Chapter 44
When I woke up the next morning, Tamarind wasn’t in her bed. The bathroom door was open, so I thought she must have gone down to breakfast without waking me. Except there was a problem with that theory. The hotel room door was bolted, and our chair was nestled firmly underneath the handle, where I’d left it after coming back to the room the previous night.
I tried not to panic. I slid open the closet doors. No Tamarind. I crouched down and looked under each bed. No Tamarind. The bathroom door was open, and she wasn’t there either. I splashed water on my face, wondering if I was going crazy.
That’s when I heard it.
When I listened carefully, I could hear her voice faintly. I followed the sound to the window. We didn’t have a balcony, but she’d climbed outside the window to the fire escape.
I knocked on the glass and she jumped. She was holding her phone to her ear, and with her other hand she held up two fingers and mouthed “two minutes” to me.
Five minutes later, she stepped back inside. She peeled out of her fluffy black coat.
“Miles is the greatest guy. Ever. I’m forever in your debt for introducing us. Though, since I’m acting as your bodyguard here, do you suppose that balances the karmic scale?”
“You gave me a heart attack. I didn’t think our window opened far enough to get out.”
“I didn’t either. But after Sanjay said his attacker had gotten out through the window, I looked at the hinge. If you remove one bolt, it opens wider. I should put that back in.” She cracked the window and leaned out.
“I guess the chair under the door gave me a false sense of security.” I was glad I had a friend with me.
Tamarind closed the window and shook her head. “It’s not something anyone can access from the outside when the window is closed. So it’s not like it’s an oversight from hotel security. The guy in Sanjay’s room would have had to push open the window from the inside, then remove the bolt.”
“After realizing he screwed up and yelled loudly enough to be heard, you think he took the time to figure out he could remove a bolt from a window to get away?”
“No, he must’ve planned it.”
“Meaning he could have gotten in that way too. Sanjay insisted he wasn’t careless enough to leave his door ajar, and I believe him.”
“But,” Tamarind said, “that means the guy would have waited until he knew Sanjay had his window open, long before he snuck in.”
My mouth felt dry. I’d been sitting exposed in the hotel stairway the previous night. “That means the intruder was probably a guest.”
“I don’t remember seeing anyone twisting an evil mustache,” Tamarind said, “but how would we recognize the guest who’s the killer?”
“It’s at least worth telling the police.”
“And you’re sure Sanjay would have opened his window?” Tamarind asked.
“Sanjay runs hot.”
“I bet he does.” Tamarind licked her lips.
I crawled back under the covers.
Tamarind pulled the comforter aside. “I think you might need to accept this is one mystery you’re not going to solve. We just need to keep you and Sanjay safe until he performs, then we can all go home.”
“Why do you say that?”
“I was just talking it through with Miles. He’s so much smarter than people give him credit for, you know. But neither of us could figure out any way for all of this to make sense.”
“We’re missing something.”
“Sorry I worried you, J. Especially since you were sleeping so peacefully when I slipped out of the room. You had a smile on your face.”
“I talked to Lane before I went to bed. I was being foolish before. I told him I wanted to be together.”
“Rock on. Can we double date when we get home? No. Scratch that. Lane has cheekbones to die for. And that hair. Not as amazing as Sanjay’s…but pretty damn close. Probably safest if I don’t sit across the table from him when I’m with Miles.”
“Noted.”
“Miles is bummed I’m not going to be back by Thanksgiving.”
“You still have time to make it if you leave later today.”
“We came up with an even better plan. We’re going to have a second Thanksgiving after I get home. You two should come. Oh, just make sure—”
“—that we don’t seat Lane across from you.”