Torrent(14)

I snorted. “Unless that metal detector had a secret folding option you never showed me, it’s not going to be in a drawer.”
“I know that, but maybe there’s other evidence. Like a picture of them standing beside my Dirt Viper like a fisherman holding up his prize catch.”
“You’re attributing entirely too much value to that metal detector.”
“Nothing in here except a bible. I’ll check the bathroom. Maybe they were showering with it.”
“Kinky,” I remarked and, for no reason other than curiosity, opened the drawer on the bedside table closest to me. A soft golden glow emanated from within. “Uh.”
“What is it?” Simon almost knocked me over in his haste to peer inside.
“Not a bible,” I said, my voice on the squeaky side. The glow was coming from a golden disk about three times the diameter of a silver dollar. I wasn’t a numismatics expert, but I’d seen a lot of old coins since we’d started our business, and I hadn’t seen anything like this. I’d studied four ancient languages in school, in addition to modern Greek, and the runes weren’t anything familiar. The picture in the center looked like a brain. Given the decapitated man we’d left in the mine, that disturbed me more than it might in other circumstances. The glowing aspect of the coin was slightly disturbing too. Still, I couldn’t take my eyes from it, and my interest in these Harley riders tripled. Was this some ancient artifact they’d unearthed? Something with historical or cultural significance?
“I’ll say.” Simon poked a finger into the drawer, as if to pick up the coin, but he pulled it out again without touching it. “How did they make it glow? There’s no such thing as radioactive coins, is there?”
“Some sort of... tritium or phosphorescent application? Like they use for watches? I’ve never heard of coins treated with that though.”
Simon pulled his phone out to take a picture. This time I didn’t object. This would be perfect for the blog, especially if it turned out to be something old instead of some modern gewgaw created for... well, I had no idea, but the idea of researching it intrigued me.
I was about to check the window again when my own phone chirped. Text message. I didn’t recognize the number but the, “GET OUT!!!” was easy enough to understand.
“Come on,” I whispered and shoved the drawer shut. “We have to—”
The door swung inward.






 
    Nine by Night: A Multi-Author Urban Fantasy Bundle of Kickass Heroines, Adventure,   Magic
    
 


 

CHAPTER 5

The two men stood in the doorway, their jaws slack, seemingly as surprised to see us as we were to see them. Actually, I wasn’t so much surprised as chagrinned.
“Room service,” I announced. “We thought you’d left for dinner, so we came to tidy your room.” Oh, yeah, they were totally going to believe that. If we weren’t standing next to the window on the far side of the bed, I’d try charging past them to see if we could escape before their reflexes caught up to us, but vaulting over the furniture to reach the door would give them time to react.
“Pardon?” one asked. A little slighter and shorter than his comrade, he seemed the younger of the two, and didn’t look like he needed to shave often. He blinked a few times, as if he might believe me. His deep green-blue eyes reminded me of an alpine lake I’d hiked to in the Rockies once. A few tufts of blond hair had escaped his black cap and hinted of a boyish tousled style.
The other fellow... There was nothing boyish about him, though he didn’t look like he needed to shave often either. Beneath his black leather jacket, he wore a dark gray T-shirt that fitted his torso and had a deep V-neck that promised defined pectoral muscles. He was lean rather than bulky, but his outfit along with his cold stare reminded me of Schwarzenegger in the Terminator movies. He didn’t look like he believed us.
“Tidy,” he said, taking in the room—and the fact that nothing in it was amiss, nor did the quilt have so much as a wrinkle to it. “There is nothing that requires tidying.” His gaze flicked from us to the bedside table and back again, eyes narrowing. His irises were as striking as the other man’s, a rich violet that wouldn’t be possible to achieve without contact lenses. I hoped that meant his vision was poor and that he’d have a hard time leaping over the bed to catch us.#p#分页标题#e#
“That’s because we clean in the mornings,” I said. “We only have to tidy in the evening for our messy guests. Since that’s obviously not you two, we’ll just turn down the bed and place mints on your pillows.” Without taking my eyes from the pair—or dropping my best customer-service-with-a-smile smile—I pulled down the corner of the quilt and fluffed the pillow. “Simon, did you remember the mints?”