Chapter 17

 

 

 

“As soon as the hallway is clear we’ll head down to the first door that we come to and knock.”

“We will?” Dorothy asked with a raised eyebrow. “We can’t knock on every door. That’s crazy. We’ll surely get caught. They probably have cameras in the hallways. If that manager sees us, we’ll be arrested.”

“What are you worried about, Dorothy? We’ll be fine,” I said.

“This was all your idea coming in here anyway.”

“But you backed me up, Dorothy. You came with me.”

“A mistake on my part. Listen, I have an idea,” she said.

“Please let it be a good one.”

“We’ll talk to another employee. Somebody that’s not so mean. We’ll ask them about the man. We’ll give the employee the man’s description and tell them that I’m his grandmother and that I can’t remember anything. I’m old, they’ll believe it.”

I stared at her for a moment. “You know, that might just work.”

“I have to use my age to my advantage,” she said.

“All right. Now we just have to find an employee.”

Just then I spotted the manager. His back was to us, but I recognized him right away. He hadn’t seen us yet, but nonetheless, panic raced through me.

I grabbed Dorothy by the hand. “We have to hide.”

We were like trapped mice in a maze, unsure of where to turn next.

“We’ll go back down to the room with the ice machine,” I said.

Dorothy and I rushed to the tiny room and slipped inside. I tried to catch my breath as I leaned against the wall. I needed to peek around the corner to see if he’d found us. I poked my head around the corner. He was nowhere in sight.

“Is he there?” Dorothy whispered from over my shoulder.

“No, but he could be lurking anywhere, ready to pop out at us,” I said.

How did he know we weren’t really guests anyway? I could’ve been telling the truth. He hadn’t even given me a chance to produce a key card. How rude of him. Dorothy and I stayed in that little room, practically in a panic and wondering if the manager would pop up and find us. I really didn’t want to be escorted out right again. I listened for footsteps but heard no sounds.

“Maybe he’s not coming,” I said.

“Probably not,” Dorothy said.

“I think it’s clear for us to head out.”

Just as I let out a deep breath and started to calm down just a bit, I heard the footsteps. I knew it was him. I could tell by the shuffling of his pants. I’d heard that distinctly when he was escorting us out of the building. It was forever in my mind and I’d never forget. Now my panic had returned. Dorothy and I exchanged a look. Her eyes were as big as saucers. Bracing myself for what was about to happen, I couldn’t let it end this way. I had to make one last fight before being tossed out.

A door was across the room, but I had no idea where it led. Based on the position of the building I figured it must be a closet. As I rushed over Dorothy zipped in front of me. She yanked the door open. I was glad it wasn’t marked emergency.

“Why did you do that?” I asked.

“Sorry, I got a little excited,” she said.

As I suspected it was a closet with just cleaning supplies like brooms. But it was a perfect space for Dorothy and me to hide. I motioned for Dorothy to follow me inside the little room. I closed the door and prayed that we wouldn’t be discovered.

“What are we doing in here?” Dorothy whispered.

“We have to hide.”

Before I had a chance to say anything else footsteps sounded. They grew closer and I knew he was in the room. He paused. I was almost sure he was in the room. I was holding my breath and praying Dorothy didn’t sneeze. I knew the cleaning supplies would set off her allergies. What was he doing? Would he open the door to find us? After a few more seconds the footsteps sounded. The sound diminished. He was leaving the room. At least I hoped he was leaving. He could just be trying to trick us. After a few more seconds I eased the door open just a crack. So far, so good. I released a deep breath and opened the door the rest of the way. Dorothy and I were once again alone in the room. I paused at the door and then peeked around the side of the door. He wasn’t in the hallway.

“It’s all clear, Dorothy.” I motioned for her to follow me.

Dorothy and I practically tiptoed down the hallway. We needed to find the employee that we’d seen. As we made our way down the hall, I noticed one of the room doors open. When we walked past we spotted the employee inside the room. We made eye contact and she smiled.

“Excuse me,” I said.

She walked over to the door. “Yes? May I help you?”

“I’m trying to help this lady.” I gestured toward Dorothy. “She seems to be in a bit of distress. She’s looking for her son.”

The woman looked to Dorothy.

“She can’t remember the room number.”

Once again, she focused on Dorothy.

“Maybe you’ve seen her son and would know which room he’s staying in. Or you could possibly find out for us.”

If she wanted Dorothy to go to the front desk with her then we were in big trouble. There was no way we could let that happen. I had my fingers crossed that this would work.

“There are a lot of people staying at the hotel. I’m not sure that I can help you. But I know if you go to the front desk I would be more than willing to help.”

I was afraid she would say that. Now I had to explain why we couldn’t go. There was really no explanation.

Without warning Dorothy started crying. “I don’t know how to do that. My son handles these things. I can’t remember my name.”

“Oh, no. She’s upset,” I said. “Aren’t you, ma’am?”

Dorothy dapped at the invisible tear in the corner of her eye. “I don’t think I can go out there and ask the hotel staff. I’d be too embarrassed.”

I wasn’t sure if Dorothy’s act would work. One thing for sure was that it was definitely risky.

“Do you remember what floor you’re staying on?” the woman asked.

Dorothy shook her head.

“I think she said the man is tall with dark hair. He wears sunglasses on the top of his head all the time.”

That was an odd description. The woman got a strange look on her face.

“Actually, I have seen him. I know which room he’s in. I’ll help you, but don’t tell anyone, okay? I don’t want to get in trouble.”

“Oh, I’m sure you won’t be in trouble. We won’t say a word,” I said.

“Follow me. It’s just right down here,” she said.

Now that we were headed for the man’s room I had no idea what we would do. Would I knock on the door and confront him right there? Yes, that was probably the best idea.

The employee led us down the hallway and stopped in front of room one thirty-six. “It’s right here. I’m sure if you just knock on the door your son will be happy to see you.”

“Thank you,” I said. “We really appreciate the help.”

She stared at us for a moment longer before turning and walking away. I believed she might have had some doubts about our story, but nonetheless it was over now. As long as she didn’t tell the manager we were safe.

When the woman walked away Dorothy said, “Now what do we do?”

“We’ll talk about your performance later, but I thought I’d just knock on his door and confront him.”

“I’m not sure if we should do that.”

“We’ve come this far. You went through all of that award-winning performance and now you’re gonna tell me we shouldn’t do this?” I asked. “Plus, we’re out here arguing in front of a door. This is kind of weird.”

“It could be dangerous. He could have drugs in the room,” Dorothy said.

“There’s two of us and I have my gun in my purse. I think I can handle it.” I tapped my handbag.

“All right, if you think that’s best. I’ll back you up,” Dorothy said.

Just as I raised my hand to knock, movement to the left caught my attention. The man we were looking for came out of another room.

“That was a lousy thing to do. She gave us the wrong room number,” Dorothy said.

Thank goodness the man didn’t look in our direction. He hadn’t seen us. And with any luck we’d be able to keep it that way.

“What do we do now?” Dorothy asked. 

The man was walking down the hallway toward the lobby area. Now I couldn’t follow him without him being aware of it. He’d go into the lobby and then disappear out the door. I’d never catch up with him. We’d been told to stay away from the lobby, but what other choice did I have than following him out there? I would just have to take my chances and go for it.

“We have to follow him,” I said.

“Are you sure about this?” Dorothy asked.

“No, not really, but we’ll try. We’ll just walk into the room like diving into dark water. Not knowing what we’ll encounter.”

“I don’t like swimming in dark water,” Dorothy said.

“Best-case scenario we follow him without a problem.”

“What if the manager sees us and calls the police?” Dorothy asked. “I can think of more worst-case scenarios if you’d like.”

“That won’t be necessary,” I said.

We were playing a cat-and-mouse game with the manager and I didn’t want to participate any longer. Dorothy and I rushed out into the lobby. I scanned the area as we moved toward the door. As the guy walked out on the sidewalk Dorothy and I were close behind in hot pursuit.

He didn’t know we were back there and as long as we kept it that way we’d be able to follow him. Although I wanted to confront him. I’d like to know more about what he was up to and following him seemed like the best way to do that. This could be totally unrelated to the case or it could be something that would crack it wide open.

“I think we might need roller skates to keep up with this guy,” Dorothy said.

“Right about now I wish I had some too,” I said.

Dorothy and I continued down the sidewalk following the man. He was just walking down the way as if this was a leisurely walk. And for all we knew he could just be out for some ice cream. Once he had a cone he’d turn around and go back to the hotel. We could be following a complete stranger. Dorothy and I could literally be stalking him. I would never be able to explain this one to Jake.

Just then the guy stopped in front of a building. He stepped up to the door and rang the doorbell. We stayed back just a bit, trying to stay close to the building next to us so that maybe we could hide there. The guy didn’t even look back though.

“Do you think those are apartments?” Dorothy asked.

“Maybe so. I’d love to know for sure. There might be mailboxes with names, but unfortunately, if he goes inside we won’t know which apartment,” I said.

I motioned for Dorothy to follow me as we moved a little closer to the man. Maybe if someone buzzed him in we’d hear what they said to each other. Or at the very least if they opened the door we’d get a look at who he was going to visit. If he turned around and saw us I’d have to think quickly.

The door opened and I moved to the right so that I could possibly see who was standing there with him. The door blocked the view too much though. The man stepped inside the building and then the door closed.

“Darn it,” I said. “Now what will we do?”

“I hope whatever it is that we don’t have to stand here and wait until he comes back out,” Dorothy said.

Dorothy and I just stood there on the sidewalk staring at the building as if we couldn’t believe he had gone in there and not told us what he was doing.

“Well, that’s the life of a private investigator, right, Dorothy?”

“I guess. This was a bust for us.” Dorothy sighed.

“Nothing we can do now,” I said.

“Oh, how easily you give up,” Dorothy said.

“I’m not giving up. I’m just pressing pause for right now. I think we’ve exhausted all our options.”

The door opened and we snapped to attention. A man walked out.

“Hey, I got an idea,” I said.

“That’s my Maggie, not giving up,” Dorothy said with a pump of her fist.

I walked toward the man and said, “Excuse me, sir.”

He frowned as he stopped and eyed me up and down. He looked as if he didn’t want to be bothered.

“I’m looking for a friend and I think she lives in this building but I’m not quite sure,” I said.

I sure hoped this worked.

“What’s her name?” he asked.

“Stephanie Early,” I said.

Yeah, I made that up off the top of my head.

He scrunched his brow together. “Nope, that name doesn’t sound familiar. It’s just me and three other apartments. I know everyone in there.”

“Do you really? And no one named Stephanie?”

He concentrated. “Let’s see… there’s me, Raymond Smith, and across the hall Deborah Wilson. Down the hall is Phil Shear in the other apartment. So that’s it.”

“Okay, I guess I just have the wrong address.”

“Yeah, I suppose you do.”

“I appreciate the help. Thank you,” I said.

“No problem.” He walked around us and down the sidewalk.

“Well, I don’t know how you managed that, but congratulations,” Dorothy said. “That was really good.”

“I don’t know. I think it comes as naturally as your crying on command.”

“You liked that, didn’t you?” She wiggled her eyebrows. “It’s a good talent.”