“She’s a little cranky,” Jenks said, distracting the bellhop, who looked more than a bit startled as he turned from hanging my garment bag in the front closet.

“Dialing zero will get you the front desk,” the bellhop started again, glancing from Trent to Pierce and then to me, clearly trying to match us up before attempting to move any more luggage. Trent’s bag was headed in with Ivy until Trent cleared his throat and—sure enough—claimed the second room with little more than a nod.

“I guess I’ve got a couch,” I said, and the bellhop simply emptied the trolley and left the luggage in the entryway. Jenks was still checking the place out, and Pierce had joined him, whistling when he found the bathroom, next to the kitchen.

“Will there be anything else, Mr. Kalamack?” the bellhop was asking when Trent bodily took him by the elbow and delicately propelled him to the door.

“Privacy,” Trent said, leaving him at the door and going back for the trolley. “No deliveries. Leave them at the desk. No turn-down service. No incoming calls, except from me. A table for dinner would be pleasant, say about ten. Family style if at all convenient. Chef’s choice. Heavy on the vegetables. No deep-fried anything. It’s been a long trip.”

“Yes, sir,” the man was saying, now in the hall with the trolley. “Thank you, sir!” he added when Trent handed him a folded bill. “Welcome home, Mr. Kalamack.”

Smiling and nodding, Trent shut the door in his face. He waited until the faint sound of the trolley creaking away came through the door, and then he sighed, his shoulders slumping for all of three seconds before he pulled them back up.

I could hear Pierce trying out the faucets in the bathroom, and I smiled as I draped my arms across the top of the couch. “This is nice.”

Trent flashed me a look. Picking up his smaller bag, he headed for his room. “Excuse me,” he said, and I would have been hurt but for the reminder that though I could relax for a while, his quest was just starting. He’d given himself three seconds to relax. That was it. Three.

From the bathroom, Pierce said, “You could wash a cow in here.”

“Look, Rache,” Jenks said from the windows behind me. “You can see that bridge they’re always yammering about. Huh, it’s not that big. The one Nick drove off is way bigger. Hey! Look! There’s an island.”

Oh, great. The fog had lifted. “Alcatraz?” I said, turning to see, but he’d darted to my bag, landing on it with his hands on his hips, wings moving so fast I couldn’t see them. My shoulder hurt from yesterday, and I gingerly felt it. I had a pain amulet in my luggage, but it wouldn’t work here. Maybe they had aspirin in the lobby.

“I gotta get changed,” Jenks said as he slipped into the pocket that had been designated as his. “Trent wanted to leave, like, five minutes ago.”