He gave her his bestI’m a consultant—don’t try this at homesmile. “Thanks. I came up with the idea all by myself.”
She ignored that. “You’ve done this sort of thing before, haven’t you?”
He looked at her. She was standing in the light that streamed through the window. Her hair was in tousled chaos and her eyes were a little heated. He knew she was doing some data collecting of her own, probably looking for information she thought she could use to analyze his dreams.
“Yes,” he said.
“You don’t just identify the bad guys, do you? You hunt them.”
“Sometimes.” Her curiosity was probably dangerous, but deep down he liked knowing she was interested in his secrets. Still, best to change the subject. He went to the table where he had left his tech. He picked up the locator and input Voyle’s address. “We’re going to need a tunnel sled.”
Alice brightened. “I know someone who can arrange that.”
“Who?”
“Vinnie the Broker. He connects buyers and sellers. He’s the one who got me a good deal on the flamer.”
“The flamer that you used to set the bed on fire at the Hotel of Dreams?”
“That wasn’t Vinnie’s fault. I didn’t have time to study the manual.”
“You know how to contact a guy like Vinnie the Broker?”
“Everyone at the clinic knows Vinnie. I’ll call his office right now and tell him that we need a sled first thing in the morning.”
“This broker has an office?”
“Oh, yes.”
“And it’s open in the middle of the night?”
“Vinnie’s business motto is ‘The Broker never sleeps.’ Between you and me, it’s one of the reasons why he comes to see me for dream therapy.”
She started toward the table to pick up her phone.
“Wait,” he said. “Use the room phone, not your own. The Amber Palace will have better security.”
She changed course and picked up the phone on the bedside table. He listened while she made the call, torn between amusement and admiration. Her enthusiasm and the assured way she spoke to an off-the-books broker who could procure unregistered flamers and emergency sleds for a lady in distress were impressive. He wondered if she had any realistic notion of just how dangerous a man like Vinnie the Broker could be.
Maybe, in some karmic kind of way, innocence was its own sword and shield. Or maybe there was something to be said about all that positive thinking.
She finished the call and turned around, glowing with excitement. “You’re right. Vinnie says the Amber Palace does have a hole-in-the-wall. Access can be purchased from the concierge.”
“Told you so,” he said. “Hotels like the Amber Palace always have discreet tunnel entrances for guests who like their privacy.”
“Vinnie says he’ll have the sled ready and waiting in the morning. Oh, and he said there are several hole-in-the-wall exits in the Shadow Zone. He’ll input a couple of options into the sled’s locator, along with the codes for unlocking them.”
“A full-service broker. Amazing.” He glanced at the bed. “We should get some sleep.”
“Absolutely. We both need sleep.”
She hesitated, as if trying to make a decision, and then walked resolutely toward the bed. She crawled under the covers, still wearing the robe.
“Good night,” she said.
“Good night.”
And that, he realized, was that. The moment had passed.
