She considered this. He had a point.
Mason continued. “Shee, think. If you go up there screaming for her to get out—”
“I’m not going to scream—”
“—she’s going to know she’s burned. You’ll blow any chance we have of figuring out what’s going on.”
Shee looked at him. “We?”
He took a deep breath and released it. “I’m not going to leave you alone with all this.”
Shee looked away, fighting back grateful tears.
“Thank you.”
His voice grew soft. “You’re welcome. It doesn’t mean I don’t want to choke you.”
“Understood. You can choke me later.” She wiped her eyes under the guise of wiping her brow. He’d cut the air, and the atmosphere in the cab grew thicker by the second.
“It’s getting hot in here,” she mumbled.
She dropped out of the truck and headed for the hotel, hearing Mason’s trademark limp falling in line behind her.
Bracco moved from his spot at the door to the top of the stairs.
She stopped, staring up at him.
What is this?
“Shee,” he said. His expression belied the strain it cost him to formulate the word. He put a closed fist over his heart. “M-M-Mick.”
Shee stared at him, unsure what to say. Tears gathered in the man’s eyes. Already on the verge of crying herself, she felt her cheeks grow hot. She was one sentimental dog commercial away from dissolving into a permanent puddle.
“You love Mick?” she asked.
Bracco nodded so violently Shee worried he’d shake his brain to jelly. He pointed at her, his lip quivering. “You.”
This guy is killing me.
The waterworks pressed harder against Shee’s eyes, and she pinched her expression to try and hold them back in her head. She barely knew the man and all she wanted to do was hug him.
Screw it.
She threw her arms around his waist and Bracco wrapped his meaty arms around her, squeezing her to him.
“You are a straight-up train wreck,” she heard Mason mumble behind her.
She released Bracco and turned, sniffling. “Shut up.”
He held his palms up to her. “Just saying. Maybe we should go find Crazy-Eyes and come up with a plan.”
“Crazy eyes?”
“Angelina’s always got her eyeballs on me—”
“Ol’ Crazy-Eyes is right here,” said a voice behind the blubbering Bracco.
Bracco stepped aside to reveal Angelina standing behind the screen door.
Shee took the last step to the porch and entered the hotel. Archie bolted for Mason, butt waggling. From the crook of Angelina’s arm, Harley yapped, furious about everything.
Shee dropped her bag to the ground. “Is Martisha upstairs?” she asked, squatting to the ground. She tried to sneak a hug from Archie but in his unbridled joy the dog refused to hold still long enough for her to get in a good one. She straightened.
“He’s not a great therapy dog.”
Angelina studied Shee’s teary face with concern before her attention shot to Mason.
He shrugged. “Long day.”
“I’m fine,” said Shee wiping her cheeks dry. “Where’s Martisha? We need to check on Mick.”
Angelina’s attention shifted to Mason.
“It’s okay. He knows,” said Shee.
“Really? Did we make that decision all on our own?” Angelina huffed. “She’s still out. And of course I checked on Mick the second you called. He looks normal.”
Shee nodded. “Good. We can’t let her back in.”
“No. It had to be her who called the detective. Too much of a coincidence,” said Angelina.
Shee looked at Mason. “See?” She stuck out her tongue.
He rolled his eyes.
Harley continued her staccato bark at Archie as the furry mutt earned more attention from Mason.
Angelina put her hand over her dog’s face to quiet her.
“The thing I don’t understand... If Martisha wanted Mick dead, she could have killed him weeks ago.”
“What do we know about her?” asked Shee.
Angelina shrugged. “Nothing really. Mick had hired her to take care of the Captain.”
“Who’s the Captain?” asked Mason.
Shee rubbed her hand across her face.
I didn’t tell him about burying the Captain...
She dismissed him with a wave. “No one important.”
She refocused on Angelina. “I assume Martisha has an elevator key?”
“Of course.”
“Can you re-key it?”
“I don’t know.”
“Find out. When she gets back, tell her I want to spend more time with Dad and give her a week off.”
“Don’t do it alone,” said Mason.
Angelina shifted Harley to her other arm. “And what happens in a week?”
“We’ll look into her. If we haven’t cleared her in a week, we’ll give her another week off. We should change Dad’s bedroom lock, too.” She turned to Mason. “What do you know about changing locks?”
He crossed his arms against his chest. “It’s mostly what I did in Iraq.”
“Really?”
He smirked. “No. But it isn’t rocket science.”
&&&
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Martisha sat in her car, watching her hand shake. She covered it with her opposite hand and kneaded the back of it.
She wasn’t sure how much more she could take.
Miss Angelina was too smart. When Miss Angelina looked at her, it felt as though the woman could see into her heart. All the people in the hotel were canny. They were killers, she was sure. If they found out what she was doing to Mister Mick...
What have I become?
Twenty-two years as a nurse and now...
She swallowed and looked in the rearview at Bracco. He was standing at the door, watching her.
Me haffi move.
It made her smile to hear her mother’s voice in her head. Her mother had moved her to the States as a child. She had no real Jamaican accent of her own left, but she’d been channeling her mother’s much heavier patois since arriving at The Loggerhead. It kept people from starting conversations with her.
Another glance at Bracco. He seemed more on edge than usual.
Are they on to me?
