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“I think he is. He didn’t pee all night long, but as soon as we took him outside in the morning, he jumped out of my arms and found a nice bush. I promise we’ll take him outside every couple of hours just in case.”
We?Granger clenched his teeth to keep his protest to himself. He was a damn fake head of security, not a dog-walker. Bliss was on her own when it came to bathroom breaks.
“Did you say someone called?” he asked Mrs. Wegman. The idea of a mystery landline call set off alarm bells. Who used landlines anymore? Wouldn’t anyone trustworthy know her cell number?
“He didn’t leave his name. But he had such a pretty accent! At first I couldn’t understand who he was calling for, because he said Bliss in such a funny way. He had to spell it out for me.”
He glanced at Bliss, whose face had changed color. “Did he leave a message?” she asked, her voice just slightly uneven.
“He said he wanted to warn you. He said a certain someone knew where to find you and that you’d know what he was talking about.” Her eyes were wide with avid curiosity. “Do you?”
“It sounds like a crank call to me. People say all kinds of things to semi-celebrities. I never take those seriously.” Bliss gave her a blithe smile and headed for the elevator with Moses.
Granger lingered behind. He didn’t believe her carefree act for a second. “Does your landline have a way to trace incoming numbers?”
“Not that I know of.”
“Did you recognize the accent?”
“No, but we get a lot of foreigners here at the hotel, so I’ve heard a million different accents. French is so pretty, it makes me blush whenever I hear it, and Scottish, oh my…” she fanned herself, “and just recently someone from Zimbabwe stayed here and I simply couldn’t get enough of the way he said Madam…”
Good God, was she going to go on forever about accents? He pulled out his phone and searched for an audio sample of someone speaking with a Thai accent. “Did he sound like this?” He played it for her.
“Yes! How clever of you. That’s exactly how he sounded. Where is—”
He stopped the clip before she could see it. This was Bliss’ business, not everyone in Lake Bittersweet’s—and Mrs. Wegman had made it clear that she was a prime spreader of gossip. “For security purposes, it’s best if you let me handle this. Quietly.”
Her eyes went wide. “I understand.”
“That means no, erm, discussing it with anyone else.”
“No gossip. I do understand. I can keep quiet, especially if lives depend on it.” She ended in a whisper, her expression a mix of excitement and alarm. He didn’t want to scare her, but he wanted to make sure she got the message. “Thank you. I speak for the United States government when I say your discretion is appreciated by all.”
She sketched a kind of salute at him. He nodded, like some kind of emperor granting a wish.
Back in the suite, he found Bliss setting out a water dish for Moses. She’d already set up a litter box where he was supposed to pee in an emergency. A bowl of puppy chow held only a few stragglers. Apparently, Moses had a healthy appetite.
Sitting on her knees and heels, she looked up at him while Moses slurped up water. Her eyes, usually such a clear gray, had darkened to the shade of a thunderstorm. “What else did you find out?”
“She identified his accent. Thailand.”
She didn’t look surprised.
He sat on the couch and stretched out his legs. “Think maybe it’s time to fill me in on the rest of the story?”
She let out a long, quiet sigh as she watched the puppy slake his thirst. She sat straight as a lamppost, her sunny hair catching light from the overhead fixture. This was a woman, he realized suddenly, who was very used to shouldering her own problems. If people thought she didn’t have any, being a beautiful model and all, it was likely because she didn’t talk about them.
Maybe the two of them weren’t so different as he’d initially thought.
“Put it this way. Either you tell me what’s going on or I’m going back to Boston. I can’t do my job in a vacuum.”
“I never actually hired you to do a job,” she snapped. “You were just supposed to pretend.”
“I’m not a fucking actor. If I leave, I’m sure you can find someone else to play the role. Is that what you want?”
“Is that whatyouwant?”
They stared at each other for a long moment, like a sword fight conducted purely through angry stares.
