A protest rose to my lips, but didn't make it out. I was tired. We'd accomplished a lot for our first day. Now it was time to take a couple of hours off to sleep, eat...
"Is that a yes?" Clay asked.
"It is."
"Good."
WE GRABBED OUR bags from the car. While I checked in, Clay prowled, getting the layout of the hotel, which was even more important now when we knew there were mutts in town.
After I checked in, I took a seat in one of the big lobby chairs and started an Internet search for Joey. Not surprisingly, there wasn't a listing in the phone directory. Jeremy said Joey worked for an advertising agency, so I angled my hunt that way. In a few minutes, I had a match--a Joseph Stillwell listed at Creative Marketing Solutions in Anchorage.
I called.
I was hanging up when Clay returned. "Good news. I found where Joey works. He's left for the day, but the receptionist confirmed he was in earlier, meaning he's alive and well."
Clay only nodded, but he was obviously relieved.
We took the bags up to our room. Clay barely got through the door before he was cursing. I passed him and walked to the other side of the room, which took about five paces.
"This is the Hilton, isn't it?" Clay asked.
"Yep."
The room was decently appointed, but showing its age, and was roughly the size of our en suite bathroom at home.
"Let's just hope we don't spend much time in here or we'll go stir-crazy."
Clay threw the bags onto the bed. "All this wide-open country and they can't afford to build decent-size hotel rooms?"
"Let me call down and see if they have a bigger--"
Clay caught me around the waist. "I'm sure Jeremy booked the best they had. It'll do."
"We could switch hotels. There must be--"
He cut me off with a kiss--a hungry, fingers-in-hair, leg-around-hips, who-needs-oxygen kiss, ending only when my cell phone chirped. His head whipped toward it, eyes narrowing, and I was glad I'd left it out of his reach or I'd have been picking pieces out of the plaster.
I untangled myself from him. "Normally, I'd say to hell with it, but considering we're waiting for a call..."
He strode over, snatched up the phone, then tossed it to me. "It's Dennis's landlord."
Charles had the GPS coordinates and directions ready to text to my cell. He apologized for taking so long. His wife had stopped at a friend's after shopping and, as he said, "You know how that goes." Actually, I didn't, but I understood the concept.
He warned us not to head out to Dennis's cabin tonight--it was already dark. I thanked him and promised to call back with any news.
When I hung up, Clay was already at the door.
"Eager to be off?" I said.
"Eager to be off before I decide it can wait five minutes, and five minutes wasn't what I had in mind."
"Me neither. Let's get this trip over with, then we can call it a night."
UNEASY
WE'D GONE ABOUT ten miles when I said, "So, how long have you known that Jeremy planned to make me the next Alpha?"
He looked over. "You want to talk about that now?"