“Yeah,” Kevin said. “A little. The others were sort of numb, but the blond one was angry. I was afraid she might call the police when I let her out of the car. But she didn’t. I watched to make sure she got on board. She bought a ticket for Pasadena.”
“What was her name?” Simon asked.
“Merryweather. Mrs. Angela Merryweather. Room two twenty-one.” Kevin sighed. “It’s always room two twenty-one.”
He grabbed his bottle and gulped down the contents.
A man clinging to a small piece of something resembling normalcy amid the debris of a life that has spun out of control,Lyra thought.
“What did Mrs. Merryweather say to you?” she asked.
Kevin looked more bleak than ever. “She was blindfolded like the others, but I could tell she figured me for a loser. She asked me how much I got paid for doing such a dirty job. Said she hoped I enjoyed spending the money, because it was going to cost me my soul.”
“Do you enjoy spending the money?” Lyra asked gently.
Kevin closed his eyes briefly. When he opened them Lyra knew he had given up all hope. He believed himself to be doomed, and like others facing the end, he had things he wanted to confide. He yearned for peace of mind.
“At first, sure, I had fun with the money,” he said. “I thought the car would make it all worthwhile. But it didn’t. After the second job I wanted out, but it was too late. I can’t quit. They’ll kill me. I’ll be a dead man when they find out I talked to you. They’ve got spies everywhere in that damn hotel.”
“We may be able to protect you,” Simon said. “No guarantees, but if you do exactly as we tell you, there’s a reasonable chance you’ll survive.”
“No,” Kevin said. “You don’t know these guys. Hell, I don’t know them, either. All my instructions come by phone. But I can tell that the women I take to the train station are terrified.”
“Who tried to murder Mrs. Cage in the steam bath chamber at the spa this afternoon?” Simon asked.
“I heard it was an accident,” Kevin said. He looked at Lyra and grimaced. “I hoped it was, because if it wasn’t—”
“If it wasn’t an accident it means you can no longer tell yourself that nobody gets hurt,” Lyra concluded.
Kevin nodded. “Deep down I knew it was just a matter of time before someone got killed. I was afraid it would be one of the women. Looks like it will be me instead.”
“I want a name,” Simon said. “Who locked Mrs. Cage in the steam room and turned up the heat?”
“I don’t know,” Kevin said. “And that’s the truth. It’s not like they tell me anything. I’m just the damned driver. I get a phone call an hour before I get off my shift. I make sure the car is parked right outside the service lane door. Two guys whose faces I never see because they wear rubber masks bring the woman down the service stairs in a big laundry basket. She’s always unconscious, like she passed out, y’know? They put her in the trunk of my car and disappear. I drive her to the pickup point, get her out of the car, and carry her inside the cabin.”
“Where is the cabin?” Simon asked.
“About half an hour from the resort,” Kevin said. “In the foothills. The place has been abandoned for years. I leave the woman there and go home. That’s it until I get another call a few days later telling me to collect the guest—that’s what the bastard on the phone always calls the woman, aguest. She’s awake this time, but blindfolded, and her wrists are bound. I drive her back to Labyrinth Springs and drop her off outside of town. I untie her hands and make sure she has her purse. I tell her that when she can no longer hear my car engine she can take off the blindfold. She’s supposed to walk into town and get on the train. I let her know I’ll be watching to make sure she follows orders.”
“What about the luggage?” Simon asked. “You said the women have their handbags when they get on the train, but what about their suitcases?”
“Once they are on board I make sure the luggage is loaded onto the baggage car. No one takes any notice. The porters know the hotel always handles the luggage for the guests who arrive and leave by train.”
“You said you were told not to expect a call to take Miss Granville to the train station,” Simon asked. “Any idea why she was treated differently?”
“No.”
“Tell me exactly how Granville was handled,” Simon said. “What was the first thing that made you think the pattern had changed?”
Kevin frowned. “Pattern?”
“Just answer the question,” Simon said.
“Yeah, sure,” Kevin said. “Well, to begin with, I got the call too soon.”
“What do you mean?” Lyra asked.
“Until now there has always been at least two months, sometimes three, between the jobs,” Kevin said. “But I got the call to pick up Granville about ten days after I took Merryweather to the station. I got the feeling right then that there was something different going on.”
