Page 13 of Christmas at Sturcombe Bay
“Ah, come on. You know you . . . OW!”
Lightning reflexes. Alex darted across the room and snatched open his door. The door opposite him was wrenched open and a young woman flew out into the corridor, cannoning into his arms.
Small and fragile as a bird, she gasped and pulled away from him, retreating a couple of steps down the corridor. Behind her, the man in the doorway of the other room was dripping blood from his nose and was hunched over in the cramped posture of a man who had been soundly kneed in the nuts.
Uh — maybe she wasn’t quite as fragile as she looked.
“The bitch. She attacked me!” The man’s bellow of indignant rage wasn’t quite convincing. Sweaty face, balding, puffy around the middle — not a very prepossessing figure. “I’m calling the manager. Careful — she’s crazy, I tell you. She might go for you too.”
Alex took in the situation in an instant. “Yes, call the manager,” he ground out harshly. “Right now. Or I will.”
“Oh no . . . please.” The girl — her uniform indicated that she was one of the domestic staff — backed further down the corridor. “I can’t lose my job.”
“You won’t.” He could see now that some of the buttons on her shirt had been torn off. “In fact, we should call the police.”
“No!” Her voice spiked in panic. “Just . . . leave it. I’m fine.”
Alex hesitated, all his instincts telling him not to let it go. But it was her decision to make — she was the one who’d been assaulted. He held up his hands in a gesture of conciliation. “Okay, okay, it’s up to you.”
“See?” The man was cocky now, in spite of the blood still seeping from his nose. “She won’t call the police because she knows what she did. I caught her trying to steal my wallet out of my jacket, and when I tried to stop her, she went for me.”
“That’s not true! I never did.” The girl’s eyes were wide, wild. “You grabbed me. You were slobbering all over me.”
The man laughed — a fake laugh. “You’re in big trouble, girlie. You’ll go to prison for this.”
“No! You’re lying!”
“If that’s what happened,” Alex asserted, fixing the man with a hard glare, “you really should call the police.”
The girl stared at him in horror, shaking her head. “No . . . please . . .”
“I will. Right now.” But the guy hesitated, looking nervous.
“Go on then,” Alex prompted, deliberately needling him. “Call them.”
The man took a step back, looking hunted. “Look, I . . . I’m willing to let it go,” he stammered. “She didn’t manage to get my money.”
“I wasn’t trying to steal your stupid money!”
“What’s happening up here?”
They all turned as Lisa, the hotel’s assistant manager, appeared at the top of the stairs.
“Ah!” Alex laughed dryly. “Well, that settles that debate.”
She arched one questioning eyebrow.
“This . . . um . . .gentlemanis claiming that one of your staff tried to steal his wallet, but he seems oddly reluctant to call the police.”
Lisa’s eyes widened. “Shelleytried to steal your wallet?”
“I didn’t, Lisa,” the girl protested, distressed. “I’d never do a thing like that.”
“So why are you scared of us calling the police?” the man challenged.
“Why are you, eh?” Alex countered. “She seems to have assaulted you as well. That seems to me to be quite serious.”
“Ah, well, she’s just . . . I mean, I wouldn’t want to get the poor girl into trouble.”
