by B. J Daniels
She took the pen, but drew back when she saw the date on the opposite page: June 12, 1936. Seventy years ago. And the list of guests who’d signed in that night. She couldn’t help but wonder how many of those people had died here.
“Is there a working phone in the room, so I can call for a wrecker in the morning?” she asked.
“Yes.”
She noticed that his attention was suddenly fixed on the key to room 318, lying next to the registration book. He seemed surprised to see it there. She tried to remember if she’d seen him take it from the cubbyhole, and couldn’t.
Frowning, he checked the book, then with a shake of his head and a small laugh, he handed her the key with 318 embossed on it.
“Thank you.” Jenna looked again at the old photographs of people dancing in a large ballroom, others sitting in the lobby or standing at a long bar.
One of the faces jumped out at her. Her heart began to pound for seemingly no reason as she stared at a man from the 1936 photograph.
He was lounging against the bar, decked out in a tux, holding a champagne glass in his hand as he smiled at the camera, arrogance in every line of his body.
His hair was dark, with an errant lock hanging down over his forehead. His features were as chiseled as the broad shoulders under the tux jacket, his face handsome even with the thin dark mustache.
She felt a chill ripple across her skin. Something about the man reminded her of the image she’d seen in the third-floor window earlier, as she and Lexi had approached the hotel.
The man seemed to be looking right at her—and smiling as if he knew something she didn’t.
“If you’ll just sign the book…”
She dragged her gaze away from the photograph, surprised she’d been so drawn to it she’d completely forgotten to sign in.
She started to write her full name, then stopped. For a few moments, with everything that had happened, she’d forgotten what she really had to fear. Not ghosts, but Lorenzo. She signed her name as Jenna Johnson and made up an address in Oregon. Best not to even use her maiden name, McDonald. Lorenzo would be after her. Might already be hot on her trail.
“I’ll bring up the tuna and cat box. If you like I can scare up something for the two of you to eat,” Elmer offered.
“That is very kind of you, but not necessary.” She had some cereal and dried fruit in her purse for Lexi. “We’ll be fine tonight.” At least, she hoped so.
“Are your suitcases in your car?” he asked. “If you give me your keys, I’ll run down and get anything out that you might need for tonight,” he offered.
“Oh, that’s not necessary. I feel like we have imposed on you enough.”
“Please. I get bored to tears here. It’s nice knowing there is someone else in this big old place. And you and your daughter are going to need dry clothing.”
He was right, Jenna thought. “Thank you,” she said, as she handed him the keys.
“The elevator to your wing is right down there,” Elmer told her. “I’ll be up in a few minutes with your things.”
“Come on, Mommy.” Lexi pulled on her hand.
“Thank you,” Jenna said again to the security guard. She felt shaken and weak, stumbling around in a haze of exhaustion. A little rest and she’d be fine. Thank goodness the hotel had been here. She didn’t know what she would have done otherwise.
Her daughter broke free again to skip toward the elevator, her eyes bright with excitement.
The lobby seemed too large and empty as Jenna followed. The elevator doors opened as if expecting them.
Jenna took Lexi’s hand and stepped into the empty elevator car. But as the doors closed and the mirrored, wood-paneled cage began to hum upward, she had the strangest feeling that they weren’t alone.
HARRY BALLANTINE STOOD in the corner of the elevator wondering what he was doing. What had he expected? That there was some reason he felt drawn to this woman? That maybe she’d been sent here?
She was totally oblivious of him. Just like the little girl and the cat.
He noticed the diamond ring on the woman’s left hand. She was turning it nervously with her thumb. True to his former profession as a con man and jewel thief, he assessed the diamond in the half second it took to do so. Not bad quality. An average cut. A carat and a quarter. Not worth stealing.
The thought surprised him. He hadn’t thought about stealing anything in years.
His gaze went to the woman again. Who was she? But more to the point, what was it about her that had him thinking about the past again?
He’d almost forgotten what it had been like, the night of Fernhaven’s first grand opening. Standing at the bar watching the men in tuxedos, the women in expensive gowns, all whirling around the spacious ballroom to the music of the Johnny Franklin Orchestra.
Those had been the days. Harry had been thirty-two and had never seen that much wealth in one room before. Not surprisingly, he’d been down on his luck—until he’d conned his way into an invitation to the grand opening.
June 12, 1936.
It had been nothing short of heaven for a jewel thief.
Until the fire.
The elevator slowed. The woman glanced in his direction, and for just an instant he thought she might have sensed him there.
JENNA LEANED AGAINST the elevator wall, the past few days finally catching up with her as she stared at the empty space across from her, telling herself no one was staring back at her and Lexi.
Her reflection in the elevator mirrors made her wince. Not only did she look terrified, but there were dark circles under her eyes and her face was pale and drawn. Her hair hung limply from her ponytail.
The elevator ride seemed interminable but she was sure it only took a few seconds before the car stopped.
As the doors hummed open Lexi looked up, breaking into a smile as if there was someone waiting just outside the elevator. Jenna felt a cold draft curl around her neck. There was no one standing there. Nor did she see anyone in the long, lush red carpeted hallway.
“Did you see her hat?” Lexi asked. “It was purple.”
Jenna had no idea what her daughter was talking about. She gripped Lexi’s hand as the elevator seemed to fill with the icy invading air, and practically lunged out, dragging Lexi with her.
Before the doors closed behind them, Jenna turned to look back, expecting to see frost on the mirrors. The elevator was empty, her reflection mocking her fear.
“Come on,” Jenna said in a whisper as she led Lexi down the hall.
Lexi took off, skipping along the plush carpet of the wood-paneled hallway.
“Wait!” Jenna called quietly, even though according to the security guard there were no other guests to disturb. The wing was deathly still.
She was so tired that just lifting each foot took Herculean effort. When she saw the room, she gasped in astonishment. Elmer had said it was a suite, but she hadn’t expected this.
She looked at the magnificent rooms, half-afraid to enter. Lexi had already disappeared inside, making Jenna nervous. She stepped into the suite and closed and locked the door.
For just a moment she felt something—a cool brush against her cheek. She drew back, touching her skin.
She couldn’t rid herself of the feeling that she and Lexi weren’t alone, hadn’t been since they’d entered Fernhaven. Jenna was afraid that somehow Lorenzo had followed her. She told herself that was crazy. Unless he had some sort of tracking device on the SUV…
Ridiculous. He had no reason to track himself. Unless one of his so-called “associates” had put the device on his car.
Jenna knew she was being paranoid. No way could Lorenzo have found them, let alone sneaked into the suite to wait for them.
Lexi came running out of a far bedroom, chattering to her rag doll as she climbed up to look out the bay windows. “Lookee, Mommy!” she cried in delight.
Jenna joined her to gaze down at a beautiful courtyard. Lights glowed golden on an exquisite fountain and a string of
hot pools set among huge rocks with steam rising from them. Past the pools there appeared to be a path that disappeared into the foggy darkness and thick foliage of the mountainside.
It was all beautiful and eerie. Jenna hugged herself, trying to enjoy this extraordinary place as much as her daughter obviously was.
She told herself to be glad that she had Lexi back. That they were safe now. But the words were hollow. She knew Lorenzo. He wouldn’t stop until he found her, until he destroyed her.
Lexi raced across the large suite to peer out another window. Jenna followed again and saw that this side looked down on the front of the hotel.
Beyond the small parking lot was the thick darkness of the forest. Jenna stared into the blackness, imagining someone staring back at her, then hurriedly pulled the drapes and turned toward the larger of the two bedrooms.
A knock at the door startled her. “Who is it?”
“Elmer Thompson.”
She recognized the aging voice of the security guard from downstairs and felt foolish. Hadn’t he told her that there was no one other than the three of them in the entire hotel tonight?
She opened the door and he rolled a cart in. She caught a glimpse of Lexi’s and her suitcases.
Fred started meowing as Elmer handed her a can of tuna and an opener. She opened the can and fed the cat as Elmer took Lexi’s small princess suitcase into the second bedroom, along with the box of sand.
“I took a look at your car,” he said as he rolled the cart out of the master bedroom after unloading it. “I’m afraid the front axle is broken. It’s definitely not drivable.”
She would have to call for a rental car first thing in the morning and have the SUV towed to the nearest town.
“Sorry. You’ve had your share of bad luck tonight,” he added. “But at least you’re someplace warm and dry and safe.” He smiled. “I’ll be downstairs until six. Just call if you need anything else.”
“You’ve been too kind,” Jenna said, and tried to tip him.
“Thank you, but no. I’m just happy to help.”
He left, and she got Lexi into some clean dry pj’s and into bed.
By the time she entered the other bedroom, all she wanted to do was fall into bed still wearing her damp clothing.
But as she stepped into the room, she saw her suitcase on an ornate stand at the end of the bed. Beside it was a large navy blue duffel bag she’d never seen before.
She frowned, wondering where it had come from. It must have been in Lorenzo’s car, but it didn’t look familiar.
She stepped toward it, feeling a sense of panic as she slowly unzipped the bag and peeled back the top.
The duffel was filled with stacks of used hundred-dollar bills! There had to be thousands of dollars in the bag.
She stumbled back from it. No. Oh no. Her body began to quake with the realization of what she’d done.
She hadn’t just taken Lorenzo’s daughter or his SUV. She’d taken his money.
Chapter Four
“Mommy, you didn’t tuck me in, the way you always do,” Lexi said behind her.
Jenna jumped, clamping a hand over her mouth to keep from crying out. She fought back the tears of fear and frustration that burned her eyes as she turned to face her daughter, and tried to smile.
“What’s wrong, Mommy?” Lexi asked, her lower lip protruding as she studied her face.
“Nothing. You just startled me, that’s all.”
Lexi looked as if she might cry.
“Everything’s fine, sweetie,” Jenna said, leading her back to the other room.
It was so late all she wanted to do was go to bed, but she was determined to try to keep to their usual routine for Lexi’s sake.
But she knew she had to get the money back to Lorenzo somehow, and quickly. Maybe if she gave it back…
She shook her head at even the thought that it would appease her ex-husband. Nothing would placate him but revenge. Still, she had to try. For Lexi’s sake.
The question was how to get it to him. She couldn’t just box it up and send it by UPS.
Lexi scrambled up onto the bed and began to jump up and down. “Three little monkeys jumping on the bed—” She broke off in a fit of giggles. The words were from their favorite book.
“No jumping on the bed! I don’t want you falling off and busting your head,” Jenna said, playing along.
Lexi plopped down, still giggling. “I like it here. I want to live here.”
No chance of that, even if Jenna had shared her daughter’s enthusiasm for the place. They had to keep moving. As much as Jenna hated it, they would have to leave the country. Even with the safeguards she’d taken, she feared Lorenzo would find them, though, because in her heart she believed she would never be free of him.
Unless she was dead.
Or he was.
“I want to live here with you and Clarice and Fred and—” Lexi’s lower lip came out and tears filled her eyes “—a new daddy who’s nice.”
Jenna felt her heart break for her daughter. She’d stayed with Lorenzo as long as she had only because she’d wanted Lexi to have a father. She realized now that she’d been hoping that maybe Lexi’s love could change her father. Jenna had been such a fool.
“You have sweet dreams, okay?”
Lexi nodded.
Jenna tucked her daughter into bed and kissed her warm forehead, brushing back a lock of her hair. Lexi had her coloring, the light skin, the dark brown eyes and hair, although Lexi’s hair was darker than Jenna’s, more like her father’s, thick and straight.
Lexi had taken after Jenna in personality as well, and fortunately didn’t have any of Lorenzo’s traits, including his need for perfection or his bad disposition. Jenna was thankful for that.
“Good night. Sleep tight. Don’t let the bedbugs bite,” Jenna murmured, after Lexi had said her prayers.
The little girl laughed. “There aren’t any bedbugs.”
“No,” Jenna agreed. Not in this hotel. She was feeling better about staying here. Even Fred had come out from under the bed.
The suite, she had to admit, was beautiful, from the rich woods to the soft carpet and elegant furnishings.
Lexi snuggled down in bed, with Clarice tucked on one side and Fred on the other.
Jenna padded to the door and looked back at her daughter. She could hear Lexi carrying on a one-sided, whispered conversation with the rag doll. Her daughter had such an active imagination. She could entertain herself for hours. Lorenzo used to say it wasn’t normal. That they should have another child for Lexi to play with. He’d tricked Jenna the first time. But she’d been too smart for him after that.
Studying her daughter from the doorway, she was just thankful that Lexi hadn’t seemed to suffer, not through the divorce or her abduction by either parent. Since she’d never known “normal,” Lexi didn’t seem to realize that her parents had divorced. Or that she and her mother were running for their lives.
To the comforting sound of Lexi’s sweet voice, Jenna checked the entire suite to make sure there was no one hiding there. Relieved, and finally starting to relax, she went into her bedroom and opened her suitcase.
She hadn’t packed much, just a few clothes for herself, and most of Lexi’s. She’d had to move quickly once she’d gotten the call from the private investigator, telling her that he believed her ex-husband had taken Lexi back to the home Jenna had shared with him.
“Let the police handle getting your daughter back,” the private investigator had advised.
“I’ve already tried that route.” The man obviously didn’t know Lorenzo Dante. “This is something I have to do myself.”
Stripping off the black clothing now, she tossed it aside and put on the complimentary thick white, terry-cloth guest robe hanging in the closet. She pulled it around her, snuggling into the warmth, trying to chase away the chill that ran bone deep, as she looked at the duffel bag full of money.
Hurriedly, she zipped it closed and stuffed it into th
e back of the closet. Tomorrow she would figure out a way to get it to Lorenzo.
In the meantime, she and Lexi were safe, she thought, repeating it like a mantra. At least for tonight.
She couldn’t wait to soak in the huge old-fashioned tub. Maybe tonight, for the first time in a long time, she would be able to sleep.
Or maybe not, she mused, as she sensed that same strange charge in the air that she had earlier. It breezed past her, a brush of icy breath against her bare skin, leaving her with that sense of a presence in the room with her.
She checked the whole suite once again, unable to stop herself. There was no one there, just as there hadn’t been earlier.
Back in her bathroom, she began to fill the enormous tub with hot steamy water and almond-scented bubble bath, compliments of Fernhaven.
She shied away from thinking about Lorenzo. Or the money in the duffel bag in the back of her closet. To her surprise, her thoughts veered to the man in the old black-and-white photograph from the hotel’s opening night. Funny how she thought she could smell the smoke from his cheroot….
With a shudder she realized that the man in the old photograph resembled the one she’d thought she’d seen at the window of the third-floor hotel room tonight.
But that wasn’t possible. There was no one else in the hotel, Elmer had said.
Jenna frowned. Lexi was the one with the overactive imagination, not her.
Exhaustion, she decided. What else could it be?
A low hissing sound directly behind her made her whirl around. Fred was crouched in the doorway of the bathroom, his wide-eyed gaze boring into the corner of the window seat across from her.
Jenna stared at the spot where Fred’s eyes were transfixed. There was no one there, of course.
She snatched up the cat.
“Fred, I really wish you wouldn’t do that,” she said as she carried him back to Lexi’s room. He protested as she started to close the door so he couldn’t get out. “I’m not going to have you waking me up all night with that foolishness,” she whispered.
He just stared at her with those big eyes, then looked past her, jumping as if someone frightening had just come up behind her.