"Nice," I said. "Very nice. "
Bria dropped her hand, and the cool caress of her Ice magic faded away. "Well, I couldn't very well let him shoot you, now, could I?"
I shrugged. "I thought you might, after the fight we had earlier. "
Something like hurt flickered in Bria's blue eyes, but I didn't have time to think about how much I'd pissed her off again. Instead, I went up the steps and cracked open the door, listening. The suites were spaced pretty far apart, but I'd kicked the door shut, and the men had let out a couple of screams before I'd killed them. Slamming doors weren't uncommon in hotels, but yelps of pain were another matter.
But the walls must have been thicker than I thought, because I didn't hear any movement out in the hall. No whispers, no running footsteps, no other doors opening or slamming, nothing. No one seemed to have heard the commotion at all, or if they had, they just didn't care what it was. Good. That meant we had some time to clean up the scene and get the hell out of here. I didn't know how many more men Dekes might have in the hotel, either on the staff or his own goons, but Bria and I had definitely worn out our welcome. Best to get while the getting was good.
I closed the door and locked it again.
"Sorry I wasn't more help. I had earplugs in, or I would have heard your elemental alarm and woken up sooner," Bria said, moving around the room and staring at the dead men. "Who are these guys?"
"Some of Randall Dekes's men. Remember Pete and Trent from the restaurant?"
Bria looked at the bodies, and her face tightened with recognition. "They didn't stay in jail very long, did they? They must have come looking for us as soon as they made bail. But how did they know where to find us?"
"Callie said that Dekes has his hands in everything in Blue Marsh, remember?" I said. "Besides, Pete recognized you at the restaurant, and we checked into the hotel under your name. So it was just a matter of Dekes finding which hotel you were staying at and then sending in Pete and his boys to do their thing. The fact that we were here at the Blue Sands just made it that much easier, since Dekes owns the hotel. "
"Yeah, but why come after us?"
I shrugged again. "Any number of reasons. Maybe word got back to Dekes that you were a cop, and he didn't want you sniffing around while he tries to take over Callie's restaurant. More likely, though, he knew his boys got their asses handed to them earlier, and he told them to get their payback - or else. You know how it works. If you or your men show any sign of weakness or incompetence, the other sharks smell the blood in the water and start circling around. Dekes can't afford to show any chinks in his organization, not now when he's so close to building his new casino. And from what I heard him say before he came into the suite, Pete was exactly the kind of guy who would relish hurting two women, whether it was on Dekes's orders or just his own sick idea. "
Bria surveyed the blood and bodies that littered the once-pristine suite. After a moment, she sighed and shook her head.
"Now what?" she asked. "Because these dead guys aren't just going to disappear. Not with Sophia back in Ashland. And we can't just leave them here. Like you said, the room's in my name. Besides, we both know that you aren't going to call the cops and explain all this to them. "
I pretended I didn't hear the chastising tone in her voice and stood there, thinking, my eyes flicking around the room just as Bria's had a moment before. Finally, my gaze lit on the patio doors, and an idea popped into my head.
"Uh-oh," Bria muttered. "I know that look. You've thought of something. The question now is exactly how bad is it, and do I really want to know about it?"
"Don't worry, baby sister. It's nothing too dark or sinister - this time. We're going to get rid of these bodies easy peesy. "
Her eyes narrowed with suspicion. "And how the hell are we going to do that?"
I smiled at her. "We're going to dump the bastards in the pool. "
Chapter 9
Bria changed into jeans, sneakers, and a T-shirt and packed up our things. My clothes were dark enough to hide the blood that had spattered onto them, so I got to work. The first thing I did was go out into the hallway, grab the luggage cart that had been left by the elevator, and roll it into the suite. Then I stripped off the linen jacket the valet was wearing and wrestled his body onto the cart. I put him on the bottom and piled Pete on top of him, to hide the valet's wounds. As a final touch, I threw the valet's jacket over Pete to cover up his injuries as best I could.
"Are you sure this is going to work?" Bria asked, eyeing the haphazard way I'd stacked the bodies on the cart. "They're going to get rug burn from their hands and feet dragging off the side like that. "
"Well, they're dead, so I doubt it will bother them," I replied. "Now let's roll them onto the elevator. "
Bria helped me push the cart out of the suite and down to the end of the hall. I stabbed the button for the elevator. Since we were on the third floor, we didn't have to wait too long for it to arrive. Given the late hour, the car was empty. Even if someone had been inside, I was going to cheerfully say my friends had had too much to drink and that Bria and I were taking them to their room. Not the best excuse I'd come up with, but I didn't have time to be more creative or clever.
For once, my luck held, and we made it down to the ground floor without seeing anyone. Given the fact that the hotel didn't have any security cameras in the hallways, elevators, or common areas, I didn't have to worry about a guard spotting us on a screen somewhere and coming to see what we were up to.
I stepped outside and checked to make sure no one was using the pool, but the area was deserted. Even the bonfires had burned out on the beach. I craned my neck up, looking at the many stories above me, but I didn't see anyone else out on their patio. The night was as still, dark, and quiet as it was going to get.
"Still clear inside," Bria murmured from her spot in the doorway, looking back into the hotel. "But are you sure you want to do this? Someone's bound to hear the noise. "
"I doubt that, given how many folks I saw sucking down mai tais earlier. They're either in their rooms sleeping off their buzz or holding on tight to their honeys right now. Even if they do hear something, they'll probably just think it's some late-night skinny-dippers out having a little fun. Besides, I don't see how we have much of a choice," I said. "As you pointed out, Sophia isn't here to clean up the mess like she usually is, and we can't exactly leave the bodies in the room with your name on the bill. So let's go. Heave-ho. These guys aren't getting any warmer. "
Bria sighed with either resignation or agreement. I couldn't tell which exactly, and I wasn't sure I wanted to know.
We pushed the cart out onto the patio and up to the edge of the pool. Thankfully, the wheels didn't squeak. We started with Pete, since he was on top. Bria grabbed his legs while I took hold of his shoulders.