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"Sweetie!" the et the round on top of his head," Clarinda promised and strode toward the bar

The Alice Cooper tune inding down Next up was a felloanted to do Sinatra Katie applauded both theup to theup to the e and totally inebriated see out of the ork Well, it was Key West Home to some, buttoo ht, defending her native territory The fishing was excellent, diving was spectacular and many visitors ca and old flocked froaritaville for the sheer pleasure of a bachelor party, or just wild nights along Duval Duval was the hub of nightlife, and it was the main place for cheap hotel rooms

Her place-or her uncle Jamie’s place, O’Hara’s, where she ran Katie-oke-was off the southern end of Duval whileholes were at the northern end She did tend to draw a lot of the locals Many of the entertainers orked at the festivals-Fantasy Fest, Pirates in Paradise, art fests, way Days and s with Katie She operated Katie-oke four nights a week She also worked at O’Hara’s when she wasn’t doing karaoke, helping set the sound and stage for perfor easy acoustic and vocal nuree froious theater coland, but it hadn’t been home She’d eventually discovered that she couldn’t take snow and sleet, and wanted to ood at the heat, good at sweating She just never learned to layer properly

And the water! How she missed the water when she ay Her own home, a small Victorian-one of more than three thousand houses in the area on the state’s historic roster-wasn’t on the water, but on Elizabeth Street She was in Old Town, and surrounded by tourisot her fill of water, however, because one of her best friends, an old high-schoolClarinda, owned and operated the Salvage Inn, a place on the Gulf side with its own little stretch of man-o

"Those fellows are being quite obnoxious Want me to take one of them out?"

Katie heard the question, but she didn’t even look over at the speaker Bartholome that he irritated her when he decided to converse in the company of others

Unaware of Bartholomew casually and handsomely draped upon a bar stool near Katie, Marty Jenkins, local pirate entertainer, came to her side "Will you play a sea-shanty disc for me, Katie?"

"Of course, Marty," she said

He handed her his disc and she slid it into her system "No words can coht?"

He grinned "Gearing up for the next pirate show, my sweet No words needed Thanks"

"I’ht the old wax museum, Katie," Marty said

"Marty, it’s not a wax museum It’s full of robotics"

"Isn’t that supposed to mean that they all move?" Marty asked

"I believe that they all can ht now"

"Actually, none of theer at her "That place has been closed down for five years now Craig Beckett tried to keep it going after that girl’s body was found, but he threw in the towel If you can get your ht to do it"

"I want to open it, Marty I loved the place when I was a little kid," she told him

He shook his head "They say it’s haunted, and not haunted by good You knohat happened there Murder!"

"It was very sad, and a long ti use of someone else’s dream for a draht, Marty"

"They never caught the killer,that the killer ain"

Still shaking his head, Marty left her

"I think he ood place to be," Bartholoh why he whispered, she didn’t know "Hey! Thatin a rude and disrespectful way toward Clarinda Should I do sorated her teeth and looked toward the bar and the revenant of the man who stood next to her She was sure that to the rest of the people present, there was nothing to be seen

Or heard

She lowered her head and spoke in an intense whisper "Bartholomew, if you wish to maintain a mortal friend, I entreat you to cease and desist-shut up! Youto myself all the time"

"That chap is an utter ass," Bartholoain, out on the street"

Katie looked up She couldn’t help herself