Chapter 38
Maureen, sitting on the couch, looked up from her psychology textbook when Xander and I stepped through the front door. “Hey,” said my part-time housekeeper, closing the book on her lap. “How did the hearing go?”
The hearing?
At first, I didn’t even know what she was talking about. I was still grappling with Joey D’s accidental betrayal of Xander. With the merman I loved in potential danger, the hearing about the stadium was the farthest thing from my mind.
“Hannah was spectacular,” said Xander. Despite the recent bombshell, his voice still boomed with pride. “She saved the whole town.”
“Not quite,” I said. “But I got them to press pause on the stadium, so for now, no one’s being forced out.”
“That’s great,” said Maureen, getting to her feet. “Good to know I still have a job.”
“Well, you do as long as I have anything to say about it,” I said, forcing a smile.
Walking into the lobby, I looked around.
Casey was in his bed, flat on his back and legs twitching slightly, so deep in his dreams that our return hadn’t even awakened him.
The rest of the place was just as peaceful.
“So…have things been quiet here while we were gone?” I asked.
“Mostly,” she said. “But I did end up checking a few people in.”
I glanced back at Xander before raising my eyebrows at Maureen. “We have guests?” I asked.
“Three guys,” said Maureen.
Three guys?
“They didn’t have reservations,” she continued, “but since we had vacancies, I gave them the three rooms on the third floor. They said Joey D sent them, so I figured it was okay.”
Joey D sent them?
My heart started to race.
“Uh, Hannah?” asked my housekeeper. “Did I do something wrong?”
“No, it’s fine,” I said, glancing at Xander again. At some point, he had moved into the room, positioning himself right behind me. He placed his hand on my shoulder, squeezing gently. Calm, the gesture said. Stay calm.
“It’s fine,” I repeated to Maureen. But I didn’t sound like myself. I had the creepy-cool tone of a negotiator trying to talk someone off a ledge—only, the someone I was trying to talk down was me. “Thank you. And thank you for covering the desk.”
I meant that as a dismissal, but she hesitated.
“I’m not scheduled to work tomorrow,” she said. “But if you need me—”
“Let me get a read on things here, and I’ll text you later tonight,” I said. My calm facade was dangerously close to cracking. I really needed her to leave.
Luckily, Maureen didn’t linger much longer. She gathered her things, and we said our goodbyes. When the front door closed behind her, I spun at Xander.
“I’m texting Drew right now,” I told him, pulling out my phone. “You should go next door. They’re probably not home yet, but I have the spare key.”
“What?” he asked. “What are you talking about?”
“If our three guests are who we think they are,” I said, “it isn’t safe for you to be here. You should go stay with Drew and Garth.”
“And leave you alone with these men?” he demanded, eyes on fire. “Absolutely not.”
“They’ve already shot you,” I said, pleading. “They’re dangerous.”
“Which is precisely why I’m not leaving you alone with them,” he insisted.
“But—”
“Hannah,” he said in a tone that invited no argument. “I am not leaving you.”
The words hung in the air between us. I knew he meant them.
But I also knew there might well come a time—and soon—when he would leave me. When he would have to leave me. And when I would have to let him go.
I shook myself. I couldn’t think about that. One crisis at a time.
“Okay,” I said. “But you can’t go upstairs. They might see you.” I paused, thinking. “Go into my bedroom. And stay there until I come back.”
Xander looked at me, studying me for a long beat. “And what are you going to do?” he asked.
“What I always do at this time of night,” I said, heading over to the housekeeping closet. “Offer our guests fresh towels.”
* * *
Carrying a big stack of fluffy white bath towels, I climbed the stairs. This time, as I passed by the photos of my ancestors, I didn’t feel like they were judging me. In a weird way, I felt like they were rooting for me. Who knew? Maybe they always had been.
On the third-floor landing, I paused and listened. I wasn’t sure what I was expecting, but I heard nothing more sinister than the flush of a toilet, the creak of a floorboard, the groan of a mattress. The normal sounds of guests inhabiting their rooms.
With a deep breath, I walked over to 301. I rapped twice on the door. “Housekeeping,” I called.
There was movement within, then the door opened.
I found myself face-to-face with—yup—one of the three seamen I’d glimpsed coming out of Matzo-Rella a few weeks ago.
He must have just taken a shower because his graying hair was damp, his feet bare, and his clothes spotted with water as if he’d dressed without fully drying off.
Instead of that acrid ocean smell, he gave off the scent of the complimentary soap from the guest bathroom.
Even so, there was a roughness that clung to him that no amount of soap could wash away.
As his tanned, weatherbeaten face crinkled and his cruel, ice-blue eyes scrutinized me, I put on my professional face. “Welcome to the Sunny Side,” I said, willing my voice not to waver. “I’m Hannah Bell. The owner.”
He lifted a hand to his jaw and rubbed at his mostly gray beard. “Yeah,” he said slowly, studying me. “Yeah,” he repeated, still trying to take my measure.
“Well, I’ve brought some clean towels,” I said. “And if you’d like, I can perform turndown service.”
I started to enter the room, but he quickly blocked my path.
“That won’t be necessary,” he said. “But I do have some questions for you.”
“Okay, shoot,” I said—then immediately regretted my word choice. After all, he—or one of his associates—actually had shot Xander. “I mean, uh… What can I help you with?”
“You have a guy staying here with you,” he said. Not a question.
“A lot of people stay here,” I said. “It’s a bed-and-breakfast.”
“Big guy,” he said. “Pale skin. Long, red hair.”
“Doesn’t ring a bell,” I said, shaking my head.
His eyes became cold, hard slits. “Really?” he asked. “I hear you two are pretty cozy.”
I shrugged, standing my ground. “Sounds like you heard wrong.”
“Lady, I’m trying to do you a favor,” he said, raising his voice. “This guy? He’s not what you think he is.”
Before I could reply, the door to 302 opened, and another unshaven face I recognized poked out from the doorway. “What’s going on?” the second hunter asked. He was shorter and stockier than the first man, but he had the same callous demeanor.
“This is her,” said the first guy, stepping out into the hall. “The one who runs this place.”
As he cleared his doorway, I got an unobstructed view into his room.
There were several maps and diagrams spread out on the bed, but from this distance, I couldn’t make out any of the details.
Still, I didn’t like what I saw. Had they finally gotten their new equipment up and running? And mapped…something?
Drew’s dad hadn’t mentioned it. But then again, he’d been at the hearing about the stadium all afternoon. He probably didn’t even know.
“Oh, yeah?” said 302.
“Hannah Bell,” I said, dragging my attention away from the maps and focusing on this second seaman. “Welcome to the Sunny Side. I’m just making the rounds for turndown service. Do you need anything?”
“Actually,” he said, turning on what little charm he possessed, “I need to talk to your boyfriend. Can you tell me where I might find him?”
“Boyfriend?” I said, back to playing dumb. “Sorry. I think you must be misinformed.”
Aaand cue door number three. Or number 303, to be precise.
Undoubtedly drawn by the sound of our conversation, the third member of the hunting party opened his door.
Leaning against the doorjamb, he took in the scene.
“And what have we here?” he asked, eyeing me in a way that frankly made my skin crawl.
Staying on message, I introduced myself again and repeated my turndown offer. Like the others, he declined service and instead pressed me for information about my “redheaded friend.”
“We can pay you for your trouble,” he said with raised brows, sending a shiver down my spine.
“Tipping at the Sunny Side is always appreciated, though never mandatory,” I said brightly. “You’re sure you don’t need any towels?”
The three of them just stared at me. It looked like they weren’t buying my innocent routine. And with my worst suspicions confirmed, I didn’t see any point in sticking around.
“Okay then,” I said, heading for the staircase. “Sleep well.”
“Actually, I’m not very tired,” said 303. “I think I might go down and sit out on the front porch for a while.” He glared at me, as if daring me to protest. “Maybe have a look around the place.”
“That’s fine,” I said tightly.
“After you get some rest,” he said to his two cohorts, “you may want to come down and get a little fresh air too.”
So, it was like that. They were planning to take turns surveilling the place. For Xander.
Shit.
“Well, have a good night,” I said, trying to keep steady. “See you all in the morning for breakfast.”
Then, resisting the urge to run, I took my towels and went downstairs to tell Xander what I’d learned.
* * *
“So, they have mapped the way to the portal,” said Xander, frowning. We’d been speaking in hushed tones, sitting together on my bed as I’d filled him in.
“They’ve mapped something,” I corrected. “We don’t know it’s the portal.”
Xander just frowned deeper. “I should go,” he said.
“What? No!” I exclaimed. “Remember how you weren’t going to do anything rash?”
“But the situation has changed,” he said.
“Yeah,” I said. “The hunters have tracked you here, and they’re keeping watch. So, leaving now is like the definition of rash.”
I could see he wanted to argue the point, but he couldn’t dispute my logic.
“I think the smart thing to do is to sit tight for tonight,” I continued. “Then, in the morning, while they’re at breakfast, I can go into 301 and get a better look at their charts.”
Xander gaped at me as if I’d lost my mind. “Now who’s being rash?” he asked. “No.” He shook his head. “I cannot allow you to put yourself at risk like that.”
My spine went rigid. That fire in my gut was burning at five-alarm level.
“Okay, first of all, I don’t need your permission,” I said, trying to keep my voice low enough so my third-floor guests couldn’t hear us.
“And second of all, I’m not the one at risk here.
You are.” I reached out, took his hands in mine, and peered directly into his eyes.
“I’m sorry. I promised to keep you safe, and I’ve failed. ”
“Don’t say that.” His worry lines became lines of determination, and his gaze grew fierce. “This is all my fault, Hannah. I’m the one who brought this problem to your doorstep. I never should have agreed to stay here in the first place.”
I understood where he was coming from. Still, his words were like a knife to my heart. “You don’t mean that,” I whispered.
As he read the look in my eyes, his expression softened. “No,” he said. “I don’t. I wouldn’t trade our time together for anything. And I would happily endanger myself indefinitely to be with you. But if my people are in danger—”
“They’re not in danger right this minute,” I insisted, cutting him off. “Listen to me. The hunters aren’t going anywhere tonight. So, even if these guys do know the location of the portal, there’s no immediate threat to your world.”
“But if the merpeople are at risk,” he said, “I need to stop acting selfishly. I need to start acting like the protector of the realm that I am and do my job.”
“But if you try to go now, you’ll just be putting yourself at risk,” I said. “And then you won’t be able to help anybody.”
He pondered this.
“I’m right,” I said. “You know I am.”
He eyed me. Then he let out a frustrated sigh.
“So, we wait until tomorrow,” I continued. “We get help. And we get the information we need.”
“And if we do things your way, and their maps point to the location of the portal?” Xander asked.
My heart sank. Somewhere, I knew, a timer was rapidly counting down to zero.
“Then we both have some hard decisions to make,” I said.
His eyes were a stormy green sea.
“Fine,” he said grudgingly. “We wait.”