Grave Secret - Charlaine Harris [59]
Our hands were gripping so tightly that I could feel his bones against mine. Even as I realized I was in pain, he eased his hold on me.
“That was an adventure,” he said, in a more normal voice. “What next? Alligator wrestling?”
“No, I thought we’d go eat lunch. Then I need to go back to Tolliver’s room and sit with him.” We were in the car and driving over to the hotel when Manfred asked, “Did the doctor say when Tolliver would be released?”
“He’ll get out tomorrow. I’m sure I’ll have to do some nursing. Maybe I should see if I can get a suite at another hotel, instead of the room I’ve got now. We might be there for a week or so, because the doctor said Tolliver had to stay quiet. He’ll be in the bed a lot, and I don’t want to bother him.”
“You’re definitely settled with Tolliver, then? He’s the one?” Manfred asked, his face suddenly serious.
“He’s the one,” I said. “He’s been the one since I met him. Of course, you were always my fallback position.” I tried a smile. To my relief, he returned it.
“I’ll have to cast my net wider,” he said dramatically. “Maybe I’ll haul in a mermaid.”
“If anyone could find a mermaid, you’d be the one,” I said.
“Speaking of mermaids, are you checking the mirrors for tails? Or are you just scared of my driving?”
“I’m hoping I can tell if someone’s following us. That’s happened here, and for the life of me, I can’t spot anyone. It’s good I don’t want to be a detective.” Manfred tried to watch, too, but he didn’t notice a car that was doing everything we did. In Dallas traffic, that wasn’t decisive, but at least I felt a little better.
When we reached the hotel, I collected my stuff and checked out, after first calling another chain hotel down the block to see if they had a suite-type room available. They did, and I booked it under Tolliver’s name. The anonymous caller had known I was in this hotel, and though it wouldn’t be hard to find me again, I might as well not make it completely easy. I reserved the suite for six nights, figuring I could always check out earlier if Tolliver was doing well enough to leave town. I also called Mark, to tell him where we’d be. Then Manfred drove me to the new hotel and helped me carry in Tolliver’s bags as well as mine.
We went out to eat after that, to a family-style restaurant with a long salad bar. It was about time I ate something that wasn’t actively bad for me, and I loaded up my plate with salad and fruit. A little to my surprise, Manfred did, too.
My companion was a great believer in conversation. Or at least, he enjoyed talking while I listened. I wondered how well Manfred fitted in with his peers, because he needed to say a lot of things out loud that he maybe hadn’t had a chance to say, mostly about Xylda and how much he missed her, the things she’d taught him, the odd items he’d found stored away in her house.
“Thanks for showing up today,” I said when there was a lull in the chatter.
He shrugged. He looked half proud, half uncomfortable. “I knew you needed me,” he said and found something else to look at.
“I’d like you to meet some of these people and tell me what you get from them,” I said. “If I can think of a way to make it look natural.”
He looked all too happy about the prospect of doing me a favor.
“Of course, if you need to go home, I’ll understand,” I said.
“No,” he said. “I do a lot of my business on the Web now, and I don’t have any readings scheduled for this week. I brought my laptop and my cell; that takes care of me. What am I looking for?” The sense of fun faded from his face, and I was looking at an older person than the Manfred I was used to.
“You’re looking for whatever you can tell me about these people,” I said. “Someone shot Tolliver. Someone shot Detective Powers, though I guess they were trying to hit me. And I think it was one of these people. I want to know why.”
“Not who?”
“Well, of course that, too. But the ‘why’ is pretty important. I