“He’s gone,” I said.
“What the hell was that all about?” Basia demanded. “That was super shady.”
“You think?” Gwen said.
We all jumped as the chime sounded again, but when I checked the peephole, this time it was a man dressed in a hotel uniform and wearing a name tag.
He knocked on the door. “Hello, hotel security. You called?”
“Yes, thanks for coming,” I said, but didn’t open the door.
“Of course. I’m Glen. What can I do for you?”
“There was just an unauthorized man on our floor trying to get into our room,” I replied. “He said staff gave him a key to access our floor. How’s that possible?”
“That’s not possible, ma’am,” Glen said, shaking his head vigorously. “We don’t give out key cards to anyone but penthouse suite guests and hotel staff.”
“Well, there was a man just here trying to get into our room with a key card and he did not appear to be hotel staff, nor did he identify himself as such. Luckily, we were able to keep him out by dead-bolting the door from the inside.”
“I’m truly shocked this has happened, ma’am. I don’t even know what to say. What did he want?”
“He wanted to get into our suite,” I replied, leaving the part about Ginger out. “It took him several minutes before we were able to convince him to leave, primarily because we said security was on the way.”
“This is totally unacceptable,” Glen said. If he was acting, he was pretty good. “I’m terribly sorry. He didn’t get inside, you say?”
“No, we didn’t open the door, and the dead bolt held. We’re fine, but can you look into it, please?”
“Absolutely. This has never happened before on my watch. We’ll investigate this at once. We’re deeply embarrassed this has happened. On behalf of the entire hotel and the security staff, we apologize and promise it will never happen again. We have cameras in many locations. We will ensure that this man will never again enter our hotel to threaten you. Please describe him in detail, and if he is still on the premises, we will find him.”
I provided a quick description of the man and Glen relayed it immediately to his staff over a radio. “Do you ladies need anything else?” he asked us.
“No, thank you,” I said. “We just want to feel safe here.”
“I understand completely, and I’ll get to the bottom of this, I promise.” Glen left promptly after that, and we all returned to the couch, where we collapsed in relief.
“Should I call the police, too?” Basia asked. “If they come, they’ll find Ginger and they might take her away and give her to that creep.”
“Not yet,” I said. “Let’s just try to figure out what’s going on here before we take that step.”
Ginger pressed against my leg, and I realized she was trembling. I knelt to pet her. “I know you didn’t like him, girl, but who was he? And who the heck are you?”
Chapter Thirteen
Lexi
Ginger looked at me with her intelligent brown eyes and then walked back to the couch to nudge the things she’d dragged over. I followed her, sitting down on the couch and picking up Basia’s lipstick.
“Are you trying to tell me something, Ginger?” I asked, turning it over in my hand. “Is this lipstick significant in some way?”
She woofed once, surprising me.
“Whoa, is she communicating with you?” Basia asked.
“I don’t know,” I said. “I feel like I’m missing something here.”
“The guy said she was part of an experiment,” Gray said, joining me on the couch. She petted Ginger from the other side. “‘Company property.’ What do you think he think he meant by that?”
“I don’t know. Maybe it’s a pharmaceutical company or a cosmetic company that tests its products on animals,” I suggested.
