“Can we use your car?” Jack bellowed out the open window. Too far away to respond, Lizzie just waved her hand. “Guess that means yes. I don’t see any point in our going in. We would have heard from someone if we were needed. Let’s head back to Babylon so we can shower and change. Then I want to go to the police station to get a copy of the police report, unless one of the guys has already done that. And you want to check on your guys, too, don’t you?”

“Yeah, I do. Sounds like a plan. Why haven’t we heard from anyone? Something must be going on,” Harry grumbled.

“No news is good news, Harry. I’m thinking things are just the way they were, with no changes in Cosmo’s condition. I want to believe and hope that’s a good thing.”

“I could never live here,” Harry said as he tried to maneuver the Mercedes around a slow-moving Ford Focus with an elderly couple inside. “Lookie-looks, and they back up traffic for miles,” Harry continued to grumble under his breath.

“The city that never sleeps. No clocks. City of dreams and crushed hopes. I agree, I could never live here either. This has got to be the mecca of all money. Did I say that right?” Not waiting for a response from Harry, he continued, “Millions and millions of dollars change hands in this town every hour of the day and night. I read an article once about some couple from Boise, Idaho, who saved their money for years and years because they thought they had a foolproof plan to quadruple their money and retire to some island and live happily ever after. The article went on to say they hit the craps table running and were wiped out in two hours. They didn’t even have enough money for gas to drive back to Idaho. They had to panhandle to get home. Who does something like that?” Jack asked.

“Okay, we’re here. I hate this place. I just want you to know that.”

“I do know that, Harry, but we have to make the best of a really, really bad situation,” Jack said irritably. Sometimes Harry made him crazy, and this was one of those times.

Jack and Harry registered and accepted their room cards. They were next door to each other, one floor down from Annie’s penthouse suite. The desk clerk had clarified that everyone except Fergus and Charles, who were staying in the penthouse, were on the same floor.

At the door to their respective rooms, Jack looked across the hall at Harry and said, “When you’re ready, let’s head up to the penthouse. I just hope one of the guys had enough sense to bring our bags when they checked in.”

“Dennis was gathering them up when we left,” Harry called over his shoulder. He gave a halfhearted wave and closed the door behind him.

Jack shut his own door and looked around. His bag was on some kind of fold-up table at the foot of his bed. A huge bed, big enough for him, Nikki, Cyrus, and six other dogs. He missed Cyrus as much as he missed Nikki when he was alone like this. He could hardly wait to call Abner to bring Cyrus down to his room. Cyrus didn’t do well in the cargo hold when flying, so he’d made the decision for the big shepherd to ride with Abner, and that way Abner had company for the long cross-country ride.