Read Online Notorious by Vicki Lewis Thompson - Free Book Online

thing you stopped by the desk, Mr. Garfield. There’s been a small problem with your room.”
    â€œWhat sort of problem?”
    The clerk frowned at the screen. “I need to get the manager out here to talk with you. Excuse me a moment.” He picked up a phone and punched in a number. “Mr. Garfield’s at the desk. No, I don’t think he’s been up there yet. Right.” He hung up the phone and turned to Noah. “Sorry for the inconvenience, sir. The manager will be right out.”
    Keely wondered if the delay, whatever was causing it, would make Noah more self-conscious about his request for a spare key. Apparently not, because he turned to her and shrugged.
    â€œMr. Garfield.” A guy only slightly older than the desk clerk arrived and held out his hand over the counter. “I’m Martin Ames. Could we step down to the end of the counter for a moment? I need to inform you of our problem.”
    â€œOkay.” Noah looked at Keely. “Let’s go see what this is all about.”
    She hesitated. “Are you sure you want me to—”
    â€œYeah.” He smiled and angled his head toward the end of the counter. “Come on.”
    â€œAll right.” Congratulations, Noah , she thought as she followed him. From all appearances he was bringing a call girl up to his room, but he didn’t seem to care whether the staff assumed that or not. His friends were a different story, of course, but his reluctance there was understandable.
    Ames came out from behind the counter and glanced pointedly at Keely before returning his gaze to Noah.
    To Noah’s credit, he made no effort to explain Keely’s presence. “What seems to be the problem?” he asked.
    The manager looked uncomfortable. “We’re a new hotel, as I’m sure you know, and in the rush to get it open on time, apparently the hiring process wasn’t…what I mean to say is, the screening of applicants might not have been quite thorough enough. At least in the housekeeping department.”
    â€œAnd you would be telling me all this because…?”
    â€œOne of the housekeepers vandalized your room.”
    Keely gasped.
    â€œWhat?” Noah stared at the manager in obvious disbelief.
    â€œIt was a case of mistaken identity,” Ames said quickly. “The woman’s in custody, and we’ve learned from the police that she’s mentally unbalanced. It seems she formed an imaginary attachment to one of our guests, and when her interest wasn’t returned, she attempted revenge by damaging his room and its contents. That would be bad enough, but she became confused and hit your room by mistake.”
    â€œWhat about my stuff?” Noah asked.
    â€œI’m afraid it’s pretty well ruined. She took a knife to your clothes and suitcase and smashed your toiletries. The police took it for evidence, so I’m not sure how soon you can retrieveit. But from what I saw, there’s not much point in getting your things back.”
    â€œMy God.” Noah shook his head.
    â€œWe take full responsibility, of course,” Ames continued. “If you’ll give us an estimate of what you lost we’ll write you a check immediately. And of course we’ve moved you to a new room, and you won’t be billed for your stay. If you should choose to move to a different hotel, we’ll pay for that.”
    â€œNo, I won’t move. My friend is getting married here tomorrow night.”
    â€œAh.” Ames nodded. He seemed to be avoiding looking at Keely. “Then let me take you back to the desk and issue you a new key.”
    â€œTwo keys,” Noah said.
    â€œOh.” The manager slid a glance over toward Keely. “Of course.”
    Keely could see that the discussion was drawing to a close. She was outraged on Noah’s behalf. Her L.A. apartment had been vandalized once, and she knew the sick, violated feeling he was probably