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Before Carol can respond, I duck into the hallway The suite has three bedrooms, each with their own bathroom I can never poke around because Carol is always there but I’ve observed her entering and exiting my father’s private area before That’s how I know she needs an access card Paranoid bastard How many people have this level of security on their bedroom? But his security just increasesInnocent people are rarely this careful Hopefully Zack can keep theet into lance behind me but the hall is empty so I hold the card up to the door on the last rooreen and I enter The curtains are drawn slightly but it doesn’tI want to do is check out what’s next tothis and the one thing that Zack and I agreed on was that whatever Max is up to, it’s personal He’s spent a lot of ti that his children have to talk to hiure out is why now? Since his stroke, et around as easily so we theorized that he’d keep his most important possessions near his bed Where he can reach the pictures of everything aroundeverything near the bed and everything visible when I pull open the nightstand drawer, I leave the room

A few seconds later, Carol enters the hallway fro in the hall

"Did you get a towel?"

I run a hand throughfor a linen closet and then realized that this isn’t actually an apartet this is a hotel suite"

Her pinched look dissolves into a smile "Yeah, it is But you can just take one frouest roo next to and walk past the perfectly made up bed to the bathroorab tels from the stack above the toilet

When I coain My brother can be a little cluetic about it that I actually feel bad He got more of it on himself than me He said one of his tattoos wasn’t fully healed and it was burning hiuy"

Mytouched by people he doesn’t know so if he had to let her play nurseet an earful about it later

When we enter the living roo okay?"

"Yeah, found ‘em" I hold up the towels His eyes followproduction about cleaning it up I nod at Zack, letting hiot what I needed He stands and walks over to Max, positioning his body between us I pull the keycard from my pocket and tuck it under the towel

"You don’t have to do that I can clean it up" Carol appears at my side with the other towel

"I don’tonto the carpet before she can protest again

Carol wipes the tray she brought the drinks on As I’ up the puddle on the carpet, I casually toss the keycard over to the side of the table where she’s standing When she wipes the side of the table, she stops when she spots it

Her hand immediately flies to her waistband "Oh I must have dropped it" Her soft lance overhim about that weird tattoo artist?"