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She finished her breakfast, tossed her trash in the garbage and then headed for the gym. She may not find the answers she needed on the treadmill, but at least she could work off some of this stress.
She returned to her room an hour later and sat down with the report. The words began to blur together. Come on, Olivia, where’s the weird stuff you were into? From all accounts, Olivia had lived and worked in Portland quietly as a waitress at an upscale restaurant—nothing strange in her background, no enemies.
Eric knocked on the inner door.
“It’s unlocked.” He may be keeping her locked out, but her room and her heart were wide-open to him.
He stepped into her room. “Are you hungry? We’re having lunch with Nigel in Chinatown.”
“Is he willing to talk?”
“He’s meeting with us, which is more than anyone else will do.”
“Did you tell him what happened last night after he left?”
“I figure we’ll surprise him and watch his reaction.”
“Speaking of surprises, Vivi called me from Mexico.”
“Was she able to clear up anything?”
She swung her legs off the bed. “Just made it murkier. She knows about the vendetta against the coven, but she’s not convinced it’s because someone’s trying to stop their evil ways.”
“She admitted that the coven was involved in something evil?”
“She dismissed it as a few bad apples.” She snagged her purse from the coat hook by the door. “How’s the weather outside? Do I need a jacket?”
“It’s warm, and we’ll be walking to Chinatown.” He shoved his hands in his pockets. “Did Vivi explain why someone would be after the coven if not to stop them?”
“She was full of mysteries, but she implied it was because they wanted what the coven had.” She had no intention of telling Eric about Vivi’s warning to her. It would come across as an appeal for his protection. Not that she didn’t want or need it.
He snapped his fingers. “Power. It’s why he’s leaving that tarot card.”
They ambled down the hallway toward the elevator. If they didn’t keep talking about the case, they had nothing. She smacked the button with her palm. “Where’d you have breakfast?”
“That little outdoor café on the square. You?”
“Grabbed a banana and bagel downstairs and then went to the gym.”
“Any good? The gym?”
“It was okay. Lots of free weights.” She squeezed his biceps. “Are you still lifting?”
Dumb question. She’d seen his body last night in all its glory.
“When I get the chance.”
They both stared at the light blink through the floors and then started talking at the same time.
“You go.” She wiggled her fingers in his direction.
“I just wanted to ask if you talked to Kendall today?”
“No. Mom assured me this morning that she’d recovered from her nightmare. She’s pretty talkative for a two-year-old, but they’re still not great on the phone.”
“Do—do you ever talk to her over the computer?”
“Yes.” He wanted to see and hear his daughter. “Would you like to, I mean, do you want to sit in the next time I do?”
“If that’s okay.” The doors of the elevator opened and he wedged his arm against the doorjamb to keep it open for her. “I don’t want to freak her out or anything. I can stay off camera.”
“You wouldn’t freak her out.”
“Does she have these nightmares often? Sounded like it wasn’t the first time.”
“Every few months, but she forgets them quickly. It’s funny, I used to have them, too, so my mom tells me. I don’t even remember them.”
“Used to have them? You were still having nightmares when I met you.”
She tilted her head as the automatic doors of the hotel whisked open. “Those were dreams, not nightmares.”
“They’re dreams now because you made sense of them and sorted them out, but they’d be nightmares for a child.”
She curled her hands into fists. “That’s why I’ve never told Vivi about Kendall’s nightmares. Vivi has this crazy notion about testing Kendall’s level of perception.”
“Not,” he turned to her and wedged a thumb beneath her chin, saying, “going to happen.”
“Oh, you don’t have to tell me that. I already nixed it.” Eric’s parental instincts were kicking in already, and he hadn’t even met Kendall yet.
They walked across union Square and up a few blocks, passing beneath the arch that signified the beginning of Chinatown.
