Mystery Writer's Mysteries Box Set 1-3 by Becky Clark

Author:Becky Clark [Clark, Becky]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2021-05-19T22:00:00+00:00

Eleven

Jack reached behind me to shut the door. As before, the dim yellow bulb cast the short hallway in a weird, unnatural sort of twilight. Jack moved faster than I did and the darkness swallowed him. I hurried to catch up. When I did, I saw him waiting at the stairs, which descended into even more darkness.

“Watch where you step. Sometimes there’s rats. Or worse.” Worse than rats? I shuddered to think what I would have done if I’d seen any rats when I was down here alone.

Of my two choices, to go back or to keep following Jack, I knew one thing. Neither was a good decision.

I chose to follow him down the stairs. But as I did, one eye watching for rats, I pulled up Lily’s number on my phone. I’d only talked to her twice on the phone since I’d been at the hotel, but I knew that if there was trouble, I’d only have to hit one button and in half a second I’d hear her standard cheery greeting: “It’s Lily! Thanks for calling! What can I do for you?” Unless I got her voicemail, that is. Still a cheery greeting, but absolutely useless for my purposes.

Of course, I was assuming I’d have cell service. I checked my phone. Two bars. I drew a breath.

We reached the bottom of the stairs with nary a rat, mouse, or worse sighting. The yellow caged light bulbs were set farther apart, making the light even more dim. I hurried to keep up with Jack, who expertly picked his way through the maze. Only the darkness seemed familiar from before. We twisted and turned so many times I knew I probably couldn’t make it back to the Clackamas Room even if I wanted to. And I was beginning to want to.

Jack stopped suddenly and I crashed into his back. I took two steps backward when he reached for a door. It opened to the outside of the hotel, and I peeked over his shoulder as he blocked the threshold, looking right then left. It seemed to me like an underground parking area, maybe for deliveries. But there were no vehicles or people there, and he closed the door and continued through the maze. It was bright above my head now, the dim yellow bulbs replaced with higher wattage white ones. I tried to memorize our location in case I needed to make a run for the outer door. I snapped a few quick photos, but they showed only the washed-out back of Jack’s head before me and darkness behind. As I checked the photos, something caught my eye.

Zero bars.

Jack was out of view and I hurried after him, longing for daylight. After a few steps, the bright light disappeared and the hallway was plunged back into the eerie twilight. I pulled up my flashlight app and used it to better light my way.

As I followed Jack, I realized the bowels of the hotel, from the looks of it, were mostly used for storage.

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