She went to the closet, picked out a sexy outfit and carried it to the bed. But as she walked past the dresser, she accidentally knocked something off. It was her favorite perfume. She cringed as it hit the wood floor. But the bottle didn’t break. It just fell on its side and began to roll. She noticed that the rolling sound changed as the bottle went under the bed. As though the flooring under there was different.
She put her robe back on and knelt down to retrieve the expensive perfume, which was halfway under the bed. Once she had picked up the bottle, she ran her hand across the flooring. It felt the same as the rest of the floor. She knocked on it. It sounded hollow. Then she tested the floor where she was sitting. It sounded solid.
Carnie’s curiosity was revved up to a cat-like pitch. She didn’t know what she expected to find, but she could think of nothing else until she found it. She pushed with all her might until the heavy bed broke free and started to slide. She managed to move it over against the wall.
Carnie knocked on the floor in several place, identifying the hollow-sounding area. Then she went to her suitcase and pulled out a Bowie knife, and began to search for cracks in the seams of the flooring, near the edge of the hollow rectangle.
Finally, she found one. She dug the knife down into it and began to pry. She saw movement. Not much—but enough to convince her that she was looking at a secret door. Something was hidden down there. Something forbidden. She had to find out what it was.
After nearly an hour, she got the door opened just a crack and worked her fingers inside. She yanked on it with all her might, until every muscle in her well-toned body ached. Then she heard a ripping sound, as it flew up and open. The musty odor enveloped her body, and she fell away from the opening and started coughing. She grabbed a towel from the bathroom, covered her mouth and nose, and cautiously inched her way to the large hole in the floor.
All she could see was the top of a staircase, leading down into the creepy darkness.
8 - SECRET DOOR
Carnie stood with the towel over her mouth and nose, looking down into the large opening in her bedroom floor. Well, it wasn’t her bedroom. It was a guest bedroom in the home of her sister’s fiancé. Maybe even he didn’t know about this secret underground place.
She just had to see what was down there. So, she pulled the towel away from her face a little, took a sniff, and decided she could bear the musty odor. Then she took off her robe and threw on some shorts, a shirt, and tennis shoes for her journey into the unknown.
There appeared to be a light switch near the bottom of the stairs. Hopefully the lights down there would work. Just as she was about to take the first step down, her cell phone rang and startled her. She went to the dresser and picked it up.
“Hello?”
“Hey, Sis. Are you going to the Longview Mall with me?”
“Uh, no, I don’t think so.”
“Ah, come on, Carnie—Elmo loaned me a credit card, and it doesn’t even have a limit. We can go crazy. How can you resist that?”
“It’s just that my stomach’s feeling a little queasy.”
“I’m sorry. You need some Pepto-Bismol?”
“No. I’ll be okay. I just need to lie down for a while.”
“Okay. Hope you feel better. I’ll buy you something.”
“Thanks. Have fun. But take it easy. If you come home with a couple of mink coats, he may have second thoughts about marrying you.”
“Yeah, yeah. See you later.”
Carnie put the phone in her pocket and began to walk down the stairs, half expecting a spider or a snake to attack her. She could cut the beating heart right out of a man’s chest without flinching. But crawling critters gave her the creeps.
When she reached the switch, she flipped it, and lights came on. At the foot of the stairs was a wall. She made a U-turn and walked back past the staircase through a long hallway, and then to the left through a doorway.
“You’re kidding me,” she said to herself.
It was a laboratory, complete with Bunsen burners, test tubes, etc. There was a blackboard with some formulas written on it, and a few journals. Carnie picked one up, and thumbed through it, but couldn’t make sense of the scientific jargon. She hadn’t been in a room like this since high school chemistry, which she had flunked.
Across the room was a closed door. One of those large doors like they use on exterior walls. She twisted the knob, and pushed the door open with her foot. It was just a bathroom. A very large bathroom. She flipped on the light and stuck her head in the door. But when she looked to the right, she saw a woman looking back at her. She gasped and yanked her head out of the room.
“Hello?”
No answer.
Somebody was living down there, doing who knows what—underneath her as she slept. She should have brought her gun down with her, she thought.
She peeked in—and felt silly when she realized she had been scared by her own reflection. There was a full-length mirror on the wall. It was huge—she figured about six or seven feet tall and three feet wide.
So, why did the good doctor have a secret laboratory in his house? She couldn’t wait to show it to Carsie. It was just weird.
She pulled her cell phone out of her pocket and dialed.
“You’re not gonna believe what I found under the basement.”
“Dead bodies?”
“What? No. It’s another basement. There’s a lower basement under the regular basement. Weird huh?”
“What’s down there?”
“Some kind of science lab and a big bathroom with a huge mirror.”
“Is Carsie with you?”
“No, she’s gone to the mall. There was a secret passageway underneath my bed. I had to work like crazy to get it open.”
“That’s strange. But don’t get distracted. It’s just a few more days until the wedding.”
“Yes, Ma’am. And our plan is working out perfectly. Nothing can stop us now.”
**********
Dr. Mobley’s office hours were 8:30 AM to 5:00 PM. At least that’s what it said on the door. But there was usually a frantic parent or two, calling about their Johnny or Susie and a high fever, and could the doctor please work them in today. And, of course, Elmo would never turn them away. On a typical day, he got home at around 7:00 PM.
So, Carsie had been surprised when he had called her to set up an early dinner. They had agreed to meet at Johnny Caces Seafood & Steakhouse in Longview at 6:00 PM.
“How did you get away so early?”
“Dr. Edwards took my last couple of appointments.”
“Oh, yeah—your new partner.”
Once the waiter had taken their order, Carsie said, “Why couldn’t I invite Carnie? She loves this place.”
“Because we need to talk about something important—just the two of us.”
“Okay.” She was concerned about the tone of Elmo’s voice. This could only be bad news, she thought.
“Did you notice that Mallie Mae and Macy were gone today?”
“Well, I didn’t notice. But Carnie saw them getting into a limo this morning.”
“I sent them to Dallas. Mother needed to see a specialist.”
“What’s wrong with her?”
“I think she has Alzheimer’s. We’ll know after we get the test results.”
“So, what does that mean—that she’s losing her memory? At least it’s not cancer. It’s not so horrible if you just forget a name occasionally. Or forget where you put your keys. After all, she is getting old.”
“No. It’s much worse than that. Yesterday she was trying to brush her teeth with a hairbrush. She couldn’t even think of the word ‘teeth.’”
“Oh. That’s not good.”
“Yeah. And that’s just the beginning. Eventually, you forget how to get into bed, how to put on your clothes, how to go to the bathroom. Then you can’t walk or even speak. Eventually, your entire body quits functioning and you die.”
“I didn’t know it was tha
t bad.”
“And Alzheimer’s victims only live an average of eight to ten years after the symptoms first appear. I suspect that she and Macy have been keeping it from me for quite a while.”
“Well, can’t you give her some medicine, or chemotherapy or something?”
“There’s no cure for Alzheimer’s.”
“So, there’s not anything you can do for her?”
“There are treatments to slow down the process. And some of those seem to work fairly well. But only for a little while. Anyway, I should get her test results tomorrow. And if they come back positive, I want to postpone the wedding.”
Carsie’s heart sank.
“I’m sorry, Sweetie.”
“Okay. If her tests are positive, I’ll take care of notifying everybody on the guest list and canceling everything. But do you mind if Carnie stays with us for a while? I’m really enjoying having my sister around.”
Elmo wanted Carnie to move out as soon as possible. There was something about her he just didn’t like. But how could he refuse Carsie’s request when she was being so understanding about postponing the wedding?
“That’ll be fine.”
**********
Mallie Mae and Macy were riding in the rented limo, on their way home from Dallas.
“What do you say, driver?” yelled Macy. “Wanna pull over and have sex with me?”
“Don’t worry—he can’t hear us,” said Mallie Mae.
“Just making sure.”
“Well, what would you have done if he started pulling over?”
Macy turned red. “What did you think about the doctor?”
“He was rather tall and handsome.”
“Medically speaking,” said Macy.
“He was quite good. Very thorough. He ran every test in the book, including the writing tests for memory and math skills.”
“How’d you do? How hard was the math?”
“Easy stuff. But I did poorly.”
Macy smiled. “I hope you didn’t overdo it?”
“No, my dear, I under-did it. But I answered correctly on some of the problems.”
“You are so bad, Mallie Mae.”
“Well, I needed to be convincing.”
“Yeah, but one of these days Elmo’s going to find out. And then he’s going to disown you and fire me.”
“Honey, he’s already disowned me. But he won’t fire you.”
“Yes, he will.”
“Then I’ll rehire you.”
“Well, I just feel bad about tricking him.”
“Look. You don’t want him to marry that woman, do you?
“Well, no.”
“I don’t know what it is, but there’s something awful about her. I have a sense about these things.”
“But you’ve never liked any of the women Elmo’s dated. What kind of a woman would you approve of?”
“One who’s not going to break his heart and run off with all his money. I’ll know her when I see her.”
Macy knew that Mallie Mae loved her like a daughter. She had told her so—many times. But could she love her as a daughter-in-law? It probably didn’t matter. She and Elmo were very close—but only as friends.
Was there really any chance they would ever make the leap from friends to lovers? She had clung to that hope for so many years. So, why give up now? Monica and Chandler had made the leap. And Rachel and Ross. And so many of her other friends on TV.
So, why not Macy and Elmo?
9 - INVESTIGATING
Carnie was devouring the delicious steak, mashed potatoes and gravy, peas, and yams set before her. Hadley had prepared exactly what she had requested. It was diner for one. Elmo and Carsie were dining at Johnny Caces. Mallie Mae and Macy were on their way home from Dallas.
But her brain didn’t have time to analyze the data being sent by her taste buds, or to feel any sense of loneliness. Her entire being was focused on the underground laboratory she had discovered. But something was nagging at her. What was the purpose of that huge mirror in the bathroom? It was as tall and wide as a big door. You idiot! It is a door!
Carnie jumped up from the table, still chewing.
“Are you finished, Ma’am?” said Hadley, who had just walked into the dining room.
“Yeah, I’m done. Thanks.”
She rushed down the stairs, ran into her room and closed and locked the door. Then she went down into the sub-basement, through the lab, and into the enormous bathroom.
She pushed and pulled on the mirror. No movement whatsoever. Then she remembered seeing a screwdriver in the lab. She raced back out into the lab, found it, and took it into the bathroom and began to pry on the frame of the mirror. It didn’t budge.
Carnie was about to start kicking the mirror when she had a thought. She opened the cabinet doors under the sink. All she saw was a few rolls of toilet paper. She ran her fingers across the underside of the cabinet and felt something. A button. She pushed it and heard a click. Was she imagining things, or did the mirror move? She ran to it, and found it ajar. When she opened the mirror door she felt for the light switch and clicked it on.
There were four hospital beds on one wall. And there were various other medical devices in the room. It was a hospital ward. But why would anyone hide a lab and four hospital beds in their basement—unless it was used for something evil? She was getting turned on by thoughts of a demented scientist torturing his victims to their last agonizing breath.
There was a hallway that led to two smaller rooms. One of the rooms had a couple of cabinets that could be used to store medicine. They were empty.
There was another door off the main room. She opened it and saw nothing but a hallway that seemed to stretch on forever. Carnie couldn’t imagine what the passageway led to, but she would soon find out.
She practically ran through the winding wooden corridor. For the moment, she even forgot her fear of spiders and snakes. By the time she reached the other end and saw the stairs, she was gasping. She began to wonder if there was enough oxygen in the underground air to keep her alive.
Once at the top of the stairs, she struggled to open the door. She finally got it open and stepped into a small room with a dirt floor and rusty garden tools hung on the wall. A small snake in the corner made her anxious to get back above ground. Then she saw the door directly across from where she was standing. She unlocked and turned the knob. Then she pulled. She pulled with all her might. She was getting tired of these stubborn doors.
She grabbed an old shovel from the wall and began to pry. After working the shovel in at several spots around the door, it finally broke free.
She had never been happier to see daylight. There was an old tractor and a new riding lawn mower. And a black 1956 Buick. She was in a barn. She walked to the sunlight, looked out the window and saw the back of the house. Then she remembered seeing the barn in the back yard while sitting on the patio.
It felt good to breathe fresh air again.
**********
It was 7:00 PM—finally. Greg was ready to jump in his car and head for Marshall. He could get there in fifteen minutes. And even though he was tired, he knew he would be re-energized the moment he saw Cynthia. And he’d need some extra energy since it would be a late night of packing Beverly’s things.
His last student on Monday nights was Nancie Jo Gristel. Even at the age of 81, she was one of his best music students. Mostly because she listened to everything Greg said and tried to do it. She truly loved playing the piano—unlike many of his younger students, whose parents were forcing them to take music lessons.
“Looks like our time is up, Nancie Jo.”
“Oh, it just goes by so fast.”
“Well, you’re making good progress.”
“I’m sorry I had to drop out for while.”
“That’s okay. I understand.”
“I thought I was going to have to give up my music. But the doctor put me on a new medicine.”
Greg didn’t know why Nancie Jo had b
een out for several weeks. And he wasn’t going to ask her about her health issues. But he was curious.
She said, “It’s for my Alzheimer’s. The doctor said it should help for now. He doesn’t know how long it will work. So, I’m just gonna try to enjoy whatever time I have.”
“You have a great attitude about it.”
“As long as I can keep playing the piano, I can be happy.”
“Well, just keep working at it. You’re doing great.”
“Thanks, Greg. See you Thursday night.”
Greg locked up quickly, hopped into his car and drove down the alley and onto the street. It was a great night for driving the big convertible with the top down. The early evening September air massaged his scalp all the way down Highway 154 to Marshall. There was no concern about messing up his hair, since he kept it cut short. He only wished he had more of it. His forehead seemed to get taller by the day.
When he arrived at Cynthia’s mother’s house it looked like all the lights were on. He could see stacked boxes through every window.
Cynthia greeted him at the front door with a full body hug and a very sexy kiss. At 34, Greg was far removed from his teenage years, but since he had met Cynthia he found that his body could still jump to attention. It reminded him of those embarrassing high school years, walking down hallways of pretty girls, hiding unwanted arousals behind textbooks.
“Well, hello, Greg,” said Beverly, who was walking up behind her daughter.
Cynthia instinctively turned to face her mother, leaving Greg fully exposed. He quickly moved behind his girlfriend and put his hands on her shoulders. But not before Beverly saw what he didn’t want her to see.
“Hi, Beverly.” Greg still wasn’t comfortable using her first name. And his face was turning red. But Beverly seemed to take it in stride.
“Thanks for coming to help,” said Beverly.
“Happy to do it,” said Greg. “Now where do I start?”
**********
By the time Elmo and Carsie got home in their separate cars, Carnie had closed up the hideaway hospital, as she had named it, and moved her bed back in place, covering the secret door. She couldn’t wait tell her sister about it.
Greg Tenorly Suspense Series Boxed Set Page 22