Page 46 of Glow

Dan took his time drying Quinn, emerging warm and sleepy. He settled on the couch while Quinn made hot chocolate for both of them and came to join him.

“This is perfect. Thank you.” Dan carefully sipped the treat.

“I hope you can sleep well tonight.” Quinn sat close enough their knees bumped. “Things can look much more hopeful with a good night’s sleep.”

Quinn woke first. He checked his schedule and realized his calendar was open aside from routine tasks. He dressed, made coffee, and started cooking eggs and toast while Dan got ready.

“That smells fantastic.” Dan poured cups of java and took them to the table. “You take good care of me.”

“You’re worth it.” Quinn grabbed the toast from the toaster and plated the rest of the food.

“I don’t have anything going on this morning, so I thought maybe we could go over to the hotel and grab what you need before I go to work,” Quinn said as they dug into their food. “That way you aren’t going over by yourself, you can decide what you want to bring, and you can spend the day while I’m gone getting settled.”

Dan looked relieved. “Thank you. I was trying to figure out how to make that happen. Are you sure it’s okay for me to stay here?”

Quinn met his gaze. “More than okay. Either short-term or for good. We’ll figure that out as we go. Plus, I’ll feel better knowing you’re safe.”

After they finished eating, they headed over to Dan’s hotel room in Quinn’s truck. Just a few feet from the door, Dan stopped and held out a hand to keep Quinn from moving forward.

“What’s wrong?” Quinn tried to see around Dan.

“Wally has a bad feeling, like someone’s been here,” Dan said.

Quinn reached out to his nature spirits but didn’t get a clear reading in a building with so many strangers. He trusted Dan’s instincts, and they advanced slowly. Quinn hadn’t brought his Sig since he wasn’t going straight to the forest, and now he regretted the decision to leave it at home.

“Look,” Dan said in a hushed tone, pointing to the door. Quinn could see scratches around the lock, like it had been picked.

He motioned for Dan to follow him, and they backed down the hallway, then retreated to the parking lot.

“I’m not going to take the chance someone’s in there, waiting,” Quinn said. “We should call the sheriff.”

“Okay.” Dan sounded shaky. “And once we know what’s going on, I’ll call the rental agent and see if I can use the delay to break my lease for the house.” He managed a wan smile. “I’m glad you came with me.”

“So am I.” Quinn was relieved that he had listened to his instincts. To Armel’s credit, the sheriff arrived quickly, accompanied by a patrol officer.

“Someone picked your lock? Anything missing?” Armel asked as he strode up.

“We didn’t go inside,” Dan said. “No idea if anything got taken.”

“Good move,” Armel replied approvingly. “No need to possibly make a bad situation worse by surprising the thief.”

Quinn and Dan followed the sheriff and the officer back to the hotel room. They took pictures and dusted for prints, donning evidence-handling gloves.

“We’ll go in first and make sure there aren’t any nasty surprises,” Armel said. “Wait here, but go down the hall a bit, away from the door, just in case.”

Quinn guessed that the sheriff had already alerted the front desk, since no one came to see what was going on.

“Don’t touch anything,” Armel told them when he emerged a few minutes later. “It doesn’t look ransacked, and the electronics weren’t taken, but you’ll be a better judge about whether you were robbed.” He paused. “We also scanned for listening devices, trackers, and hidden cameras. Didn’t find any, but figured you’d want to know that we checked.”

Dan and Quinn followed the sheriff into Dan’s room and looked around. Quinn stuck close, guessing how stressful this had to be for his partner.

“Anything missing?” Quinn asked.

Dan shook his head. “Not that I can tell without opening drawers.”

Armel handed him a pair of gloves. “Use these. Don’t touch anything barehanded.”

They made another circuit of the room. Quinn kept his phone camera handy in case anything needed to be documented, but Dan found the contents of the drawers and closet to be in place.