Evil in All Its Disguises

by Hilary Davidson

  “No. Did they tell you about Skye?”

  “Yeah. That was just awful. They said it was an accident.”

  “An accident?”

  “She fell and hit her head.” She peered at me closely. “Why, what did you hear?”

  I thought about telling her the truth and realized that would only cause her trouble. “I just heard that she was dead. I still can’t believe it.”

  “It’s unreal. Denny was crying but that creep Gavin was just like a stone statue, maybe some kind of gargoyle. I tell you, that character is a freakin’ weirdo. I’ll be damned glad to get out of here.”

  “Ruby, do you have a cell phone?”

  “No way. Those things give you brain tumors. I told Roberta she was lucky she lost hers.”

  A chill ran through my spine. “When did she lose her cell phone?”

  “She noticed it was gone after lunch. But who knows? Maybe she left it on the plane.” Ruby shrugged.

  A thousand awful ideas crowded in my head. Any notion I’d had about using Ruby’s phone went out the window. Gavin was controlling enough to spy on everyone in the hotel. Maybe Roberta really had dropped her phone somewhere, but I was certain she’d had an assist from Gavin.

  “I need you to do something for me.” I wrote down three sets of names and telephone numbers on a pad on Ruby’s desk. The irony of the customized stationery—hotel cerón was emblazoned in black at the top, along with an artist’s pen-and-ink rendering of the main building—wasn’t lost on me. “Whenever you get to a new hotel, you have to call these people.”

  “But you’re coming, too?”

  “I’d love to be wrong, but I’m not sure if that’s going to happen.” I held out the paper and Ruby took it. “The first one is a New York police detective named Bruxton—”

  “That his first or last name?”

  That got a brief smile out of me. Bruxton hated his given name, but I thought it was romantic. He shared it with a handsome leading man of the 1930s who’d died during the Second World War when Nazis shot down his plane. “Last. He’ll hang up on you if you call him by his first. Tell him what’s happened here. Then there’s my friend Jesse Robb—”

  “That’s a cute fella. Photographer, right? Looks like Gregory Peck. Not quite so fine as John Wayne, but close.”

  “Right. Just call him and tell him…” Guilt surged through me. I’d dragged Jesse into enough messes with me; if he got hurt again, as he had in Peru, I’d never forgive myself. “Tell him I’m sorry I didn’t call him back, and that I love him. The last one on the list is Martin.”

  “Your ex?”

  I nodded. “Tell him everything you tell Bruxton, but warn him that, whatever he does, he can’t come to Mexico.”

  “Why not? He’s exactly the guy who could fix Gavin’s little red wagon.”

  That was exactly what I was afraid of. Martin is an evil man. He’s going to suffer for all that he’s done. Gavin’s gray eyes were filled with fire when he’d said that.

  “It’s dangerous for him here. He’d get hurt.”

  “You sound like you’re still involved with him,” Ruby observed.

  “I thought keeping him out of my life permanently was going to be easier than it’s been, at least in the past couple of days.”

  “It’s never easy,” Ruby said. “I avoided my ex like the plague for twenty years after we divorced. Hated his guts. But the day he died, I broke down and cried like a baby.”

  That resonated with me. “Thanks for helping, Ruby.”

  “You bet.” She walked me to the door. “Hey, what do you think they’re doing with Pete?”

  That stopped me suddenly. I’d forgotten all about Pete Dukermann. “I don’t know. Nobody mentioned him.”

  “I hope they’re not moving him with the rest of us,” Ruby grumbled. “That guy has B.O.”

  He also might have a cell phone, I realized. Gavin had seen Ruby and Roberta in my room, and he knew I’d turn to them for help, but Pete was a wild card. “His room is at the end of the hallway,” I said. “I’m going to stop by and see him.”

  “I’ll come with you,” Ruby volunteered.

  “I’ll be fine.”

  “You’ve been sick. Pete’ll take advantage of that. You need a bodyguard.”

  I wasn’t going to argue with. Thanks to the way the building curved, it was impossible to see Pete’s room until we were almost there. If we’d arrived a moment later, we would have missed Gavin Stroud stepping out of the suite directly across from Pete’s, putting a key card into Pete’s door and opening it. I realized Pete hadn’t been lying when he said he’d seen Skye come out of a room near his. She’d been with Gavin, and since Pete was a surprise guest, booked into the hotel at the insistence of the New York office, he’d caught Skye off guard.

  “Gavin,” I called.

  “Didn’t I tell you to…” He caught sight of Ruby, and his perfectly chiseled features froze, except for his jaw, which had a muscle throbbing against it. He cleared his throat. “I believe you are supposed to be resting, Lily.”

  I was relieved that Gavin was still trying to keep his mask up in front of Ruby. He’d lost his inhibitions around Apolinar, Denny, and me.

  “We’re looking for Pete Dukermann,” I said. “I guess you’re visiting him.”

  “No, I…” Gavin’s eyes drifted to Ruby and color crept back into his face. He shut Pete’s door with a firm click and turned to face us directly. “I have no idea where he is, as a matter of fact. I was informed that he destroyed his room, and I came up to inspect the damage.”

  “What does he think he is, some kind of rock star?” Ruby interjected. “How bad is it?”

  “Terrible, actually. Pantheon will certainly be taking legal action against him.” Gavin ran a hand through his hair. “Why don’t you both go back to your rooms? I believe everyone else is packing right now.”

  “Please open the door, Gavin.” I spoke slowly, letting my words wash over him and watching the color trickle away from his face again. For once, my voice was calmer than his.

  “What? Don’t be silly. I can’t just let you into a guest’s room, Lily.”

  “That so?” Ruby said. “Are you running this place, or are you just someone’s errand boy?”

  If I’d stood there thinking all day, I couldn’t have come up with something more provocative to say to Gavin. His mouth opened and shut without a word, like a ventriloquist’s dummy.

  “Gavin, I’m really worried about Pete,” I said. “His marriage broke up and he’s depressed and… I’d just like to see that he’s all right.”

  “He isn’t in his room, Lily.”

  “Would you open the door? Please, Gavin?”

  “No.”

  I wondered what he’d do if Ruby wasn’t beside me, challenging him in her smart-mouthed way. Having her there was a mistake, I realized. Gavin was going to let Ruby and Roberta leave the hotel, but he could change his mind at any time.

  “Okay, Gavin. Come on, Ruby. Let’s walk back to your room.”

  “No way. I’m gonna—”

  Pete’s door opened. “I didn’t find anything else,” Apolinar said. “But I think that’s Skye’s laptop in here.”

  CHAPTER 39

  Apolinar belatedly caught sight of Ruby and me. “What are you doing here?” he demanded.

  Gavin looked at Apolinar, then back at me and Ruby. He sighed. “It doesn’t matter. Let’s all step inside.”

  Pete’s entryway was dark, but a light was on in the living room. It was a shameful mess; somehow Pete had found ways to make the room even worse than it had been that morning. The bedroom door was open and a light was on inside, but it was empty, too. The bed was unmade and there were pills on the nightstand, along with a mound of white powder that I took for cocaine. The closet doors yawned wide open, and the empty hangers looked forlorn. Pete’s clothing lay on the floor, shed like snakeskin.

  “Pete isn’t here, Lily.” Gavin’s voice was behind me. I turned and saw him leani
ng in the doorway, arms crossed. He looked like his bland, unruffled self, almost languid now.

  I stepped into the bathroom. It was empty, of course, though the signs of Pete’s drug use were even more readily apparent. The counter was littered with hypodermic needles, small bags filled with some kind of white powder, and a couple of spoons. It looked like a heroin junkie’s shooting den.

  “It appears that he has been shooting cocaine into his veins,” Gavin said. I could see him in the mirrored wall of the bathroom, standing just behind me. For once, his face wasn’t just a bland mask; suddenly it was a kaleidoscope of emotions, shifting from revulsion to contempt to fascination. “Can you imagine? What kind of maniac does a thing like that? He’s obviously out of his mind.”

  “There’s no—” I thought twice and stopped speaking. There’s no cotton was what I was about to say. The garbage bin was empty, as if Pete had consciously decided to deposit his trash everywhere except the proper receptacle. But there wasn’t any cotton on the countertop either. It was one of those tiny details that was so easy to overlook; if you didn’t know anyone who injected drugs, it would never cross your mind. But addicts didn’t just need the cotton for preparing the fix, they hoarded used cotton, because it was saturated with the drug and could be used for an emergency high.

  “There’s no what, Lily?” Gavin’s brow furrowed.

  “There’s no way one man could have all of these drugs for himself, is there? Do you think he’s a dealer?”

  “I don’t care what he is,” Gavin whispered. “When I’m through with him, it won’t matter anymore.”

  “Would you look at this place?” Ruby called. “It’s like that house on Jersey Shore.”

  Apolinar said something to her and they both laughed.

  In the mirror, I watched Gavin’s hungry, hollowed-out face, and I felt truly afraid of him for the first time. He was always Martin’s obsequious, accommodating, self-effacing creature, one who never made any demands. But that had just been a spectacularly clever disguise. Martin’s outsized ego needed to be stroked; pretending to be a lapdog was a very clever way of manipulating him. And the wolfish gleam in Gavin’s eyes told me that was exactly what he had done.

  Gavin stared back at me in the mirror. “You’re shaking like a leaf, Lily,” he murmured. He placed his hands lightly on my shoulders.

  “I’m not feeling well. I don’t know what that man injected me with, but it’s made me feel so sick. I need to go to the hospital. Please, Gavin.”

  “I’ll let you go tomorrow. After Martin gets here.”

  “Martin?” I turned face Gavin.

  “He’s on his way to Acapulco as we speak. I’m sure everything will be perfectly fine after he arrives. But before that, you’re not going anywhere.” Gavin wrapped his hand around the back of my neck and pulled me forward. He wasn’t pretending to be gentle anymore. “You have a choice, Lily.” His breath was hot against my face. “You can tell those two foolish old biddies that something is wrong. But then I’ll keep them locked in the hotel with you. Would you like that?”

  He presented it as a choice, but I had no option at all. “Please let them go. I won’t say anything to them.”

  “I’m glad to hear that. I don’t want them around.” He loosened his grip. “Do you know how I can tell that you didn’t say something to them already? They’re not intimidated by me at all. That old hellcat was willing to take me on in the hall.”

  “I don’t think anyone would believe me even if I told them.”

  “You’re probably right.” He let go of my neck and played with my hair. “I didn’t bring you down here to hurt you, you know. That was never my plan.”

  “What was your plan? Trick me to coming down here so I would be bait for Martin?”

  Gavin smiled. “Something like that.”

  “Hey!” Ruby called. “Check this out.” Both Gavin and I looked over at her. “There’s a silver computer and a black one. Apolinar says the silver one is Skye’s… was Skye’s I mean.”

  “Pete’s computer is black plastic. I saw it when I was in here this morning.” I was grateful for any excuse to get away from Gavin. I brushed past him, moving through the bedroom and peering into the living room. Pete’s laptop was still on the desk. I lifted the top and it hummed back to life. It was open to his email inbox. At the top was a message from… me. My heart missed a beat, but I caught my breath as I realized it was just my auto-reply, telling anyone who emailed me that I was on the road. Still, that meant that Pete had recently sent me a message. I clicked into the Sent folder and found it. His latest sent message had a subject line of just one word: Sorry. I clicked on it:

  Lily I’m sorry for what I did. I just couldnt see any way out after what happened with Skye. I knew youd find out sooner or later. I promise you I will never hurt anyone again

  My brain creaked along, processing the lack of proper punctuation and strange syntax. I vaguely remembered seeing missives from Pete in the past, and they looked vaguely like this. He wrote the way other people texted. But he’d never emailed me in his life, and the messages I’d seen from him had been on travel-writing boards online, and they ran along the lines of “cant wait to see everyone in aruba.” This message made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.

  “I don’t believe this,” I said. Gavin, Apolinar and Ruby were all staring at the screen of the other computer, completely mesmerized.

  “I told you,” Apolinar said. “It’s Skye’s laptop. What’s it doing in his room?”

  “I’m going to kill him,” Gavin breathed. “I’m going to spike his heart with adrenaline so he remains awake and alert as I cut him apart from limb to limb.”

  “I can’t believe he killed her. That rotten bastard,” Ruby said, fury overtaking her shock.

  “Why would he take her computer?” I asked.

  “He wanted to send messages to pretend Skye was still alive.” Apolinar said.

  I stood beside Gavin, watching his hand tap lightly over the keyboard, revealing Skye’s Facebook page and news stories she’d left open. He clicked on her email and her inbox immediately appeared. Like me, and everyone else I knew—except Martin—Skye left herself permanently logged into her account.

  What stunned me were the subject lines. Fraud at Pantheon was in the subject of several emails. I only saw it for a split second before Gavin slammed the top closed and grabbed the laptop. “Ruby,” he barked. “Go to your room and take everything you don’t want burned to the ground out of there. Apolinar, go help her.”

  She was so surprised, she didn’t even argue. “Okay.” She gave me a long look with her penciled-in eyebrows lifted to the ceiling, before exiting. “See you in the lobby, Lily.”

  Apolinar followed her out, a frown creasing his forehead. He kept his eyes down, not looking at Gavin or me.

  Gavin’s expression was as remote and detached as ever, but the laptop in his hands was almost vibrating. It was the only sign of emotion in him.

  “You don’t think Pete attacked Skye?” I asked.

  “The clues all seem to point in that direction, Lily. What other explanation is there?”

  There were a few I could scare up, starting with the real murderer wanting to cover up his tracks. I didn’t believe Pete wrote me that bizarre note of apology, and I didn’t think it would be hard to set him up. On the other hand, there were the marks on his arms that made it clear he’d been in some kind of battle.

  Gavin’s voice went on. “The drugs in the room where Skye was found. Her computer in his room. Pete’s arrest.”

  “What arrest?”

  Gavin blinked. “Didn’t your friends at the New York Police Department tell you Pete had been arrested for beating his wife?”

  “No!” I don’t know why the news startled me, but it shook me to my core.

  “I suppose that’s why he came running down to Mexico,” Gavin mused. He turned to me. “We’re going to your room, and I’m taking your computer.”

  “Like you took m
y cell phone?”

  That made him smile. He was enjoying this. “There will be a guard posted at your door. You will stay in your room, or I’ll find somewhere to keep you. I promise you, you’ll find that latter option far less pleasant.”

  The whitewashed facade had dropped, and now even Gavin was admitting the truth: The Hotel Cerón was a prison, he was my jailer, and I was completely trapped.

  CHAPTER 40

  Without any more words between us, Gavin marched me back to my suite at the opposite end of the hallway. He snatched up my laptop but froze when he saw the pair of Frakker’s guides.

  “Where the hell did you get that?” he demanded.

  That? I thought. There were two books. Which one was he fixating on? “From Skye,” I admitted.

  He grabbed both and piled them onto the computer. Then he waited silently until another man showed up to stand guard duty. Even without words, I could read the ruthless determination in Gavin’s face. Whatever course he’d charted, he was following it through.

  After he left, I turned and slid my back against the door until I collapsed on the floor. All the time I’d been afraid for Skye, worrying that she’d been kidnapped by people who wanted to get to Martin, it had never occurred to me that I might be used as a pawn for the same reason. In my own mind, the end of my relationship with Martin was so final and irrevocable that the idea of using me as a bargaining chip was preposterous. What was your plan? Trick me to coming down here so I would be bait for Martin? I’d been incredulous as I’d said those words to Gavin, but he’d been smugly superior as he answered, Something like that.

  He understood something about Martin that I’d willed myself to forget. For all of his countless faults, Martin had one impressive virtue, which was a dogged devotion to the people he loved. It didn’t mean that his behavior was impeccable; Martin was entirely capable of lying to his loved ones, misleading them, even cheating on them. But he would never abandon them. I’d known that when I’d decamped to Spain. I’d left him in the lurch, planning our wedding and then never coming home. I’d known he would come after me, and he had. Even though I’d never acknowledged it, I’d wanted to test just how deep his devotion ran. Now I knew.