Chapter 16

 

 

 

“There’s only one thing we can do, Dorothy,” I said.

She raised an eyebrow. “And what’s that? I’m almost afraid to find out.”

“We have to get back inside.”

“How do you suggest we do that?” she asked me with her hands on her hips.

“We’ll go to the back entrance, wait for someone to come out and then slip right in.” I gestured.

She chuckled. “Oh, it’s just that easy, right?”

I took her by the arm and we walked down the sidewalk. “Well, I think so, yes.”

When we reached the end of the building I looked around as if I thought someone would watch us sneaking around to the back and call the police. No one was paying attention to us at all. Then I thought what if they had hidden cameras and that manager was watching from inside? He was a thorn in my side. Why was he being such a headache? I just wanted to follow one of his customers, no biggie.

We moved around the side of the building and turned to the left. We were directly behind it now.

“I hope this works,” Dorothy said.

It was surprisingly quiet there. There were no other people back there. That was a plus in our favor.

“Now what?” Dorothy asked.

“We’ll just wait on the other side of that door. When it opens we’ll do something.”

“Oh, well, that’s a great plan. We’ll do ‘something.’” Dorothy wiggled her fingers, making air quotes.

“It’s kind of like a wait-and-see kind of thing. It depends on who comes out, how they open the door, blah blah blah.”

“Yes, blah blah blah is right. That’s all I hear coming out of your mouth.” Dorothy mimicked my mouth movements with her hand.

I frowned. She was completely frustrating right now. Nevertheless, we pressed our backs against the brick building and waited.

“This could take a long time,” Dorothy said around a sigh. “I’m thirsty and it’s hot.”

“Oh, you’re thirsty, are you?” I asked. “What? That bourbon didn’t do it for you?”

She fanned herself. “Maybe that did make me a little flush. Perhaps I should cut back on that.”

“Maybe so,” I said. “Considering you’re not used to that kind of thing.”

She chuckled. “What’s that supposed to mean? I’ve had a few bourbons in my day.”

“Maybe one too many,” I said.

“You’re nothing like your Uncle Griffin, that’s for sure,” she said.

“I am a lot like him, minus the drinking. And that’s a good thing.”

“Yes, I suppose you’re right about that. God bless his soul.”

Now wasn’t the time for me to get all weepy. Uncle Griffin would want me to push through with the job and get it done. And that was exactly what I planned to do. Just then the door opened. I momentarily lost my breath as the adrenaline kicked in. It was now or never.

A man stepped out from the back and headed toward the Dumpster. I caught the door before it shut. Dorothy and I hurried inside before the guy ever knew what had happened. We were in the hallway that led down to the first-floor rooms. I had no idea what to do, but we couldn’t just stand there and act all awkward when the employee came back in.

A small room with an ice machine was to the right. If we jumped in there we would pretend like we were getting ice until the employee walked by. It would give me a chance to think of my game plan too because I really didn’t want to knock on every door. That would never work. Plus, it wasn’t as if I could go to the front desk and ask which room some random man stayed in, considering I didn’t even know his name.