LuAnn put on the coat and hat, cinching the belt up tight.
“I’ll check you in. Your suite is under the name of Linda Freeman, an American business executive with a London-based firm traveling with her daughter on a combination of business and pleasure.”
“A business executive? I hope nobody asks me no questions.”
“Don’t worry, nobody will.”
“So that’s who I’m supposed to be? Linda Freeman?”
“At least until the big event. Then you can go back to being LuAnn Tyler.”
Do I have to? LuAnn wondered to herself.
The suite Charlie escorted her to after he checked her in was on the thirty-second floor and was mammoth in size. It had a large sitting room and a separate bedroom. LuAnn looked around in wonderment at the elegant furnishings, and almost fell over when she saw the opulent bathroom.
“You get to wear these robes?” She fingered the soft cotton.
“You can have it if you want. For seventy-five bucks or so a pop that is,” Charlie replied.
She walked over to the window and partially drew back the curtains. A goodly slice of the New York City skyline confronted her. The sky was overcast and it was already growing dark. “I ain’t never seen so many buildings in all my life. How in the world do people tell ’em apart? They all look the same to me.” She looked back at him.
Charlie shook his head. “You know, you’re real funny. If I didn’t know better, I’d think you were the biggest hick in the world.”
LuAnn looked down. “I am the biggest hick in the world. At least the biggest one you’ll probably ever see.”
He caught her look. “Hey, I didn’t mean anything by it. You grow up here, you get an attitude about things, you know what I mean?” He paused for a minute while he watched LuAnn go over and stroke Lisa’s face. “Look, here’s the refreshment bar,” he finally said. He showed her how it worked. Next, he opened the thick closet door. “Over here is the safe.” He indicated the heavy metal door inserted into the wall. He punched in a code and the cylinders whirled into place. “It’s a real good idea to keep your valuables in there.”
“I don’t think I have anything worth putting in there.”
“How about that lottery ticket?”
LuAnn gulped, dug into her pocket, and produced the lottery ticket. “So you know that much, huh?”
Charlie didn’t answer her. He took the ticket, barely glancing at it, before thrusting it in the safe. “Pick a combo—nothing obvious like birthdays or stuff like that. But choose something you’ll remember off the top of your head. You don’t want to be writing the numbers down anywhere. Got that?” He opened the safe again.
LuAnn nodded, and input her own code and waited until the safe was in the lock mode before shutting the closet door.
Charlie headed to the door. “I’ll be back tomorrow morning about nine. In the meantime, you get hungry or anything, just order up room service. Don’t let the waiter get a good look at your face, though. Put your hair up in a bun or wear the shower cap, like you’re about to jump in the tub. Open the door, sign the bill as Linda Freeman, and then go into the bedroom. Leave some tip money on the table. Here.” Charlie took a wad of bills from his pocket and handed them to her. “Generally, keep a low profile. Don’t go walking around the hotel or stuff like that.”
“Don’t worry, I know I don’t sound like no executive person.” LuAnn pulled her hair out of her eyes and tried to sound flippant, although her low self-esteem was as plain as the hurt tones in Charlie’s response.
“That’s not it, LuAnn. I didn’t mean . . .” He finally shrugged. “Look, I barely finished high school. I never went to college and I did okay for myself. So neither one of us could pass as a Harvard grad, so who the hell cares?” He touched her lightly on the shoulder. “Get a good night’s sleep. When I come back tomorrow, we can go out and see some of the sights and you can talk your head off, how about that?”