over my cheeks. “It was…the best. Seriously.” I managed a smile. “You weren’t exaggerating.”
He couldn’t help looking a little smug, his confidence bouncing right back, though his eyes were still concerned. “You want to tell me about it now?”
I laughed shakily. “I don’t know. Isn’t that how we got into this mess?”
Fraser chuckled. “True. Very true.” He reached out and brushed his thumb against my cheekbone, curiously examining the tear that glistened there. “Anyway, not such a mess, is it?”
“Isn’t it?” I wiped my eyes again. I glanced past his shoulder and froze. I’d left the curtains open about two feet. And neither Fraser nor I had given them a second thought. Anyone standing in the pool yard would have a perfect, if narrow, view of the inside of my room. And someone was standing in the pool yard. In fact, they were standing on the fenced patio right outside my room, peering in through the glass door.
As disturbing as that was…it got worse.
I gawked at the figure staring in at us. I couldn’t be seeing what I thought I was seeing. But there it was. A tall, white form swathed in bandages from head to foot. I couldn’t tell if it had a mouth, but the eyes were glowing red.
A mummy was watching us through the glass door.
Chapter Five
“Uhhhhh…” I gargled, my gaze fixed on the pale figure still hovering outside the door.
“A what?” Fraser asked, smiling down at me.
“There’s someone watching us.”
“ What ?” Fraser was up and off the bed in one leap. “Hey!” He ran to the glass door, struggling with the locks.
The white figure scrambled noisily over the wooden fence and sprinted away. I heard the pound of feet down the courtyard, the muffled, iron clang of the gate just as Fraser wrenched open the door to the patio, nearly throwing it off its track.
I had to stop to drag my jeans back on before I could follow him outside. By then Fraser was down at the end of the courtyard. His shadow smacked the gate and then cradled its hand, cursing quietly, which I took to mean our Peeping Ptah had escaped unscathed.
I gazed uneasily up at the wall of lit and unlit windows overlooking the swimming pool. Nobody home? If they were, they weren’t paying us any attention. I glanced around the empty yard. The scattered towels had been picked up, the chairs and tables tidied. The underwater lights illuminated the white cement belly of the empty pool, the pale, glimmering steps. It appeared unearthly in the dark night, like the watery entry chamber into another world. The courtyard itself was silent.
“The son of a bitch got away,” Fraser called, loping back my way.
“Did you see where he went?”
“The parking lot.”
“Did he drive off?”
He huffed a laugh. “What, in his monster mobile?”
“I mean if he’s still there—”
“He ran across the parking lot and I lost sight of him behind the McDonald’s.” Fraser followed me through the little gate in the fence around the patio. “That was weird.”
“I’ll say.” Inside the hotel room, I shivered, rubbing my goose-bump-covered arms. Wyoming in October was not exactly balmy. Thirty degrees was more like it. “Did you get a good look at him?”
Fraser’s cheeks were flushed with the cold and his sprint down the courtyard. “That mummy costume? Yeah. Freaky.”
“You should have seen him from the front. His eyes were glowing red.”
“Or hers.”
Our eyes met. “No way,” I said. “Not if you’re suggesting that was Merneith.”
“You have to admit this is a little out of the way for the average trick-or-treater.”
“That was no woman. He was too big for one thing. For another, did you watch him vault the patio fence?”
“This isn’t much of a fence. Karen or Jeannie could do it. My granny could do it.”
“Hold on. You’re not seriously suggesting—”
“No.” Fraser flashed me a dazzling smile. “It would make a great story, but no.”
“Good, because among
He couldn’t help looking a little smug, his confidence bouncing right back, though his eyes were still concerned. “You want to tell me about it now?”
I laughed shakily. “I don’t know. Isn’t that how we got into this mess?”
Fraser chuckled. “True. Very true.” He reached out and brushed his thumb against my cheekbone, curiously examining the tear that glistened there. “Anyway, not such a mess, is it?”
“Isn’t it?” I wiped my eyes again. I glanced past his shoulder and froze. I’d left the curtains open about two feet. And neither Fraser nor I had given them a second thought. Anyone standing in the pool yard would have a perfect, if narrow, view of the inside of my room. And someone was standing in the pool yard. In fact, they were standing on the fenced patio right outside my room, peering in through the glass door.
As disturbing as that was…it got worse.
I gawked at the figure staring in at us. I couldn’t be seeing what I thought I was seeing. But there it was. A tall, white form swathed in bandages from head to foot. I couldn’t tell if it had a mouth, but the eyes were glowing red.
A mummy was watching us through the glass door.
Chapter Five
“Uhhhhh…” I gargled, my gaze fixed on the pale figure still hovering outside the door.
“A what?” Fraser asked, smiling down at me.
“There’s someone watching us.”
“ What ?” Fraser was up and off the bed in one leap. “Hey!” He ran to the glass door, struggling with the locks.
The white figure scrambled noisily over the wooden fence and sprinted away. I heard the pound of feet down the courtyard, the muffled, iron clang of the gate just as Fraser wrenched open the door to the patio, nearly throwing it off its track.
I had to stop to drag my jeans back on before I could follow him outside. By then Fraser was down at the end of the courtyard. His shadow smacked the gate and then cradled its hand, cursing quietly, which I took to mean our Peeping Ptah had escaped unscathed.
I gazed uneasily up at the wall of lit and unlit windows overlooking the swimming pool. Nobody home? If they were, they weren’t paying us any attention. I glanced around the empty yard. The scattered towels had been picked up, the chairs and tables tidied. The underwater lights illuminated the white cement belly of the empty pool, the pale, glimmering steps. It appeared unearthly in the dark night, like the watery entry chamber into another world. The courtyard itself was silent.
“The son of a bitch got away,” Fraser called, loping back my way.
“Did you see where he went?”
“The parking lot.”
“Did he drive off?”
He huffed a laugh. “What, in his monster mobile?”
“I mean if he’s still there—”
“He ran across the parking lot and I lost sight of him behind the McDonald’s.” Fraser followed me through the little gate in the fence around the patio. “That was weird.”
“I’ll say.” Inside the hotel room, I shivered, rubbing my goose-bump-covered arms. Wyoming in October was not exactly balmy. Thirty degrees was more like it. “Did you get a good look at him?”
Fraser’s cheeks were flushed with the cold and his sprint down the courtyard. “That mummy costume? Yeah. Freaky.”
“You should have seen him from the front. His eyes were glowing red.”
“Or hers.”
Our eyes met. “No way,” I said. “Not if you’re suggesting that was Merneith.”
“You have to admit this is a little out of the way for the average trick-or-treater.”
“That was no woman. He was too big for one thing. For another, did you watch him vault the patio fence?”
“This isn’t much of a fence. Karen or Jeannie could do it. My granny could do it.”
“Hold on. You’re not seriously suggesting—”
“No.” Fraser flashed me a dazzling smile. “It would make a great story, but no.”
“Good, because among
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