Northern Lights

see the point. He followed Hopp through a doorway and up a flight of steps as obediently as a puppy follows its master.
    He heard someone mutter, "Cheechako," in the tone a man uses to spit out bad meat. He assumed it was an insult, but let it go.
    "Charlene doesn't mean any harm," Hopp was saying. "But she does like to tease a man to death given half a chance."
    "Don't worry about me, Mom."
    She gave that foghorn laugh again, and slid the key into the lock on room 203.
    "Man took off on her about fifteen years back, left her with a girl to raise on her own. Did a decent enough job with Meg, though they're at each other like she-cats half the time. Had plenty of men since, and they get younger every year. I said she was too old for you before." Hopp looked over her shoulder. "Fact is, the way she's been going, you're too old for her. Thirty-two, aren't you?"
    "I was when I left Baltimore. How many years ago was that?"
    Hopp shook her head, pushed open the door. "Charlene's got better than a dozen years on you. Got a grown daughter nearly your age. Might want to keep that in mind."
    "I thought you women got off when one of your kind bags a younger man."
    "Shows what you know about females. Pisses us off is what it does, because we didn't bag him first. Well, this is it."
    He stepped into a wood-paneled room with an iron bed, a dresser and mirror on one side, and a small round table, two chairs and a little desk on the other.
    It was clean, it was spare and about as interesting as a bag of white rice.
    "Little kitchen through here." Hopp walked over, yanked back a blue curtain to reveal a pint-sized refrigerator, a two-burner stove and a sink the size of Nate's cupped palm. "Unless cooking's your passion or hobby, I'd take my meals downstairs. Food's good here.
    "It's not the Ritz, and she's got fancier rooms, but we're on a budget." She crossed to the other side, pushed open a door. "Bathroom. This one has indoor plumbing."
    "Woo-hoo." He poked his head in.
    The sink was bigger than the kitchen's but not by much. It didn't rate a tub, but the shower stall would do him well enough.
    "Got your gear, chief." Jerk hauled in two suitcases and a duffel as if they were empty. He dumped them on the bed where their weight sagged the mattress. "Need me for anything, I'll be downstairs grabbing a meal. I'll bunk here tonight, fly back to Talkeetna in the morning."
    He tapped a finger on his forehead in salute and clomped out again.
    "Shit. Hold on." Nate started to dig into his pocket.
    "I'll take care of tipping him," Hopp said. "Till you're on the clock, you're a guest of the Lunacy town council."
    "Appreciate it."
    "I plan to see you work for it, so we'll see how it goes."
    "Room service!" Charlene sang it when she carried a tray into the room. Her hips swayed like a metronome as she walked over to set it on the table. "Brought you up some nice fish chowder, chief, and a good man-sized sandwich. Coffee's hot."
    "Smells great. I appreciate it, Ms. Hidel."
    "Oh now, that's Charlene to you." She batted the baby blues, and yeah, Nate thought, she practiced. "We're just one big happy family around here."
    "That were the case, we wouldn't need a chief of police."
    "Oh, don't go scaring him off, Hopp. Is the room all right for you, Ignatious?"
    "Nate. Yes, thanks. It's fine."
    "Put some food in your belly and get some rest," Hopp advised. "You get your second wind, just give me a call. I'll show you around. Your first official duty will be attending the meeting tomorrow afternoon at Town Hall, where we'll introduce you to everybody who cares to attend. You'll want to see the station house before that, meet your two deputies and Peach. And we'll get you that star."
    "Star?"
    "Jesse wanted to make sure you were getting a star. Come on, Charlene. Let's leave the man alone."
    "You call downstairs you need any little thing." Charlene sent him an invitational smile. " Any little thing."
    Behind Charlene's back, Hopp rolled her eyes toward heaven. To settle the matter, she clamped a hand on Charlene's arm, yanked her toward the door. There was a clatter of heels on wood, a feminine squeak, then the slam of the door behind them.
    Through it, Nate could hear Charlene's hushed and insulted: "What's the matter with you, Hopp. I was only being friendly."
    "There's innkeeper friendly, then there's bordello friendly. One of these days, you're going to figure out the difference."
    He waited until he was sure they were gone before he crossed over