Over Her Dead Body by Kate White

Author:Kate White
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Published: 0100-12-31T22:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 12

I tried the door again. It refused to budge. I wondered if it might be swollen and thus sticking. Next I used my hip to ram it—once, twice, three times, delivering solid blows—but still there was no give. Sauna doors never locked, for obvious reasons, but clearly something was preventing this one from opening. I felt a tiny swell of panic.

Glancing around the room, I looked for a device that I could use as a ramrod, but there was absolutely nothing. I stood up and shoved at the door again, hoping that its reluctance to open earlier had been due to my approaching it from some odd angle. But nothing happened. With the last blow, though, I became aware for the first time that the door seemed to give just the tiniest bit and then catch against something. It felt as if there was an object on the other side blocking the door.

I froze as a sickening feeling overtook me. I’d heard that bumping noise moments before I’d tried to leave. Had someone pushed an object against the door so I couldn’t get out?

I sat back down on the lowest shelf and gathered my thoughts. Nothing bad was going to happen. Not only had I put the timer on, but Jessie knew where I was and would certainly come looking for me at some point. I glanced at my watch again, not even recalling what time it had been when I’d looked moments before. It was four. The buses were due to leave at around five, which meant that if she became preoccupied, she might not seek me out for at least a half hour, maybe longer. The thought of staying in that dry, hot space with the overwhelming cedar smell filled me with dread.

I peered out the window again, trying to see, but there was nothing visible below the window. Stepping back, I hollered for help as loud as I could. I also yelled Jessie’s name four or five times, hoping she might be in the vicinity.

The only reply was the clanging of the sauna heater.

I was sweating up a storm by now, and I sat back down again to rest. It seemed my only choice was to stay calm and wait. The heat would shut off in just a few more minutes, and eventually Jessie would find me.

Who could have done this? I wondered. And why? The chance of it being an accident—someone putting something against the door without realizing I was there—seemed next to nil. It could very well be an ugly practical joke. Both Hilary and Ryan struck me as capable of giving me a little scare to teach me a lesson.

But then the incident in Brighton Beach suddenly flashed into view. I had allowed for the possibility that the incident that night might have been a random mugging attempt, but two threatening occurrences within forty-eight hours seemed more than coincidental. I felt my panic balloon as I realized that this could be the murderer at work.

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