Page 76 of Her Last Whisper
“Yeah, I’m fine.” She looked around and saw that there was an access ladder that led to a maintenance door. “I see an escape.”
“Then what?”
“I’ll make my way to Dr. Jamison’s penthouse.”
McGaven gave her a look of concern. “What’s the hurry?”
“Instinct.”
“Oh, that.”
“It may be nothing, so I’ll make sure they get you out.”
“It’s getting warm in here.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll be back,” she said with a half-smile.
“Don’t worry, I’ll be here.”
Katie began to climb across the top of the car and then made her way to the ladder. She felt the circulating air from outside whirl around her. There was a distinct hint of car exhaust mixed with heavy machinery grease that seemed to pollute the air. She tried not to breathe too deep.
Her bare feet hit the ladder rungs and chilled her body. Feeling every indentation and smoothness of the ladder, she quickly made her way to the maintenance door. The number ten was stenciled in paint, identifying the floor.
A loud engine shift echoed throughout the elevator shaft. First Katie froze, then she looked to see if McGaven was jetting up to the fifteenth floor, but the cab remained frozen. It was the other elevators moving, causing the area to feel like a small earthquake had erupted. The noise rose in decibels, making her cringe and her head to ache from the sound.
As Katie hurried upward toward the maintenance door her foot slipped from the ladder rung twice. She stopped—daring to look down into the shaft abyss. Heights didn’t scare her; it was the fear of the unknown that terrified her the most.
Her hand reached the lever as a rush of wind pushed up her backside. The entrance opened and she jumped inside and slammed the door behind her. Finding herself in a darkened closet with maintenance supplies as well as a power grid with fuses, she hurried through the obscurity blindly with her arms outstretched to find another door leading into the hallway.
Forty-Five
Katie quickly climbed the stairwell to the fifteenth floor feeling the cold tiles beneath her shoeless feet, and then she had the choice of left or right. She moved right toward the larger suites along the carpeted area, which seemed like the most logical choice for a heart doctor to have a luxury accommodation.
She heard voices talking—no, they were arguing—and it sounded like it was becoming increasingly heated. The voice inflections were more pronounced and rapid. She moved tentatively, not sure if it were someone else or the doctor and his friend. If it were someone else, she waited to make sure there wasn’t anyone in jeopardy.
Moving down the hallway, she passed a few outside windows in between the suites and realized how high she was. For a moment, it made her stop and a tingling anxious energy tried to make tracks up her arms and down her legs.
Go ahead and try it…
Her cell phone buzzed with a message from McGaven:
Elevator opened, making my way up by stairs.
The arguing had stopped, leaving the hallway strangely silent. She could hear her own breathing—which had become shallow and rapid—slowing with each breath.
Katie shifted her focus back to her job and kept moving down the hallway. She noticed dirty dishes on a tray outside one of the doors for the maid service to pick up. All of the doors had a gold emblem with different initials indicating the type of room, like STE for suite, QN for queen, PH for Penthouse.
She kept moving, not quite sure what she was going to do when she got to the correct room. There were no easy hiding places and she hadn’t come up with a plan as to why she was wandering around at the top of the hotel.
Katie moved her hands and arms slightly to shake off any lingering anxiety. She eyed the set of double doors that were open about ten inches. It was one of the penthouse suites and she thought it was odd the doors were open and no one was around.
Standing a foot from the doors, she leaned in and listened. It was quiet. No voices. No movement detected. She hesitated whether or not to peek inside. After a moment of contemplation, she decided to walk back down the hallway.
She was just turning when a piercing scream rang out.
Without hesitation, Katie ran to the doors and burst through the entrance into the large living space and instinctively headed toward the balcony. The scream sounded as if it came from outside. As she reached the heavy railing, she saw a dark hoodie caught there, blowing slightly in the wind.
Looking all around her, Katie didn’t see anyone so she carefully moved to the railing and peered down. The outline of a woman was smashed against the cement surrounding the pool. A few horrified bystanders rushed to her aid and then retreated, realizing that there was nothing they could do for her. The people automatically looked upward.
