Paranormal Erotic Romance Box Set (36 page)

Nellie looked at Brandt and rolled her eyes as she filed her
fingernails.

“It looks like the last room because it is the last room,”
she said.

“Huh? Why did they give us the same room? They know,”
Brandt said and tried to sit up but fell back against the headboard.

“They gave us the same room because I asked for the same
room,” Nellie said.

“You’re insane. I don’t want to be here,” Brandt said and
covered his eyes with his arm.

“It’s one night, Brandt. It doesn’t matter anyway. Between
your scene in the front of the hotel, the talking to I got from the creepy manager
and you nodding off for the last hour, it’s almost time for us to check out!”

“Good,” Brandt said and closed his eyes. “We shouldn’t be
here.”

“Why the fuck not? Don’t I deserve a vacation? You know
what, I am tired of getting the short end of the stick when I did what I did
for us.”

“You fucking killed her,” Brandt said and slumped down in
the bed.

“Yes!” I said and hugged James.

“She needs to say your name, Sophia,” James said.

“Are we back to that?” Nellie said.

“Where else?” Brandt said.

“You need to move on, Brandt. You’ve completely fallen
apart. We are sitting on a mountain of money and you won’t allow us to do
anything with it except spend it on drugs! We have that huge apartment and you
won’t consider selling it. We could move and you won’t leave. It’s like you’re
still married to Sophia.”

“I am still married to Sophia,” Brandt said and cried.

“Sophia is dead,” Nellie said and flung the emery board at
him. “Get the fuck over it!”

“I was never a killer,” Brandt said and shook his head.
“Look what you’ve done to me.”

“Oh, here we go,” Nellie said. “This is my fault now. You
forget, it was your plan.”

“My plan to take her money,” Brandt said.

“You know, you’re right,” Nellie said and punched Brandt
in the arm, “this was a fucking mistake. We’re back in the same room, fighting
about the same shit that we did the night she died.”

“She didn’t die,” Brandt said as he wiped his eyes, “we
killed her! I was never a killer.”

“Well, you are a killer Brandt. But baby, so am I. We’ve
got the same thing in common. So, it’s not a great thing, but it’s our thing
and we share that along with so many more things.”

“She’s sick!” May Gaspar said.

“I need to sleep,” Brandt said and closed his eyes.

“Yes, sleep,” Nellie said. “We’ll take a nap and then go
to dinner, okay?”

But Brandt already nodded out. Nellie picked up a magazine
and thumbed through it when a repetitious clicking sound started under the bed.

“What the fuck is going on under there, Perry?” Patrick
said.

Nellie put the magazine on the bed and looked around the
room.

“Brandt,” she said as she shook him, “there’s a noise.”

“Turn it off, Perry,” James said.

“I don’t know what’s wrong,” Perry said from under the
bed.

“Just turn it off,” Patrick said. “She hears it.”

Nellie slid off the bed and cocked her head.

“Brandt, wake up!” Nellie said.

“What’s wrong?” Brandt said as he opened his eyes.

“Listen!” she said as she walked to the end of the bed.

“Perry, turn it off and grab the tape!” I said.

We all jumped up and ran toward the bed and Nellie was
right behind us. Perry managed to turn the recorder off and pulled the
microphone under the bed.

“Fuck, the tape is caught in the thingies!” Perry said.

“She’s coming!” Andy said.

Nellie walked to Brandt’s side of the bed and knelt on the
floor.

“It came from here,” she said and lifted the bedspread up.

“Fuck!” I screamed.

Nellie tried to wedge her body under the bed and shoved
her arms in and pulled the tape recorder out from under the bed. She studied
the recorder and then looked around the room.

“What the...Brandt!”

The tape from the cassette hung out of the machine and
Nellie pulled at the plastic window on the recorder and yanked the cassette
from the machine.

“Call the dogs!” I said.

“Sophia, it’s too early,” James said. “It’s not even
dusk.”

“We have to do it now. It’s going to take her about five
minutes to figure this out and then what’s going to happen? They’ll leave.”

“Sophia, I’m sorry,” Perry said and hung his head.

“It’s not your fault,” I said. “I am not going to let them
live if I can’t even save Bobby. Call the fucking dogs!”

Anthony ran out of the bedroom and quietly opened the
front door. Nellie stared at the cassette and the recorder.

Brandt rolled onto his side and looked at Nellie.

“What is it?” he said.

“It’s one of those recorders,” she said and pulled a long
strand of tape out of the machine.

“Maybe she won’t figure it out,” Patrick said. “Maybe
she’s not that--”

“Someone left it,” Brandt said. “Just put it back.”

“Yeah, someone left it, alright,” Nellie said. “I bet it
was that fucker Conway.”

“Why would he do that?” Brandt said and yawned.

“Why do you think?” Nellie said.

Nellie hurled the recorder across the room. It hit the
wall and hunks of plastic flew. She pulled all the tape from the cassette and
wrapped the tape around her hands several times and then stretched her hands
apart. Finally, as her hands turned purple, the tape stretched to near
transparency and snapped in two.

“Well, there goes Bobby Allen’s freedom,” I said.

“Baby,” James said, “we’ll figure something out.”

“No, it’s too late. We’ll be lucky if the dogs get here
before they leave. You were right, James.”

“I can’t look at them anymore,” James said and walked out
of the bedroom.

“Perry, take Mica and Mary and find Heinrich. Get the
steaks from him and go to the property line and wait.”

“Throw some meat out into the woods,” Judah said, “to get
the animals interested.”

“Got it,” Perry said.

“Brandt, Conway knows something,” Nellie said. “We need to
get out of here.”

“Are we moving to another room?” he said and closed his
eyes.

“Brandt,” Nellie said and threw the syringe into the
suitcase, “we need to leave the hotel!”

“They’re coming,” Anthony shouted from the front door.
“The dogs are coming!”

“Andy, you stay here and watch them,” I said.

We ran into the living room as Anthony ran into the suite.
He leaned against the wall of the foyer and tried to catch his breath.

“Are you okay?” May Gaspar said as she rubbed Anthony’s
back.

“They’re at the shore by now,” Anthony said and coughed.
“They should be here soon.”

I looked around the suite and saw James sitting at the
desk in the corner and staring out the window.

“What’s wrong?” I said as I walked toward the desk.

James looked at me and rested his chin in his hand.

“You are incredibly beautiful, you know that?” he said and
smiled. “I was just thinking about the first time we met.”

“Thank you,” I said. “I can tell something is wrong.”

“Go and join the others,” he said and looked down at the
desk. “I’ll be there in a minute.”

There was something in his face that told me not to argue
with him and to do exactly what he said.

“What’s the plan now?” Patrick said.

“What are they doing in there, Andy?” I said.

“He’s in the bathroom and she’s sitting on the bed,” Andy
Larabee said from inside the bedroom.

“Did you notice a lot of people in the lobby?” I said to
Anthony.

“I didn’t have time to take a formal count, but I had to
dodge quite a few bodies. We have to stall this.”

I turned around and looked at James who was once again
staring out the window. Céline came up to me and put her arm around my
shoulder.

“What’s wrong with him?” she said.

“I’ve no idea.”

“Shhh...do you guys hear that?” Judah said

We all crammed in the foyer and listened.

“A train,” Jennie-Lynn said.

“No,” Anthony said, “that’s the dogs.”

They sounded like a line of horses barreling down a track.

“Man, they’re loud,” I said.

“They’re hungry,” Anthony said and walked into the
hallway.

“Could everyone step into the living room, please?”
Anthony said. “I don’t want them spooked.”

We all backed into the living room as the snarling got
louder.

“Dogs terrify me,” Jennie-Lynn said and grabbed Tara’s
arm. “I’m phobic.”

“Oh, don’t worry, Jennie-Lynn,” James said from behind us,
“they’re not really dogs, they’re--”

“Wolves!” Jennie-Lynn said and covered her eyes as the
pack slunk into the living room.

“Don’t be afraid,” I said and walked toward the wolves.
“They belong to us. What’s going on in there, Andy?”

“Not much,” Andy called from inside the bedroom. “She’s
sitting on the bed getting dressed and he’s in the bathroom.”

“I hope he’s not dead,” Judah said.

I knelt on the floor and the wolves lined up in a row in
front of me.

“Order them to sit, Jennie-Lynn,” I said. “Be commanding.”

“Sit!” she said.

And they sat.

“Oh my goodness,” she said, “did you guys see that? They
did it all together.”

“Yes,” I said and reached out and ran my fingers through
Number Eight’s thick fur, “they’re amazing.”

The wolves stared at us, panting in unison and waited for
their commands.

“I’m not sure what to do,” I said as I looked into the
wolf’s shiny, black eyes.

“She’s dialing the phone,” Andy said.

“If they don’t leave, we wait. If they do, we have to do
it,” James said as he joined us.

“Okay,” I said and smiled at him.

“She’s calling for a taxi!” Andy said.

“Thanks, Andy,” I said.

“Well,” James said and squeezed my shoulder, “there’s your
answer.”

“Let’s take them outside,” I said. “At least the guests
won’t see them being dragged through the lobby.”

“She’s still on the phone,” Andy said. “They’re going back
to Boston! He’s coming out of the shitter now!”

“Ace reporting, Jimmy Olsen,” Patrick said.

“She’s yelling at him!” Andy said from inside the bedroom.

“What else is new?” Céline said.

“I feel nervous,” I said.

“You?” Anthony said and stepped into the hallway outside
the room. “I feel like I’m gonna drop dead.”

“Good one, Anthony,” James said.

“Sugar sticks, Mr. Conway is coming,” Anthony said.

“Did he say sugar tits?” Tara said.

“No, sugar sticks. He doesn’t swear,” I said.

I walked into the hall and stood next to Anthony as Mr.
Conway walked up the corridor. He stopped and pressed his back against the wall
before the door to the suite and mumbled to himself. Then he twisted his head
and looked into the suite.

“What the hell are they doing now?” Mr. Conway said.

Mr. Conway tiptoed into the foyer and took a deep breath.
Anthony and I walked around his body and into the room.

“Hello?” Mr. Conway said.

The wolves turned their heads together and stared him
down.

“No,” Anthony said, “not him.”

“Yet,” I said and smiled.

“Sophia!”

“She’s off the phone now,” Andy said. “She’s putting his
robe on.”

Mr. Conway walked backward toward the door to the suite
and tripped over his feet and fell against the wall in the foyer.

“Who’s there?” Nellie said from the bedroom.

“Um--” Mr. Conway said and leapt toward the front door.

Nellie walked out into the living room.

“Conway?” she said.

Mr. Conway turned and faced her and the wolves stood and
growled.

“Sit!” I said. “Not yet.”

They all sat and fixed their eyes on Nellie.

“Is it your habit to barge into guest’s rooms uninvited?”
she said. “What do you want?”

“The door,” Mr. Conway said and pointed over his shoulder,
“it was open.”

“Perhaps because you opened it?” Nellie said and walked
toward Mr. Conway.

“N-n-no,” Mr. Conway said and backed toward the door.

“Y-y-yes, you stuttering fuck,” Nellie said.

Patrick chuckled and we all stared at him.

“What? Come on, that was funny!” he said and rubbed his
eyes.

“Look, Conway,” Nellie said, “I don’t know what you’re
thinking or why you’re acting like such a fool, I don’t really care. Brandt and
I are leaving this flea-bag hotel.”

“I see,” Mr. Conway said and cleared his throat.

“So, your plan didn’t work,” Nellie said and leaned
against the wall.

“What?” Mr. Conway said and shook his head.

“Spare me,” Nellie said.

“That boy is in jail,” Mr. Conway said.

“And? It seems to me, that’s where he belongs.”

“Not if he didn’t do it.”

“Do what?” Nellie said and smiled.

“You know what we’re talking about.”

“What are we talking about?” Nellie said and moved away
from the wall toward Mr. Conway.

“I have to get back,” Mr. Conway said.

“I doubt that anyone will miss you,” Nellie said.

“Is she going to kill him?” I said.

“Let’s hope not,” Judah said. “I couldn’t bear his weekly
staff meetings in the afterlife.”

“That would be horrid,” I said.

“Brandt’s walking toward the door!” Andy said.

Brandt shuffled toward the open bedroom door and peered
around the corner.

“Nellie,” Brandt said, “the man said he has to get back.
Leave him alone and finish packing my things.”

Mr. Conway looked at Brandt, turned around and ran out of
the room.

“What did you do that for?” Nellie said and walked toward
Brandt.

The wolves stood up and snarled at Brandt.

“We should make our move outside,” Anthony said. “They’re
getting a touch cagey.”

“We don’t need any more trouble,” Brandt said. “Let’s wait
for the cab outside. It’s stuffy in here and I need some air.”