CHAPTER 40
“So silver lining, they weren’t superhumans,” Jake said as he walked with Laney down to their new room ninety minutes later. He couldn’t say angels. He might have accepted that reality in his mind, but he was not ready to say the word out loud.
A hotel manager had offered them the use of a different room to get cleaned up in and to comp their room. He’d apologized profusely for the incident. The man was probably more concerned about them potentially suing the Redfield. Jake took pity on the poor man and assured him that they did not hold the hotel to blame in any way for the attack.
The police had a mobile fingerprint scanner and the results had come in almost immediately. Both assailants were Russian nationals who were wanted in a string of countries for various violent acts. Reading through the lines, Jake knew what they were - assassins.
Jake gestured to room 209 down the hall. Laney walked towards it without comment. He was worried. She hadn’t said a word since the attack, except to answer the police’s questions. She seemed to have shut down.
Jake opened the door and let her walk in first. “We’ll get cleaned up and then leave for the airport in a few hours.”
She looked back at him. “The police don’t need us to stay in town?”
Inwardly, he breathed a sigh of relief that she was at least speaking. “No. Henry gave them a call and smoothed the waters. He assured them we’d return if necessary.”
He placed her bag on the couch. Before they’d changed rooms, he’d collected her stuff, not wanting her to have to face the evidence of violence in the other suite. He watched with concern as she gathered it from the couch. Once again silent, she carried it into one of the bedrooms and closed the door behind her.
He didn’t like her silence or the stiffness in her posture. But he was at a loss as to what he could do to help her. He was used to violent confrontation, and providing comfort generally did not come with the territory. He found himself now in the uncomfortable position of wanting to offer that comfort and having absolutely no idea how to accomplish it.