Chapter 26

26: The crowd at the hotel agreed that it was safe to unshackle Daniel so Barney handed Carrionette back her pair of fuzzy pink handcuffs which she put back into her purse.  It was nearly 10am and everyone was famished.  Gene invited them all to Mirabel's Kitchen, the hotel's famed four-star restaurant.  This was the first time the Untaken had a real chance to get to know each other as a group.
  Alex wanted to have some chorizo and went to the kitchen to ask if they had any.  Unfortunately for him, they didn't have it on the menu.  Disappointed, he returned to the table with just a blueberry muffin.  "Caca de burro! How do they stay in business?  Four stars my ass!"
  Lowe Freq picked up his chicken with his hands.  "If fried chicken grew on trees, then I would say that God's Chinese.  So bad for your body, so good in your mouth.  Ooh baby!  If I die, you'll know why."
  Carroinette came to the table with some pork and beans and iced tea.  "Wow, this place really is fancy!  Their iced tea is made with real ice."  She eyed her bowl of pork and beans, disdainfully noting the lack of any pork.  "If they called it beans and pork, would there be more pork?"
  Alex peeled the paper off his muffin and looked around the table for some butter.  "Aw, shit.  There's no butter. How can I eat this without any butter?"
  "There were these little individual pats of butter at the condiment table," said Lowe Freq.
  "Cool, man.  You are a life saver.  I'll be right back."  Alex left on a mission.  Lowe Freq promptly took the blueberry muffin and hid it under his napkin.  A minute later, Alex returned to the table.  "Dude, where's my stupid muffin?"
  Lowe took a bite of his bacon and answered, "I saw somebody take it, but from my point of view I couldn't see his face.  Well hey, you can have half of mine."  He took it out from under his napkin, cut it in half with a butter knife and put half on Alex's plate.
  "Thanks, man.  You didn't have to do that.  Dude, I owe you one."  Lowe and Carrionette looked at each other and burst out laughing.  Alex was too busy happily buttering his muffin half to notice.
  At a different table, Mina wanted to ask Damion something ever since she found out it was him who spoke through Stratford.  "Hey, Stratford, is Damion with you now?"
  "Oh, yes indeed.  Yes yes yes."
  "Damion, I was wondering if I could ask you something."
  "Please, ask ask-a-roony."
  "How did you find Bill's wife, Sandy, and what is it you saw that made you alert your brother?"
  "I followed a man with a dark spirit.  A dark dark spirit.  He went into a house.  There was a lady in a bathtub.  At that point, I knew knew he was up to no good goody two shoes."
  "I was at Kenn's house at that time and as I was trying to look into your front door, I felt a chill."
  "You had scared Stratford and he called me to come home.  It was my spirit you felt.  So cold so cold."
  "So that was you I felt again in the closet right before Stratford ratted me out."
  "Yes, Stratford told me someone was in the house.  I wanted to warn Kenn if he was in danger."  Stratford paused and then spoke up again.  "Now both of you stop making me speak of poor old birdy in the third third third person!" Mina and Kenn laughed uproariously at that.