Though she huffed, the woman turned to the kitchen and called out, “Arman, I’m checking on a guest. Be right back.”
“Thank you,” I said, dropping some coin onto the table, hoping it’d make her move faster.
She pocketed the coin before wiping down the rest of the bar. She stopped to fiddle with a ring of keys. Only once she was satisfied they were all there did she finally push through the door to join me on the other side of the bar, tromping up the stairs without looking back.
I hurried to catch up.
She knocked on Arie’s door, even though I reminded her I already had.
Just like earlier, Arie didn’t answer. That girl slept like a rock.
The employee frowned and inserted her key, calling out as if Arie would somehow hear her voice when she hadn’t heard the knocking, “I’m coming in, miss.”
With a twist, the door swung open and we stepped inside.
The bed was empty.
And made.
Like no one had slept in it.
I didn’t see Arie anywhere. Had she risen early?
Puzzled, my eyes settled on my bags. They were open, and the contents were strewn about the floor. My heart beat faster. Moving toward the bags, I ignored the babbling of the woman who’d let me in.
It couldn’t be.
The lamp was missing.
CHAPTER 38
Arie
AFTER LEAVING THE INTERROGATIONearlier that night with Kadin’s key, it hadn’t taken me long to find the lamp. Moonlight poured into the room as I dug through his other bags until I found some flint as well.
I stopped in the middle of the room with the oil lamp in one hand and the flint in the other, stalled.
