“Let me sort this out, and then I’ll let you know.”
“I’d do anything for you, Chief, and you know it.” He glanced at his watch. “I’m getting ready to get off, but I’d be happy to hang around.”
“You could put in for overtime, if you don’t mind helping,” Zach said.
“Excellent. It will be just like old times. What’s the first order of business?”
“Find Davis and remind him that I need that copier as soon as possible. We’ve got some work to do.”
After he was gone, I looked at Zach. “Does this mean I’m fired already? Wow, that’s quick.”
“Of course not,” he said. “Steve can help me make copies and hang this stuff up, but then you’re back on the payroll. In the meantime, why don’t you get us checked in and settled at the hotel? You know how much I hate unpacking.”
“Are you sure you’re not just trying to get rid of me?”
He wrapped me up in his arms. “Savannah, I’d never do that, even if I could.”
“Which you can’t,” I answered with a grin and a quick peck. “I know you’re just trying to protect me, and I appreciate it, but I’m tougher than you think.”
“Trust me, I know how tough you are.”
“Okay, as long as that’s settled, I’ll take off.” As I started for the door, I paused and said, “But don’t think you’re getting rid of me for good.”
“Come back when you’re finished. You can help me lay things out. There are times when I can use that organizing point of view you’ve got.”
“See you soon.”
I bumped into Steve in the hallway, and found him deep in conversation with someone on his cell phone. It was pretty clear that he wasn’t happy with whoever was on the other end, but when he spotted me, the frown changed into a smile.
“Hang on one second,” he said as he buried his phone into his chest. “My landlord’s trying to go up on my rent,” he explained to me, “and I’m trying to convince him how handy it is having a cop live there.”
“Are you having any luck?”
“Not yet, but I think I’m wearing him down. If you don’t mind my saying so, that husband of yours is the best cop I’ve ever seen.”
“He used to be,” I said evenly.
“I know he’s retired, but I can’t imagine it ever gets out of your blood, you know?”
“I’m doing my best, though, to help see that it does.”
Steve grinned at me. “You keep fighting your battle, and maybe one of us will win.”
“Good luck with yours,” I said.
He smiled, and then returned to his phone call. “It’s not going to happen,” he said as he shot me with his finger.
As I made my way out of the station to our car, I wondered if what he’d said was true. Was Zach always going to be a cop, until it ended up killing him? With his pension and my income from the puzzles, we were comfortable, but it was the excitement that Zach missed, and I knew it. The only problem was that the more he worked, the greater chance there was that he’d put himself in danger. I’d come close to losing him once, and that was something I never wanted to face again.
THE BELMONT WAS EVEN NICER THAN I REMEMBERED, one of Charlotte’s finest hotels. A nicely dressed man in a suit was waiting at the front entrance with a mobile rack, and he unloaded my car snappily. As he wheeled it to the front desk, I started digging into my purse for a tip, but he held his palm up.
“Everything is being covered,” he said.
“Even tips?”
“Absolutely, Mrs. Stone.”
“How in the world did you know my name?” I’d heard of good service before, but this was a little over the top.
“The hotel owner himself told our staff to be on the lookout for you, and we’ve been waiting for your arrival ever since.”
I started for the front desk when he held out a paper sleeve containing room keys to me. “You’re already checked in, so we can go straight to your suite.”
“Suite? A room would be fine.” The last time Zach and I had stayed in a suite had been our honeymoon.
“I suppose I could move you, but it would cause us all a great deal of headaches, what with the paperwork and everything we’d have to change.” He smiled as he said it, so I decided to go with the flow. “Also, the owner would be unhappy with us if we allowed it, and none of us want to cause that. We would consider it a great favor if you’d accept this offer.”
I laughed. “I’m too tired to fight you on it,” I said.
He hit the top button on the elevator, and it was all I could do not to say anything. When the door opened, I stepped out and saw in the long hallway, there were only four rooms on the top level.
As he started to open the door to Suite Three, I said, “You’re not really a bellman at all, are you?”
“My name is Garrett, and it’s my pleasure to serve as the manager of the Belmont,” he said. “If you need
