It was dark when they got back to the hotel. The streets were not blocked anymore even though all around you could see a lot of police presence.

As they approached the hotel’s main entrance, Chitto remembered to tell Drew to go around the block to the garage entrance on the other side.

“Sure, my pleasure,” Drew said, and even smiled.

“So, where do you live?” Chitto asked him.

“Oh, about twenty minutes away from here. Pretty close.”

“Probably still lives with his parents,” Tala said in Japanese, but Chitto pretended not to hear it and asked him, “You like driving? Is that why you're doing this?”

“Yes, I actually do. On highways with open road, yes. Here in the city, when there is a lot of traffic, it can be a bit stressful. Like some customers wanted me to drive fast when it was just not possible. That's why I really appreciate you guys, so relaxed, and so polite.”

Hearing it, Tala snorted, but Chitto smiled.

“Well, I think you’re doing a great job,” Chitto complimented him.

“Thank you,” Drew said and then muttered to himself, “At least one of you do.”

“Ah, don’t mind my sister,” Chitto said as he heard it loud and clear. “You should worry when she starts to be nice to you.”

Drew smiled and said, “Really?”

“Yeah, if she smiles at you and says how nice you look today, you better run for your life.”

Tala slammed Chitto in the shoulder but that did not stop two of them from giggling.

“Well, so where would you like to go tomorrow?”

“We’ll let you know,” Chitto said, “Probably more shopping, and then maybe, we can hit the Ocean. I thought it would be cold this time of year, but today was so nice.”

“Yeah, we can do that. Okay. I’ll wait for your call.”

“Cool.”

Drew had slowed down and was ready to park to let them out, but there was a security guard there who called him over and said, “I’ll open it for you. So, take them straight down till you see green lights. There’s going to be another security guard there next to the elevators, okay?”

“Okay,” Drew said and drove down into the garage. “That’s pretty nice security service you have here.”

The security guard at the elevator did not only open the door for them. He also helped them with all the luggage, taking it out of the car and placing it in the elevator.

“Sorry, Ma’am, but I can’t leave this station. But I can call someone to help you carry your bags to your room,” he said.

“Don’t worry,” Tala said swiftly and had already thrown her rucksack over her back. “We’ve got it!”

Another surprise waited for them when they arrived at their floor.

Timidly, they walked out of the elevator, waiting for who knows what, but, the corridor was all empty.

And clean. First Tala realized that the place of the wall where there was blood splattered all over had no traces of blood. She went over its surface with the palm of her hand, noting that the surface was still wet.

Then they also noticed that the carpet was freshly washed, looking brand new, also still a bit damp.

“They cleaned everything,” Tala whispered out. “Why?”

“You think they know?”

“What?”

“That… about zombie?”

“I do not know what they know and what they don’t know, but… this is… nice,” Tala said, complementing their cleaning abilities.

“I guess we can give this hotel the 5 stars for service. Unbelievable, aren’t they?”

“I know.”

When they entered their suite, everything inside was just as they left. Except for a small cell phone in the middle of their round, dining table.

Tala picked it up, turned it on, and saw it only had one number, labeled as Hotel Management in the phone's contacts. There was no message to call them or anything else. Tala looked at it closer. Just the cheap phone left on the table for them to pick up.

“That’s strange. Why do you think they did that?”

“Maybe they tried calling on the regular phone,” Tala said and pointed at the phone on the nightstand, and then looked at Chitto, “And they figured we do not know how to use it.”

It took a second for that to register with Chitto, but then he said, “How the hell would I know who was calling??”

Tala thought if she should call them, but then, what would she say, “Hey, thanks for cleaning the mess I made when I smacked the shit out of a zombie and splashed his blood all over your hotel?”

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

So, instead, she just dropped it inside her front pants pocket.

Chitto could not help himself and right away took all the guns and ammo out of the duffel bag they used for carrying them in, the bag being courtesy of the gun shop where they dropped four thousand bucks, and placed them on their dining table, lining all four guns they had next to each other so neatly.

“Damn, I love the US. Sister, I really love it here,” he said as he padded one of them, not daring to pick it up in his hands for his sister said that if he did that, she would knock his ass out, and he believed her.

“You still need to practice, you know,” Tala said.

“Yes, I know. We can go to another shooting range tomorrow,” he swiftly offered.

“Well, we’ll see.”

“There are so many of them. Maybe some… way out of town?”

“We’ll see.”

It did not take long for Chitto to drop on the couch, and in a minute he drifted off to, sleeping. But Tala felt too restless to do the same.

She checked her system, looked at what she got, and was mildly disappointed. She earned 200 Agents Marks, but there were no more special ability levels, leaving her with the four she invested in Blacksmith’s Strike.

“Oh, well, maybe next time. Those missions were pretty easy anyway. What is my current Agent's Standing, sys?”

[Standings:

Missions Offered: 55

Missions Accepted: 15

Missions Completed Successfully: 12

Karma: 5

Mana: Unavailable

Agency Marks Total Earned: 600

Penalties Earned: 300

Agency Marks Available: 300]

“Maybe I will be able to upgrade to a higher Class soon. It would make sense once I earn 1,000 points, that is what would happen. We’ll see.”

Then the phone rang inside her pocket.

She knew it was the one that the hotel personnel left inside her room.

The number calling was not even unknown as it clearly indicated Hotel Management.

Tala breathed deeply, answered the phone, and said, “Yes?”

“Sorry if I disturb you, Mrs. Hayashi. This is Elton Villegas and I was wondering if you could spare a minute of your time and offer me a chance to talk to you.”

“Sure, what is it, Mr. Villegas?”

“Well, I'd rather not talk on the phone. Would it be possible for you to come to my office on the 25th floor?”

“Okay,” Tala said, casting a quick glance at her sound asleep brother. “I can do that.”

'Great. I'll be waiting for you then,” the man said and hung up.

Shit, I bet now I'll hear about it. Or maybe worse... what do I know who the hell these guys are? Well, for one, they do seem to be on the same side as Howey. So... Let's just give him a chance, but... she went for the table. Four guns still lay there. “Shit, I do not want to take one of them. I... might need it, but...” Her thoughts went to the Firing Range and the alteration she had with the guy there, remembered how close they came to a bloody shootout. “No, no guns. But, I'll take my hammer,” she said and stuck the back of her pants with her favorite weapon.

“If he so much as tries to get cute with me, I'll just knock some sense into his head,” she said, determined not to appear timid and frightened. “Shit, I'm done with being a victim. I've got Blacksmith’s Strike level 4 and a desire to use it, so if you want to, bring it on Mr. Villegas.”

The man who greeted her was not taller than her, with a little mustache and an even smaller smile on his lips. Yet, he instantly made Tala very nervous. His cold eyes did not match the warm head-bending salute of respect and his friendly gesture to follow him.

What the fuck does he want? She wondered, If he even tries to give me any shit about taking that zombie out, I'll just... knock his ass out.

Yet as she looked at his body movement, she realized that may be a lot harder than he let on.

A poison always comes in small portions, isn't that what she heard before?

“Sorry to have asked you to come here,” he said as they entered a rather ordinary office.

“First I need to tell you that this establishment, this whole building, was built years ago by Mr. Bear, and… used mostly by his clients. We leave it open as a hotel, but actually, that is its secondary function.

“Now... we tried to contact Mr. Bear to let him know you arrived.”

“I am trying to contact him as well,” Tala said.

“Yes. We are sure he will contact you shortly. Sometimes he is known to be absent… for a prolonged period. But he always comes back."

"Good to know," Tala said but inside she said, The hell he is.

“And, I felt it important for me to... let you know of his instructions. And that was directed specifically to attending to your every comfort and need.”

Tala relaxed, suddenly not thinking she may not need her hammer at all.

"Mr. Bear left a strict message about how you are to be treated."

“Okay, I’m glad to hear that.”

Have no idea how much.

“We're to offer you a full service. That includes complete security while you are inside the hotel. There is nothing we can do once you leave the hotel, but while you’re here, we will do whatever we can to keep you safe.”

“Okay, now that we are talking about it. The person that went nuts… What about that?”

“It was a maintenance person. It was completely unexpected. He obviously was not screened correctly before he was admitted to do some work on the swimming pool above. We sincerely apologize for all the inconvenience that this has caused you and your brother. Please, accept our sincere apology.”

“Okay. I'll buy it.”

“We will not repeat the same mistake. Actually, we are at the moment shutting the hotel down. Only our most valued guests will be permitted to stay.”

“Am I…”

“Of course, Mrs. Hayashi. Of course, you are. That is why I need to give you further instructions. Mr. Bear would certainly appreciate that. I would like to show you a safe room, training site, and special panic buttons, and would like you to feel safe and at home with us.”

This thing is getting better and better. Is there really no free lunch?

“Also, our Presidential suit has been emptied and we would like you to move there. We believe that extra comfort might. Help you elevate the stress that you must have experienced recently.”

“That sounds interesting.”

“The suite is on the top floor and you will have the same security that Mr. Bear used to have while he used this place as his office and home away from home.”

“Of course, you do not need to worry about moving all your… possessions. We can do that with the utmost care and indiscretion.

“Okay.”

Here we go.

“We’d just like to ask a small favor.”

“Yes?”

“If you have a chance to talk to Mr. Bear before we do, please inform him that we... are sorry for the missteps that happened.”

“What missteps?”

Suddenly the man moved nervously in his seat and his eyes for the first time left Tala's.

This guy, he's a cold-blooded murderer if I ever met one. Yet afraid of Mr. Bear. Who the fuck is Mr. Bear?

“As far as I know, you helped us a great deal, Mr. Villegas. Please, you have no reason to worry about us.”

“I understand, and appreciate that, but, if we knew of your importance, we would have made sure that the Presidential suite was available as soon as you arrived as well as provided you with added rings of protection at all times. We truly apologize for the matter. But, it was not till we had a chance to talk to Mr. Howard that the full scope of importance had been brought to our full attention.”

“Howey?”

“Yes.”

“Where is Howey? Is he okay? I could not reach him today.”

“We received a telephone call from him about three hours ago. He’s fine and is looking for a means to arrive here the first chance he has..”

“Good,” Tala said, suddenly realizing that might be the best news of it all. “Because he did not sound so good the last time we talked.”