The Ghost Ships of Arizona

CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR

Hayden joined Kinimaka and Dahl in the lobby of their hotel. The trio had just arrived back from Sierra Nevada, having spent the entire day prepping for an attack that hadn’t happened. With nothing more to be done they had decided to get some rest. Hayden was too tired for a sit-down meal and opted for taking a sandwich to bed. Kinimaka looked gutted.

“You stay.” Hayden pointed to the well-lit archway that led to the hotel’s restaurant. “Order a horse. With chips.”

The Hawaiian looked suspicious. “Are you saying that I’ve put on weight?”

Hayden laughed. “Of course not. But I do know you like your food.”

Kinimaka admitted defeat and headed inside. Hayden said goodnight to Dahl and took the elevator to their floor. Withdrawing her gun she entered her hotel room, eyes flicking left and right. A cursory check told her the room was empty and nothing appeared to be out of place. That led to a detailed check which also revealed nothing. Even so, Hayden didn’t undress when she went to bed. Instead, she kept the lights on and slipped under the top cover, logging onto the Wi-Fi and flicking randomly through her cellphone. Gradually, the automated exercise began to dull her mind and send her to sleep. There was a reason these phones were called Android, she mused, considering the robotic nature they implanted into their user.

Kinimaka came in not long later and never saw Hayden’s hand under the pillow, gripped around her Glock.

“Lock the door, Mano. Double lock it.”

“Always do.” Kinimaka gauged her weariness and then began undressing. “You tired?”

“I’m never too tired for that,” Hayden laughed at his obtuse question. “But, in truth, you did just choose a meal over me.”

“Eating’s important.” Kinimaka climbed into bed. “Gives you energy.”

Hayden knew the reply should be “you’re gonna need it” or something naughtier that might green-light their private carousing but the thought hit her then: private?

Inhibition pierced her like a long needle. Tyler Webb had the uncanny knack of being fully able to invade and spy upon her most private life and God only knew what he had already seen. Right now, she was drawing the line. There would be nothing more before they brought the bastard to cold, hard justice.

“Actually, Mano, I am a little tired. I think I’ll go to sleep.”

“Okay. Maybe in the morning then.”

Kinimaka slid in beside her, not noticing that she lay fully clothed beneath the sheet. He switched the light off without checking her wide-open eyes. Within seconds he was asleep, leaving her to make sure her phone was switched to “loud” in case the facility was threatened, to set her alarm and, with a deep breath of fear, to turn out the light.

Hayden woke early the next morning, feeling oddly refreshed. She stared at the ceiling, at the light flooding through the imperfect windows. The sunshine invigorated her; maybe she could slip onto the balcony and bask in it. A rumbling mountain lay at her side, most likely the reason she had awakened.

Did I really sleep so long?

Considering her final thoughts of the night it surprised her. Pleased though, she sat up.

And met the eyes of the stalker standing at the foot of her bed — the man with the smug grin, the man whose eyes spoke of an infinite horror, the man who haunted her dreams and tore strips from her soul, the Pythian leader—

Tyler Webb.