Page 21 of Do Not Disturb
I whirl around—Greta standing behind me. She’s wearing a long, light blue nightgown that grazes her ankles. Unlike me, she doesn’t seem all bothered by being in her bare feet.
“Uh, yeah,” I say. “Got to get going.”
“There’s a great deal of snow out there.”
“Right,” I say irritably. “Nick is going to help me dig my car out.”
Greta looks down at my feet. All I’ve got on now are my socks. “Interesting choice of footwear.”
I grit my teeth. “Nick told me he would borrow a pair of boots from his wife.”
Greta’s lips curl up. “Be careful what you borrow from that man’s wife.”
Something about her expression makes me very uneasy. “He said it was fine. It was his idea.”
“Of course it was.” She scoffs. “I’m just saying. Rosalie will not be happy about handing over a pair of her boots so that her husband can help a pretty young guest.” Her eyes narrow at me. “She’s always watching him, you know.”
I think of the shadow in the window of the house across from the motel. My breath catches. “There’s nothing to be jealous of. Believe me.”
“Tell that to Christina Marsh.”
My throat goes dry. What is she saying? Is she implying that Rosalie Baxter had something to do with the death of that girl in Room 201?
But no. That’s ridiculous. Nick said that his wife is sick. She’s ill—she’s not going around murdering anyone.
Of course, he didn’t say what she was sick with. What if she’s mentally ill?
I shake my head. This is ridiculous. I’m going to be gone within the hour. I don’t need to think about Nick’s wife. And Greta is just trying to scare me. Nick said she had a flair for the dramatic.
“It’ll be fine,” I say to Greta. “It was…. nice meeting you.” Not really.
The expression on the old woman’s face is unreadable. “Nice meeting you too…Kelly.”
With those words, Greta slams the door in my face. I hear the locks clicking into place behind the door. Even though she and I are the only people here. And Nick, of course. I wonder why she feels she needs all those locks.
As I walk down the hall, I pass room 201. That’s where it happened. That’s where a girl was murdered two years ago.
I wonder what it must’ve been like to discover her. Nick would have opened the door with his master key, then found her lying on the bedspread, the fabric stained with her blood. Surely, he had to throw out the bedspread. I know now how hard it is to get blood out.
I shiver. I don’t need to think about this anymore. After today, I’m never going to see the Baxter Motel ever again.
As promised, Nick is waiting for me on the first floor. He’s got on a heavy black coat and a black beanie on his head. When he grins at me, he looks sort of adorable. Derek was undeniably handsome, but I always preferred guys like Nick. Those boy-next-door good looks.
“Got you some boots!” He holds up a pair of black, fur-lined snow boots. “This will keep you warm.”
“Thanks.” I reach for the boots, but then I hesitate. “Are you sure it’s okay if I borrow them?”
“Yeah!” He bobs his head. “Of course. She never wears them anymore anyway. You could probably just, you know, have them.”
There’s no way I am taking his wife’s boots. But I’ll wear them until I get my car free.
When I get outside the motel and see all the snow, I feel sick. Nick wasn’t exaggerating. This looks like way more than two feet of snow. In some areas, it looks like ten feet of snow. And I’m driving a Corolla, not a pickup truck. How in the hell am I going to get out of here?
“Wow,” I mumble. “I didn’t realize how bad it was.”
He nods. “What sort of car do you have?”
“A Corolla.”
