Chapter 11
Chapter Eleven
Rex
Lila had been a good girl, sticking by me on Hollywood Boulevard just as I’d told her to.
Stopping in the giant corridor that extended far back, I watched as she marveled at what she saw.
“This is where they have the Oscars!”
“Yep. The Dolby Theater.”
“Can we tour it? I’d love to go inside.”
“We can, but we need to make reservations. You want me to see if they have anything for tomorrow morning?”
“That would be great!”
“The big place connected to it is Ovation. It’s a large outdoor mall. Come on. I’ll show you. Maybe you need to do some more shopping.”
Lila giggled. “Hey, I let you buy me that t-shirt. But that’s it.”
We’ll see about that, I told myself.
My Daddy instincts had already kicked into high gear. I wanted to spoil this little cutie. But it wouldn’t be right for me just to assume such a role without talking first.
We walked around Ovation, but she didn’t see anything that caught her eye. Or, at least, she didn’t let it show if she did.
After that, we headed back to the parking garage.
“You mentioned haunted attractions,” she said. “Are there any real haunted houses or place around here? I’m guessing with a town that has this kind of history, there has to be!”
“Wanting some Halloween fun, eh?”
“Yep.”
“Oh yeah. Lots of ghost stories around here. In fact, Athena’s nursery is supposed to be haunted. Used to be owned by an actress back in the silent era. Same is true with the Daddy Guards’ mansion.”
“Uh, the Daddy Guard?”
“Yeah. We’ve talked about them, the ones who Littles call if they’re in trouble. At least, it seems we talked about them.”
“Oh yeah. That Daddy Guard. I was thinking… the other one.”
“The guys in Vegas.”
“Yep. Them. Forgot L.A. has one, too.”
“It actually started here. I’m sure you’ll be able to meet some of them at Athena’s.”
“So, their house is haunted?”
I couldn’t tell if she was just that interested in ghost stories or if she was trying to move on quickly. But I was willing to give her the benefit of the doubt on this. There were probably a lot of guys she chatted with, and it would be easy to get conversations mixed up or lose track of topics.
Plus, with the way Snap worked you couldn’t go back and re-read your messages after twenty-four hours unless you specifically save them, so it would be easy to forget about a lot.
“Well, there’s a story that—and it was last Halloween, actually—some ghosts appeared in the Guard mansion and saved Iris and the others. You’ll meet them, I’m sure.”
Lila seemed genuinely excited. “And I hope I get to tour their haunted mansion!”
“I’m sure you will. And who knows, you just might see a ghost at the nursery.”
She laughed. “I’ve heard of haunted houses and hospitals and all that, but never a whole nursery. Do the ghosts hang out in the trees and haunt the flowers and stuff?”
For some reason, she was really caught up on Athena’s plant life. Maybe she’d seen pictures of the nursery and was enamored with the beautiful grounds. Athena did take pride in those flowerbeds.
“Maybe,” I said. “One way to find out. Come on. Let’s go meet Auntie Athena.”