The thought of her gave him another idea. He could take it with him in case he caught up with her. Then he could stick it where the sun don't shine and he'd never lose track of her again. Not that there'd be much chance of losing her again if he ever found her—people six foot under the ground don't tend to go very far. But in the end he couldn't be bothered and just left it in the bottom of the bag.

He turned out the light and closed the door. The manager hadn't given him a new key so he couldn't have locked it if he'd wanted to. He went back downstairs and out to the parking lot and got in the rental van.

What the hell was he going to do now?

Chapter 31

Evan booked a room on the floor above Ellie and then spent a few minutes freshening himself up before going back to wait in his car outside the hotel. He got a text from an unknown number while he was waiting. It turned out to be Ryder making a big deal about how it was now safe for Evan to go back to his office, now that the real detectives had sorted his mess out for him. It was irritating to give Ryder the satisfaction of riling him, but at least he knew that the two guys were out of the picture for the time being.

He saw Ellie arrive and park up about ten minutes before they were due to meet. She was alone in the car. Nobody drove in behind her and he hadn't seen anybody else who looked remotely suspicious. He was about as sure as he could be that it wasn't a trap.

He got out of his car and followed her into the hotel. She walked straight past the reception desk and across to the elevators. There was a car waiting to go and she stepped right into it. The doors started to close. Evan had to run the last few yards across the lobby to get his foot in the doors before they could close completely. They opened again and he stepped in.

Ellie looked up and did a small double take. She looked rough. The side of her face was bruised and her bottom lip was swollen. She tried a smile. It wasn't a very good one. It certainly didn't get within a mile of her eyes.

'Somebody hit you?' he asked. He made no effort whatsoever to put some concern into his voice. A few more slaps like that probably wouldn't do her any harm.

She put out her hand to press the button for her floor but he intercepted it and pressed the floor above.

'What are you doing?' she said. 'I'm on the third floor.'

'I'm on the fourth,' he said. 'Better view.'

She gave him a tight smile. A have it your way sort of smile.

'No reason why we shouldn't go to my room, is there?'

She gave a small shake of her head but didn't say anything.

'There isn't somebody waiting in your room you want me to meet?'

She didn't bother saying anything to that either. He didn't actually think she had set something up; she was just pissed she wasn't in control.

They rode up the rest of the way in silence and he let her get out first and walk ahead of him. Again, it wasn't that he thought she was going to do a runner. He was just being gentlemanly—despite the fact that there wasn't what he'd call a lady in sight. He let them into the room and she dropped into the only armchair. He locked the door and leaned against it, and they stared at each other in silence for a minute or two.

'Tell you what,' he said, 'I'll tell you what's happened since I last saw you and then you can tell me what the hell's going on.'

He ran through it all on his fingers; the fight in the bar; the confrontation afterwards with Juan and José; his visit to her ransacked hotel room (although he didn't mention the photograph he'd found); almost getting caught by Juan and José at her hotel the following day and, finally, Juan and José's visit to his office.

'I don't know about you,' he said, after he'd finished checking them all off, 'but that sounds like a lot to happen in just a couple of days.'

'I haven't exactly been having the time of my life either,' she said, pointing at her face.

'The difference is though; you know what this is all about. I don't. At least when you were getting beaten up you knew the reason why.'

'What, and that makes it easier—'

'And I'd be willing to bet it was probably all your own fault.'

She extended her middle finger towards him. 'Up yours, Evan.'

'Ever the lady.'

'If it's as bad as you say, why are you still here?'

He was about to say it was for one reason, and one reason only, but then he realized that wasn't the case any more.

'For one, I don't have any choice any more. Unless Juan and José's visit to my office was an isolated incident and they'll give up now, they're going to be back.'

'Okay, I can see your point. What's the other reason?'

She had a mocking half-smile on her lips that he'd have liked to slap off. She knew damn well that she'd hooked him with her promise of helping him find Sarah. She probably didn't know that he believed her now, thanks to the photograph. Believed that she could help him, at any rate. He still wasn't sure about whether she would. He hadn't planned to bring up the question of the photograph at this point. He'd have preferred to find out what was going on before going down that route. But, you don't always get to call the shots.

'You know why. You said you'd help me find Sarah if I helped you.'

'I didn't think you believed me.'

'I didn't.'

She didn't look quite so sure of herself suddenly. It wasn't the answer she was expecting.

'So what changed?'

Now it was his turn to give her an irritatingly smug smile.

'Well it sure as hell wasn't because I sat down and thought to myself: you know I did Ellie a huge injustice, I'm sure she really wants to help after all.'

This time she managed to keep her middle finger under control. Maybe it was because she was too busy watching Evan's hand as he reached into his jacket pocket. Did she have any idea what was coming? He took the photograph out of his wallet and handed it to her.

She stared at it dumbly for a split second before she realized what it was. Her head snapped back up.

'Where did you get this?'

He took a quick step forward and snatched it out of her hand again. He didn't want to risk her doing anything with it.

'Where did you get it?' she said again.

'It was in the front compartment of your suitcase. I found it while I was waiting for you to turn up.' He didn't think he needed to tell her that he'd gone through her diary as well. Or mention the other piece of paper for the moment.

'It's not important anyway,' she said. 'You don't need it to find Dixie. I already told you that.'

'I know.'

'You know what?'

'That I don't need it to find Dixie.'

Her brow creased into a slight frown. Did she really not know why he was interested in it? The slightest of doubts crept into his mind. Had he been mistaken? Or had she simply forgotten who the other person in the photo was?

'So what do you want it for?'

'I think that's obvious, don't you?'

The frown intensified.

'You need to work on your confused face,' he said, trying to sound confident.

She shook her head. 'I have no idea what you're talking about.'

'The other person in the photo,' he prompted.

'There isn't anyone else in the photo.'

'Okay then, the other person's arm. The arm that's round your neck.'

'Show me.'

Was it a trick to get it back? Or was he making a mountain out of a molehill?

'Don't worry; I'm not going to try to take it—even though it's mine in the first place.'

He passed it back to her and she studied it carefully before giving it back to him.

'I honestly don't remember who that was. I'm not even sure when it was taken. I just grabbed the first photo I could find of Dixie.'