An Unpleasant Surprise
Chapter thirty-two
Alex
The weeks go by and everyone falls into the routine of keeping this hotel running.
We’re a well-oiled machine at this point.
Jake spends most of his time in the gardens, but I’ve seen him venture further out beyond the gates to clear some of the overgrown brush.
We spend our nights together cuddled in whatever room we crash in.
He’s spending less time in room three, which I’m thankful for.
The west wing, once restricted, is back open, but that room remains off limits to guests.
Frankie comes and goes, popping in whenever she feels like gracing us with her presence. I offered her a room here, because let’s face it, we’re still nowhere at capacity. She declined because, and I quote, “haunted houses are scary.” Yeah, man, that’s the point! Whatever.
Hiring Brandon as manager of this hotel is one of the best things I’ve ever done, though.
The guests love him, and he loves their attention.
The reviews keep pouring in, all speaking highly of the new manager slash soon to be number one bestselling science fiction author Brandon Sinclair.
He’s even made business cards with little dinosaurs and spaceships on them.
Seth has been around less lately, deciding to spend some time with Granny Brooks and seeing a therapist. I know that’s something I can’t provide here at the hotel, but I’m starting to miss him. I know he’ll be back though; he can’t seem to stay away from Brandon for long.
Overall, things are going good. Too good. I can’t help but feel the other shoe is about to drop somehow. I don’t trust how quiet it’s been.
I wander into the lobby to find Brandon, but for once he’s not there.
Recently he’s been attached to that desk like he’s trying to earn employee of the month.
I look in the living room next. Empty. I eventually find him in the kitchen, sitting at the island eating lunch. He gives me a nod as I enter.
“I wanted to talk to you about putting in a pool. Do you think that would get us more business? Do guests like swimming?” I look at his sandwich. "What are you eating?" I don’t understand exactly what I’m seeing. He finishes his bite before he answers.
“Club sandwich, bro! It’s got ham, mayo, mustard, ketchup, sliced cheese, lettuce and jalapenos.” I look down at it again and squint.
“I’m not seeing anything that resembles ham in there,” I say.
He looks down at the half-eaten sandwich and studies it for a long minute before throwing it on his plate. “Oh dang, must be why it tasted funny.”
I give him a look of disgust. “Yeah, that’s why it tasted funny.” He slides off his chair and hurries over to the fridge, pulling out the container of ham with a smile.
“So, pool?” I remind him. “What do you think?”
He carefully pulls his sandwich apart to insert the ham before he replies.
“Well little dude, it would be pretty chill to have a pool for sure, but I don’t know about the logistics.
It gets cold in New York, so it would only be open four, maybe five months out of the year.
Unless you got a pool heater I guess, but that’s a lot of extra dough and I don’t know if it would be fiscally responsible right now.
We'd probably need to increase occupancy by ten percent before it makes sense.”
I try to hide my surprise. “Well argued, that makes sense. Okay, we’ll keep it on the back burner for now. Thanks Brandon,” I say and head towards the door.
“Any time!” He says around a mouthful of what, to him, passes for a sandwich. I gag.
As I head back into the lobby, a car pulls up outside the hotel.
Ooh, new guests? It’s early fall and we don’t have many at the moment, but hopefully we get more during the winter rush.
I peek out one of the front windows. As I watch the driver get out of the car my mind goes blank.
Big. Scary. Tattoos. That’s the guy that chopped up Alexei and buried his bones by the shed.
Damn him for that, does he even know how much trouble that caused?
I watch in shock as he looks around at the landscaping before walking in.
“This place looks like less of a shithole than last time I was here,” he says in that thick accent I begrudgingly find sexy.
He’s a psycho, Alex. He chops people up for a living.
That can’t be sexy, can it? I look around and don’t see Jake anywhere.
I hope he didn’t spot this guy and run for the hills. My man is skittish, and rightfully so.
I straighten to my full five foot and a quarter inch, trying to intimidate this guy. “What the fuck are you doing here? What’s your name, psycho?” I cross my arms over my chest, menacingly, and await his reply.
“Sasha. I know you saw me last time I was here.” He crosses his arms too, and I swallow hard. The flex of his muscles really makes those prison tats pop.
“Oh, you mean when you were chopping up the remains of your friend? I remember. What are you doing back here? You’re not welcome.”
He raises his hands in surrender. “I’m not here to fight, I’m here with a warning—”
My gasp cuts him off. “Oh no you don’t! You don’t get to come in here and threaten this hotel, or Jake, or—”
“Be quiet, you will give me a headache with your squeaky voice,” he says.
“No, I am here to give you a warning. Mr. Covington sent me here to kill Jake. He has caused too much trouble by running away from his marriage arrangement. Now that he is… dead? Mr. Covington is in hot water with very powerful people that were expecting this merger to go through. He’s planning on taking this hotel back, by force if you don’t cooperate. ”
“Why are you telling me this?” I ask, suspicious of his motives.
“I do not like the way he handles business. He’s losing control, and he’s becoming increasingly erratic.
He’s terrified he’ll be killed if he can’t deliver what he promised.
The cops have been sniffing around more, too, and his influence only goes so far.
I don’t want to kill Jake, and Mr. Covington will punish me severely if I disobey. I don't want to go back to him.”
“You didn’t seem to mind messy when you were playing with Andrei’s entrails.”
“I enjoyed that very much, yes. He was a bastard, and what he did to people, I do not approve of,” Sasha replies with a look of disgust on his face.
“Oh okay, so some light money laundering is okay, a dash of murder, a sprinkle of torture and dismemberment. All good. You draw the line at, what, rape? Why?” I still don’t buy what Sasha’s selling.
His expression goes dark as he nods. “Among other things, yes. My job is to hurt people that deserve it, and I enjoy it very much. Seeing young kids get hurt that have done nothing wrong? I don’t like it.
Andrei has been out of control for a long time, and he got what was coming to him.
I wish I could have been the one to do it. ”
“So, you’re one of the good bad guys.”
He runs a hand through his hair in frustration. “You are impossible. Listen, I just wanted to let you know what Mr. Covington was planning, so you can be prepared. Take it or leave it.”
“Well, we’re aware and can take care of him, so don’t worry about that. You can leave now, thanks.” I motion towards the door he’s still standing in front of.
“You cannot.” He looks at me pointedly, considering his next words.
“Please, let me help you. I have access to financial records, copies of bank transfers, access to shell corporations. I know where bodies are hidden on this property. I’ve been keeping records for years, just in case.
He’s insane, spends all day talking nonsense. I don’t want to go down with him.”
He pauses, looking like he’s considering his next words carefully. “He thinks you and Jake are… ghosts?”
I gape at him. Sasha winces and scratches his head. "Is possible there was a translation issue. I am not so good with… metaphors. Or English apparently. I’ve lived here many years but mostly am around other Russians."
"No, you heard right. I'm a ghost. So is Jake."
I’m still in shock, trying to process what he’s told me.
Mr. Covington is threatening to kill Jake.
Fuck! I have to find him. My timeline for Operation Jake’s Dad Is Cancelled has just moved up significantly.
I can’t lose Jake; it’s not an option. I will do anything to keep him safe.
We got lucky this time that he sent Sasha and not someone who would actually try to follow through.
He knows we’re ghosts, I just hope he doesn’t actually know how to kill us.
My mind spirals and I forget that Sasha is still standing there until he reaches out a finger and pokes me in the cheek.
“Are you sure you’re a ghost? Why are you solid?”
I sputter and bat his hand away. “I’m a battery,” I say distractedly.
“What does that mean?”
“I charge dude, I don’t know! Stop talking, I need to think.” I rub my temples. “I don’t need this shit right now.”
“I can help you,” Sasha says when I remain silent, thinking.
I don’t know if I have the capacity to travel off this property, and I don’t want to try it only to get stuck somewhere.
I also don’t know if I’ll be able to lure Mr. Covington back here myself after the way we ambushed him last time.
Having Sasha would be a great help, as long as he’s not a double agent or something.
“Are you a spy?” I ask, glaring at him.
“No, I’m not a spy, or secret agent, or police, anything like that. I just want to help. I’m too old to deal with all of this. I was brought into the family when I was a small boy. I never had a choice before. But now, I just want to lay low. Maybe take up painting.”
“With people’s blood?” I ask dumbly.
He smirks. “I like you.”
“I have a boyfriend. How old are you anyway?”
“Thirty-two.”
“Holy shit, you’re ancient. No wonder you’re ready to retire,” I tell him with all the sarcasm I can muster.
“Please. This place looks old, surely it must need some maintenance. Put me to work, I promise I will make it worth your time.”
I sigh. He’s cute when he begs, and right now he looks a lot younger than his thirty-two.
“Okay, you can stay for now. But you’re staying in the basement. There are a few rooms down there that probably used to be dungeons. It’s cold and it leaks a lot, so you’ll probably have to sleep in a mud puddle.”
“This is acceptable. I’ve slept in worse conditions,” he says.
Fuck. I really shouldn’t warm up to this guy, but he’s part of the same family that abused Jake so badly. He probably has slept in worse conditions.
“Okay, I’m going to trust you because I need to protect Jake. If you do anything, and I mean anything, to displease me I’m going to bail Kayla out of jail early and let her turn your brain into soup. Do we have an understanding?”
He reaches his hand out, and I reluctantly shake it. “We have an understanding.”
“Good. Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to find my boyfriend and cuddle him before I give him the bad news. I’m sure you can figure out your way to the basement.”