Page 67 of Take a Hike
His grunt of agreement sent Charlie into a spate of giggles, and Kieran gave her a questioning look.
“Not important.” She waved off her grunt-caused laughter as she concentrated on crossing the busy avenue. “Plus I already know it wouldn’t be funny if I tried to explain it.”
With an unhappy rumble that almost set her off again, he strode across the road as if he were taking a stroll through the park. Traffic seemed to slow and stop for him, as if it knew how very cranky the man would be if he were to be hit. Charlie hurried after him, wanting to take advantage of his strange superpower.
He held the laundromat door open, and she thanked him as she stepped inside. Apparently, she had Manners Kieran with her this evening. A thorough look around the small space showed washers and dryers, but not much else. There definitely weren’t any lockers—or anything that could hold a necklace and be unlocked with a key.
They quickly eliminated the two restaurants as potential hiding places for Jane’s stolen goods, which left the gym.
“Except for the mailboxes place, this is probably the most likely,” she said under her breath as they entered. Kieran grunted in agreement.
Two people stood behind the reception desk, a man and a woman, and Charlie made a beeline for the man. “Hello,” she said cheerfully. “We’re new to the area and would like a tour please.”
The guy glanced at his coworker and opened his mouth. Before he could suggest that the woman give them the tour, Charlie shut him down.
“Chad!” she read the script embroidered on his polo shirt. “Wonderful! I was hoping you’d be here. Mark Jones said to have you show us around since you know the gym better than anyone.” She shot a quick glance at the woman, who was looking bemused. “No offense. I’m sure you’re great too. It’s just that Mark’s a good friend, and he wouldn’t shut up about how great Chad here is.”
“Uh…” Chad blinked. “Mark Jones?”
Charlie turned up the wattage on her smile. “That’s the guy! He wasn’t sure you’d remember his name, since you help out so many people here, but he was really impressed with the tip you gave him. Really improved his overhead lifts. So…tour?”
Chad seemed to gather himself. “My shift ends in ten minutes—”
“Just a quickie,” Charlie interrupted. “We’re pretty sure we’re going to sign up, but we’d love if you showed us around—just the highlights. Norman and I are fast walkers.” She shot a look at Kieran to see how he liked his new name, but his scowl was locked into place as usual. He did give her the tiniest side-eye glance, which she happily took as irritation. “I’m Claire.”
Chad still hesitated, so Charlie broke out her best pleading puppy-dog eyes and made sure her dimples were showing.
“Sure,” he gave in with a forced return smile. “Come with me.”
As Chad rattled off information about the gym, he speed-walked to the weight room, then zoomed through the treadmills and elliptical machines to reach the spin and yoga classrooms on the other side.
“Any questions?” he asked in a tone that seriously discouraged asking anything, his gaze fixed on the exit door.
“Can we peek at the locker rooms real quick?” Charlie asked, breaking out the dimples and puppy-dog eyes again.
With an impatient sigh, Chad led them to the locker room doors. “I can’t show you around in there,” he said to Charlie, gesturing at the door marked “Women.”
“That’s fine.” She shoved open the door. “I’ll just check it out myself.”
Inside, she hurried toward the bank of lockers, pulling the key out of an inside pocket as she did so. A woman sat on the bench in front of them, pulling on socks, and Charlie gave her an innocent smile—at least, she hoped it looked innocent.
“I forgot which locker I used,” she said with a self-effacing laugh.
The woman gave a polite smile in response, but her eyebrows drew together. “Isn’t the number attached to the key?”
“It must’ve fallen off.” Charlie started on the top left as she spoke, since she knew her time was limited. She guessed she had a minute—tops—before Chad started fussing. The key slid into the first lock smoothly, and her stomach jumped with excitement—but it refused to turn. A key was in the next locker, so she skipped that one and tried the third. Same thing—the key slid in but refused to turn.
By the time she’d tried all of the top row of lockers, her heart rate had sped up and she felt sweat prickling along her hairline.
“You about done in there?” Chad yelled from outside the door.
“Almost!” she called back, her voice higher pitched than usual. The key grew slick in her grip, and she almost dropped it between the second and third lockers in the middle row. The woman on the bench gave her an odd look. Charlie forced another smile, but she was pretty sure it was closer to a grimace. “My boyfriend’s impatient.”
“Wasn’t that Chad?” the woman asked, looking more suspicious rather than less. “I thought he was gay?”
“My boyfriend’s with Chad.” The key sank into yet another lock but refused to turn. “I mean, notwith himwith him. Just standing with him in the hallway.” Three more lockers to go on the middle row. “Waiting for me.” Two lockers. “Impatiently.”
Chad thumped on the door, as if proving her words to be true, just as the key turned in last locker in the middle row, and the metal door popped open. Charlie went still for an instant before grabbing the plastic grocery bag inside. She shoved the bag and its contents into one of her cargo pants pockets, gave the inside of the locker a quick glance to make sure nothing remained, and then hurried toward the door.
