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What she hadn’t anticipated was that when she’d thrown her portfolio and her purse to the back of the car earlier, she’d also managed to knock the bag containing her morning purchases over on the back floorboard.
Rhinestones and colored crystals were scattered along the carpet, twinkling merrily beneath the interior lights as she scooped them up and threw them back into her bag without bothering to return them to the small plastic bags they’d been in when she’d bought them.
That took far too long, as far as she was concerned. The damned cab was charging by the frickin’ half minute, if she remembered her last trip to New York correctly.
She had only so much cash on her, and her own credit card was barely going to cover her hotel room. The trip was supposed to be all expenses paid, but Piper knew the type of man Eldon Vessante was now. No doubt he had already called the hotel and informed them that he wasn’t paying for anything. That meant she’d better have her own card ready and waiting when she walked through the front doors.
Tossing the last of the colored crystals and stones into her bag, Piper stepped back, slammed the door, then hurriedly locked the car before rushing back to the front of the rental agency.
Depositing the keys in the night box, she all but ran to the taxi and gave the driver the address to the hotel.
Just as the vehicle pulled out, the first raindrops began pelting the yellow-and-black vehicle.
“It’s finally raining,” the driver commented as he turned at the corner and headed for the hotel. “You in town for long?”
“Not really.” She stared straight ahead, fuming.
“Business or just a visit?” he asked then, obviously in the mood to chat.
Every cabdriver she’d ever known had spent their time either on their cell phone or talking to the company about waiting fares. This one would have to be the chatty type.
“A little of both,” she answered, staring out at the rain as she tried not to cry.
Not yet.
She’d made certain she hadn’t cried on the way back to the rental agency. God forbid she get pulled over for any reason, even this far away from home, because she knew it would take less than an hour for Somerset’s chief of police, Alex Jansen, to learn about it. What Alex knew, his wife, Janey, would be quick to find out.
And Janey, being Natches’s sister and Dawg’s cousin, would find it impossible not to tattle.
Piper should have known better. She should have known it couldn’t be this easy. She’d worked far too long and too hard for it to happen as she had imagined once she’d received that letter from S. Chaniss.
“If it walks exactly like a duck and quacks exactly like a duck, then watch out for the explosion, because no two ducks walk or quack exactly the same,” she’d once heard Dawg say with a laugh.
She should have been prepared for the explosion.
The cabdriver chatted about the rain while Piper answered where she had to. She was aware the trip back to the hotel took much longer than it had going from the hotel to the rental agency, but she always added in for the detours and “scenic routes” the cabbies took to add to the time and mileage they charged, no matter where they were.
There was only so much of a delay he could make, though. It may have seemed like hours before he was pulling into the front of the well-lit hotel, but it had actually taken no more than fifteen minutes. Which was way too long, considering it was close to midnight and the streets, with the exception of Times Square and a few other tourist-heavy areas, were all but deserted of traffic.
Pushing his fee and a larger tip than he deserved through the small opening in the divider between the passenger’s and driver’s areas, Piper stepped from the cab and moved quickly into the hotel.
“Ah, Ms. Mackay.” The young, blond receptionist caught her attention. The girl’s expression was apologetic, her pale blue gaze faintly concerned. Just as Piper expected.
“Yes?” She should have kicked Vessante while she had the chance.
“The manager would like to speak to you.” The receptionist’s smile was compassionate. “He’s coming now.”
As she stepped to the reception desk, the night manager moved from his office and slid behind the desk as Piper waited.
Stocky, his face weathered with laugh lines at the corner of his eyes, his brown gaze was concerned and compassionate. It was firm, though. He knew what he had to do, and he may hate it, but he would do it.
“My apologies, Ms. Mackay,” the manager, Charles, appeared genuinely apologetic. “I’m aware your stay was to be taken care of by another party, but.” He grimaced. “I’m terribly sorry, ma’am, but I was informed before your arrival that that is no longer the case and the party is now refusing to pay.”
She couldn’t let the manager finish demanding the payment. It wasn’t his fault, and she could tell this was one part of his job he definitely didn’t like.
“I’d prefer to take care of my room myself, Charles.” She smiled back at him as relief gleamed in his gaze.
He was a nice guy; she liked him. He had checked her in during the wee hours of the morning and ensured she had a cab waiting that morning to take her shopping. He’d arranged her morning coffee and joked with her about the weather when she’d stepped into the lobby to leave for her shopping trip.
