As the door swung open, I saw a flash of movement in the dimly lit room.
And smelled jalape?o, garlic, and cheap cigar.
“Saber, it’s Gorman.”
But Saber already had his Glock in his hand when he lurched inside. Beth and I crowded in on his heels.
“Gorman, stop right there, or I swear I’ll shoot you and enjoy it.”
Frozen in the threshold of the sliding glass door I assumed led to the patio and pool, Gorman sneered. “You wouldn’t shoot an unarmed man.”
“You want to test me? Lace your hands behind your head. Do it now.”
As Gorman complied, Beth said, “Vic?”
I peered at her slack-with-confusion expression. “You know Victor Gorman?”
Beth swallowed. “He works here. He’s one of our maintenance engineers. He told me this Mr. Miller was writing a hotel review and talked me into the upgrade.”
“To this specific room?” Saber asked.
“Yes. Should I call the police?”
Saber nodded, and Beth scurried off, leaving the heavy door to clunk closed behind her.
“Keep your hands laced and sit in the chair.”
I held my breath while Gorman complied, and I scanned the room for signs of, what? The Covenant didn’t take kindly to vampfriendly humans, but would Gorman harm Kevin?
The bed was made, clothes hung in the open closet, and from peeking in the bathroom, I could see toiletries strewn on the counter. Kevin’s cameras and other equipment appeared to be missing, but maybe he was ghostbusting on his own tonight. Wait, Kevin’s laptop lid was half-closed. That didn’t fit.
“Saber, I think he’s been on Kevin’s computer.”
Saber hardened his cop face. “Is that right, Gorman? What were you looking for?”
“I got the right to remain silent.”
“Cesca, see if Kevin’s stuffed in the bathtub.”
Gorman snorted. “He ain’t in there. He left with two gals afore dark.”
“Where’d they go?”
“How the hell should I know? Can I put my hands down now?”
“No. What’s the deal with having Kevin moved to this room?”
“I ain’t sayin’.”
“Fine by me. I’m happy to see you stay in jail. You should be there for attempted murder, but Cesca won’t press charges.”
Gorman’s eyes shifted to me then away. “I was just fixin’ the slidin’ glass door catch.”
“Right. At one thirty in the morning.”
I saw police car lights strobe through the window, then heard the hotel room door lock tumble and open.
Saber didn’t move, but I whirled to face an astonished Kevin. Before he could speak, the EMF meter he held suddenly screeched, and then St. Augustine’s finest burst through the sliding glass door.
An hour later, the cops had sorted out the story. While Kevin, Leah, and Caro had gone on a lighthouse ghost tour, Gorman had entered Kevin’s room by simply jiggling the sliding glass door lock until it failed. Something he knew the lock would do because he purposely hadn’t fixed it. At which point Beth had muttered, “He is so fired.”
When pressed as to why he’d broken in, Gorman admitted he’d been on Kevin’s computer looking for the list of vampires who were moving to St. Augustine. Why he thought such a list existed, never mind why Kevin would have it, boggled the intellect. Then again, that was Gorman. And, though he was cuffed and led away, I was betting he wouldn’t stay in jail long. He must have a bail bondsman on speed dial.
Kevin said that, after the tour, he and the girls had trolled the lighthouse neighborhood, and made contact with a spirit who called himself the Mariner. Or that’s what he thought the voice said when he’d listened to it in a near-empty all-night restaurant. Saber and I declined his invitation to hear the recording for ourselves and left the hotel with a word of thanks to Beth. Relieved as I was that Kevin was safe, my body didn’t seem to have the memo yet. My shoulders had more knots than the berry farm, so much so that Saber noticed.
“Why don’t you go surfing this morning?” he said as we got into his car. “You haven’t been out in a week, and it might relax you.”
He was right. I’d missed the exercise and the Zen-ness of simply feeling the ocean roll under my board.
“And tomorrow afternoon when you get up, I’ll have the information you need to claim your land. You can start ripping out vines to your fang’s content.”
“Are you trying to keep me busy?”
“I’m trying to take your mind off things neither of us can do a damned thing about right now.”
“What about taking your mind off things?”
“You’ve got a king-size bed that can help me out there, so long as you’re in it with me.”
I took his hand and squeezed. “Home, Saber.”