Gingerbread Man

him to distraction.
    "You still all right with things?" he asked her softly, leaning a little closer, keeping his voice low.
    She glanced up at him, eyes dark and unreadable. "I'm not all right with much of anything right now. There's a killer on the loose, my mother's in the hospital, my old methods of dealing aren't working anymore. No. I'm kind of far from all right. But I'm hanging in there."
    He nodded. He thought about correcting her, telling her he meant to ask if she was still all right with what had happened between them last night, until he thought about how lame that sounded, given the dire situation they were facing. Later. There would be time later.
    As costumes went, theirs were sadly lacking. Holly had thrown on a red wool cloak with a hood, and added a basket as a prop. Vince wore a cape in houndstooth checks, and the Sherlock Holmes trademark deerstalker hat his partner had found for him when they'd gone out costume shopping this morning. In a small town, on Halloween day, Vince figured they were lucky to have scored anything at all. Jerry had tried to get him to add a curving, trumpet-bowled pipe to the ensemble, but Vince had pushed his limits already. All Jerry had managed to come up with for himself were a bowler hat and a bow tie. Dr. Watson would be mortified.
    As they walked, the music grew louder, and Vince swore that the bat that swooped down making him duck reflexively was real. They hit the first step. An owl hooted three times, and then the heavy hardwood door slowly groaned open. Morticia Addams stepped into the doorway, but when she smiled, he saw Amanda D'Voe underneath the raven wig and heavy makeup. "Good evening," she intoned. "Velcome." Stepping back, she swept her arm inward, black fabric trailing.
    "You look great, Amanda," Holly said. But Vince noticed she was looking at him more often than Amanda. Maybe looking at him looking at Amanda, he thought.
    As soon as they stepped inside, the atmosphere was different. Little goblins in every shape, size, and model were laughing and shrieking in turn. One group wore plastic ponchos over their costumes, bobbing for apples in the room's center. Another bunch gathered around a large table carving pumpkins with safety knives, under parental supervision. More were seated at a table near a Gypsy fortune teller who read their palms. The Gypsy bore a striking resemblance to the crabby town librarian, Maddie Baker.
    One little witch raced up to Holly and bounded up and down with glee. "Everybody loves my costume, Holly! It's fantastic!"
    "Well, stand back so I can see!" Smiling, Holly held the little girl by her shoulders, and examined her. She was dressed as the Wicked Witch of the West, complete with green face, long nose, striped socks, and singed broomstick. Her conical black hat sported a thin dusting of green glitter, and had a tiny furry spider dangling from its brim by a length of silver thread.
    "You're gorgeous."
    Bethany giggled. "Am not!" Then she raced off to join a group of friends. A woman cleared her throat, drawing Vince's gaze. He recognized the woman as Bethany's mother, Val Stevens, even though she wore braids and gingham. Dorothy, he presumed.
    "Thank you so much for helping Bethany with the costume, Holly. I wouldn't have been able to do half the job you did."
    "You did a fantastic job on the makeup, Val," Holly said. "And you look great, too!"
    "Oh, this." She glanced down at herself. "Bethany insisted. If she'd had her way we'd have bought a puppy to play Toto, too." Lifting her gaze again, her expression grew more serious. "I heard your mother was taken to the hospital. How is she doing?"
    Holly sighed. "She's sedated, resting."
    "What happened? God, she seemed fine the last time I saw her."
    Holly searched for a plausible answer. "Stress, really. An irregular heartbeat. They're doing tests."
    Val sighed long and low. "I'm so sorry. She's strong, you know. I mean, to have come through what she has— she must be stronger than I can even imagine. God, to survive losing a child..." Her gaze strayed to where Bethany was dancing with friends to
The Monster Mash,
and Val bit her lower lip. "I think it would kill me if I lost Bethany."
    "You never know what you can survive until it happens," Holly said softly.
    "Oh, I know, I know. All I meant was, if your mom came through all of that, she's going to handle whatever this new problem is just fine."
    Her eyes asked for more details. Holly just gave the woman's hand a squeeze and