Entombed Page 6

  “Agreed. Why then, with all three of us in the shop? It had to be more difficult to get inside, place the liver, and then escape quietly with the three of us present.” Marin gave Jack a steely look. “I’d have noticed at the time, but I was distracted by a distraught witness and a flaky partner.”

  “It’s my fault, huh?”

  Elliot joined them in the room. His eyes were bloodshot and a little puffy. “I forgot that she knew Lila. She wants to help, so she’s going to ask around and see what she can find. What’s next?”

  “What do you think: his house or the hotel?” Jack asked Marin.

  “Oh, the hotel. More people, less secluded.” Marin turned her attention to Elliot. “Unless you have a security team at your home that you can guarantee has no connection to the killer.”

  Elliot eyed Marin with some confusion. “I don’t have a security team at all.”

  “Decision made,” Jack said. “You’re staying at the hotel.”

  “I don’t think I want to do that.”

  “Okay,” Jack replied in a pleasant but not overly friendly tone. He called it his customer service voice. “We can make arrangements for you to return to Austin. There’s a crew I trust there, and I’m sure you’ll be pleased with their services.”

  “Whoa. I’m not leaving the country. This is my home now. Besides, how is a hotel any safer than my house?”

  Jack tried not to let his irritation show. If their client got killed, they weren’t getting paid. Not a pleasant prospect. And Elliot was a decent sort, and not particularly deserving of losing his heart and liver. “All of the houses in your neighborhood are secluded. All of that expensive privacy also makes them easy targets.”

  “He has a point,” Marin said. “About the hotel, I mean. I have another idea. Elliot, have you ever heard of Sanctuary?”

  “The private hostel a few blocks from here?”

  Jack bit his tongue. They hadn’t touched base with the hostel’s owner since they’d landed, so he couldn’t guarantee their old acquaintance would help.

  “That’s the one,” Marin said with a smile. “You’re not too good for a youth hostel, are you, Elliot?”

  “No, not at all. That’s not what I meant. I just… Uh, why the hostel?”

  “We know the place,” Marin said. “It’s about as safe you can get from things that go bump in the night.”

  “But it’s a hostel.” Elliot seemed to be having some difficulty reconciling a place with a nonstop flow of backpackers with a place he’d be safe from a heart-stealing thug.

  “It’s a special hostel.” Marin glanced around the room wistfully.

  Jack knew what she was thinking, and she was right. “Looks like we’re moving. Say goodbye to the minibar, Marin.”

  “I can live without the minibar. What’s criminal is giving up that gorgeous view and sinfully deep tub.”

  Elliot’s gaze flipped back and forth between them. “So we’re all going to the hostel?”

  Jack pulled out his cell and scrolled through the saved numbers. “Look at it this way: you’ll save on expenses.” And then he tapped “call.”

  “Mr. Kaisermann, how are you doing?” Jack turned away as Marin and Elliot huddled together in quiet conversation.

  “I’ve been expecting you.” Kaisermann’s voice sounded younger than Jack remembered. “You’re in the country.”

  “I am. And in need of a little help. Last we talked, you and your…” Jack grasped for an innocuous term for an ancient house-possessing spirit, but words failed him.

  “Sally.” Kaisermann’s voice was tinged with a touch of amusement. “Simpler that way. Sally and I have been enjoying semi-retirement—at least, we were until about two, three weeks ago. I thought about calling, but I got a strong sense from Sally that I was to wait for you to come in your own time.” His voice turned darker. “Sally and I have a different relationship with time.”

  Jack hesitated to think how many people had died since “Sally” had detected a disturbance in the force—or whatever it was that tipped her off to the Big Bad in the area. But he could hardly question the ancient creature’s decision, since even Kaisermann could barely communicate with her. “Last time we talked, you mentioned opening Sanctuary. We’re in a bind with our client, because we don’t have backup in the country. Can you give him safe haven?”

  “Absolutely. I’ve got two private rooms with a shared bath that you can have. When will you be coming? I’d like to discuss some of my recent dreams.”

  “Ah, got it.” Since Sally reached out to Kaisermann in his dreams, it was likely there was a message embedded in those dreams. “And yes, Marin and I will be staying, too. We’ll see you shortly. And Mr. Kaisermann—stay safe.”

  After Jack pocketed his phone, he rejoined Marin and Elliot. “Good thing we didn’t unpack.”

  “So he’s got room?” Marin asked.

  “Yeah, for all of us. And some information.” He grabbed Marin’s bag off the bed and handed it to her then picked up his own. “Let’s go.”

  “I need to pick up clothes and toiletries at my house,” Elliot said, trailing behind them as they walked out into the hallway.

  “Let’s check in with Kaisermann first, then we can either run by your house or pick up a few things in town.” Jack stumbled as he started down the front staircase.

  This time, he was in Marin’s sight, and faster than a blink, she had her arm around him. “Are you okay?”

  It was the same as before, a moment of vertigo that was almost immediately gone. “Yeah, sure.” And he was. He made it down the stairs without a hitch, but he could hardly be instilling confidence in their client.

  Jack glanced at Elliot, but nothing in the man’s face gave away any indication that he was concerned. In fact, he looked curiously blank—maybe from shock?

  Marin approached the front desk and said, “I’ll go ahead and check us out.” A small wrinkle appeared between her eyes as her gaze landed on Elliot. “Elliot?”

  He turned to her with a blandly inquisitive look. “Yes?”

  “No, nothing. Sorry.” But when he turned his back, she mouthed to Jack, “Follow him.”

  Elliot was walking to the exit as if she’d never spoken. When he’d replied to Marin, it had felt like no one was home. The man’s eyes were still bloodshot, but the achy sadness was completely gone. His expression had been worse than blank; it had been bland. But shock didn’t feel right.

  “I got him.” Jack hurried toward the exit.

  Jack stepped through the front door of the hotel and a sledgehammer smashed into his jaw.

  Reeling back, he struggled not to fall over his own feet.

  He blinked at the black spots crowding out his vision—then realized Elliot was the only one near him. The only one who could have decked him.

  And he was coming at him again—all six feet, four inches of him.

  Shit.

  Chapter Ten

  Jack fell back against the wall of the building as he tried to regain his balance.

  Elliot wasn’t moving with any particular speed. But he was moving with intent.

  “Hey, Elliot, what’s going on?” Jack kept his right hand on the building behind him and used it as a guide as he continued to retreat. Because pounding on the client was a bad idea.

  But then Elliot lunged.

  Jack sidestepped, grabbed Elliot’s arm, and tried to shove him against the wall. If he’d been a little faster, a little bigger…

  Pain rushed through his entire body. He froze, then fell back to the ground. Black spots danced in his vision.

  “Jack?” Marin’s voice came to him through a tunnel. “Hey!”

  He tried to answer but just groaned.

  “I’ve got him. You can open your eyes.”

  He didn’t know he’d closed them. He cracked one eye, then the other.

  Marin was standing behind Elliot, clutching his arm in a restraining hold.

  Jack blinked. “Kidney punch.”

  “Rig
ht, I saw that.” And then her voice doubled in volume. “What the hell were you thinking?”

  Jack started to get up and then fell back down to the ground. “You try getting in a fight with a guy bigger than you that you don’t want to hurt.”

  “You think that was a fight? That was you being pummeled by a half-comatose man.” Marin looked at the now complacent Elliot. She still had his arm twisted behind his back, but he seemed to have no problem standing there.

  Jack tried to get a good fix on his face. He blinked and his focus sharpened. “Ah, Elliot is not at home right now.”

  “Brilliant deduction. Any thoughts as to why he tried to kick your ass?” She raised an eyebrow.

  “Ow!” Elliot cried. “Why are you—” He exhaled loudly as Marin released him.

  Marin clasped a hand on his shoulder. “Welcome back, Elliot.”

  He shrugged his shoulders and stretched his neck. “Wait—where have I been? And why is Jack on the ground?”

  Jack stood up. Slowly. It seemed with every passing year, he bounced less. And since when did two punches equate to getting beat up? He gingerly prodded his side. “I’m good.” And he would be completely fine…in a day or two. “Any idea what’s been happening the last few minutes?”

  Elliot hesitated. “We were leaving, going to your friend’s place…the hostel.”

  “That’s right. Come on.” Jack headed in the direction of the parking lot—slowly.

  Elliot followed along. “But how’d you end up on the ground?”

  “You punched me in the kidneys.”

  Elliot came to an abrupt stop. “No. No way. I’m not…” He clenched and unclenched his fist and then examined his slightly swollen knuckles. “But I’ve never punched anyone. Not ever. And I don’t remember doing it.”

  Marin gently propelled him forward. “We both figured that.”

  “Hey, it’s okay,” Jack said. “It’s not like you have fists of steel. I’m still walking and talking. I don’t even think I’ll be peeing blood.”

  “Oh, God.” Elliot looked appalled. Good news, because that meant he was back to his old self.

  Jack put his hand out for the keys as they approached the car. “I’m driving. You’re keeping an eye on him.”

  Marin unlocked the doors with the fob and handed over the keys. “Someone’s been messing with your head, Elliot. If it was some kind of psychic or magical attack, then getting you to Sanctuary should protect you.”

  Elliot climbed in the back seat with Marin. “If it’s a psychic attack? I don’t even know what you mean. Like mind control?”

  “Well, no, more of an irresistible urge, if I had to guess. More than that and Jack would be in worse shape.”

  Jack glared at her in the rearview mirror then pulled out into the street.

  “I didn’t want to hurt our client,” Jack said. “Believe me or not, he is why we’re here.”

  “Uh, thanks for that. And I’m sorry. I really don’t do things like that.” Elliot collapsed back into the seat and ran his hands through his shaggy hair. “So you’re telling me that I’m basically a ticking time bomb. This guy can mess around in my head whenever he wants. Wait.” He leaned forward between the two front seats. “There’s no way I…I couldn’t have…I’d never hurt Lila. No way.” But as much as he denied it, he looked terrified.

  Jack could understand the guy’s fear. He’d be terrified, too, if someone had just used him as a marionette.

  “Hey, take it easy, Elliot.” Marin touched his shoulder. “Punching someone a few times is a long way from what happened to Lila, and would require a much higher level of control. Honestly, I’ve never even heard of something like that. Complete mind control can be achieved, but only in very short bursts.”

  Tension that Jack hadn’t noticed gathering left his shoulders. No people marionettes, no demonic, head-rotating possession. Those were good things to learn weren’t on the table in a sometimes terrifying magical world.

  “Whoever did this can make me punch Jack, but not…”

  “Not kill a woman you love and then dispose of her body. No.” Whether Marin totally bought that or not, she sounded like she did. Jack was convinced, and Elliot leaned back in his seat again.

  “And I’ll be safe in the hostel? How will this place keep me from beating up some poor backpacker?”

  “Sanctuary is literally a sanctuary, a place to be safe from magical attacks,” Marin said.

  “Right,” Elliot said. “I got that from the name and our sudden migration, but how does it work exactly?”

  “Ah, excellent question. Technically, the hostel is possessed.” Jack pulled up to the building housing the ancient magical creature currently going by the name Sally. And they’d been driving for less than five minutes. The city center of Corozal really wasn’t all that big.

  “Really, Jack?” Marin turned to Elliot. “I wouldn’t say possessed. It’s inhabited by a creature who infuses the building with protective magic. A very old, very powerful creature, hence it being the safest place around.”

  “You’re telling me that one of the safest places in town is a place where a bunch of backpackers crash and where I’m likely to get my stuff stolen?”

  “What stuff?” Jack said a split second before he slid out of the car.

  Marin joined him, and they both waited for Elliot to decide if he was ready to get out of the car. At a guess, his brain had finally worked its way around to addressing the impossibility of a magical creature inhabiting the very physical structure of the hostel.

  Marin leaned against the car. “Possessed, Jack? He’s never getting out the car now.”

  In retrospect, maybe not the best word choice. He should have gone with his other option, the hermit crab analogy. “I’m not myself. I was recently attacked, in case you’ve forgotten.”

  Jack watched two young guys in shorts and hiking boots walk to the door. They were toting enough beer to drown them and a few buddies.

  “Smartass.” She leaned down to get a look at Elliot inside the car. When she stood up, Marin’s bright green eyes drilled into him. “How many times have you and Kaisermann spoken since he moved to Belize?”

  “A few.”

  Marin’s eyebrows lifted.

  “Lay off,” Jack said. “I’m allowed to take an interest.”

  “You’re allowed; it just seems out of character. Maybe under that jackass, Scrooge-y exterior, there might be a half-decent guy.”

  “Or Kaisermann is a good contact to have.”

  “There’s that.” Marin caught the passenger door as Elliot cracked it open, and she pulled it wider. “Ready to head inside, Elliot?”

  “Can you guarantee that whatever is inside that house won’t crawl inside my head?”

  A fair question. Jack was about to agree, when he remembered Kaisermann’s dreams. The house sort of did crawl into Kaisermann’s head, just not in the way Elliot meant.

  “We’ll introduce you to the hostel’s caretaker, and he can answer your questions,” Marin said.

  Another young guy with beer came by, but this one was with a woman. As they passed, Jack modified that thought. Not just a woman, a very attractive woman in a tank top and a pair of short shorts. Very short shorts. And the oversized tank was loose over what looked like—Jack squinted—a string bikini.

  He needed a vacation, preferably in a warm climate, with a great view.

  As Jack watched the couple approach the front door of the hostel, the guy slowed down and then came to a stop.

  And the world tipped.

  Freaking vertigo. Jack blinked and caught his balance in time to see the guy hand his smoking girl the beer and then walk across the street. Who ditched beer and a hot date?

  “Jack. Hey, you okay?”

  That guy… “Wait—does the guy crossing the street look familiar?” Jack asked.

  “Oh, I recognize him,” Elliot said. “From the hotel.”

  The guy who’d kept him from falling down the stairs. “Marin, see if you
can get a read on him.” Jack pulled Elliot by the arm, yanking him out the car. He pulled the bigger man toward the hostel entrance until Elliot picked up the pace and jogged next to him.

  Once through the doors, Jack scanned the foyer for Kaisermann.

  “Jack! Good to see you.” Kaisermann lifted a hand in greeting from behind the check-in counter.

  Jack had forgotten how deceptively frail the older man looked. But the power behind Sanctuary didn’t come from him; that was all Sally. “Mr. Kaisermann. I need to…” Jack pointed at the exit.

  “Go, go. I’ll get your man sorted.”

  Jack caught a deer-in-headlights look from Elliot. “I’ll be right back.”

  As he retraced his steps to the street, Jack hoped he was coming right back—because he thought that familiar guy he’d spotted might have been trying to screw with his head. He trotted down the street in the direction he’d last seen his new prime suspect and Marin traveling.

  He made it about two blocks at a crisp jog when Marin turned from a side street into his path.

  “Glad I’m not lying injured in the street. At that pace, I’d have bled out before you showed up.”

  “You want me to haul ass and miss clues? I didn’t actually know where you were.” And his damn side hurt. Jack continued to scan the street as they spoke, but there were only a few locals who were watching Marin and him with curiosity.

  “We better make sure Elliot isn’t having a meltdown at the hostel.” Marin picked up the pace.

  “Yeah—but what did you see?”

  “I don’t know.” Her voice dropped low. “He wasn’t human. He appears human, until I looked closely—and then he just looks not quite right.”

  “That sounds suspiciously similar to how you guys look to some humans.”

  “No, I mean this thing has magic. It has an aura and the feel of a magic-user. It’s like someone stuffed a magic-user or a magic creature into the thin skin of a human.”

  Jack stopped. “Stuffed…like a sausage.”

  “No.” Marin tilted her head. “Yeah.”

  Jack shook his head and then jogged to catch up with her. “Whoever, whatever he is, I think he’s got something to do with my recent vertigo attacks.” Jack nodded a greeting at a curious shopkeeper. “Did you get a good enough feel for his magic to track him?”