Sierra came out of the bedroom. Her hair was wet, and she was wearing a pink pajama tank top and pink shorts. She looked huggable and Adam regretted having to go in, yet if the man who had committed the hotel robbery was one of Dover’s men, he had to know.
“I’ve got to go in.”
“Okay.” She let out her breath and sounded like she was a little frustrated with him. “I thought you weren’t on call tonight.”
Right, or he wouldn’t have gone running as a wolf down at Leidolf’s ranch. “I’m not on call. The only thing is I don’t want to leave you alone.”
“Do you have a spare gun?”
“Yeah, in the safe.”
“I’ll use that if I need to. Go get it for me and I’ll be fine.” While he was getting it out of his safe, she asked, “So why are you going in about this instead of the detective on call?”
“It may be related to Dover and one of his men. It was a hotel room break-in, just like when Dover was doing them. Same exact MO.”
“I’m going with you.” Sierra turned around and headed back down the hall.
Adam smiled, shook his head, and put the gun back in the safe and locked it.
“Are there any witnesses I need to do a sketch for?” she asked.
“There could be. The man escaped, but we can smell his scent and see if we recognize it as the one who had been in your house.”
“All right then. Of course I’m going.” She came out of the bedroom wearing a pantsuit, and her damp hair was clipped back in a bun.
“I hate to do this to you,” he said, getting into his Hummer while she climbed into the passenger side.
She fastened her seat belt. “It’s only eleven.”
“True.” As long as she didn’t get called in to do a witness sketch.
Before they arrived at the hotel, Adam explained to Sierra about the officer. For whatever reason, Roland seemed to really like Adam. Maybe because Adam didn’t seem to discount his aunt’s “paranormal” abilities.
“Well, it’s always nice to have a good work relationship with officers on the force,” Sierra said to Adam.
“Yeah, I agree, as long as he doesn’t do a lot more probing into why I have such a great sense of smell. I just didn’t want you to let on—in front of him—that you do too, in case he’s listening in on our conversation and you happened to mention it.”
“Thanks for letting me know. And by the way, you are going to be in trouble if you took the case tonight just because you couldn’t say no.” She raised her brows at him and folded her arms across her waist.
“No worries there. He only called me because I’d worked that case and he thought it might have something to do with the people who stole your car. When I’m on call, that’s one thing. When I’m off duty and I have the chance to slip into bed with you? That’s a whole other story. I’m not at the bureau twenty-four seven to get a promotion or catch bad guys. I like taking breaks, and on my time off, I aim to play.”
She smiled. “Good. I did worry about that.”
“That’s what I figured.” He really didn’t want Sierra to be concerned about him being a workaholic.
When they arrived at the hotel, the officer met them, eager to take them to the room that had been broken into. Though Adam was always thorough with an investigation, he really wanted to get it over with and retire to bed with Sierra.
“So what do we have exactly?” Adam asked Roland.
“Same MO as the earlier cases. I read up all about how Ms. Redding helped to break the case wide open. She was in her hotel room showering, and Dover Manning had a key card to get in, courtesy of a clerk he’d made out with the night before. She gave him a master key. And he swore he was aiming his gun at a dog in the room. A big guard dog.”
“Okay, but what about this case?” Adam didn’t want to be reminded about the old case, and he didn’t want Sierra feeling like she was on the spot about what she’d claimed had happened either.
“The guy we’re after tonight specifically asked the clerk if they allowed dogs in the rooms. And she told him no, that they didn’t allow pets. Well, he tells the clerk that his friend went into a room that the clerk had accidentally given him a key for that was already occupied, and there was a big, damn, growly dog in the room. She reassured him no pets were allowed.”
“That sure sounds like he was talking about Dover,” Sierra said.
Adam agreed.
They reached the room and went inside.
Normally, Sierra would have done a sketch of the would-be burglar, but Adam knew she wanted to go to the room to smell for the man’s scent. As soon as they walked into it, she caught Adam’s gaze and nodded. It was the same scent as Melissa’s kidnapper. “I’ll go get the clerk’s sketch of the man.”
“How did he get into the room?” Adam asked Roland as Sierra left the room.
“Key to the room, just like Dover’s method of entry.”
Roland was still watching the door where Sierra had left and then turned his attention to Adam.
“Where’s the person who was staying in this room?”
“She was moved to another room.”
“Single female?” Adam asked.
“Yes, sir.”
“Did she see anything?”
“No. She had been taking a shower. Then she heard a noise in the room, and she hurried to lock the bathroom door. She had her clothes and her cell phone in the bathroom, so she called the police and I responded with backup.”
“Did he steal anything from her?”
“She said she had one hundred and fifty in cash. She was going to give it to her mother so she could buy some groceries. Ms. Corning got in so late from Medford, she didn’t have time to see her mother. Her mother goes to bed at eight.”
“Did the guy steal anything else?”
“A credit card and her driver’s license. She had taken off her gold ring, watch, and bracelet in the bathroom to shower.”
“Okay. But she didn’t see him.”
“No, sir. She was too busy locking the bathroom door and calling the police.”
“Did you have everything in her room dusted for prints?”
“Yes, sir. First thing.”
“Okay, I need to speak with the woman who was staying in this room.”
“Yes, sir.”
They headed up two flights to another wing of the hotel, and when they reached the door the officer motioned to, Adam knocked. He was hoping Sierra was fine on her own for a while and wasn’t getting bored waiting for him.