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Taking her date book/planner from her purse, Piper opened it and pulled her credit card free before laying it on the gleaming marble counter in front of the young woman standing at his side.
“Thank you.” The young woman—Brittany, her name tag claimed—ran the card before giving her a bright smile as the payment went through. “Will you be staying with us the full length of the reservation?”
So much for Dawg being unaware where she had stayed.
Piper shook her head as she slid a tip to the girl. “I’m checking out tonight. Could you please have a car waiting in about an hour to take me to the train station, and send the bellhop up for my luggage?”
She should never have gone shopping that morning. There were bags of additional materials in her room that she would now have to try to stuff into the single extra duffel bag she’d packed rather than purchasing another, as she’d planned.
“I’ll make certain of it.” Brittany’s smile was too cheerful.
Piper quickly turned and headed for the elevators as she tucked her card back into the planner’s clear zippered pocket.
As she did so, a phone number caught her eye.
Jed Booker. The number was scrawled under his name in the neat, no-nonsense handwriting he used.
She should have invited him to come with her, she sighed wearily to herself. Eldon Vessante would have never tried anything so stupid if Jed had been with her. She had a feeling Mr. Vessante would have been far less likely to stuff that sock in his pants, or to make such an outrageous demand.
He would have simply told her he had changed his mind the first chance he had, which would have suited her fine.
Stepping into the elevator, she told herself it didn’t matter. If it was meant to be, it would be; it was that simple.
That phone number glared back at her, though, until she snapped the planner closed. She didn’t push it back into her purse, however. She held on to it even though she’d already both memorized the number and programmed it into her smart phone.
Yes, if she had brought Jed, she had no doubt the night would have been far less disappointing and much more interesting.
One thing was certain: Jed so did not stuff his crotch with anything but what God had given him. And God had been generous.
* * *
Rudy Genoa stared at the disgusting, bloodied face of the car rental agency manager with bitter fury.
He was tied, in a rather clichéd style, to an old-fashioned wooden office chair, because he was too damned cheap to buy the nice, if inexpensive, computer chairs that were so easy to find.
It had worked to restrain him, though.
Duct tape secured his wrists to the arms of the chair and his ankles to the legs. His face was swollen and pale beneath the blood that marred it. The top of his balding head was splattered with his blood, calling attention to the fact that perhaps he’d lost more hair since the last time Rudy had seen him several months ago.
Chester’s head lolled to the side a bit, while small, bloody bubbles filled and deflated at his nostrils with each breath.
He really was a distressing sight, but it couldn’t be helped. Rudy was furious. The loss of the delivery had the potential to do far more than just embarrass him. The loss of that delivery could bring some very nasty individuals into his town looking for him. The type of men one preferred not to piss off. Even one with Rudy’s power.
He couldn’t believe the stupidity.
This was what you got for trying to trust family to do a job right.
“Did you think I would just let this go, Chester?” Rudy asked as he straddled the chair he’d pulled over to the balding, overweight little bastard.
“Rudy, please.” Sloppy, bleeding, one eye swollen shut, his lips split by the heavy fist that had pounded into them, Chester wept pitifully. “I did like you said; I swear. It was that new girl. She rented the car out.”
“And now the delivery that came in with that car is missing,” Rudy stated softly. “We checked it thoroughly.”
“Please
.” Chester choked. “You owe me, Rudy. You owe me. I’ll get them back. I swear I will.”
He owed him.
