A High Tide Murder by Emily George

Author:Emily George [George, Emily]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Kensington Books
Published: 2023-12-27T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 13

As soon as the Dungeons and Dragons session was over, Ethan, Matt, Ben and I headed to the hotel to conduct an experiment.

“Isn’t this breaking and entering?” Ben asked nervously as we got out of the car. It was dark out and the inky sky gave us plenty of shadows to work with.

“We’re not going to break anything and entering isn’t a problem when you’re paying for the hotel room.” I patted Ben on the shoulder. “It’ll be fine.”

“I’m surprised you’re not playing a Rogue for your D&D character,” he muttered in response.

“Why don’t you go up to the room and wait for us,” Matt suggested gently. “We don’t need everyone standing around the bottom while I climb up.”

“Who says you’re climbing up?” Ethan asked. “I was going to do it.”

“No way. You’re competing in two days and if you injure yourself, your dad will kill me.” Matt shot his younger brother a stern look. “Don’t worry about me, I’m fit as a fiddle.”

He wasn’t kidding. Matt was currently wearing a fitted black T-shirt that showed off arms corded with muscle. He wasn’t bulky like a gym bro, but rather had the physique of a runner. Strong, economical, lean. If someone could haul themselves up to a first-floor balcony, my money was on him.

“So long as I don’t need to do it,” I joked. “I’ve got the upper body strength of a marshmallow.”

“Come with me,” Ben pleaded, grabbing my arm. “This place gives me the creeps.”

“You two go upstairs.” Ethan thrust the room key into my hand. “And come out to the balcony.”

Ben and I went through the hotel’s front entrance and, for the first time in all the times I’d been here, we saw someone beside the check-in associate in the foyer. Only this person wasn’t someone I’d expected to see.

“Detective Alvarez,” I said, my voice pitched up to a squeak.

“Chloe, what a surprise.” The detective was dressed in her usual attire of a pair of smart slacks with a crease down the front, a white shirt and sensible black shoes. Her seemingly endless collection of glasses today included a pair of funky green and purple tortoiseshell frames in a bold square shape. “Hello to you as well, Ben. I suspect we’re all here to see the same person.”

She must have assumed that Ethan was still staying at the hotel.

Oh crap. Ethan . . . who was currently with his brother trying to see if they could scale their way up to the first-floor balcony. That wouldn’t look suspicious at all, would it?

I gulped. Then a nervous giggle bubbled out of me, immediately making the detective narrow her gaze. “Well, who else would we be seeing in this place? I suspect they only have one room booked at a time.”

The detective’s lips twitched but she managed to stifle the smile before it fully bloomed. “The choice of decor is . . . interesting.”

“That’s one way of putting it,” Ben muttered beside me.

The detective turned like she was going to head toward the elevators and I felt my heartbeat kick up a notch.

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