to experience a strip club aren't you?"

"You mean we're really staying and watching the...show or whatever?"

"Not long, but I want to compare it to the Palace assuming that's still in operation."

"Okay, why not. I know what naked women look like. Of course I don't have a clue how the guys behave in those places."

"Or if they give lap dances or whatever."

"This isn't going to be fun, but I'll bet it will be educational."

Chapter Six

Like lunch had been, dinner for Jay and Casey was something they needed to do, and not something they enjoyed. With that out of the way, the GPS voice that Jay had long ago named Sexy Sally, gave them turn by turn directions to the Gina's Hideaway. It was just before seven, so with the motor and heater running to keep them warm, they sat in the car and waited those few minutes and then Jay asked, "Ready Casey?"

"Sure, all I have to do is stand or sit there and let the world go by. It's you that has to deal with Gina or whoever." Jay just smiled and got out of the car. As they met in front of the car, Jay pushed the button and the car security alarm chirped, Jay's hand went to the small of Casey's back and they went to the strip club door.

They saw the broad shouldered guy as soon as they pulled the door back as he said, "Welcome. The cover charge is twenty dollars a couple." Jay paid him and then said, "I'd like to speak to Gina Mosley."

"That's not possible." There was no I'm sorry or any other pleasantries.

"I'm Jay Sheffield, the husband of the woman that was murdered in front of this place the other night."

"Oh. Wait a sec," and he pulled a small phone looking device from his pocket and talked into it and the listened. "Go inside and sit at the first table to your left and she'll be out shortly."

For whatever reason Casey said, "Maybe we could get him and that bad waitress together because they seem to have a lot in common." To her surprise Jay smiled and then looked around and she did the same. The room was dimly lit, which was no surprise to either of them, and the stage was empty, so it was even darker than the rest of the area. She didn't count them, but Casey guessed at maybe forty tables at the most, but she doubted there was ever a time that the place was filled to capacity.

From a half hidden side door, Gina appeared and came over to them with a waitress tagging along behind. "Hi, I'm Gina. What can I get you from the bar?"

"How about a whisky sour?" Jay said, and Casey ordered the same, so the waitress scurried off and Gina sat down.

"I'm Jay and this is Casey, my wife's best friend."

"Nice to meet you both. I'm so sorry about the tragedy."

"Thanks. Had Tanya...wait, what name was she going by?"

"Her stage name was Wanda."

"Damn I hate that name. So how did it happen that she ended up here?"

"She came in and talked to me about dancing. I could tell she was no amateur, and my eyes told me she'd be very popular to say the least, and I wasn't wrong on either count. I'm curious though. How is it that all of this is new to you?"

"It would seem that Tanya was leading a double life."

"Oh, now that's not good."

"No, but that's in the past now isn't it. Just how popular was she?"

"Very. I can't say she filled the place, but despite her age, had she been available on weekends I think that could have been possible. She knew what her assets were and she knew how to use them. All of my dancers are over eighteen of course, but most of them are under twenty two. Normally by Wanda's age of twenty eight they're a has been, at least in this area. Then looking at Casey she asked, "Do you dance?"

Casey smiled and said, "No I don't dance."

"Too bad, you'd do well I'm sure." Casey didn't bother to thank her. "If you're staying for the show, I'll see that Becka takes care of you."

"We can't stay long, but...well when do the dancers start?"

Gina looked at her watch and said, "In about ten minutes. The first one tonight is Donna. Pretty easy to look at and a fair dancer. We save the best ones until after nine depending on the crowd and the night of the week. Sorry I have to leave you, but duty calls."

"Thanks for taking the time to talk to us."

"Best to both of you," and she went back through the door and into her inner sanctum.

Jay looked at his whisky sour and told Casey, "Pretty weak drinks."

"Yes they are. Ups the profits and probably keeps the crowd from getting out of control. You'll probably see a lot more beer bottles than glasses in the crowd tonight."

"I'll be surprise to even see a crowd tonight."

"I have a feeling that if Tanya chose this place, it's pretty popular. She wouldn't have danced just anywhere I'm sure."

"That's probably right."

The music started off slightly soft, and the stage lights came on slowly as Donna made her appearance. Casey leaned close to Jay and said loud enough to be heard over the building music, "Gina was right, she's easy on the eyes."

"Not bad." Casey thought to herself that Jay was used to seeing the best so Donna just got a nice compliment and she'd never know it.

Donna's routine was pretty much as Casey had assumed it would be plus a couple of nice moves thrown in. She used the pole a couple of times and little by little ended up with nothing more on than a very tiny G-string. With the appropriate bumps grinds and slick moves she collected a few bills stuffed in her G-string before she disappeared and the music stopped. Casey put her hand on Jay's arm and said, "If this is their second string, their varsity dancers must be pretty good."

"Probably so. Ready to get out of here?"

"I was ready to leave right after we came in." As they walked out, Casey put her arm around Jay's waist and asked him, "How are you holding up?"

"Not worth a damn Casey," and his arm went behind her as they slowly walked to the car and got in. Jay leaned back with his head against the headrest and took a deep breath. "Damn I'm glad that's over."

"Let's go back to the motel Jay."

"Gladly."

As he drove and sexy GPS Sally talked to them, Casey sat so she was half turned toward Jay, and she just watched him by the light of the dashboard. "What are you thinking Casey?" he asked her.

"About what we just experienced and how you were able to push yourself through that. Why you did it I can only guess, but you felt you needed to do that so I'm glad you did. Like I said before, you're a lot tougher than I would have ever guessed."

"It isn't because I'm tough, it's because I'm bull headed is all. If I had any sense we would have headed right for home."

"I don't think that would have worked for you very well. At least you're here where your mind is, and not home thinking about this town and what happened."

"I guess you're right."

That was pretty much the extent of their conversation and she resumed leaning against her headrest and watched him drive through the cold night. His face would be lit by the street lights and then quickly go dark again, only to be replaced with the next light. It was like a slow flickering movie as she watched his facial expressions or his position change light by light. She had to smile to herself when she thought back on their fights and bickering, and wondered why they had been like that. What was there about him that would set her off so quickly before? No answers came to her, but then she decided it didn't really matter anyway. She would do what she could to support him through his quest or mission, and then life would go on for both of them. Not as she would have chosen it maybe, but sometimes life didn't provide for the luxury of choice.

Chapter Seven

They went into the motel and took the elevator to the second floor, turned left and went six doors down to their room on the right. Jay kicked off his shoes and sat on the bed, and Casey went to the bathroom and then came out with her shoes in hand that she dropped on the floor near the television cabinet. She sat on her bed across from Jay and asked him, "Are you going to be able to sleep tonight?"

"I'll be okay. I'm whipped, so sleep should come pretty easy. So the strip club was pretty bad for you I'll bet."

"Actually it was pretty much as I had imagined it would be. I don't get turned on watching women strip and hump, but it didn't bother me either. I was more concerned about what that was doing to you as you watched her."

"To be honest I didn't watch her all that much. I couldn't."

"Then why did you want to stay?"

"I don't know. I guess I wanted to see for myself where Tanya was and what she might have been doing, but I couldn't stay that long. I'm sure there are lap dances and other semi legal things that go on in there, but I just wasn't strong enough to find out."

"Jay, you were plenty strong. I'm not sure just how smart you were for putting yourself through that though. To me it was a form of self flagellation for you."

"Maybe it was. Some day I'll be able to think straight enough to figure all of this out, but not any time soon, and for sure not tonight." She watched him as he calmly stood up and stripped to his briefs and crawled into bed, and pulled the sheet up to his chest. "Casey, I'll turn my back so you can get ready for bed without hiding in the bathroom."

"Thank you Jay, but the bathroom is okay." She turned her bed down and then went to the bathroom, returning some ten minutes later in her pajamas and slipped into bed. Once again she was staring up at the ceiling, but this time she turned toward Jay, and in the thin light that was sneaking in around the heavy motel drapes, she could tell he was asleep. A minute later she closed her eyes and was soon asleep as well.

Maybe it was the strange bed, or maybe because she had so much on her mind, but something woke her and that's when she realized that Jay was tossing and mumbling in his sleep. She looked over and saw that his sheet and blanket were half wadded up behind him and every minute or two he would move or change his position. She couldn't decide what to do. She wanted to help him, but would waking him up be the best answer? One thing she did know was she couldn't go back to sleep knowing that he was having such a rough night. She went over to him and timidly put her hand on his arm and waited to see what he would do. He turned back to his back so she went around to the other side and again touched him softly and waited. He seemed to settle down a little so she eased into his bed, and recovering the sheet and the light blanket, she covered both of them before lying down next to him. She turned onto her side then and carefully put her hand and arm over his belly and lay still. If that didn't work then she'd wake him and try to get him past his bad dreams. But Jay lay still then and his breathing slowed little by little.

It was daylight before he stirred and woke her, and she heard him mumble again. She raised up enough to see the alarm clock, and was surprised to see that it was almost seven thirty. Jay moved again and mumbled something so she moved closer and whispered to him. "It's okay Jay. It's okay," and she moved her hand on his side enough for him to feel her touch. He turned to his back then and opened his eyes, but the first thing he saw was the blank white ceiling just like at home. Then he felt her touch and quickly looked toward Casey. "Good morning Jay."

He stared at her for several seconds before he blinked and said, "Wow, was that confusing for a...wait, you're...I mean...did I get into bed with you?"

She smiled and said, "No, I got into bed with you during the night. You were having a pretty rough time of it."

"Was I? Oh yeah, I had some really weird and disjointed dreams. I can't even remember the details now, but I do remember they weren't good."

"I could tell. I came over here to see if I could settle you down so you could get some sleep."

"Sorry if I ruined your night."

"You didn't. I put my arm over you and you settled down and we both slept for quite a long time."

"Thanks for saving me from myself."

She smiled and said, "You're welcome. Now you can tell Matt that we slept together too."

That made him smile before he said, "Damn he's not going to believe anything we tell him even though it will be the truth."

"Taken out of context we can make it sound pretty smutty and lurid."

"We'll have to save it for a better time, but we can still have fun with it."

"So tell me about your dreams."

"I wish I could. All I can remember is a jumble of little bits that I can't even form into a sentence. I can however, remember feeling my heart race and a heavy sadness that seemed to follow me everywhere I went."

"Someday maybe I'll tell you what I'm thinking right now."

"One day?"

"Yes, someday down the road. You know a lot of your bad dream probably is a result of watching Donna thrill her fans last night. I just hope you have a better night tonight."

"I do too. Okay, help me with a little reality orientation. This is Sunday, right?"

"That's right, and we're driving home, and then flying to Milwaukee late this afternoon and going to see your lawyer tomorrow."

"Right, got it together now."

"But you better not stay for the show at the Palace tomorrow night."

"Maybe I won't."

"Maybe?"

"Okay, probably not."

"You are such a sucker for punishment."

"Self flagellation I believe you called it."

"That's it exactly."

Chapter Eight

After checking out of the Hampton, they walked out and Jay hit the button on his remote. Casey smiled and said, "You really like that remote start feature don't you."

"It's great. The motor is running while we're walking and we'll have heat in the car that much sooner. In the summer, it's the same with the air conditioning. Tanya got that for me for Christmas a couple of years ago." She looked up at him, but he was looking toward the car, and she was surprised to see that mentioning Tanya's name didn't seem to bother him.

With Casey in Tanya's car, their drive home seemed to be taking much longer, but the stop at the rest area just east of Kalamazoo refreshed them. As they were walking back to their cars, Jay said, "By the way, thanks again for pulling me out of those damn dreams, and...well thanks for everything. All along you've been more help to me than I can say."

"Jay, I haven't done anything but tag along and...okay and pull you away from the nightmare."

He looked at her and with his hand just touching her low on her back, he told her, "You haven't just tagged along at all. Just having you to talk to, and to keep me in touch with the real world has meant a lot to me. I know I can be an ass sometimes, but I'm working on that. I'll be so damn glad once we're past Monday, but at the same time I'll miss your company."

"I don't live on the moon you know, and I'm within fifteen minutes of your house twice a day going to and from work. You aren't going to get rid of me that easily." He smiled and just told her he was glad to hear that.

They pulled into Jay's driveway and he stopped. "Well, the first half of our mess is over."

"And the worst half I'm sure. Talking to Crystal or whoever will be a breeze after what you've put yourself through."

"That's what I'm talking about Casey. You keep my head straight. I feel better now just because you reminded me of the obvious. I really don't think I could have handled going to Lansing alone and I mean that."

"I know you could have, but thank you Jay. I better freshen up and find something to pack for Milwaukee." She stopped then and turned toward him as she asked, "Are you sure me wearing her things isn't bothering you? The last thing I want to do is add to your burden."

He went over to her and put his arms around her. Then he kissed her softly and started to say something, but realized what he had just done. He exploded and almost jumped back as he loudly said, "Damn it to hell," and he stepped over and slapped the wall. What the hell got into me? Casey I'm sorry and..."

She went to him and with her hands on each side of his face, she sternly told him, "Jay settle down, you didn't do anything wrong."

"The hell I didn't, I..."

Her voice went up another step as she said, "Just stop it. Had we not been fighting all the time, we would have shared the occasional kiss even in front of Tanya. Don't become your own worst enemy Jay. Worry about the important things and pass over the other things. Now take a breath and finish telling me what you were going to say." He closed his eyes for a second and took a breath as her arms went around his waist. "We were talking about me wearing her clothes."

"I know. Okay, what I was going to say is stop worrying about that. I don't see Tanya when you wear her things. That doesn't make me think about her now. I see you and...well that's all I guess."

"Okay, I'll try not to worry about that again, but damn it, if I put on something that does bother you, you better tell me and I'll take it off."

"I will."

"One more thing."

"Okay."

Her voice softened as she told him, "Thank you for the kiss. That was very nice."

He managed a smile and said, "You're welcome, and if that ever happens again I promise not to fall apart." She reached up and kissed him lightly and then moved back smiling.

She smiled and told him, "I wanted to test you," and she headed for the bedroom.

By the time they had both either washed or showered, added to their carry on bags and rested for an hour, it was time for them to go to the South Bend Regional Airport, and board their United flight to Milwaukee. Jay just smiled at her as he paid for both tickets and told her, "That's for me losing my cool earlier."