Blood Loss

‘Yes,’ said Ren. ‘Then I could shove my peace pipe up your—’

‘Ren – did you speak with the desk clerk?’ said Gary.

‘Yes,’ said Ren. ‘He’s another candidate for my peace pipe.’

‘Why?’

‘Just – he’s a dick. Probable stoner. Isn’t remotely alarmed by the situation. Thinks he should hate the Feds because he saw it in a movie once …’

‘Has anyone spoken to the owner of the hotel?’ said Gary.

‘He’s not here yet,’ said Ren. ‘I’ll go down and see if we’ve got an ETA.’

‘I’ll meet with the Royces,’ said Gary.

Bob Gage was walking away from a couple who were sitting on a sofa in the foyer, the husband with a protective arm around his crying wife.

‘The Royces,’ said Bob when Ren came over to him.

‘How are they holding up?’ said Ren.

‘Not good,’ said Bob. ‘Do you want to know what they just told me? They have a Child ID kit for Shelby at home. They got it a few years back; the mom figured that somehow, it would lessen the chances of her daughter going missing …’

‘They thought “well, surely, if we have her fingerprints and a DNA sample, we couldn’t possibly end up needing them” …’ said Ren. Ugh.

‘Do you want to talk to them?’ said Bob.

‘Gary’s on his way down,’ said Ren. ‘Who’s that guy?’

A man in his late thirties was standing at the corner of the reception desk, his face pushed into Jared Labati’s, who was leaning back, but still with an expression that didn’t reach concerned.

‘That’s the owner,’ said Bob. ‘Tom Olson—’

‘Attempting the tricky feat of shouting under his breath,’ said Ren. ‘Let’s go say hi.’

Jared Labati had been sent away by Olson and was gone by the time they reached the desk.

‘My apologies,’ said Olson. ‘I’m a little frustrated, here. It’s the weekend, Jared knows that the security system absolutely had to be re-connected on Friday afternoon. He was to tell the electrical contractor, and he was to stand over everyone until it was re-connected and fully functioning.’

‘He’s quite young to have such responsibility,’ said Ren.

‘I can see that now,’ said Olson. ‘I know his father well – Jared has done work experience with him for a few years. I figured he could handle telling a contractor a few things …’ He shook his head. ‘I cannot believe someone was able to walk into my hotel, and abduct a child …’ He paused. ‘And I’m sorry about Shelby Royce. I did not authorize that.’

‘Authorize what?’ said Ren.

‘Hiring a sitter that wasn’t from an agency – someone that hasn’t been background-checked.’

‘What?’ said Ren. ‘But Breck Sitters guarantee their sitters are background-checked.’

‘But Shelby Royce wasn’t with Breck Sitters,’ said Olson. He looked at Bob and Ren. ‘Didn’t you know that?’

Ren could feel her blood pressure rise. ‘No, we did not.’

‘Shelby is just one of Jared’s friends,’ said Olson.

Jesus Christ. ‘Where is Jared Labati right now?’ said Ren.

‘Gone to the staff room,’ said Olson. ‘He’s about to go home.’

Not yet he isn’t, the son-of-a-bitch.

15

Ren ran down the hallway, and caught up with Jared Labati. She took him by the arm.

‘We need to talk,’ she said. ‘Back where we came from.’

Jared did as she asked, bumping off the door frame as he stumbled through the office door.

‘Why did you lie about Shelby Royce?’ said Ren.

‘I didn’t,’ said Jared.

Ren stared at him.

‘I mean, obviously, I did, but—’ He shrugged. ‘I didn’t think Tom was going to be back so soon …’

Where do I start? ‘I don’t even understand what that means,’ said Ren.

‘I need this job,’ said Jared. ‘I really do. I couldn’t risk—’

‘Are you for fucking real?’ said Ren. Jared flinched. Ren exploded. ‘Risk what? Two children have been abducted—’

‘Shelby’s sixteen years old,’ said Jared.

‘A minor!’ said Ren. ‘A child in my book. And that hardly exonerates you.’

Oh my God, you don’t know what exonerate means.

‘You don’t get off the hook is what I’m saying,’ said Ren. ‘There is an eleven-year-old girl out there, and your friend, and you tell me that Shelby works for Breck Sitters, and is therefore background-checked, when she is not.’

‘There’s no need to background-check her,’ said Jared. ‘Shelby’s cool. I could vouch for her. If this hadn’t happened, Tom would have been fine with it when he got back.’

Ren paused. ‘Now I get it – you were hoping you could have a quiet word in Mr Olson’s ear before we got to him, get him to back you up?’

Jared looked away.

‘What difference does it make?’ he said, his head snapping back to her.