Chapter 15
“Safety is of the utmost importance. Although a Warden’s job is a very solitary one, the connections you make in the field and with each other can be invaluable. Never underestimate the usefulness of another set of knowledgeable eyes and ears in the field.”
Entity Employee Handbook: Warden Edition
Stomping down the hallway did little to ease her anger. Alexys should not have been surprised that Nic managed to add himself to her reservation. She didn’t know exactly how he had pulled it off, and she was afraid to ask. The man was morphing from a corporate nuisance into a criminal mastermind.
Was altering a person’s reservation criminal? It felt criminal.
Alexys jammed her key into the door to unlock it and stormed through. Nic followed closely at her heels and managed to catch the door before she could slam it in his face.
Nic Dyre was in her hotel room.
Woefully not a hallucination.
“How in the hell did you change my reservation?”
“Quite simply really, I had a lovely conversation with a young woman at reception.”
Bubblegum girl.
“It isn’t my fault they’re fully booked. Who knew birdwatching was so big this time of year?”
“It is your fault, actually. All of this is your fault.” She paced back and forth. “You can’t just hijack a booking.”
He held his hands up in a defensive posture and said, “It was really the only course of action.”
“You think adding yourself to my room without my consent and forcing me to share a room with you is practical?” She stared at him, entirely dumbfounded by his reasoning. “What is wrong with you?”
“Well …” Nic finally had the good sense to look sheepish. “I suppose when you put it that way, it does sound a little questionable.”
Alexys threw her hands up in the air. “It is questionable!”
“And here I thought you’d be happy to see me,” Nic said dryly.
She hated him. He was the most infuriating, galling person she’d ever met. And worse still, he was still looking at her with that familiar, smug expression.
Her response was ground out through clenched teeth, one slow word at a time. “And why would I be happy to see you?”
“Because two sets of eyes and ears is better than one,” he offered.
The fact that he was throwing company handbook quotes in her face made her want to slap him.
“So what was your plan, exactly? Spend a few days shacked up together like a couple of old friends?” Alexys slowly breathed in, filling her lungs with air.
She counted to ten. The last thing she needed on top of everything else was to test her therapist’s client confidentiality with the confessed murder of a coworker.
“Frankly, I hadn’t managed to get that far, but Elliot’s safety, surely, is the priority now?”
She couldn’t believe him. How dare he attempt to manipulate her by dragging Elliot into this. Of course she was concerned for his safety. It was essentially the basis of her entire job!
“We’ll waste fewer company resources if we work together,” he continued. “We only really need this room to sleep one, maybe two, nights? Let me assist you in the field, locate Elliot, I’ll do some poking around, and no one will ever know about this little indiscretion.”
From anyone else, it would’ve felt like a threat or extortion. But Nic said it so matter-of-fact and with such a level tone that she knew he genuinely believed it was the most reasonable course of action. A fair trade, even.
Alexys mulled over his words, begrudgingly acknowledging the truth behind them. But she hated the idea of needing his help. It was her District, her employee. She was perfectly capable of finding him herself.
Wasn’t she?
Nic sat on the edge of the bed and stretched out his ridiculously long legs.
Only then did Alexys realize he was wearing jeans, of all things, and she took a moment to wonder if she’d ever seen him in anything other than slacks.
The facial hair was new, too. He always had a bit of a well-trimmed shadow, but his face was now sporting what she could only call scruff.
The small smile that said scruff framed made her hackles rise.
He tilted his head and offered, “I promise to stay on my side of the room.”
“And remind me, why would I let you sleep in my room?”
“Technically, it’s Entity’s room.” Nic’s smile grew, and his gray eyes lit with mirth. “You’re not heartless enough to make me sleep out in the hallway, are you, Keane?”
“I don’t see anything wrong with Elliot’s room,” she pointed out.
“Sure, that’s not a bad idea, unless, that is, Elliot returns in the middle of the night to find a stranger in his bed.”
“Fine,” she said. “I’ll stay in Elliot’s room then.”
Nic’s eyes widened. “Really, you’re going to sleep in the true crime exhibit down the hall, are you?”
He had her there. It was just the sort of nightmare fuel she didn’t need. She was already living a nightmare, and there was no telling what kind of actual nightmares the day’s events would inspire later that night. The last thing she needed was for him to bear witness.
“You can sleep on the floor.” She picked up one of the pillows and threw it at his head.
He caught it and let it drop into his lap. The corner of his mouth curled, and his eyes traced down her body, slow and meandering.
Suddenly self-conscious, Alexys quickly looked away. It had been over a year since her last relationship, and having an attractive man, albeit a man she despised, in her room, looking at her, made her feel equal parts terrified and curious.
“Why are you so allergic to receiving help?”
The question reignited her outrage, and any trace of self-consciousness swiftly vanished. The absolute audacity of the man never ceased to amaze her.
“I didn’t ask for your help. I don’t want it, I don’t need it, and I don’t need you!”
The words sounded caustic even to her own ears, but Alexys couldn’t seem to reel in her anger.
It boiled beneath the surface and made her skin feel flushed.
She was so tired of needing things from him.
First, she’d needed his permission for the case, then she’d needed his research.
She was sick of needing things from people when she knew she was perfectly capable of doing everything herself.
“Look,” Nic said. “We are where we are. And ultimately, we both want to ensure Elliot’s safety, right? I’ll see if we can get a rental car today, and if so, we might not even have to share a room.”
He crossed the room to the small desk and picked up the room’s phone.
He spoke to reception first, using that charming accent of his, and then dialed another number.
Alexys studied him, still fuming, but also still wanting to get to Elliot before he did anything stupid (or more stupid than he already had).
Nic turned toward her then and shook his head. Alexys’s heart sank. If they didn’t get out today, how far would Elliot go before they could stop him? She checked her cell again but still no contact from him.
“So,” Nic said, setting the phone down. “No luck for today, but we have a booking tomorrow morning. It’s either wait or try to get a cab to take us out there. Sensibly, we should wait, get the rental car tomorrow, and head out first thing.”
Alexys put her face in her hands.
“So that’s it? We just … wait?”
“We wait. And we plan,” Nic said, clapping his hands together. Alexys couldn’t help but notice the fine shape of his biceps with his hands pressed together. She’d never seen him in a t-shirt before, come to think of it.
The word tantalizing came to mind, and Alexys quickly squashed it.
“Fine,” Alexys said, resigned.
“It’ll be easier on us both if you just accept my presence now.”
On the contrary, Alexys was considering throwing the lamp at him.
It didn’t matter that he had been helpful since barging into Elliot’s room.
Alexys had already been on the right path.
Did she fully comprehend what she was about to get herself into?
No. But maybe that would have been for the best. Her anger was slowly fading, and now all that remained was sheer exhaustion.
She’d been up since the small hours of the morning, barely slept a wink, and now she was worried, and uncomfortable, and … something else she couldn’t quite put her finger on.
“I’m going to go back to Elliot’s room, look through the rest of his clippings. See if there’s anything else of use.”
“Fine.”
“Is fine the only word you know at the moment?”
“No,” Alexys deadpanned.
“Great, well, if you need me, you know where to find me.”
Unable and unwilling to give him the last word, she muttered, “I won’t be needing you.”
He flashed her a sly grin before shutting the door behind him. Alexys tried, one final time, to reach Elliot by phone.
Again, it went straight to voicemail.