Page 20 of The Claiming of the Shrew
Leah shook off her doubts and opened her phone’s gallery. She still felt the tiniest bit irrationally disappointed thatFawkes seemed to be one of the good guys instead of a jewel thief himself. True, it would have made everything incredibly awkward, but he would be a very sexy jewel thief.
“Most of the crew are staying out in the campground,” she said, using her fingers to enlarge the photos. “But a number of people have rooms in the hotel, for the running water and amenities. I know Gloria does, and I think Maggie does. Oh yeah, here she is. Second floor. And Gloria’s on the second floor too. Do you have something to take notes with?”
Fawkes grabbed a pad of hotel stationery and a pen. Leah went down the list, reading off names of people she recognized from the cast or crew. Fawkes sat next to her with his shoulder touching hers, smelling amazing and writing them down.
When they were done, Leah sighed, looking at the list.
“This is going to be a big job. Where did you go last night, anyway?”
“Snooped around the campsites, mostly. And before you ask, I didn’t see anything suspicious, but also, there were people up and down all night, walking between campsites or headed over to the hotel to use the bathrooms.”
“Surely someone must have seensomething.”
“I asked questions while I was running errands today,” Fawkes said. “Hopefully not too suspiciously, just from the point of view of a curious observer.” He snorted. “At least two people said they saw a raccoon. One of them got a picture of me.”
“Your five minutes of fame as local wildlife.”
“The entire camping area is full of local wildlife. We’ve got enough wildlife here to fill a zoo.”
Leah stood up, one hand on the headboard, to look out the window. “The zoo is still full, but maybe not for long. Let’s get rolling.” She grinned. “Literally.”
“So what’s the plan here? You squirm under the door, and then—question mark, profit?”
“I got that reference,” Leah said dryly. “But ... yeah, you’re right. My shrewmobile won’t fit under the door. Okay, how about this? I slide under the door, open the door from the inside, and let you in.”
“You’re a shrew,” Fawkes said. “Shrews can’t manipulate doorknobs.”
“I’m a shrew who can turn into a person, you walnut. I have hands.”
Fawkes flushed adorably, turning pink from the collar upward. “Right. Let’s do it.”
They started with the room closest to Fawkes, occupied by an actress named Sally who played Mrs. Darling and several other minor roles in the play, as well as helping with costumes. She had also been at the benefit. Leah couldn’t remember exactly who all had been there, but she knew most of the actors had.
Leah knocked firmly on the door, then when no answer came from inside, handed her purse and crutches to Fawkes.
Fawkes glanced over his shoulder. The hallway was empty, but he could hear voices downstairs. “Be quick. I’m not exactly inconspicuous standing here like this.”
“The complaining ‘round these parts, I swear.” Leah shifted, and then she was falling, the world turning dark as she ended up in a giant mound of enormous clothing. She was aware of the quickening of her heartbeat, the sudden intensity of smells, the way that sounds became oddly distorted by size and distance.
Her dark prison was abruptly flooded with light. Looking up in alarm, she saw something vast hovering above her. Fawkes had lifted away a handful of clothing, exposing her to light. A great hand, the size of a semi truck, shifted some more thingsaway, clearing her a path to a door so huge that it filled the world.
Leah squeaked a thank you and wriggled forward. Her back legs worked, just not as well as she’d like, so she could wriggle around on all fours; it just wasn’t nearly as fast as when she was riding the shrewmobile. She scooted among the individual strands of a jungle-like hotel carpet, wrinkling her snout at the overwhelming chemical smells.
As she’d hoped, there was a gap beneath the door. Leah flattened her body and squirmed through. On the other side, she shifted and stood up with a hand on the wall. After a hasty look around to be certain she was alone in the room, she opened the door.
Fawkes was crouched on the floor, gathering up her clothes. He looked up and found himself on her crotch level. A fresh sunrise blush spread across his face, and he dropped everything he was holding, with a loud clatter of crutches.
“You knew I’d be naked,” Leah pointed out, though her entire body was suffused with pleasure at his reaction. “Quick, get in here.”
Fawkes shoved her clothes inside, snatched her crutches, and closed the door behind them.
Leah regarded her heap of clothing and wondered why she hadn’t had the sense to bring something easier to put on. She settled for grabbing her T-shirt and panties. Thus more-or-less decent, she looked around.
Sally, like many actors in Leah’s experience, was an absolute slob. Fawkes’s room had been a bit messy. Sally’s looked as if the wardrobe trailer had exploded all over the inside of it. There was clothing draped on every piece of furniture, a chaotic jumble of lotions and makeup on all flat surfaces, and an open box of tampons in the middle of the bed.
“I think maybe we should have started with someone more organized,” Fawkes said, regarding the mess with dismay.
“Good luck finding anyone with a single ounce of organization in their body, other than Alana. You should see the dressing room before a show.” Using one crutch to leave a hand free, Leah hopped over to the dresser. She discovered that the drawers were empty except for a single teddy in the top one. Why put your clothes away when you could simply unpack into the room at large?
