Silver Linings

burgers.”
    Mattie winced. “What about the food in those string bags? There's still some cheese left. Gibbs and Rosey didn't eat all of it on the boat.”
    “I don't care if I never see another can of pâté or jar of stuffed olives again. What I want right now is some red meat. See you later, babe.”
    Mattie was too weary to argue anymore about anything. She would deal with it later, she told herself as she stood surveying the hot, horrid little inn room.
    The bed looked lumpy. The small rug beside it had once been shocking pink but was now gray with grime. The single bulb in the overhead fixture was probably all of twenty watts.
    Hugh had called this a nice, clean place, she remembered. Obviously his idea of decent accommodations was somewhat different from her own. He had not even blinked when he'd opened the door and revealed the sleazy interior of the room.
    It made Mattie wonder just what sort of accommodations he was accustomed to. She knew that he brushed up against luxury once in a while simply because he had to in the course of working for Charlotte Vailcourt. Furthermore, he had recognized brie and sun-dried tomatoes when he saw them. But it was equally clear he was totally at home in depressing surroundings such as this.
    It occurred to Mattie again that she knew next to nothing about Hugh Abbott's past. In fact, now that she thought about it, neither did Charlotte. Mattie remembered asking her aunt about her pet wolf's background on one occasion and Charlotte had simply shrugged. “ Who knows? Who cares? The man's good at what he does and that's the important thing .”
    She put her purse down on the tattered, grimy chenille bedspread. At least no one was pointing a gun at her and there was no blood on the floor. What was more, she could see the ocean from the small window, and the view was spectacular.
    Things were definitely looking up.

    Downstairs in the narrow lobby Hugh paused to lean over the front desk and bang the little bell.
    “What you want now?” the old man asked, not unpleasantly. He was still chewing briskly.
    Hugh tugged his wallet out of his jeans pocket and removed a couple of bills. “This is for you.”
    “For a second room?” The man's brows climbed derisively.
    “No. For saying I am booked into another room in the event anyone, including the lady, inquires. Do we understand each other?”
    “We understand each other just fine.” The clerk pocketed the bills without missing a single chew. “Say, you just come from Purgatory?”
    “Yeah.”
    “What the heck's goin' on over there, anyhow?”
    “Don't know yet. Some kind of military coup. Heard anything?”
    “Nah. Had a few people like yourself passin' through on their way to what you might call more pleasant locales, but no one seems to know what's goin' on back on Purgatory. They just figured they'd best get out while the gettin' was good.”
    “Smart. I had a friend who didn't make it out.”
    The clerk sucked on his wad of tobacco for a while. “Sorry to hear that.”
    “Uh-huh. Do me a favor, will you?”
    “What kind of favor?”
    “Keep an eye on the lady. If she goes out shopping, make sure no one follows her back up the stairs to her room, okay?”
    “Sure. I'll keep an eye on her. But it might be kind of hard tellin' the difference between her visitors and the ones who come to visit the other lady we got stayin' here. The other one, she works out of here, if you know what I mean.”
    Hugh's mouth went grim. “No one follows my lady upstairs except me, got it?”
    “Sure, sure. Whatever you say.”
    Hugh went out the door and stepped into the hot afternoon sunlight. It struck him that tonight would be the first time he had ever taken Mattie out to a real restaurant meal. He grinned as he started down the street in search of Grover the pilot. It would be a real date. Their first. You couldn't really count that night a year ago at her apartment. At least, Mattie wouldn't want to count it.
    Maybe he'd see if he could find a bottle of brandy or rum to take back to the room after dinner, Hugh told himself. Mattie needed to loosen up a bit and relax. She'd been through a hell of a lot lately.
    Definitely too much stress.

CHAPTER

Five

    “Well, well, well. Hello there. Didn't realize I had competition moving in next door. Welcome aboard, honey. The more the merrier, I always say. The name's Evangeline Dangerfield. What's yours?”
    Mattie, who had been standing in the hallway outside her room,