Perri was just about finished luxuriating in the shower when she thought she heard her phone. She realized she had left the phone on the dresser. She was suddenly afraid it was Nick calling to say he was on the way and here she was in the shower. The light shining into the shower dimmed briefly, not more than a flicker. She turned her head and saw the top of the door, now visible over the shower rod, closing. Adrenaline shot through her body making her heart pound and her breath catch. The curtain was a coffee brown color, so she couldn’t see through it. Facing the curtain, Perri stood stock still and listened. Surely Nick wouldn’t have come on into her room and he didn’t have a key. And even so, he wouldn’t have barged into the bathroom. She couldn’t hear anything but the water and the rushing of blood through her ears. She realized she was breathing through her mouth, water running in at the corners then dribbling back out down her chin. She closed it.
In a sudden burst of movement, the shower curtain hurtled into Perri. She could feel arms closing in around her through the wet plastic. She struggled against the gripping embrace as the curtain was wrenched away from the rod. The attacker pushed her against the tiled wall at her back and pinned her arms at her sides. Her feet were slipping on the bottom of the tub. Now loose, the top of the shower curtain collapsed and folded over her head.
Perri tried to think of the best response, but the attacker was pulling her downward and her feet were almost against the side wall of the tub in her struggle to remain upright. She tried to grab the plastic of the shower curtain between her thumbs and forefingers in an attempt to pull it down, to see her attacker and hopefully get out of the plastic bag she was now in. That was hopeless. The curtain didn’t budge with the little amount of grip she could get.
Without warning, the attacker’s head rammed into her face. Sharp pain shot upward from her nose and into her skull, her eyes watered and she pinched them shut. In that moment of distraction, the attacker overlapped the sides of the curtain around her back, fully enveloping her. She lost her footing and went down sideways, her head smacking the knob of the faucet as she fell. The curtain served as some cushion, but it was still extremely painful since her ear was the main point of contact. Panic started to win the struggle and she began kicking wildly, as much as was possible with the curtain tangled up in her legs. The man, it had to be a man, climbed in and sat on her abdomen, pinning her arms down at her sides to the bottom of the tub with his knees.
Perri took a huge breath and launched into what she hoped was a far-ranging blood-curdling scream, but it was cut off by an object being shoved into the opening of her mouth from the other side of the curtain. She gagged, but the hand held the object in place. She heard the shower head being shut off and in the next second, the water came from the faucet which was directly over her forehead; she could feel the water hitting the curtain full force. The next sound she heard was the tub stopper. Perri was engulfed with the hot, horrifying realization that he was going to fill the tub.
***
Sarah pushed through the door of the Arrogant Rogue without apology for pushing aside several patrons trying to leave. Andrea was the bartender behind the bar and was emptying a large plastic bucket of ice into a hopper.
“Andrea, where is Nick? Has he left?”
“Hi, Sarah.”
“Has he left? Is Nick still here??” Sarah’s voice rose.
“No, he’s in the back. He finished his shift and went to the back to clock out.”
“I need to talk to him right now, this instant,” Sarah headed toward the employee door.
“Sure, go on back…” but Sarah was already through the door behind the bar. The back of the tavern was a warren of small rooms: kitchen, bathroom, employee area, store rooms, closets. Sarah didn’t see Nick. She poked her head in every room and called his name. The cook looked at her with surprise. Sarah was headed back toward the bar area when she noticed the rear exit. “Crap.” She ran through the door. Nick had backed out of his parking space and was shifting to drive forward out of the small parking area behind the building. Sarah ran in front of the car.
“Nick, stop, stop.” She was out of breath, more from fear than exertion.
He stomped on the brake and rolled down the window. “What’s up, Sarah? What’s wrong. Something happening in the bar?” He put his hand on the door handle to exit the car.
“No,” she took a breath, “Are you on the way to meet Perri? Have you seen her?”
“Yeah, I saw her about an hour ago, maybe less. Why?”
“Do you know where she is now?”
“She was going back to her hotel to get ready for the festival. Why? What’s wrong?” his curiosity had turned to alarm at the sight of Sarah’s stricken face.
“Do you know where she is staying?” Nick nodded affirmatively. “Take me there. Right now.” Sarah ran around to the passenger side and got in, “Go.”
“What’s going on?”
Sarah didn’t answer him. She rustled through her purse frantically and finally came up with her phone, hitting speed dial. She nervously bounced her hand on the arm rest. “George, George. Sarah here, right now, send a car and at least two officers over to the 9th Street Hotel, send more if you have them,” she swung back to Nick, “Do you know what room?”
“Yeah, um, 227.”
“Room 227, have someone call the manager now so they can be ready to let you in if they need to, if there’s no answer.”
“No answer? What the hell is going on?” Nick continually swiveled his head between the road and Sarah.
“Yes…now. This is an emergency. Ok. I’m on my way there.”
“Sarah, you have to….”
Sarah held up her phone with the photograph of the two Blackwell men where Nick could see it. “Recognize anyone in this photo?”
Nick was repeatedly glancing at the photograph, “I can’t look at it long enough to…”
Sarah grabbed the wheel, “Look at it!”
Nick leaned in and looked at the photograph while Sarah held the wheel. “Yeah, I’ve seen this one guy a few times.”
“When?” Sarah relinquished control of the steering wheel to Nick.
“I’ve seen him in the tavern a couple of times over the last, I don’t know…couple of weeks. And I saw him this afternoon, he was at the bar.”
“When? How long ago?” Sarah shouted.
“Ok!” Nick turned onto 9th Street. “It had to have been around 4:30 because I saw him when I was talking to Perri, he was sitting a few stools down.”
“And?”
Nick’s brow furrowed and he stared ahead as he drove. Sarah urged, “Did he say or do anything?”
“Well, I was talking to Perri. I had turned to pick something up, a rag, and I noticed the guy kind of scowling at me. I thought he might want another drink and was mad that I was talking to a customer. I asked him if he needed anything and he said ‘No’ and looked away.”
“What had you been talking about, I mean when you noticed him scowling at you?”
“Geez, I don’t know...”
“Think!!”
“Ok, ok, I guess it was when I asked Perri if she was going to be free for the whole weekend or was going to have to do some more work for…well, for you.”
“Damn it! How long was he there?” Sarah asked.
“I’m sorry, Sarah, I…”
“No, no, no, that doesn’t matter. How long was he there after that?”
“Let me think. I told Perri I was going to be off work at five o’clock and said she was going to go back to her hotel and get cleaned up, you know, after the drive. I asked her where she was staying.”
“And she told you?”
“Well, yeah. I told her I would call her when I was finished here and would come to pick her up.”
“Anything else?”
“I asked her what room she was in and she told me.”
“Drive faster, we’re almost there, you won’t get a ticket, I promise.” Sarah waved ahead of her, then said, “You said you told her you would call when you were finished, did you call her?”
“Yes, I did, but I didn’t get an answer.”