Page 69 of Blood Moon

On the drive in, Frank had checked with the man who’d been on night watch at the hotel where Bowie and the woman were cozied up. His man had reported that Bowie’s car hadn’t gone anywhere and that there’d been no sign of him.

“The woman?”

“Nope. Neither of them.”

Hearing that had made Frank uneasy. Bowie had last been seen entering the hotel almost twenty-four hours ago. Even during a sexathon, they had to come up for air sometime.

Frank ordered his man to confirm that they were still in the hotel.

“Desk clerk says she hasn’t checked out.”

“That doesn’t mean shit. Set off the fire alarm. Bribe a maid to let you into her room. Only as a last resort, play the cop card. Barker wants to keep this quiet for now. Whatever you do, be quick about it.”

Fifteen minutes later the guy called him back. He’d given one of the hotel’s housekeepers a sob story about his sister, Beth, who often went on drinking binges. She confirmed that Ms. Collins was still checked in. Then he’d talked her into letting him into room 307 to check on his sister’s well-being.

He’d told Frank that the Do Not Disturb sign was hanging on the doorknob. The bed was still made. Towels hadn’t been used. One empty bourbon bottle from the mini bar was in the trash can.

And Frank had thought,Oh fuck, knowing he had to break this news to Tom Barker.

Now he had, and Tom was thumping his desktop with his fist in a steady rhythm of fury. “He’s made fools of all of us.”

“He’s slick.”

“Bullheaded son of a bitch. He can’t be enjoying this ducking and hiding any more than we are.”

Frank said nothing but thought,He’s got the girl.

“That goddamn Mellin case. Why won’t he just let it go?”

Since it was a rhetorical question, Frank didn’t respond to it, either. Instead he said, “What do you want me to do, boss?”

“Go back to his house and—”

“I’ve already sent somebody. It’ll take him a while to find the place, and when he does, I doubt he’ll find Bowie there.”

“He couldn’t have gotten away from that hotel unseen unless he’d had help.” He glanced past the ogre into the squad room beyond the door. The window in it now had a jagged crack created by Bowie. “Nobody out there would dare to cross me.”

Frank shifted in his seat. “Probably not, but I told you yesterday that—”

“Bowie has a cheering section. I’m aware. But cheering from the sidelines and playing the game are two different things.”

“I guess it boils down to if they like him more than they fear you.”

Tom scowled. “They fear me, all right.”

The ogre didn’t comment.

“What about Mitch Haskell?” Tom asked. “Are they still thick?”

“Dunno.”

“Find out.”

“That’s not gonna be easy. Isn’t he working undercover for the feds?”

“Find out. Also, have someone check the security cameras at the hotel, especially the rear exits.”

Frank sighed. “Look, boss, if they were caught on camera, it’ll probably show them climbing into an Uber car.”