He detected the scent of Malloy all over him. He took a deep breath and it was all he could do to stop himself from sprinting back up the steps, waking the woman, and doing it all over again.
He slowly rose and staggered to the door. A minute later he was back at the hotel.
As he passed Reel’s room down the hall from his, he noted that there was no light coming from under the door. At three a.m. she was, like most people, asleep in her own bed.
Like I should have been for the last four hours.
He showered and lay down in the bed with just a pair of boxers on. He stared at the ceiling, hoping perhaps to find some answers to bewildering questions on the drywall up there.
It didn’t work. There were no answers there or in his head.
He finally fell asleep and then rose when his phone alarm sounded. He dressed and went downstairs for breakfast.
He saw Reel had beaten him down. She was just finishing her meal at a corner table. She saw him and motioned him over. Robie squared his shoulders and marched toward her. He had more apprehension doing that than he’d had going into that home in London to battle seventeen armed terrorists.
Such was the unique effect that Jessica Reel had on him.
He sat down and ordered coffee from the waitress who hurried over to take his order. There weren’t many people in the small restaurant, and she was probably happy to have something to do.
“You look tired,” said Reel. “You didn’t sleep well?”
“I’m fine. Maybe drank a little bit too much,” he added in a low voice.
“Right. So what did Malloy want with her nightcap?”
Robie fiddled with his napkin. “Nothing much, but I’m getting fed up with not telling her about Holly.”
“I told you how I feel about it, but I also see Agent Sanders’s position. And we gave him our word.”
“Yeah, well,” said Robie, not finishing the thought.
His coffee came and he drank it down quickly.
Reel watched him and said, “You feel better?”
He nodded.
“You want something to eat?”
He shook his head. “So, luxury silos today?”
“Lambert texted me. He’s going to come by around ten.”
“Okay, but you really think there’s a connection?”
“Blue Man toured the place right before he disappeared.” countered Reel. “And you didn’t have a problem last night with our checking it out.”
“Fine,” said Robie curtly.
“I think we just need to learn as much as we can about this place, Robie. The more we know, the chances increase we can find Blue Man. But if you have a better idea, I’m listening.”
“I don’t have a better idea,” he said distractedly. “I don’t have any ideas.”
“Okay, so then we’re on the same page.”
They finished up and were waiting out front for Lambert when he pulled up in a Yukon at a few minutes past ten.
Robie watched dully as Malloy walked across the street, dressed in her uniform, at the same time Lambert arrived.
Shit.
He had forgotten that she was coming.
“Sheriff,” said Reel as Malloy joined them.
Malloy nodded at her and then settled her gaze on Robie.
“Agent Robie,” she said.
“Sheriff.”
“That was great least night, wasn’t it?” she said.
“What’s that?” asked Robie nervously.
“The dinner at Claire’s.”
“Absolutely. She knows how to throw a party.”
He didn’t notice Reel glancing first at Malloy and then at him.
They all walked to the Yukon and climbed in. Reel took shotgun, and Robie and Malloy settled into the middle row.
Lambert said, “I brought donuts, if anyone’s interested.”
“Of course,” said Reel, the disgust clear on her features, though Lambert wasn’t looking at her.
They climbed out of the truck and approached the door.
“So who buys these sorts of places?” asked Malloy.
“Wide spectrum of folks. I can’t reveal any names of course, but we’ve got hedge fund managers, investment bankers, Silicon Valley people, you know, Facebook, Yahoo, Google. Captains of industry. Names you see in the Wall Street Journal. Got one professional athlete, a golfer.”
“Silicon Valley, huh?” said Malloy. “Techies afraid of the apocalypse? I thought they believed technology was going to save the world.”