“There’s someone else in the house,” Twitchell said. “Give me one of the guns.”
Owen ignored the demand. “The dust bunny isn’t worried, so we’re not going to worry, either. What we’re hearing are some special effects for the escape games.”
“You don’t understand,” Kelbrook muttered. He pushed himself to his feet. “It’s not a game. Rose told me the truth years ago. It’s why I stopped seeing her for…for physical therapy.”
“Physical therapy?” Alice asked, incredulous. “What are you talking about? Rose Ash is not a physical therapist.”
“Forget it,” Kelbrook muttered.
Twitchell snorted. “Ash specialized in innovative therapies for sexual masochism disorder. In other words, she was a dominatrix. Hardcore.”
“Shut your fucking mouth,” Kelbrook yelled.
“Why is the hotel a death trap?” Owen said. “We need to know what we’re dealing with.”
Kelbrook grunted. “Rose’s father built this damn hotel decades ago. It went into foreclosure after he died in jail. Rose asked me to buy it for her anonymously. It was the price she demanded for her silence. Well, that and the watch.”
“Who was her father?” Alice asked. “Why was he in jail?”
“His name was Luxton Yardley.”
“Well, hell,” Owen muttered. “That explains a lot.”
Alice looked from one man to the other. “Who is Luxton Yardley?”
“He was the serial killer the media labeled the Gamer,” Owen said.
“Rose tried to hide the truth, but I found some papers that made it clear she was Yardley’s daughter,” Kelbrook said. “When I confronted her, she admitted it. She said he brought his victims here and forced them to play what he called the Ultimate Escape Game. None of them stood a chance. The entire hotel was engineered to commit murder.”
Chapter Thirty-Five
“Rose is the daughter ofa serial killer?” Alice asked, stunned.
“Talk about bad bloodlines.” Kelbrook grimaced. “Now you see why I couldn’t allow her son’s genes into the family.”
“You should have gotten rid of her years ago,” Twitchell muttered. “Fuck. Why didn’t you tell me to do the job?”
“Isn’t it obvious?” Owen said. “Rose probably has proof not only of his sexual tastes but, more crucially, that he murdered Alice’s mother. I’m guessing she threatened to give the information to the police and the media if he didn’t agree to take care of her. She’s smart, so she probably took out some insurance, too.”
“If anything happened to her, a certain video featuring her confession would be automatically released to the media,” Kelbrook bit out.
Alice looked at him. “What did she confess?”
“Who the fuck do you think gave me the drugs I fed to your mother?”Kelbrook shot back. “If you want to waste time talking about the past, go right ahead. I’m getting out of here while there’s still a chance, because the hotel will kill us if we don’t escape before dawn.”
“He’s got a point,” Owen said.
That was too much, Alice decided. Rage exploded through her. She did not want logic; she wanted answers. She focused on Kelbrook.
“You murdered my mother,” she whispered.
“I had no choice, you stupid woman,” Kelbrook said. “She was threatening to divorce me. I did what I had to do to protect the family and the business.”
Alice rezzed her talent and flung herself on him, fingers extended like claws. The sudden move took him by surprise. He lost his balance and fell to the floor. She went down on top of him, tightened her grip on one of his arms, focused on the dreamlight currents of his aura, and drew hard on her talent.
“Don’t touch me,” he screamed. “Take your hands off me. You can’t touch me.”
“Too late,” she said.
