QUINN
“How do you want it?”
“Hard and fast,” Dan said in a raw voice. “I don’t want to think.”
“Love you too,” Dan replied. “That helped a lot, but now I’m sticky.”
“Best shower ever.” Dan sounded sleepy but relaxed.
Quinn wrapped a towel around his own hips and took the other towel from Dan so he could dry him off, enjoying the contact.
Dan took his time drying Quinn, emerging warm and sleepy. He settled on the couch while Quinn made hot chocolate for both of them and came to join him.
“This is perfect. Thank you.” Dan carefully sipped the treat.
“I hope you can sleep well tonight.” Quinn sat close enough their knees bumped. “Things can look much more hopeful with a good night’s sleep.”
Quinn woke first. He checked his schedule and realized his calendar was open aside from routine tasks. He dressed, made coffee, and started cooking eggs and toast while Dan got ready.
“That smells fantastic.” Dan poured cups of java and took them to the table. “You take good care of me.”
“You’re worth it.” Quinn grabbed the toast from the toaster and plated the rest of the food.
“I don’t have anything going on this morning, so I thought maybe we could go over to the hotel and grab what you need before I go to work,” Quinn said as they dug into their food.
“That way you aren’t going over by yourself, you can decide what you want to bring, and you can spend the day while I’m gone getting settled. ”
Dan looked relieved. “Thank you. I was trying to figure out how to make that happen. Are you sure it’s okay for me to stay here?”
Quinn met his gaze. “More than okay. Either short-term or for good. We’ll figure that out as we go. Plus, I’ll feel better knowing you’re safe.”
After they finished eating, they headed over to Dan’s hotel room in Quinn’s truck. Just a few feet from the door, Dan stopped and held out a hand to keep Quinn from moving forward.
“What’s wrong?” Quinn tried to see around Dan.
“Wally has a bad feeling, like someone’s been here,” Dan said.
Quinn reached out to his nature spirits but didn’t get a clear reading in a building with so many strangers. He trusted Dan’s instincts, and they advanced slowly. Quinn hadn’t brought his Sig since he wasn’t going straight to the forest, and now he regretted the decision to leave it at home.
“Look,” Dan said in a hushed tone, pointing to the door. Quinn could see scratches around the lock, like it had been picked.
He motioned for Dan to follow him, and they backed down the hallway, then retreated to the parking lot.
“I’m not going to take the chance someone’s in there, waiting,” Quinn said. “We should call the sheriff.”
“Okay.” Dan sounded shaky. “And once we know what’s going on, I’ll call the rental agent and see if I can use the delay to break my lease for the house.” He managed a wan smile. “I’m glad you came with me.”
“So am I.” Quinn was relieved that he had listened to his instincts. To Armel’s credit, the sheriff arrived quickly, accompanied by a patrol officer.
“Someone picked your lock? Anything missing?” Armel asked as he strode up.
“We didn’t go inside,” Dan said. “No idea if anything got taken.”
“Good move,” Armel replied approvingly. “No need to possibly make a bad situation worse by surprising the thief.”
Quinn and Dan followed the sheriff and the officer back to the hotel room. They took pictures and dusted for prints, donning evidence-handling gloves.
“We’ll go in first and make sure there aren’t any nasty surprises,” Armel said. “Wait here, but go down the hall a bit, away from the door, just in case.”
Quinn guessed that the sheriff had already alerted the front desk, since no one came to see what was going on.
“Don’t touch anything,” Armel told them when he emerged a few minutes later.
“It doesn’t look ransacked, and the electronics weren’t taken, but you’ll be a better judge about whether you were robbed.
” He paused. “We also scanned for listening devices, trackers, and hidden cameras. Didn’t find any, but figured you’d want to know that we checked. ”
Dan and Quinn followed the sheriff into Dan’s room and looked around. Quinn stuck close, guessing how stressful this had to be for his partner.
“Anything missing?” Quinn asked.
Dan shook his head. “Not that I can tell without opening drawers.”
Armel handed him a pair of gloves. “Use these. Don’t touch anything barehanded.”
They made another circuit of the room. Quinn kept his phone camera handy in case anything needed to be documented, but Dan found the contents of the drawers and closet to be in place.
“Why would someone break in and not take anything?” he mused. “Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad they didn’t rob me blind. But what did they hope to find?”
“You,” Quinn guessed. “Unless there’s something you have in your car or in your pockets that would be worth the risk.”
Dan frowned. “Just my wallet and car keys. I’m wearing the pendants that Amy gave me, but I can’t imagine those being what the thief was after.”
Armel walked up to them. “We got a couple of prints from around the doorknob, and we’ll run them through the system, but I’m doubting they’re from the intruder.
We’ll also check the hotel’s security cameras to see if they caught anything.
The security here is somewhat antiquated, but it’s worth looking.
Since the person who did this seemed to know what they were doing, they probably didn’t show themselves or leave their fingerprints, but sometimes thieves get sloppy.
I’ll let you know when we have results.” He paused.
“I’d suggest not staying here, at least for a few days. Just in case.”
“He’s coming home with me,” Quinn said. “Safety in numbers.”
Armel nodded. “Good. I’ll give you a report and talk with the hotel manager.
Remind them again it’s time to change these locks.
Who knows, maybe they’ll give you a discount.
” He glanced toward the hallway ceiling.
“I don’t see any security cameras here, but we can also check the traffic cams and maybe pick up a lead. ”
“Do you think this has anything to do with the bounty hunter?” Dan asked.
Armel shrugged. “Maybe, but we don’t know enough details to say for sure. It’s one hell of a coincidence, so stay on the safe side by assuming it is until we can rule that out.”
To Quinn’s relief, Armel volunteered to leave the officer with them while Dan threw his clothing into a suitcase and gathered the rest of his things, most of which still hadn’t been unpacked.
The deputy kept watch while they got a luggage cart and took loads down to Quinn’s truck, which made both Quinn and Dan feel safer. If the would-be thief was staking out the hotel, Quinn didn’t want to be surprised.
“That’s the last of things,” Dan said as they put the final bag into the truck. “Thank you for sticking around,” he told the officer.
“Sorry you had this happen,” the man replied. “Not a great welcome to Fox Hollow.”
“That’s okay.” Dan managed a wan smile. “I’ve got somewhere to go.”
The patrol car trailed them out of the parking lot, then turned in the opposite direction on the main road.
“I’m going to take a roundabout route, just in case.” Quinn meandered for fifteen minutes before finally going back to his house.
“Thank you.” Dan sounded less shaky, but Quinn’s heart went out to him.
They had just brought the last load of stuff up to Quinn’s cabin when Dan’s phone rang.
“Huh. It’s the hotel,” he told Quinn, and put the call on speakerphone.
“Dan Connor? I’m with the Fox Hollow Hotel, calling to see if you know why the sheriff and his deputy were in your room?”
“Because someone broke in,” Dan replied, regaining the timbre in his voice. “They opened an investigation. You’ll be getting a copy of their report. I believe the sheriff planned on speaking with the manager.”
“Oh, dear,” the man said. “Was anything taken? Are you okay?”
“I’m okay, and so far, I haven’t noticed anything missing,” Dan replied, “but there was some scratching on the doorknob where the thief picked the lock.” He paused.
“Are there security cameras that record the building entrance or that hallway? We didn’t see any, but the police will want footage if they exist.”
“Nothing in the hallway itself, but there are parking lot cameras that also pick up the building doorways,” the man told him. “I’ll let security know that the sheriff’s office is likely to inquire.”
“Thanks,” Dan said, and while his tone remained civil, the stormy expression made his mood clear to Quinn.
“It’s an unfortunate situation,” the man continued. “We can offer you a discount on your room fee.”
“Actually, I won’t be returning,” Dan said. “I don’t feel safe there anymore.”
“There’s a penalty for breaking a multi-night reservation,” the man replied.
“Your hotel failed to keep my belongings and living space safe.” Dan’s voice became chilly.
“If I had been in the room, I could have been hurt, maybe killed. When I took the room, the desk clerk said there was on-site security and nightly patrols, but that didn’t stop the break-in.
I’ve already removed my things, and I don’t want to pay a penalty. ”
“I’d need to consult my manager—”
“Then I’ll have to post to the tourist social media pages about the break-in and on the local hotel ratings,” Dan replied. Quinn shot him a thumbs-up for pushing back.
“This is truly a rare situation,” the man argued.
“I don’t care how often it happens, once was enough for it to happen to me,” Dan said.
The other man sighed. “All right. I will take care of the refund and explain it to my manager. We will expect to hear from the police. Thank you for letting us know.”
The call ended, and Dan looked to Quinn with a look of tired satisfaction. “Well, at least that went sort of okay-ish. Surprised he didn’t already know.”
“You did great holding the line,” Quinn told him. “You can always post a review if they jerk you around, and maybe the manager didn’t have time to talk to the staff yet.”