“Grab it. Maybe it will help the authorities confirm that they found all of the bodies.”
It might give some grieving individual closure,she thought. Still, she had to brace herself to touch the logbook again.
Gingerly she picked it up, holding it as if it was the head of a viper, and went quickly toward the door. It was locked, but Owen used the lockpick and it opened readily.
She saw the glow of a green quartz staircase. Sebastian chortled happily and bustled toward it.
“I don’t know about you,” Alice said, “but personally, I can suddenly breathe a lot more easily.”
“You are not alone, trust me. Never thought I’d see the day when the Underworld felt like home sweet home,” Owen said.
Chapter Thirty-Eight
“It looks like Kelbrook andTwitchell did not make it out of the hotel,” Alice said.
Owen stopped beside her. They were standing in the windswept woods at the rear of the hotel. Sebastian was on his shoulder, having opted for a free ride. The slog back to the hotel from the tunnel exit at the ruins had been unpleasant, to say the least. The worst of the storm had blown through while they were trapped in Yardley’s escape game, but rain fell relentlessly and the ground was muddy and matted with slippery leaves. The trees and bushes dripped steadily. The result was that he and Alice were now wearing sopping-wet clothes. Their hair was plastered to their heads, and they were chilled to the bone. Sebastian was drenched. They all needed to get into the car, turn on the heater, and get the hell away from Cape Midnight.
Night had fallen. The outdoor lights were on, illuminating the entrance of the hotel and the parking area in a dim glow. But the structureitself was steeped in darkness, both the physical and the metaphysical kind. The windows were black. The hotel looked as if it had always stood empty—a mausoleum standing guard over terrible secrets.
The good news was that the slick Velocity lent to them by Vinnie the Broker was right where they had left it. There was also a Resonator parked in the drive, presumably the vehicle that Kelbrook and Twitchell had arrived in. That left one big unknown—was Rose Ash still in the vicinity? If so, her car was parked out of sight in the small garage. The only way to check was to take a look. He did not want to waste the time or take the risk of opening the door. They had used up enough luck for one day.
“We’re sure as green hell not going inside that damned hotel to see if Kelbrook and Twitchell are alive,” he said. “I’ll contact the FBPI as soon as we’re far enough away from here to get a signal. I’ll also warn them to go in with hazmat suits and breathing gear.”
“Good plan,” Alice said.
He rezzed the fob to unlock the Velocity as they hurried across the parking lot. Sebastian growled a warning just as they reached the passenger side of the vehicle.
The front door of the hotel opened with a clang that reverberated in the night. Rose appeared on the porch. She gripped a mag-rez in one hand.
“I’m impressed that the two of you managed to escape,” she said. “To be honest, I wasn’t expecting you to make it out. Things would have been simpler that way. But now that you’re here, I’m sure you understand that I can’t allow you to leave.”
“That does it,” Alice said. “I’m wet, I’m cold, people have been trying to kidnap and/or murder me for most of the past week, and I’m looking at a whole lot of Ballantine balance practice to recenter my energy core. I’m done.”
Owen was close enough to sense the rush of energy as she rezzed her senses. He had a split second to realize what was happening, but Rose did not understand until the shock wave struck.
Rose grunted, froze, and gazed at horrors only she could see. “What are you doing? Don’t touch me.”
“I don’t know why everyone assumes that I need physical contact to use my talent,” Alice said.
“Stop,”Rose screamed.
“Not before you answer a couple of questions. You killed your father, didn’t you? Poisoned him in jail.”
“Had to,” Rose gasped. “I knew he would talk to the media. Tell the world about me. Dunstan wouldn’t marry me if he knew the truth about my ancestry.”
“Kelbrook never intended to marry you, regardless of your bloodline,” Alice said. “He needed an heiress—my mother. And you helped him kill her.”
“He said he had to get rid of her. I thought if I gave him the drugs—made things easy for him—he would come back to me.”
Might as well get in on the act,Owen thought. There was another detail that needed clearing up.
“Why did you murder Carl Voyle?” he asked.
“I didn’t,” Rose said. Her voice was weakening rapidly. “The fool was using the video to blackmail Kelbrook. He thought he was safe because he stayed anonymous. But Twitchell was the one making the payments. He realized very quickly that he was dealing with an addicted gambler.”
“Gamblers always need more money,” Owen said.
“Twitchell suggested that the two of them become partners. If Voyle agreed to record the second kidnapping, they could use it to get a lot more money out of Kelbrook. Voyle fell for it. He showed up here that night. Said he was ready to record another video.”
