A Deadly Row (6 page)

I laughed. “I’m too tired to fight you on it,” I said.

He hit the top button on the elevator, and it was all I could do not to say anything. When the door opened, I stepped out and saw in the long hallway, there were only four rooms on the top level.

As he started to open the door to Suite Three, I said, “You’re not really a bellman at all, are you?”

“My name is Garrett, and it’s my pleasure to serve as the manager of the Belmont,” he said. “If you need anything, all you have to do is ask.”

He started inside, but then he stopped when he realized that I wasn’t following him in.

“Is there something wrong?” he asked me. “I thought we’d already settled your situation.”

“This is more than we need, and I want an explanation before I move another step.”

He looked distressed as I stood in the hallway, but I was firm in my insistence that I wasn’t moving. I knew that Charlotte couldn’t afford this kind of luxury, and I doubted that Grady could either, unless he was grand-standing. I had no problem with my husband getting paid handsomely for his work. He was good at it, and he deserved whatever the market would bear. But I didn’t want to take advantage of anyone in the process.

“I’m waiting,” I said.

The manager appeared to go through a handful of options when he finally shrugged and reached for his cell phone. After dialing, he surprised me by handing it to me.

“Hello?” I said tentatively.

“Is this Savannah Stone?”

“It is,” I admitted.

“I understand there’s a problem with your accommodations.”

What on earth was going on here? “No, sir, no problem. It’s just nicer than my husband and I need. May I ask your name?”

“Of course. Sorry about that. Garrett is literal when it comes to instructions, and I’ve trained him well not to reveal anything about me that he doesn’t have to. My name is Barton Lane, and I own the Belmont, among other things here and there around the world. I would appreciate it if you would be my guests while you’re here in Charlotte.”

“Mr. Lane, it’s most generous of you, but it’s not necessary.”

“Young lady,” he said, his voice booming so loudly over the phone that I could swear I saw Garrett flinch, “I’m unaccustomed to having my wishes ignored.”

“Wow, it must be really nice living your life. It happens to me all of the time.”

I wasn’t sure what reaction I expected, and from the look on the hotel manager’s face, I must have just committed an unforgivable act of treason. The thing was, I’d never sworn an oath to Barton Lane.

What I got was laughter, a sound so foreign in the man’s voice that I was certain he rarely used it. “I like you, Savannah. May I call you Savannah?”

“Absolutely, and I’ll call you Barton.”

If I kept this up, Garrett was going to need a team of paramedics to revive him. As it was, he looked like his head was about to explode.

“Savannah, it would please me for you to use this suite, and anything else my hotel has to offer.”

“Is there any reason in particular you’re being so nice to me?”

“The second victim, Cindy Glass, was my personal secretary,” he said plainly, all joy gone from his voice. “I want her death avenged, and from everything I’ve heard, your husband is the only man capable of catching the killer.”

“Thank you,” I said. “He’ll do his best, and please know that we appreciate your generosity. It’s very sweet of you, Barton.”

“Think nothing of it. If you need anything, or would like to get in contact with me, Garrett will take care of it. I hope someday we’ll have the pleasure of meeting face to face under better circumstances.”

“That would be nice.”

“Now, if you will, give me back to Garrett.”

The hotel manager took the phone, and as he kept repeating, “Yes, sir. Of course. I understand,” I looked around the suite. My gaze was drawn outside before I even looked at the furnishings. The skyline of Charlotte, in all its glory, was laid out before me, and I couldn’t wait for Zach to see it. We loved the mountains, but Charlotte had a lure for us as well, and here in the clouds, we could see the Queen City’s beautiful architecture from a perspective few people had ever enjoyed.

I was still standing there taking it all in when I realized that Garrett was off the phone.

“Is there anything else I can get you?” he asked.

“No thank you. I’ve got to get us settled in, and then I’m going to rejoin my husband at police headquarters.” I looked around the room and took in a sitting area with furniture nicer than anything I’d ever owned in my life. The style was Queen Anne throughout, with shades of burgundy and black everywhere.

“I’ll take care of settling you in then, if you wouldn’t mind,” he said.

“Who exactly is Barton Lane?” I asked. “Forgive me, but I’ve never heard of him before.”

“He’d be delighted to hear that, since he prides himself on his privacy. I’ve spoken to him half a dozen times since I became manager, and that was fourteen years ago. Mr. Lane has a policy that as long as the job is being done efficiently, there’s no need for direct supervision, or even contact, for that matter.”

“I’m sure you’re very good at what you do,” I said.

I wondered what Zach and Steve were doing at that moment, and though I knew it was too soon for my husband to investigate anything outside the command center, I was still uneasy not knowing if he was safe. I was going to have to get over that impulse when Zach was working on a case, but I hadn’t managed to do it so far.

Garrett handed me the keys, and as we left the suite, I took a second to gaze once again at that skyline view. My husband was going to be thrilled, if he wasn’t already in the muck and mire of a killer’s mind.

“SAVANNAH? WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN TOWN? DID YOU
and Zach move back to Charlotte?”

I was in the lobby heading for my car when I turned to see who was talking to me. “Lorna, how are you?” I hugged my old friend, and then I explained, “We didn’t move back. Zach and I are just visiting.” I wasn’t about to tell her why we were really here.

“How have you been? We really miss you around here.” Lorna Gaither had gone out with Grady for nearly a year before he’d broken the relationship off shortly before we left town.

“Thanks for asking. I’m good. How are you?” Lorna and I had become friends when she and Grady had been dating, and after the breakup, we’d stayed in touch. Right after things had ended with Grady, I’d had the distinct impression that Lorna blamed me for her relationship woes, though I hadn’t had anything to do with it. If she still held it against me though, I couldn’t tell by her demeanor.

“I’m doing fine,” she said, and I could see in her eyes that it was true. “I owe you more thanks than I can say. Breaking me up with Grady was the best thing that ever happened to me.”

“I thought you knew that I didn’t have anything to do with it,” I said. “I was as surprised as you were when he broke it off with you.”

“Then I take my thanks back,” she said with a hint of laughter in her voice. “However it happened, it worked out for the best. After Grady dumped me, I took a long, hard look at myself, and I didn’t like what I saw. I started going to the gym, working with a shrink, and I finally realized that I’d been sabotaging things all along.”

“Good for you,” I said, not really knowing what else I could say. I glanced at my watch, and then I added, “I’m truly sorry, but I’ve got to meet up with Zach, and I’m late as it is.”

“I have a wonderful idea. Let’s have dinner tonight, just the two of us.”

“I wish I could, Lorna, but I can’t.”

“Lunch tomorrow, then. Come on, it will be fun.”

“I’m honestly not sure what our schedule will be like while we’re here,” I said.

“Then we can make it breakfast. You have to eat sometime, don’t you?”

“Breakfast sounds good,” I agreed.

“I’ll see you here tomorrow in the hotel restaurant. Eight o’clock on the dot.”

“Eight it is,” I said. I wasn’t sure why Lorna was so insistent about sharing a meal with me, but I’d deal with that tomorrow. At the moment, I just wanted to get back and see what Zach had been up to.

 

I FOUND MY HUSBAND DEEP IN THOUGHT WHEN I GOT BACK
to the task force headquarters at the police station. There had been a note on his door that said, “Quiet. Genius at Work,” and I pulled it off to show him.

“Please tell me you didn’t write this yourself,” I said as I showed him the notice.

“What? No, it’s just probably somebody’s idea of a joke.”

The rigid sheets of insulation—once empty silver—were now filled with copies from the files. A nice-sized copier sat in one corner of the room, and the original documents were on tables in different sections of the space, making it feel like some kind of weird maze. No doubt there was some kind of order there, but I knew no one else would be able to see it but Zach.

I avoided the area where the photographs were displayed, then studied the montage of the backs of the communiqués from the killer. Numbers and letters were interposed in the oddest arrangements, but if they made any sense, I couldn’t see it, and I prided myself on my orderly mind.

I’d been focusing so intensely, I hadn’t realized that Zach was standing right behind me.

“It’s odd, isn’t it?” he asked.

“I’m sure it means something, but who knows what the killer’s mind is like? This could be a recipe for cereal, for all we know.”

“It’s significant, I know that much,” Zach said as he shook his head.

“How can you be so sure?”

“I can’t explain it. It’s something in my gut,” he told me, and that was good enough for me. My husband’s years as a police officer had given him instincts based on experience that I would stack up against anyone’s intuition. Added to that was his uncanny ability to cut through the fog to see what was really happening, and it was no wonder that his consulting business was starting to pick up. The problem with that was that the cases he got were only the very hardest, and that put a strain on him that I didn’t like.

“Where’s your minion?” I asked as I looked around the room.

“Steve had to take care of a problem with his landlord,” Zach said. “I’m having him reassigned to me, so at least there’s that. He’s going to be my gopher so I don’t have to run all over Charlotte tracking things down.”

“I like the sound of that,” I said as I hugged him.

“What was that for?”

“You looked like you could use a hug.”

“Thanks, but we should probably keep that to a minimum around here. We don’t want people talking.”

I laughed at him. “Zach, it’s okay. We’re married.”

“You know what I mean. This is serious business, and I don’t want anyone to think I’m treating it otherwise.”

I broke free. “Message received.”

“You’re not mad, are you?”

“Why should I be mad? My husband doesn’t want to hug me, but other than that, I’m just dandy.” I smiled at him to show that I was teasing.

“Thanks. Did you get us set up in a room?”

“You might say that.”

“Savannah, what’s with that smile?”

“We’re in a suite on the top floor,” I explained.

He shook his head. “And you let them put us there? We’re on the taxpayer’s dime here. We don’t need a suite.”

He reached for his phone and I put a hand over his to stop him. “It’s compliments of the hotel’s owner, so it isn’t costing the people of Charlotte a dime.”

“Why on earth would the owner of the Belmont put us up for free?”

“I asked him that exact same question, and he told me that he had a personal stake in this.”

Zach nodded. “Barton Lane.”

“How did you know that? It’s supposed to be some kind of huge secret. I’m fairly certain that he’s not going to be happy that you figured it out so quickly.”

Zach tapped a copied photograph, and though I didn’t want to look at it, after a second I drove back my queasiness and examined it. At least it wasn’t a crime scene photo, or one from the killer. The photograph appeared to be from an employee ID badge, and even though the conditions weren’t ideal, it was a decent picture of a pretty young woman with a nice figure and coppery hair.

“She’s really pretty,” I said. “Was, I mean.”

“Grady thought so, too.”

I stared openly at my husband. “How could you possibly know that?”

“They were dating when she was murdered,” Zach said.

“Is that why we’re here?” I asked my husband. “Did someone kill her because she was close to Grady? It sounds like a pretty big coincidence, otherwise.”

“You know I don’t believe in coincidences,” he said. “At first, Davis thought that it might have something to do with Barton Lane, but with the threats against Grady, they have to be tied together.”

“What about the first victim?”

Zach shrugged. “If he has any connection to Grady, nobody’s been able to find it so far.”