“Welcome to the Breakers, sir.”
“I have a reservation. The name is Parmitt.”
“Yes, sir, here it is. You'll be staying with us three weeks?”
“That's right.”
“And what method of pay—oh, I see. We will be billing your bank in San Antonio, is that right?”
“They keep all my money. I'm not permitted to walk around with it myself.”
The clerk offered an indulgent smile; he was used to the incompetent rich. “It must take a worry off your mind,” he said.
Parker touched the tips of two fingers to his lounge lizard mustache; it felt like half a Velcro strip. “Does it?” he asked, as though the idea of having a worry on his mind had never occurred to him. “Yes, I suppose it does,” he decided. “In any case, I'm not worried.”
“No, sir. If you'd sign here.”
Daniel Parmitt.
“Will that be smoking or non, sir?”
“Non.”
“And will you be garaging a vehicle with us during your stay, sir?”
“Yes, I left it with the fellow out there. He gave me a—wait, here it is.”
“Yes, very good, thank you, sir. You keep this, you'll show it to the doorman whenever you want your car.”
Parker held the ticket, frowning at it, then sighed and nodded and put it away in his trouser pocket. “I can do that,” he decided.
“And will you be needing assistance with your luggage, sir?”
“The fellow put it on a cart, over there somewhere.”
“Very good. Front! Do enjoy your stay with us, Mr. Parmitt.”
“I'm sure I will,” Parker said, and turned to find a bellboy at his elbow, who wanted to know what room he was in. Parker didn't know until the bellboy helpfully read it aloud for him off the little folder containing his keycard.
“I'll meet you up there, sir, with your luggage.”
“Fine. Thank you.”
He stood where he was until the clerk said, “The elevators are just over there, sir.”
“Thank you.”
He rode the elevator up, alone in the car, and strode down the quiet hall to his room. Entering, he faced a wide window, thinly curtained, with the ocean and the bright day visible outside. When he looked at the king-size bed, he thought of Claire, whom he would see again … when? In three weeks? Sooner? Never?
A rapping at the door meant the bellboy with the luggage. Parker went through the usual playlet with him, being shown the amenities, the luggage placed just so, lights switched on and off, then the bellboy accepting the rich tip Parker gave him and smiling himself back out the door.
About to start unpacking, Parker caught sight of himself in one of the several mirrors and stopped. He studied himself and knew that what he was doing was the thing to do, the way to be here without being seen, without causing questions to be asked, but still, it felt strange and it looked strange. This person, in these clothes, in this room, on this island.
Well. Whatever tactics he decided on in the next couple of weeks, he knew one thing for certain: he wouldn't be intimidating anybody.