Naturally in the wake of such a lovely weekend, the rest of the week took revenge in the form of small annoyances. The rain kept up for three days and nights, putting a damper on everyone's enthusiasm and making a continual mess of the front door carpets. There had already been three separate incidents with people slipping and falling; one guest had threatened a lawsuit over his tumble.

Pine also found himself dealing with two blondes.

Normally this wasn't a problem since he'd long since perfected the art of personal yet polite attention to guests over the years. Eye contact, quiet voice, frequent positive reinforcement worked wonders with most people and occasionally allowed him discreet opportunities for services of a much more intimate kind—or used to, anyway.

Pine wasn't much interested in liaisons at the moment.

However, Susie Van Dekker was and in the most unsubtle ways. The young starlet had zeroed in on him from the moment she'd checked in, and while Pine found it a little flattering, it also wore on his patience. She was at least ten years younger than he was and clearly used to getting her way; his constant and courteous rejections seemed to amuse and spur her on. He'd been called to her suite nearly every night for some trivial problem only to be greeted by Susie in various negligees and lingerie.

At first it was mildly amusing to extract himself but as the week went on, Pine grew annoyed by her repeated attempts at seduction.

The other blonde was Lucky and Pine didn't mind her at all.

Lucky Leon had arrived at the Castelo Do Mar with her grandmother and they had the Areia suite that overlooked the pool. Pine had made it a point to introduce himself to both of them, dropping down to a graceful squat to shake Lucky's hand. "I'm Mr. Pine, and I promise I will take very good care of you both, all right?"

That sat well with the grandmother, and apparently six year old Lucky believed it too because she showed up at the front desk at two-thirty in the morning and asked for him.

Fortunately he was in his office, and a very amused Lucia paged him away from the thrill of laundry service billing to deal with 'your *other* cutie.'

Worried, Pine came out and bent to talk to Lucky. "Miss Leon; why aren't you in your room?"

"Lost the card," she told him matter of factly. At the moment she wore a long nightgown of flower-covered flannel and carried a very battered stuffed porcupine.

"All right, we can fix that," Pine assured her. "You did the right thing by coming to see us."

"Yes," Lucky agreed. "'Cause it's in the pool."

"What's in the pool?" Pine had a suspicion.

"The card. I dropped it out the window."

Pine gave her a dry look. "On purpose?"

Lucky fidgeted. "A little bit, maybe," she agreed.

He sighed. "Miss Leon, it's a very bad idea to throw anything out the window, especially room cards. Why would you do that?"

Lucky thought about it. "Because it's fun."

She had him there, Pine thought. The Areia suite was high enough that anything dropping from the window to the pool ten floors belowwould be worth watching.

"Nevertheless, I cannot permit you to do that anymore," he murmured. "What if you'd hit someone?"

"I would say sorry," Lucky told him.

"Well, yes, that would be polite," Pine agreed. "But what if they'd gotten hurt?"

Lucky gave him a look that told him she knew perfectly well that a small plastic key card would never actually injure anyone, no matter how hard it dropped. "I would say sorry again."

He laughed and took her hand. "Come on then, let's get you back to bed before your grandmother knows what's happened and I'll go fish it out."

They headed to the elevator, Pine walking slowly to allow her to keep up. Lucky explained she was awake because there was a lot of noise on her floor, and even though her grandmother could sleep because her 'ear aids' were out, she couldn't.

Pine frowned, wondering what might be going on in the other suites. When the elevator opened, he and Lucky stepped out, he heard the noise . . . and felt himself redden as the heavy moans and obscenities of a porn soundtrack echoed in the hallway, barely muffled by the door of the suite on the other side of the hallway.

"Oh dear."

"Gross," Lucky agreed.

Pine sighed. Confronting whoever was in the Concha suite was necessary, but not with a child nearby. Wincing, he herded Lucky back into the elevator, fished out his mobile and rapidly texted. Would you be able to babysit for an hour?

Not within my usual duties, but for you—what's going on?

I need to deal with noise and decency issues but have a child with me.

Come on down, Sable replied.

"All right Miss Leon, we're going to visit a friend of mine and she'll keep an eye on you while I see about the noisemakers. Miss Lucia will let your Grandmother know where you are if she calls."

Lucky swung her stuffed porcupine around by the tail. "Okay. Can I have a snack?"

"Certainly," Pine told her.

In the medical suite, Pine made the introductions, feeling glad to see Simone again. "This is Miss Lucky Leon, currently our guest in the Areia Suite. Miss Leon, this is Doctor Sable."

"Hello," Lucky murmured. "I don't like shots."

"Me either," Sable assured her, "but I do like pancakes. I was thinking of getting some. Would you like a few?"

"Yes," Lucky agreed. "Can I sit in your wheelchair?"

"Yes," Sable told her. Looking up at Pine, she added, "We will try to save you a pancake. Maybe."

"Then I'd better go earn it," he sighed, adding in a lower voice, "Thank you."

She nodded, waving him off and turning back to Lucky. "So . . . how many pancakes should we order?"

Pine left them and pulled out his mobile, reaching Lucia. "Who's in the Concha and have we had any complaints on them?"

"Let me check . . . oh, it' a Senor Albrecht of Graz Germany, no listed complaints. What's the matter?"

"Volume issue with an erotic film," Pine explained sourly. "Miss Leon's grandmother has her hearing aids out so she's still asleep but not our Miss Leon. She's with the doctor right now."

"Santa Maria! All right. Oh and Senorita Van Dekker wants to know if you can check her showerhead," Lucia informed him. "I told her you were busy helping a much younger woman; she didn't seem to like that answer."

Pine laughed. "Lucia Zubiri you are priceless."

"Just remember that around my annual review, Jonathan."

Then matters got much more complicated once he entered the Concha.

"Simone, I need you to take Miss Leon to Lucia and come up here to the Concha suite immediately," Pine murmured into his mobile as he moved back from the living room to the suite doorway again.

"Death?" came her very soft question.

"Yes."

"All right; call the ambulance and I'll be right up."

"Right." Pine made the calls and waited in the hallway, feeling tense. He'd dealt with death before—many times—but he never got used to it. At least in Mr. Albrecht's case it seemed to have been fairly peaceful since he was still in the luxury recliner, looking for all the world as if he were asleep. Pine gingerly pulled the man's bathrobe closed and turned off the film, feeling it was the least he could do to put some dignity to the man's passing, although the coffee table still held the bottle of lubricant, tissues and intimate toys on it.

Pine was beginning to wonder if there was some sexual curse attached to this particular suite when he heard the elevator arrive. Sable stepped out, bag in hand, and headed his way, touching his arm lightly as she passed him into the suite. "All right, let's see."

It didn't take long; within an hour the paramedics from De Egas Moniz emergency room logged her pronouncement and quietly loaded the body onto a gurney, leaving Sable and Pine behind as they headed back to the hospital. By now there was only an hour left until dawn, and Pine felt incredibly weary. He'd left a message for Francesca in Housekeeping to deal with the suite after the police released it and looked at Sable, who was staring at the coffee table.

"So sad. Nobody wants to die like this," she murmured. "Alone and humiliated."

"Agreed," Pine told her. "Particularly with this sort of . . . collection out."

Sable shook her head. "Well, they're all top of the line, anyway. Glücklich Reiter, from what I can tell."

"The fact that you can tell is interesting," Pine pointed out, one corner of his mouth going up. "What's that thing?"

"Lieblingsberg,"Sable replied. "Anal plug, not for the faint-hearted."

"I'm sorry I asked." Pine picked up a complicated device of thin leather straps and metal rods. "And this?"

"That is a stallion cage," Sable murmured. "I'm sure the internet can show you how it's worn, although in your case it's going to be too short and too small."

Pine shuddered and let it drop again on the coffee table. "I think I'm ready for a drink now."

"Me too. Let's make sure Miss Leon is all right and we can go get one," Sable agreed.

After securing the suite they rode down to the lobby where Lucia put a finger to her lips and pointed at Pine's office. Inside Lucky Leon was curled up in a nest of blankets under his desk.
He picked the sleeping child up and gave Sable a sigh. "Let me go deliver her back to her grandmother and I'll meet you in the bar, all right?"

Sable nodded, smirking. "All right."

She was having a Bloody Mary, he noted, and motioned to Nikko for the same as he dropped himself into the booth seat opposite her, tucking his long legs on either side of hers. They gave each other quick grins but said nothing until after the bartender delivered the second drink.

"All in a night's work," Sable lifted her glass in a mock-toast. "Miss Lucky back safe and sound?"

"Yes." Pine took a large sip of his drink. "I've left a note for Day to fish her room key out of the pool; I've done enough for one night."

"Yes," Sable nodded. "You need sleep; it's been a stressful shift by anybody's standards."

"You do too," he pointed out quietly.

Sable looked away, but not before he spotted her bleak expression. It hit him that he probably looked much the same, and impulsively he slid a hand over hers. "Sleep with me. As in sleep," Pine emphasized. "I'm not in the mood to be alone, I suspect you aren't either, and I know I can trust you."

That brought a little hint of a smile and she turned back to eye him. "Nobody should be able to read me so well," she murmured, putting a softer inflection on his words.

"Only a part of you," Pine admitted, "you are still a woman of mysteries. Come and I'll introduce you to the cat I don't own, and share my poorly assembled Ikea full-size complete with overly-Nordic linens."

Sable laughed.

And later, when he curled around her and burrowed his nose into the sweet silky strands of her inky hair, Pine felt her slip into sleep long before he did himself.