Hidden Meanings by Carolyn Keene

Author:Carolyn Keene
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Simon Pulse

Chapter

Nine

ON THE OTHER SIDE of the steel doors, Nancy heard people shouting and footsteps pounding as the fire alarm wailed on. She also heard several loud metallic clangs—probably more fire doors swinging shut, Nancy guessed. The noises echoed and reechoed throughout the hotel.

From arson cases she had worked on, Nancy knew that a series of fire doors should clap shut as soon as an alarm went off. Held shut by heavy springs, the doors would contain any fire in each sealed-off area. She had no hope of opening these doors by herself.

She groped along the wall to the service elevator and pushed the button. Pressing her ear to the door, she listened for cables and gears turning in the shaft. She heard nothing. Then she quickly remembered that once a fire alarm sounds, all elevators are halted. Otherwise, the shafts could become vertical fire tunnels, channeling flames and smoke to other floors.

Discouraged, Nancy realized that someone had hoped she would come in here to investigate Ralph’s report about a maintenance worker. Slumping onto the floor, she sat in the dark. Had that same person switched off the light and pulled the fire alarm, knowing she would be trapped completely?

Then another possibility occurred to her. What if the alarm wasn’t a fake? What if there really was a fire? Could this enclosed compartment become a death trap? The hotel’s fire system had most likely not yet been tested in a real fire, she thought in horror.

Nancy fought down a wave of fear. Yes, she was trapped, but she didn’t have to sit in the dark, she reasoned. If she could find the wall switch, she could turn the lights back on. She rose and began to feel her way along the wall.

Just then the fire siren stopped. With a crackle of static, a voice came over the loudspeaker system. It was Maureen Peabody’s.

“Attention, guests,” Ms. Peabody said. “Please do not panic. A fire alarm has been pulled on the seventh floor. No smoke detectors have gone off, and no actual fire has been spotted. However, in the interest of safety, all people are to walk down the fire stairs to the lobby. Do not use the elevators. Take the stairs. Repeat: No fire has been spotted.”

The smoke detectors didn’t go off, Nancy realized—a good sign that this was a false alarm.

Her fingers brushed against a light switch on the wall. She snapped the switch, and the corridor lit up. Looking around, she saw nothing unusual.

Then she heard heavy footsteps running outside, heading up the corridor. Deep male voices shouted orders. “Go to the far end and work your way back. Open every door.” “Break ’em down?” “No, we have a key from the manager—here.” It must be a crew of firefighters, Nancy thought. Pounding her fists against the fire door, she tried to catch their attention.

“Hey, someone’s in here!” a voice shouted nearby. The firefighter came closer and called to Nancy. “You okay in there?”

“Yes,” Nancy called back. “Can you get

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