Page 52 of Not the Bodyguard's Princess
* * *
The wind swirled the fallen leaves around the base of the trees in the dog park. Princess played a rousing game of hide the ball from herself before collapsing at Jordan’s feet. “Ready to go have dinner?”
Tonie strapped Princess into her car seat. “Drop me off at the hotel before you grab dinner. Princess and fast food don’t belong in a car together.”
“Do you want us to pick you anything up?” asked Jordan.
“Ben can order for me.”
At the hotel, Ben traded places with Tonie in the car. He sat quietly as he had the week before. Silent and observant. Jordan longed to make him smile. As they waited for their meals at the drive-up, she asked her phone to tell them cheese jokes, hoping to lighten the mood.
The syncopated computer voice asked. “What do you call cheese that isn’t yours?”
One corner of Ben’s mouth raised. “Nacho cheese. You know I’m Wisconsin born and raised. There isn’t a cheese joke I haven’t heard.”
A worker handed Andrew the bags of food.
“That’s disappointing. Although all the ones I found don’t seem that funny.” Jordan swiped through her phone, looking for more.
“My favorite is terrible. When should you keep an eye on your cheese?” asked Ben.
“When you have mice?” asked Jordan.
“When it’s up to no Gouda,” answered Andrew as he pulled into the hotel lot.
Jordan pressed her hand to her forehead. “These are bad.”
Andrew and Ben accompanied her to the elevator.
“When I was six, my sister bought me a shirt that said, ‘I’m doing great, but I could be cheddar.’ I wore it for my first-grade picture day. I don’t know that my mother ever forgave me,” said Ben.
They laughed all the way down the hall. At her door, shifting her food bag to one hand, Jordan pulled out her phone and waved it in front of the card reader. The light turned green, and she opened the door. Ben entered first and started a clockwise search of the room. Andrew followed with the drinks and a bag of food.
Princess didn’t bound over to her. She must be out with Tonie.
Jordan turned the corner into the kitchenette to set the takeout bag down.
“Aglet!”
* * *
Andrew dropped his bag and scooped Jordan up, the sight of the prone bodies of Tonie and Princess registering in his mind as he rushed out of the room. He didn’t have to tell Ben what to do. Andrew hesitated, deciding between the stairs and the elevator, then hit the down arrow to see if the elevator was still there. The door opened, and Andrew stepped inside, then shut the door and set Jordan down.
“Jordan, I need you to start acting. You will walk out of this elevator and to my car like nothing happened. Once inside, you can cry all you want. Okay?”
Jordan nodded. The elevator pinged as it stopped at the first floor. Andrew took Jordan by the hand and crossed the lobby. Once in the car, he locked the doors and hit a button on his console, calling Hastings dispatch. Whoever worked the switchboard didn’t get to finish their greeting. “Patch me into Ben’s phone.”
“Connected.”
“Ben?”
“Call 911. Suite is clear. There’s an open bottle of water. I suspect ketamine. I wouldn’t have let you both in the suite, but the app showed Tonie was in there, and I assumed...”
“As did I,” said Andrew.
“911. What is your emergency?” Another voice joined the conversation.
Andrew put his phone on mute and listened as Ben requested an ambulance and a veterinarian.
