“I’ll take it. Any way I can avoid checking in at the front desk?”
His buddy was silent. Probably trying to figure out the reason for the secrecy.
“Chuck? It’s important that nobody knows I’m there.”
“I figured that. When are you getting here?”
“Twenty minutes.”
“I’ll put my name in the system and go unlock room 303. I’ll flip the bolt so it stays open and put the keycard on the counter.”
“Great. Thanks.”
Cap disconnected the call.
“Where are we going?” Emma asked.
“Harbor Resort in downtown Sturgeon Bay. My buddy manages the place. It’s a large hotel right by the Michigan Street bridge. First, though, we’ll stop and get some provisions.”
After lightning speed in the convenience store, Cap drove to the hotel.
He hung a right off County S onto the highway, then exited into the business district. He drove down Madison Street past one of his favorite bars, thinking he could sure use a drink. Knowing that wouldn’t help matters any, he continued toward the old steel bridge that at one time had been the only bay crossing, or so he’d been told. He’d always known there to be two bridges, and then a third was built over a decade ago.
Once off the bridge, he hung a left to the Harbor Hotel. The first pass through the hotel parking lot revealed no vacant parking spaces. Not wanting to park in the parking structure across the street just in case he needed to access the car for a quick getaway, he drove through the lot again and waited as a minivan pulled out of a spot, then he slipped into it.
He scanned the parking lot. The coast looked clear, so they made a break for the building, hopped on the nearest elevator, and got out on the third floor. Just as Chuck had said, the door was ajar, and the keycard was on the counter.
Emma unloaded their meager groceries into the refrigerator, then went into the bedroom and unpacked her duffel bag. He did the same with his.
“Now what?” she asked.
He shrugged. “We wait as the police try to draw him out.”
Emma sighed. She looked defeated.
For a long moment, neither of them spoke. It had been a rough few days. For her, especially. She wasn’t used to this kind of shit happening. He, on the other hand, was. Or used to be.
Emma broke first.
“I don’t know who I am in all of this,” she whispered.
Cap’s jaw tightened. “What do you mean?”
“Look at me. I’m hiding in a hotel, running from drug dealers. Watching people I care about get killed,” her voice cracked. “I just wanted to take a nice boat ride with my friends, and now I have blood on my hands.”
“This is not your fault. Do you understand me? None of this is on you.”
“I know you say that, but even after all Jonathan did, he didn’t deserve to get killed in his hospital bed. I don’t even know if I’m allowed to grieve him.”
She pressed her fingers to her temples.
“And you, I dragged you right back into a life you left. You didn’t deserve this either.”
Cap’s heart twisted. Was he an asshole? After hearing the grief and guilt in Emma’s tone, had he allowed himself to take advantage of a woman on the rebound? He certainly hadn’t meant to, but here he stood staring at a woman grieving another man. He hoped this spiraling path she’d gone down wouldn’t bring her to regret what they’d shared or make her feel like he took advantage of her.
Cap reached over and touched her cheek. “Emma, one doesn’t earn grief. You don’t need permission to feel it.”
She swallowed audibly. “What if…” Her words cut off, and she averted her gaze.
