“His name is Gumdrop?” Ryan asked.
“Yes, but also try Gummie.” If Gumdrop didn’t want to be found, nothing you called him would help.
“Gummie? Gummie? Where are you?” whispered Ryan as he crept around the room, gingerly avoiding stepping on any possible evidence, even stepping around the vacuum cleaner tracks on the carpet. He got down on his hands and knees and looked under the bed.
“A-ha! There you are,” said Ryan. “Come on out.” Ryan reached under the bed and tried to grab the cat.
A long hiss came from under the bed. Ryan quickly withdrew his hand and retreated.
“I don’t think your cat likes me.” This was not surprising, given Gummie’s recent bad attitude about many things, including being forced to do something he didn’t want to do.
“It looks like Gumdrop scratched you,” Tessa said. Drops of blood trailed across Ryan’s wrist.
In a typical mom move, Tessa whipped out a tissue and a Band-Aid, ready to administer first aid.
“No, I’m fine, really. I don’t need anything. It’s just a little nick.”
Tessa grabbed his hand and applied the Band-Aid. You did not say no to Tessa.
“Look, I’m going to walk away,” Ryan said, pressing his Band-Aid down and nodding a thanks to Tessa. “I’m just heading downstairs. I don’t want to see you going in the room. Just make sure you close the door when you leave. And take the cat, nothing else.”
Standing in the doorway of the room, I pulled Gummie’s carrier-cum-tote bag toward me. Val had tossed a couple of cans of cat food into the bag. I pulled a can out and popped off the lid. Immediately, at that distinctive snick sound of the can’s seal releasing, Gumdrop was at my feet. Gummie may not come when he is called, but he certainly never misses a meal. I grabbed the cat and stuffed him in the carrier along with the can of food.
“Ugh, Gumdrop. I need to put you on a diet,” I said, lugging him down the hall as Tessa closed the door and double-checked the lock.
“Yelllloooo” was Gumdrop’s only response.
We found Ryan by the front desk. “Here you are, Marie, these are the guests who need a new room for a few nights.”
“Okay ladies, what we’ve got here is a situation. The hotel is completely sold out. Like there are no rooms.” Marie was typing and talking at the same time, and it was a challenge for her.
“Yes, I see. Usually that is what ‘completely sold out’ means—that there are no rooms,” I said—I admit it—sarcastically. I was tired and cranky at this point and ready for bed. Any bed. Well, maybe not any bed.
“But…I’ve got this one room—”
“We’ll take it.” We held our hands out for the key card. I hoped we weren’t about to move into a broom closet.
“I’ve got to get back on duty. I’m glad you both are safe,” Ryan said. Then turning to me, he said, “See you tomorrow?”
“Oh, yes. See you then,” I said, half-wishing I was heading upstairs with him instead of Tessa.
“Enjoy your stay,” said Marie, as she slid the tiny envelope containing the key card across the counter toward us with a smile. “Tenth floor.”
The key card was marked with a big number ten, but Marie hadn’t told us a room number.
“How are we going to know which room is ours?” I asked Tessa as the elevator, as chilly as ever, whisked us past floor after floor.
The elevator’s doors clunked open, revealing one door at the end of a short hallway. We slid the key card in and out of the reader, and pushed the door open.
Tessa and I stood in stunned silence, looking into the room. How could we have possibly ended up here?
“Definitely not a broom closet,” Tessa said, breaking the silence.
I was astounded by the gorgeous room in front of us. It was exquisite, filled with elegant mahogany furniture, and a vibrant Oriental rug in greens and blues. A wet-bar stood along one wall, and there was a gorgeous view of the city expanding before us behind floor-to-ceiling windows.
“I sure hope we’re not paying for this,” I said, looking at the rate card posted on the inside of the door. “Because if we have to pay, you’ll need to sell off your first-born child.”
“Selling her off sounds like a pretty good idea. And my second-born, too,” Tessa said, collapsing on the sofa.
“I fully agree. I actually think if you have the opportunity to sell off both of your daughters to settle our hotel bill, we could give them a pretty good deal. Maybe two for the price of one?” I said as I looked around the luxurious suite. I stepped into the bathroom. It was tiled with luscious crema marfil tile and finished with brushed nickel hardware. Plush sage-green towels, many more than we could use, were stacked in an alcove near an oversized claw-footed tub.
“Oh, my, Tessa, you’re going to have to see this,” I said, leaning out of the bathroom door. “It’s the most beautiful bathroom I’ve ever seen.” There was another door that led to a bedroom with two elegant queen-sized beds. Each was covered in so many layers of quilts and pillows I’d almost need a ladder to crawl on top of it.
“Tessa? This sure beats our old room with its shabby bedspreads and stained carpet,” I said, laughing with astonishment. I turned around to see if I had succeeded in cheering up Tessa. I found her fast asleep, head tipped back on the sofa cushions. I removed her shoes and flopped her down on the couch. I wasn’t going to try and get her into a bed. I found a soft wool blanket in the closet and covered her up. “Goodnight, Tessa. Tomorrow will be a better day.”
TWENTY-THREE
I BORROWED TESSA’S PHONE and called Val to tell her where our new room was. She was at our door a few minutes later.
“Are you going to tell me what you’ve been up to?” I said as I let Val in.
“Luke was super nice.” Of course he was. “And he bought me a drink,” Val said, sashaying into the room. “And then we—”
“Val, I don’t want to hear about it.”
“Niiiiice. Who’d you have to sleep with to get this room?” Val asked with a little wink. “That super hot security guy?”
“I’m not going to talk about that. And it’s not like you’ve got any moral superiority. You’ve been dating Rudy, and now you’re out with Luke, having drinks and doing who knows what—”
“I’m not dating Rudy. It’s platonic. You know what that means, right? It’s the same thing I tried to tell Bruno.”
I stood there, looking at her blankly. I’d never heard her say she was having a relationship with a man that didn’t involve sleeping with him.
“You know, Jax? Platonic, as in just a friend, like you and me.”
“Yes, Val, I know what platonic means. It’s just surprising. I didn’t think you had friends who are guys. And Luke, what’s the story with him?”
“Luke, he’s a passionate man. He needs someone like me to be passionate with him.”
“Val, I don’t want to hear about it.”
“Oh no! Where’s Gumdrop?” Val asked, looking around. “You didn’t leave him behind in the old room, did you?”
“Of course not. He’s already curled up on my bed.”
“Where do I get to sleep? Looks like Tessa’s already got the sofa,” Val said, noticing Tessa passed out on the couch.
“There’s a bedroom with two queen beds. Take the one without the cat.”
With her leopard print overnight bag on her shoulder, Val headed into the room.
“Time for bed,” said Val, peering out the door at me. “You need some beauty sleep.”
“I look that bad, huh?”
“Oh, nothing a few hours of rest can’t cure.”
In her pink satin nightie, Val stood at the bathroom mirror taking off her makeup. My tinted lip balm and mascara had worn off hours ago. She finished her beauty regimen, got in bed, and pulled on her zebra-print eye mask.
“Night-night, honey.”
“Good night, Val.” It was quiet and dark in the room, but I couldn’t sleep. My beauty sleep, or any kind of sleep,
was going to have to wait.
I slid out of bed and into my jeans.
TWENTY-FOUR
I DIDN’T KNOW what to expect in Le Bar so late at night. I hoped some of my friends from the bazaar would be there. It would be nice to have a drink and chat with someone—and not the kind of chat that Detective Houston liked to have.
There was one person in the bar, and while he wasn’t my favorite person in the world, he might just have some answers for me. Sal.
“Uh, hi, Sal,” I said, coming up behind him. He turned, surprised, and then his face turned from surprise to lecherous delight.
“Coming to find me, eh? You wanna go back to my trailer?” he asked.
“Look, Sal, it’s not what you think. I was trying to see if any of my friends might be down here. And instead, it’s just…you.”
“Oh baby, you’re just being shy now,” Sal said, beckoning me to sit next to him at the low slung table next to the bar’s balcony railing.
“Just hold on, Sal.” I sat down across the table from him, well out of arm’s reach. I might as well make use of this time, since I had several questions for Sal.
“Here, lemme buy you a drink. Whaddya want?” Sal asked, getting up and heading to the bar.
“Nothing, I’m fine.”
“Suit yourself,” Sal said. He ordered and paid for his drink, then slid back into his seat with a new double bourbon in his hand. Sal looked like a bullfrog, half-lidded eyes staring straight ahead, not moving, but not uncomfortable either. Just sitting, perhaps waiting for a fly to zoom past. I was hoping I wasn’t the fly. He’d definitely cooled to me now that he knew I wasn’t in the bar looking for a late night hook up.
I looked over the railing and down to the lobby below. Ryan was standing by the ballroom door and talking with another security guard. He glanced up and saw me. And Sal.
“Jax?” Ryan said, staring at us in disbelief.
“Really Ryan, it’s not what it looks like,” I said in a panic. This was the last thing I needed, for Ryan to see me here with Sal.
“It sure is what it looks like,” Sal said, scooting his chair around to my side of the table and trying to put his arm around me. “Sorry, pal, she came looking for me. You’re missing out.”
I looked at Ryan with bulging eyes and mouthed the words, “No, no, no.”
“What’s going on up there?” Ryan demanded.
“I came here to see if I could have a drink and talk to some friends, but nobody was here except Sal. I have some questions for him, but he thinks I have other things on my mind.”
“Oh, yes. We were just heading out to my RV,” Sal lied, wriggling an eyebrow.
“Jax? You’re going to his RV?” Ryan asked.
“No.”
“Fine, you want to ask me something, then do it. Otherwise I’m going back to my trailer to watch the Playboy Channel.”
Ryan bounded up the stairs to the bar. He wanted to be a part of this discussion.
“Aren’t you supposed—” I gestured toward the ballroom door below.
“I left Paul down there to take care of things. He’s our new guy. I think he can handle it for a while. And besides, what else could go wrong?” That was a motto I did not want to explore. What else could go wrong? Another dead body, perhaps?
Ryan pulled up a chair between me and Sal.
“Hey, what’s happening here? I was talking with the lady.” Sal pushed Ryan away. “Hey, Jax, let’s get out of here. I liked it when you came to my RV with that babe. She was a cop, right? I’d sure be happy if she—”
Ryan looked over at me, eyes wide. “You’ve been to his RV?”
I ignored Ryan’s question. “Sal, I’m not going anywhere with you. I need to know a couple things. You want the crime scene tape removed and things back to normal at the bazaar? The best way to do that is to help the police—to help us—with the murder investigation.”
“Yeah, all right, all right.”
“Can I ask you about Saundra’s class—the one that was canceled? When she didn’t show up for class, was everyone angry?”
“Yeah, those bead ladies, they can get nasty,” Sal said, tossing back his drink. “Look, I was pissed off. The broads were angry, too. And like I told you before, Luke was the worst of them—threatened to sue me. I told him to get out of my face. He lost a lot of money, but I couldn’t help him, ya know? You want to check out someone as a murderer, you should look at Luke.”
“And you, you lost money too?” I asked.
“Six grand, and believe me, I needed that money. I’d already paid for the hotel and the conference room, so I didn’t get that money back. It was a dead loss.” Sal stopped, clearly realizing he needed to say something that wouldn’t incriminate him. “But, the money I lost, Saundra said she’d make it up to me, that she’d teach a free workshop. Even gave me a contract for the next class—she was droppin’ her fee.”
I had witnessed that transaction when I first arrived to set up my table. Sal and Saundra had a heated discussion, and then Sal left with an envelope. It must have been the contract for the make-up class. It looked like Sal may not have been Saundra’s killer, but what about the other dead body found just hours ago? I decided to ask, although I didn’t know how much longer Sal would be willing to talk with us.
“What do you know about Carl Shulman?” I asked.
“Never heard of the guy.”
“Carl had your keychain with him when Ryan saw him last.” I wanted to see if Sal already knew if Carl was dead. Maybe he’d reveal something that would tell us that he was the guard’s killer.
“So? Everybody’s got my stupid key chain. Free promotions.”
“Carl is dead, Sal,” Ryan said.
“Ah, crap—” said Sal.
“Did you know him?” I asked.
“Nah. But it sucks that the guy’s dead.” Sal reached toward his forehead with one hand. I swear he was going to make the sign of the cross. Instead, he scratched his nose, likely realizing that he wouldn’t look like a tough guy if he did something so overtly religious. “Sorry you got another dead guy to deal with. But, you know, I’m hoping you can take care of this quietly. Another dead body ain’t good for sales. You gotta know I make a percentage from every vendor. More sales, more money in my pocket.”
“I know, because I’m one of your vendors,” I said. I would never work with him again and I wished I hadn’t made so much money this weekend. Less for me would mean less for Sal.
“Yeah, I know that. The dead guy—he was a vendor?”
“A security guard,” Ryan said. “He worked with me.”
“Look, Sal, if you know anything, it’s important you tell us. You don’t want any more cops around here spoiling the buyers’ moods,” I said.
“I got nothing else for you, I’m outta here.” Sal stood, pushing his chair back so forcefully that it nearly toppled over backward.
Ryan and I were left alone in the bar. “That was quite an impressive bit of questioning you did back there. Maybe you should consider a career in law enforcement,” Ryan said.
“No, not me. I can barely keep myself and my cat in line. Trying to enforce order on any more than that would be too much of a responsibility.”
“I could see why Sal wanted you to come into his RV. I’d let you into my RV anytime.”
“You own an RV?” I was hoping his answer would be no.
“No.” What a relief. “Can I show you something spectacular?” Ryan asked me.
“Sure, what is it?” I was hoping that what I was about to see did not involve him removing any clothing because he was becoming impossible to resist.
“It’s more like where is it?”
Ryan took my hand and guided me to a service elevator behind the bar’s drink preparation area. He pressed the glowing button next to the doors. Once we were inside, Ryan pressed RT.
“RT?”
“It stands for Really Terrific. It’s the most terrific floor in the whole building.”
When th
e elevator stopped, the doors slid open abruptly, revealing a tiny roof-top garden. Of course, RT meant roof-top. On all sides, we could see the city of Portland: lights of office buildings, houses, the river and its bridges, and tiny boats with their lights bobbing. The sky was clear, and overhead, we could see a dome of stars and a round golden moon illuminating the garden with a soft glow. We said nothing as we sat on a wooden bench in the center of the garden, potted rose bushes on either side of us.
“It’s beautiful here,” I said.
“You’re beautiful, too.”
“Ryan, you really know how to charm a lady,” I said, looking out at the city sparkling in front of me.
“You mean, it’s working?”
“Yes, you’re definitely becoming one of my favorite things about Portland,” I said. “After the coffee. And the hipsters. And—”
“Jax, will you just be quiet for minute so I can kiss you?”
I said nothing. And he kissed me. A tingle ran down my spine.
“Wow. That was nice, I mean, wow,” I stammered.
“Shhh,” Ryan said, kissing me again.
“I could get used to this.”
“Me, too,” said Ryan. “But…”
“What?”
“I need to get back to Paul. I don’t want to leave him alone for too long on his first day—or night—on the job. Let me escort you to your door. It’s only down a flight of stairs from where we are,” said Ryan, standing and playfully offering me his hand, like a proper suitor.
Time to go back to my beautiful penthouse room and sleep with Gumdrop while I listened to the buzzing of Val’s lady-like snores.
TWENTY-FIVE
I WOKE UP ON Sunday morning to the sound of someone knocking on the door of our suite. I shrugged on the hotel’s fluffy white robe, hustled to the door, and looked through the peephole. When I saw Ryan’s handsome face, I let him in.
A Bead in the Hand (Glass Bead Mystery Series Book 2) Page 13