Chapter 33

We arrived at the Motel 6 in Emporia shortly before noon. The buildings looked their age, especially with all the snow. There were several strings of Christmas lights along the lower edges of the upper levels, as well as lining the windows to the front office, and a Christmas tree stood next to one of the windows in the office too. The Motel looked relatively empty, but then for all I knew, they were normally always slow this time of year. It wasn’t as if Emporia was known around the Nation for a good place to spend the holidays. I didn’t even know the place existed until I found the matchbook and receipt yesterday.

I parked close to the front office, but not in front of it. I hadn’t slid on any ice, but that didn’t mean it wouldn’t happen to someone else. I didn’t need anyone sliding into Alyssa’s car. When I was as ready as I could be, I climbed out, and headed for the front office.

The front office was warm, bordering on hot. The front door was glass and had that pneumatic arm to push it closed again. Something was wrong with the arm, because it tried to close the door on me before I had fully stepped into the office.

“Welcome to Motel 6,” said a shaky voice.

I turned and looked around. At first, I didn’t see anyone. Then a hand rose up from behind the counter and waved at me. “I’m over here.”

I stepped up to the counter.

The lady sitting behind the desk was elderly. She had silvery-white hair pulled back in a tight bun, enough lines on her face to make a mapmaker proud, and a stained meerschaum pipe carved to resemble a man’s head with a flowing beard. To me, it looked like she was smoking from Santa’s head. She had a heavy quilt wrapped around her in the chair with a single hand sticking out to hold the pipe. “Room for one?” she asked when she saw me.

“No, I need some information,” I said.

“Can’t help ya,” she said, waving me out. “You’ll have to come back later.”

“You don’t even know what I need to ask.”

“Doesn’t matter,” she said and looked at the clock. “It’s almost lunchtime. I’m not gonna miss my show.”

“Ma’am, please...”

“I’m not your ‘Ma’am’,” she barked suddenly. Then she settled back into her chair and said, “Name’s Selma.”

I nodded. “Selma. Please. I only need to know if a particular person has stayed here recently.”

“How recent? My memory’s not what it used to be.”

“A few months ago?”

She frowned at me. “What’s her name?”

“I didn’t say it was a ‘her’,” I said.

“Cute young fella come in here looking for someone, don’t tell me you...” and she made a gesture I could only surmise was meant to indicate that I was gay.

“No, I’m looking for my father.”

“Oh!” she said. “Good! Young men should have a father.”

“I need to know if he stayed here a few months ago.”

“We have a lot of people stay here. I’m not sure.”

“If you could look it up on the computer or in a sign in book?”

She stared at me for a few seconds and then a song broke the silence. “Time’s up!” she said. Then she grabbed a smart phone and killed the music. She grinned, showing off a number of missing teeth, and said, “Time for my show.”

She was faster than I thought possible. Before I could come up with a coherent sentence, she spun around and disappeared through a set of curtains along the back wall.

Rho leaned her butt against the counter. She had changed her clothes again. This time she was wearing a gold sweater. At least, she had her arms in the sleeves and the one and only button on the front was buttoned. The single button held the material together at the perfect point near the top of her cleavage because the rest of the sweater hung in such a way to show off part of the bottoms of her breasts. Her breasts were further highlighted by a black velvet corset, which was tucked up under them. The corset didn’t end at her hips. It was as if someone had taken a pair of black jeans and rather than end them at the waist normally, incorporated the corset into the waist. The legs of her ... pants ... were tucked into black latex boots that were elevated. The spike heels looked about nine inches long each.

“Nice outfit,” I said.

She smiled and tugged at the edge of the sweater. “You think so?”

I nodded and looked at the curtains. The old lady wasn’t going to be back until her show was over. It gave me time.

I slipped around the desk and looked for the sign-in book. I found it. Unfortunately, the earliest entry was in the beginning of October. If Dad had been here, it would have been late August.

“Why not use magic?” Rho asked.

I glanced at her and nodded. I set the book down and then focused on a spell that would locate other sign-in books.

“No,” Rho said, as if she knew what I was attempting to do. “Don’t look for another book. Use that book as a catalyst and look back to see if he came in.”

I frowned and shook my head. “What?”

She turned around and leaned on the counter. Her breasts threatened to spill out of her sweater. “Think of it like watching a video on TV in reverse. Focus on the door, hold the book, and watch as each person who previously checked in comes in again.”

“View it rather than read it?” I asked. “Why?”

She nodded at the book. “Does everyone use their real name in those things?”

“Ah,” I said, understanding why she thought it would be better.

I glanced at the curtains again and then sat in the chair the old lady had vacated. I held the book in my lap and focused on exactly what Rho suggested. More than that, I had to know, should I spot my dad, when he appeared. Should I see him, I would know his entry, both the name he used, and the date he signed the book. With the spell shaped, I put my will behind it and let the power flow.

I opened my eyes and one-by-one, everyone who had come in to register flitted past the desk in front of me. I realized quickly the spell followed the names in reverse order. I didn’t want to chance messing it up, so I let it run.

The guests flitted by quickly, like ghosts in a movie playing at rewind, and there were a lot of them. A number of lone businessmen, various couples, families, small groups, people on vacation, so on and so forth. The light from the doors behind them shifted from light to dark to light again as days and hours passed in rapid succession. The snow quickly vanished and the leaves on the trees increased and shifted from autumn gold and browns back to deep green. I forgot myself when I spotted him.