After Owen had sucker-punched him and stormed out, Mosh had finished off the contents of one of the bottles he’d found on his table. He wasn’t even particularly sure what brand the nasty concoction was. It could have been jet fuel for all he cared at that point, and since he hadn’t made it to his bed, it might actually have been. He couldn’t tell what time it was. His watch was missing and the alarm clock was blinking 12:00 over and over again. “Where’s my watch? Oh yeah, that one groupie stole it from me last week…Stupid chick. That Rolex was totally fake…” He’d had to sell the real one. Besides, he didn’t need a watch. The light coming around the curtain hurt his eyes enough to tell him that it was in the afternoon, so close enough. He just needed to be coherent enough to play some half-hearted crap before eight P.M.

Staggering to the bathroom, Mosh discovered that he was still wearing one boot. He splashed some water on his face and took stock of the damage. His bottom lip was split and his front teeth hurt. His brother always could throw a mean punch. Mosh poked at the sore spot. “Damn it, Owen, you self-righteous asshole. I can’t believe you did that. Ah, that stings.” Talking to himself wasn’t a recent development. He had always done it, but usually only when he was lonely, not that he would admit it.

Owen was such a jerk…It wasn’t enough to drag his business into everyone else’s business, but now he was into something that was going to endanger Dad? Not that Dad would care. He was psycho too. Hell, the whole family had problems. Mosh found himself staring back at his own bloodshot eyes. “Look at you. You used to be something. What happened to you?”

“I do not know this answer. You should turn on the television set. Watch news.”

Startled, Mosh spun around to see who had said that. He could’ve sworn that the voice had come from right behind him, but the bathroom was empty. Had the maid come in? Walking lopsided because his remaining boot had very thick soles, Mosh went into the suite to find that it too was empty. The security latch was still locked.