“You are a hooker, aren’t you?”
“I’m not. I just don’t want the whole town seeing, okay?” She forced what she hoped was a sexy smile. With the throbbing lip, it was hard to tell. “Just you.”
“What do you take me for, lady?”
Nikki had no idea how to answer.
“I’m a good, God-fearing man, I’ll have you know. I ain’t interested in some kind of piece of shit whore.”
Nikki could feel panic rising in her throat, choking her. Eddie would be here any second. If she didn’t hold up her end, he would be so mad.
So very mad.
“Come on back.”
Nikki circled the counter and marched into a small back room the size of a large walk-in closet. Shelves lined the walls, filled with towels, sheets, pillows, toilet paper, and everything else a motel might need.
“Hey, there!” The man’s bulk filled the doorway. “What do you think you’re doing? Get out of here.”
Nikki pressed back against a rack of towels.
“Get out of here. There’s a cop upstairs. I’m gonna to call him on you. Have him lock you—”
Nikki didn’t even realize Eddie was in the room until she saw the blood. The man stumbled forward, coughing, grabbing at his own throat. He slammed into her and they both hit the floor hard.
The man gurgled, gasped. Blood sprayed Nikki’s face and colored the towels red. She scrambled up, pushing him off her, desperate to escape. It was all she could do to hold back a scream.
“Nikki.”
She whimpered. So much blood. And the man kept groaning. He wasn’t dead. How could he bleed so much and not die?
“Nikki!”
She looked up, focusing on Eddie’s face.
“Button your damn blouse,” Eddie said. “You’re at the front desk. Don’t let anyone in.”
“What do I tell—“
“Think of something.”
Nikki couldn’t think of anything but the man writhing on the floor, the blood pool under him, and the choked gurgle coming from his throat. “Eddie, I don’t—“
“You did a great job with that guy, babe. I’ve always said you’re so beautiful, no one can resist you. Now you gotta be smart, too. Can you do that?”
“No, no… I…”
“You can. You’re plenty smart, Nikki. I’ve always said that. Now, there has to be a maid’s key around here somewhere…”
He left the back room.
Nikki followed. She couldn’t do this. “But Eddie…”
“You’ll think of something. No one comes in. No one calls out. I’m counting on you.”
Risa
Risa paced across the hotel room and looked at her watch for the tenth time in the past ten minutes. Shortly after daybreak, Schneider had called to tell her he’d be right over. That was over a half hour ago. So where was he? A myriad of explanations for his tardiness pingponged through her mind. Had the police found a lead? Had they found Dryden? Or had they found another body? A body they wouldn’t dare tell her about over the phone?
Risa eyed the telephone. She couldn’t even call Trent and ask. It had been difficult for him to leave her alone. She certainly didn’t want her worry to send him racing back to her side when he needed to spend his time and energy guiding the search for Dryden.
She thought of the sheriff’s deputy standing outside the door. Deputy Perry had a radio. He might know something. She pulled the door open and peeked into the hall.
Perry’s friendly blue eyes snapped to her. His doughy face flattened in a grin. “What can I do you for, Professor?”
Faced with his confident but relaxed manner, Risa flushed. She was probably just being paranoid. But paranoid or not, she had to know. “Chief Schneider should be here by now. Have you heard if anything urgent is going on? Anything that would detain him?”
The officer shook his head and rested a hand on his radio. “Not a thing. I’ll let you know if any news comes through.”
“Thanks. I appreciate it.”
“Don’t worry. In a small town, little things crop up all the time, and there’s no one to handle it other than the local cop. I’m sure it’s nothing serious. Probably some damn cat stuck in a tree.”
“I thought the fire department took care of that.”
“What? Oh, yeah. Probably.” He chuckled, a friendly sound. “But if it was something serious, I would have heard about it. Okay?”
“You’re probably right. I’m just a little frazzled.”
“Understandable. Is there anything I can get you, or...? A pop from the vending machine? Candy bar?”
“No, thanks.”
“Sure? You’ve been through a lot lately from what I understand. Anything that—” The deputy stumbled forward into the door jamb. Grasping hold of the knob, he pulled the door shut.
What the—
A thump landed against the door.
“Deputy?” Risa couldn’t breathe, couldn’t think. She didn’t dare open the door, and yet the deputy…
Risa flipped the security lock home and peered through the peephole.
Cold, dead eyes set in a boyish face stared back at her. Ed Dryden smiled and held up a knife. A loud scrape echoed through Risa’s paralyzed mind, the blade biting into wood.
Risa jolted back.
Oh, God. Oh, god. She had to get help.
The door knob rattled.
Risa grabbed the chair nearest to the door and jammed the back under the knob. The only other furniture in the room was a bureau. She yanked at one side, but it was large and heavy and wouldn’t move.
The phone.
She grabbed the receiver. A dial tone hummed in her ear.
Please, God. Please, God.
She punched in 911.
A tone sounded, then ringing.
One ring.
Two.
The door opened, stopped only by the safety lock and chair.
The line picked up. “Sauk Trail Inn.”
A thin voice, shaky as Risa felt, and so familiar... The front desk?
“I need help. Please. I need to call 911.”
“Risa? Is that you?”
“Nikki? Where are you? Where are you? Dryden, he’s here.”
“I… I know.”
Of course, she did. She was with him. Nikki was with that monster.
The door to the hall jimmied against the chair back.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
“He’s here. Trying to get into my room. He’s going to kill us, Nikki. Call 911.”
“I can’t.”
The chair legs slid, little by little.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
“Nikki, you can do it. Call for help. Please.”
“I helped him, Risa. I called all the hotels to find you. He just wants to talk.”
“Talk? He’s going to kill me, Nikki. He’s going to kill you. Call the police.”
The door clacked to a stop, the security lock holding. The chair tilting, but staying in place.
“No, no, you don’t understand. I can’t.”
“Then run. Just get out of here and run to the brew pub. Go.”
“No, Risa. He’ll be angry. I don’t want this, but Eddie will be so angry, and I promised, and he loves me, and…”
“Nikki? Please.”
“I can’t.”
The door closed again, but this time, something protruded between jamb and door. The plastic Do Not Disturb door hanger. Sliding between. Pushing the security lever. Opening the lock…
Risa turned and ran for the window. She tore open the drapes, fumbled with the lock, released it, slid the window open. The construction site was quiet, at least an hour yet until it came alive with workers. Two stories to the ground below. A small slanted edge of roof ran the length of the building just below the window.