“Like what?” Luke asked.
“Like I forgot the key at home, and he acted like it was the straw that broke the camel’s back for him.” I tapped the counter near the register.
“He yelled at you?” Luke asked.
“No, no,” I quickly stammered. “Nothing like that. He gave me the impression he was massively beaten up and my not having the key made things worse. As I have said, he seemed more depressed and like… well, I don’t know. His behaviors have me worried though.”
Luke breathed heavily into the phone.
“Look,” I started, angry. “All I wanted was a little bit more information, so I knew how to approach him. So far, the man himself doesn’t live up to the way he was described to me. If you’re not going to be any help, I’d just assume hang up now.”
“Sorry, sis,” he said through a yawn. “I’m exhausted.”
I huffed. There was no way I was going to pry anything else from him. So, for the time being, I had to give up. “Get some sleep. I’ll figure this out on my own.”
“All right,” he said. “Night.”
I ended the call and stared around the shop. The storm was starting to come in full force, with thick flakes falling to the ground. In terms of business, I wasn’t going to have much more. My best bet was to close shop and clock out for the night.
Once I was done, I promptly headed home to grab the key I had mistakenly left. My plan was to take it to him myself. The man didn’t strike me as someone who should be so forlorn if his normal character is the polar opposite.
The second I had the key in my hand, I slide the thing into my front pocket and headed into Glenwood Springs.
* * *
Not much slowedthe city down. Even through the beginning of a blizzard. That being said, the stores were probably going to stay open. So, I stopped at a local liquor store to grab everything I needed for a cold, blistering night. Just in case Guy was feeling a little under the weather, I grabbed all the fixings for hottie totties. He struck me as a whiskey man.
With nothing else to do before visiting, I climbed back into my car and drove toward the hotel I had sent him to. It didn’t take much for me to see he got a room, despite the odds. His unmistakable pickup was parked in one of the spots in front of a long line of doors. He must have gotten the last room because the no-vacancy neon light glowed brightly on the sign facing the street. The only problem was figuring out which room belong to him. It could have been one of three. The one directly in front of a door, or either of the other two on each side. Depending on what parking was available when he arrived.
Honestly, there were too many variables for my taste. And though I could have gone into the office to ask which room he was in, I only had his first name and the clerk probably wouldn’t help anyway. Privacy and all.
Because I already knew the office wouldn’t be of any help, the only thing I had left to do was knock on some doors and hope I pick the right one first.
I climbed out, carrying everything I had bought, and headed to the door immediately in front of the truck. I figured starting with this one was the obvious, most logical choice. I knocked. After several seconds of silence, an elderly couple stood at the barely opened door.
“Yes, what is it?” the old man said.
“Sorry,” I said. “Wrong door.”
The old woman poked her head around her husband and said, “Maybe you should call the person you’re trying to reach and find out from them which door you should be going to.”
“You’re right. I’m sorry again,” I said.
The door closed.
I frowned.
The old woman was right. I can’t spend all knight knocking on doors, waking up people. Though there weren’t very many doors, to begin with, I didn’t want a mob of angry people upset with me because I disrupted their sleep.
There had to be a better way.
I turned around and stared at his truck. It was unlocked.
Though it gave me the idea to just leave everything in his truck with a note, and his old, beat-up truck didn’t have anything inside worth stealing, people weren’t exactly trustworthy.
Still, it was better than nothing.
I sat the bag of supplies on my hood and dug inside my car for a piece of paper and a pen to write a note. I found a pen, but not the paper. I stared at the paper bag holding everything I bought.