Jenn might literally be out of the woods,
but I doubt she's really out of the woods...
Secrets at Midnight
Leona Palmer Haag
Chapter 48
Room six-thirty-eight was
beautifully draped in golds, greens, deep autumn reds and purples—a feast for
the eyes—with carpet begging for bare feet. Plopping down on a cushy lounge
with fringe dusting the carpet, Jenn sighed. “This is the life. Katie and I
will stay here until after you’ve saved the world and you’re released from
prison for destroying that helpless Durango. Pay the tab in advance for room
service for a year and send Nick to fetch us.”
Matt laughed and
pushed open the door leading to the bedroom. He disappeared with the first load
of luggage, then returned for the rest. “Your plan would work until they booted
Katie out for wreaking havoc.” He sat in a king-sized chair and kicked off his
new shoes before propping his feet on the coffee table.
“Katie bear, don't
play in the curtains,” Jenn called, watching the curtain rod bend.
“While you're saving
the Hilton from your pint-sized tornado, I’ll check out the whirlpool bath,”
Matt said. He left her alone with a giggling cyclone on the loose.
Wishing she’d thought
of the escape first, she listened to the water run and jets roar while Katie
explored. Matt finally emerged with wet hair. “Your turn. I'll be back in an
hour or so with dinner.”
Jenn sorted through
plastic bags stuffed inside new suitcases, found bath supplies and scooted
Katie into the bathroom. Bubbles rose and Katie leaned over the side and slapped
at them, giggling. Jenn plopped her in the water and followed close behind,
singing about mermaids and lost treasures pearls and gold. Less than two
minutes later a chill slithered along Jenn’s spine—someone was watching her. She
could feel their eyes. She sank into the water, peeking above the iridescent
bubbles expecting to spot someone. No one was there and the button was still compressed
on the door lock.
Incurably modest
because she'd hated her mother's blatantly seductive lifestyle, Jenn silently
scolded herself—all the running and talking about being followed had messed
with her mind. Even if she was still bathing when Matt returned, he was locked
out.
To relax, Jenn turned
on the jets. Rushing water soothed her and bubbles billowed higher. “This is
the life, Katie-bug.”
“Da life,” her
daughter repeated.
Jenn crowned her daughter’s
dark curls with sparkling bubbles. “You’re a sea princess.”
Katie shook her head
and sparkling bubbles cascades down and they laughed and repeated the bubbles.
Then another chill coursed through Jenn—more definite, more icy, more
thoroughly. Spooked, she huddled in the bubbles and shut off the jets to
listen.
Silence.
“Matt?” she croaked,
before clearing her throat and trying again.
“Madd?” Katie called.
Silence.
But something didn't
feel right. Jenn slid from the water and wrapped herself in a towel and pulled
Katie out despite her shrieks of dismay. She hesitated at the door, then slowly
unlocked it and peeked into the bedroom. “Matt—are you back?”
No answer, just a soft
click—not a computer keyboard, not a footstep, not a keycard in a lock, not a
gun—something unknown.
Wanting to hide and
wanting her gun—opposing desires—Jenn stepped into the bedroom, a puddle
forming in the thick carpet at her feet. “Matt?” she whispered.
Silence. Like before a
storm—or after death.
The door between the
bedroom and sitting room stood ajar and she couldn’t remember if she’d left it
that way. Through the narrow opening she spotted her purse resting on the floor
beside the lounge, the zipper half open. Her handgun was tucked inside.
Goose bumps tingled
across her skin and water tickled down her back as Jenn froze in the doorway with
indecision. She could dart into the room and grab the gun, but beyond her sight
was someone waiting in ambush?
“Bubbles,” Katie
whined, trying to scramble over her shoulder to return to the tub. Jenn’s mind
begged to know what to do as Katie wiggled. Then she heard something—movement.
A soft thud. Footsteps in the sitting room near the balcony door? Definitely
more footsteps in the hall. Soft sounds from every direction! The edge of the
curtain within her sight fluttered. Jenn inched forward. The footsteps stopped—and
she did too. Someone was there—right there—almost close enough to reach out and
touch. She felt it, knew it and was as sure as anything she’d ever known in
life. A thud, louder than the first, echoed on the balcony.
Katie whimpered as Jenn
sprang into the sitting room, dropped to her knees and clawed through the
contents of her purse until her fingers grasped cold metal. She yanked the gun
out, shoved the magazine in, racked the slide and released the safety. The door
burst open and she faced her target dead center as her trigger finger found its
place.
“Jenn!” Matt dropped
the Olive Garden takeout bag. His hands shot up. “Stop!”
“Madd!” Katie
shrieked, breaking free from her mother, but tangling in the towels.
Clutched her writhing
daughter around the waist with one hand to hold her back, Jenn turned her gun
toward the curtains. “Check the balcony,” she whispered.
Matt rammed the door
shut behind him and slammed the lock into place. A gun appeared in his hand as
he raced across the room and shoved the curtain aside and opened the balcony
door and stepped out. Returning moments later he crossed the room and knelt
beside her, wrapping her in his arms. “You okay, Jenn? What happened” He pried her
gun from her grasp.
“I felt someone in here,” she sobbed.
He shoved her weapon
into his pocket. “Where?”
“Here—in this room.
Behind the curtain. On the balcony. Everywhere. Someone was watching me. I
heard them. I felt them. Someone was
here. Here!”
He rose and checked
the room—the entertainment armoire, behind furniture, inside closets, the
bathroom, the bedroom. “No one’s here,” he said. “Finish your bath and we’ll
eat.”
Jenn wiped tears with
the back of her hand. “Do you mind turning around?”
End Chapter 48
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