Page 34 of Hard Rain

Whip’s eyebrows lifted. “How can you be so sure?”

“Because I don’t like him.”

Whip’s soft chuckle filled the SUV.

Shit.

STRANDED

The place was their usual whenever they came through Paisley. Not often, but enough that the girl behind the counter recognized them immediately.

Brenda. Ponytail. Too much eyeliner. Same as always.

“Hi! My grandma finally took a day off,” the gum-popping blonde behind the desk said brightly as she handed over a key card.

“Tell her thanks again for the cookies she sent over last Easter,” Whip said.

Brenda gasped dramatically. “Oh my God, weren’t those to die for?”

“Best cookies in the county,” Whip agreed.

Axel made a sound in his throat, already taking the key card from Whip before the conversation turned into a ten-minute discussion about baked goods.

He barely remembered the damn cookies.

Whip probably remembered what kind they were.

Delivery date. Who ate the most. Hell, what everybody had been wearing too.

“Freak.”

“Me?” Whip asked on a laugh as they stepped back outside into the wet evening air.

“Don’t give her hope,” he muttered.

Whip squinted at him. “Are you serious? Brenda’s like twenty.”

“Exactly.”

Axel shoved the key card into the lock harder than necessary and stalked into the room first.

“You’re ridiculous.”

“Am not.”

Whip dropped his bag onto one of the queen beds and wandered toward the single-serve coffee maker near the television.

The room was decent.

Not fancy.

But clean, warm, and dry, which honestly felt luxurious after the day they’d had.

Axel placed his Glock on the nightstand and glanced around the room. “Looks like they cleaned the carpet.”

“No. It’s new.”

Axel pointed at the cream-colored shag. “No, this was here last time. It’s just clean.”