Chapter 14: One Star

Jasper's POV

By the sixth morning, Corcoran's Motor Court had four hundred one-star reviews.

Deirdre read them aloud at the office desk with her coffee going cold.

"Bed bugs," she said. "Which is a lie. A man hid a camera in room four. Also a lie."

She scrolled.

"And this one says the owner shelters a violent stalker from Chicago."

She looked up at me.

"That's you."

"I know."

"Every one of them is a new account with no photo."

"Tobin," I said.

"Tobin," she agreed.

She shut the laptop.

The phone on the wall had rung all morning.

Deirdre had let it ring.

Her father's board hung behind her.

Checkout is eleven.

No refunds.

Nobody drives the guests.

Her bookings for the month had dropped to two rooms.

"I'll leave today," I said. "You're losing money."

"Sit down."

"Deirdre."

"Sit down, Jasper."

I sat.

At ten o'clock a county sheriff's car pulled into the lot.

The deputy who got out was an older man with a clipboard and a tired face.

He stood in the doorway and took off his hat.

"Miss Corcoran. I got a complaint out of Illinois. A man here is wanted for assault on a nurse."

"Wanted by who?" Deirdre said.

"Nobody has filed a warrant. I'm obliged to look."

"Then look."

"Mister Wynn?"

"That's me," I said.

He glanced at the screen of his own phone, where the video was playing.

Then he glanced at the side of my shirt, where the dressing showed through.

"You hit a man in a restaurant?"

"I walked out of a restaurant."

"That's not what this shows."

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