St Kilda Consulting 01 - Always Time to Die

Dan’s back was to her, she could tell he used both pads to unlock the box. When the lid opened, the metal itself was almost as thick as her finger. It would take more than a hacker to get into that box without the combination. It would take a welding torch. Or a bomb.
    She wondered what Dan had that needed such high-tech protection, but she didn’t ask. Why bother? He wouldn’t answer.
    He locked the case and stood.
    “Ready for visitors?” she asked.
    “Close enough. The bathroom is opposite the bed. There’s no door, because there’s no room to open or close one. When you want to use the facilities, just close the bedroom door. And don’t fiddle with the electronics, please. You can’t get anything on that wall to work without passwords and such.”
    “And if I asked you why you need such elaborate electronics on ‘vacation,’ you would say…?”
    “I’m a game freak.”
    She rolled her eyes. “You mentioned something about two beds. Unless there’s one hidden in the refrigerator, we’re one bed short.”
    He reached under the big bed and pulled out something that looked like a deflated Zodiac. He plugged it into the wall, hit a button, and what sounded like a vacuum cleaner started forcing air into the mattress. One minute later, a twin-size mattress teetered on top of all the papers stacked on the bigger bed.
    “After I fold up the card table and stack the chairs in the kitchen, this fits in the corner by the fireplace,” Dan said. “Warmest bed in the house.”
    She looked over her shoulder at the living area, measured the space, and said, “Works for me.”
    “No, it works for me. ”
    She turned back so fast her hair bounced. “Don’t be ridiculous, you’re way too big for that mattress.”
    “I’ve slept on worse.”
    Carly thought of his occasional hesitations, a slight favoring of his left leg. The last thing he needed was to sleep on the floor, no matter what kind of inflated mattress was underneath him.
    “Let me put it this way,” she said. “I sleep on the inflatable or I get a hotel room.”
    “Aren’t you worried about rats on the floor?”
    She wasn’t buying that, either. “I’ll make sure you empty your pockets before I go to bed.”
    He just shook his head.
    “Speaking of which,” she said, “what does the sheriff have against you?”
    “I was a teenager when he was a deputy.”
    “So? A lot of people were teenagers twenty years ago.”
    “Some Sandoval boys jumped me. They ended up hurt. I didn’t.”
    “Some? How many?”
    “Not enough to get the job done.” Dan pulled a fist-size plug on the mattress and began deflating it to get it out of the way.
    “What did the deputy do to them?”
    “It was their word against mine. Deputy Montoya was dating a Sandoval girl at the time. Ended up marrying her.”
    “Well, that just sucks.”
    He shrugged. “It’s a small town. I didn’t belong to any of the factions—Anglo, hispano, or Native American. I was a smart-mouthed pain in the butt.”
    She watched while Dan deftly rolled the mattress, forcing air out the big valve with every motion of his strong hands.
    “Okay, you and Montoya have a history,” she said. “That’s no reason for him to accuse you of putting a gutted rat on my pillow.”
    “Look at it from his point of view. If I didn’t do it, someone at the governor’s household did. Montoya won’t win any prizes making headlines at the governor’s expense.”
    “I still say it sucks.”
    “It’s just the way it is.” He bent and shoved the deflated mattress back beneath the bed.
    “So I’m guessing your personal motto is ‘Life’s unfair, get over it.’”
    “Good guess.” He stood and looked at her, enjoying the rich color of her hair against the whitewashed adobe walls. “You ready for some chili?”
    “I’m ready to go kick Montoya right in his fat badge.”
    Dan hooked his arm around Carly’s neck and pulled her close. “Can I watch?”
    “Don’t you want to help me?”
    “I’d never get between you and Montoya’s fat badge.”
    Before she could grumble any more about the sheriff, she found herself at the card table eating a bowl of chili con carne with tortillas on the side. A bottle of Mexican beer appeared at her elbow. She grabbed the beer, poured green sauce over the chili, and dived in.
    Dan sat, dumped sauce on his own bowl of chili, and finished it before she was halfway through hers. He refilled his bowl and cleaned it again while she was mopping up