New Year's Bang (7 page)

“Although what?” The clerk leaned forward almost
anxiously.

“Nothing. My mistake.” Chevon wrapped her fingers
around the handle of her bag. She just wanted to get upstairs to
her room. “Do you have any availability for the night?”

“Yes. Why, yes, we do. I have an inland-facing room
with a king-sized bed, a two-bedroom suite, or… Well, actually…”
The night clerk toyed with her glasses as she eyed Chevon
carefully. “I have something that might suit you perfectly.”

“I don’t have a lot of money,” Chevon admitted. With
tuition and everything that went with studying for her MBA, she had
to watch her budget.

Turning on her heel, the woman made her way back
around the reception desk. Chevon followed cautiously.

“The room is rather small, so we could only fit in a
twin-sized bed,” the clerk said, tapping her fingers across the
computer keyboard. “We don’t normally rent it out unless we’re
full. The view is spectacular, though. The room has a huge picture
window that looks out onto the water. The view of the sunrise from
there is absolutely gorgeous.”

Chevon felt a pang. The sunrise. “I’ll take it.”

She already had her credit card out of her purse. She
passed it to the woman, but when the clerk looked at her name, she
blinked. “Chevon Arlette. Amazing.”

She ran the card through the electronic reader, but
her gaze kept wandering back to Chevon’s face. Finally, Chevon had
to turn away.

When the paperwork was done, the clerk pushed a
buzzer and a bellboy showed up from the back of the house. He
entered the room showing about as much excitement as a
fifteen-year-old rolling out of bed, but that all stopped when he
saw her. The kid gaped. Absolutely gaped. “She looks just
like—”

“Yes, yes, Charlie.” The night clerk pointed towards
the bag on the floor. “Why don’t you show Ms. Arlette up to her
room? She’s in 2E.”

The two inn workers exchanged a look. The older woman
nodded, and the bellboy picked up Chevon’s half-empty bag. “Uh,
yeah. Okay. This way.”

Chevon nearly reached out to grab her things back.
With as strangely as the two were acting, she wondered if she
should spend the night in her car. But her curiosity was just too
strong. She followed the bellboy and saw his hand reach out for the
stair railing.

“Be careful,” she called. “That wooden ball—”

Comes off the balustrade.
She wasn’t able to
get the words out before the teen had grabbed the decorative
carving. It came off in his hand, and he tilted sideways. He nearly
pitched into the banister before catching his balance.

“Damn, I always forget—” He whirled around on the
step. “How did you know that?”

Chevon looked at the wooden ball dumbly. Behind her,
she heard the night clerk gasp. She turned quickly and saw that the
woman had paled to a color just short of ivory.

“It’s fine, Charlie,” the clerk said. She patted her
chest nervously. “Just set it on the front desk. I’ll have
Maintenance look at it in the morning. They’ve been trying to fix
that.”

She cleared her throat uncomfortably. “For
years.”

She skirted around Chevon, giving her a wide berth.
“I think you’ll like your room, dear. If you need anything, don’t
hesitate to ring me. My name is Sarah.”

Almost running, the woman went down the hallway to
the kitchen. Chevon was keenly aware of the bellboy watching her.
Had
she been here before? These people were looking at her
as if they knew her or… were suspicious.