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Checking out of the hotel was a calculated risk When the bodies were found, the cops would be sure to look at the guest list and who had left when Our departing this late at night ht draw some unwanted attention, but I wasn’t overly concerned I could always manufacture some reason for e’d had to leave in the ency, a problem at the Pork Pit Besides, I doubted the cops would look too hard at us After all, ere tomen How could we possibly have had the brawn and brains to kill four men and dispose of their bodies in the pool? And the fact was that we si ducks for more of Dekes’s istration desk without any probleot the night belle onto another cart - one that hadn’t been used to haul around dead bodies The clerk behind the counter was a college girl who looked barely old enough to drink
"Are you arriving or departing?" she asked in a voice that ay too perky for this late at night
"Checking out," I said,her chipper tone "The hospitality wasn’t quite what I had in ht be a fewin the lobby to help Pete just in case we got past him, but the area was as quiet and empty as the pool on the back side of the hotel had been That didn’t h, as I stepped outside at the front of the building Behind e The valet on night duty was slumped over a podium, his white linen jacket draped over his shoulders like a blanket He jerked awake at the sound of our footsteps and the wheels of the cart rolling across the cobblestones I palmed one of my silverstone knives, just in case he was part of Dekes’s crew, recognized us, and decided to do so stupid like scream
But the valet just blinked at us with sleep-crusted eyes He didn’t knoe were, and he didn’t care He started to get up, but I marched over and scanned the rows of keys on thefor n The dollar sign wasn’t a rune in this case, not really, but it was still one of Finn’s favorite sy Finn’s keys off the board "We’ve got it We’re in a bit of a hurry, so just tell e is"
The valet started to protest, but the hundred bucks I slipped hih for hione back to his half doze before we’d rounded the side of the building The dark opening of the garage waited up ahead
"Careful now," I told Bria in a low voice "Let uy or tn here, waiting in a car to drive Pete and the others back to whatever hole they crawled out of"
Bria nodded, leaving the luggage cart at the entrance, and I stepped in front of her Together, we eased into the parking garage All around me, the concrete let out low, uneasy mutters Even here at an upscale hotel, the stone resonated with sharp notes of fear, worry, and paranoia Not surprising Most people didn’t like parking garages, since they were great places to getbehind the thick concrete posts or in the ht shadows that filled in the spaces between the rows of luxury cars That didn’t h
Because Finn’s convertible was a mess
The windshield had been hit in at least three places with a baseball bat or tire iron, and deep, jagged cracks crisscrossed the glass like the thick, silvery threads of a spider’s web The side mirrors had been knocked off, the radio had been busted, and the leather seats had been ripped to ribbons Dents covered the car’s hood, while scrapes sliced down the sides where someone had used his key on the slick silver paint
Looked like so, and the four dead men had decided to bust it up for fun before they came up to the suite and did the sa to freak when he sees this"
Freak was an understate about how he’d lent us his brand-new baby, and we’d gotten it busted up in less than twenty-four hours Although that was so of a record, even for me
"Well," I said "At least they didn’t slash the tires too Let’s go"
I retrieved the cart and threw our luggage in the backseat before shoving the now-ee Then I helped Bria brush the broken bits of glass, metal, and plastic out of the front seats as best we could Five h the open iron gate at the edge of the hotel grounds and stopped just outside it
"Where to?" she asked
"The Sea Breeze"
Bria looked at me, her eyes full of worry "You think that Dekes sent soiven what I heard Pete say outside the roo after Callie tomorrow, but there’s only one way to be sure"
Bria put her foot down on the gas, and we left the Blue Sands hotel behind, with evenon the road in front of us
Bria steered the convertible toward Callie’s restaurant We were the only car on the road, and only the steady whoosh-whoosh-whoosh of the tires on the paveht was dark and eerily quiet Trees crowded up to the very edge of the narroo-lane road and then arched and twisted over it, blocking out everything but a s aved back and forth like skeleton fingers in the constant breeze, while the swarass and cattails undulated in perfect ti surface of the water Every once in a while, the convertible’s cracked headlights would catch an ani in the marshes on either side of the road, and its eyes would flash like fiery rubies before we zoomed past
It seemed to take forever, but it was only a few minutes later e pulled into the sandy lot that fronted the Sea Breeze The weathered structure was dark inside and locked up tight for the night, although a lone streetlight burned at the edge of the road Mosquitoes and other bugs buzzed around the harsh glare, theirtwisted shadows across the landscape<ins class="adsbygoogle" style="display:block" data-ad-client="ca-pub-7451196230453695" data-ad-slot="9930101810" data-ad-format="auto" data-full-width-responsive="true"></ins>