Page 39 of Call the Shots
“Maybe it’s not mold?” Montoya suggested. “It could be an art piece. Someone used a toothbrush and flicked paint?—”
The air was a chorus of ‘Kid’s Toy, shut up!’and I sighed, passing the coach’s office. This was the only hallway without cobwebs. Even then, it wasn’t great. The nearest break room made me gag—whatever was in the broken-open fridge had long since expired—and the bin for papers to be shredded outside of his office was stuffed full.
It was one of the standard blue ones, they were in the professional offices around campus. The actual part that housed the rest of the papers was locked and I’d never seen one so overfilled that papers poked out. A company picked them up every Tuesday to shred offsite but clearly, the Colo hadn’t gotten that treatment in a while.
“We should burn this place for the insurance,” Bear muttered.
“What makes you think we have insurance?” I replied, pushing another door open. It was a maintenance closet and a big one at that. There were first aid kits and boxes up high, marked cleaning supplies. A bonus for the Colo. They’d discovered cleaning supplies, who knew?
Montoya’s voice echoed. “Fridge! I found the switch for the bathroom!”
Instantly, we were plunged into darkness.
The entire Colo’s lights went out.
Oh, shit.
I jerked back to the symphony of‘Kid’s Toy!’
“Goddammit,” Bear swore. “This is exactly what we need—can’t see shit!”
The guys were yelling at each other, but the lights didn’t return. I fumbled for my phone, unable to really see anything. Not the maintenance closet, not the first aid kits, not the camera placed over the door…
“Camera…” I squinted at what I couldn’t see and slipped my phone back in my pocket.
Did the cameras work?
If they did, and for argument’s sake maybe they worked without power, could they see anything? A sudden thought blossomed in my brain, trying to think of exactly how I could use this darkness. This was a rare opportunity, how could I take advantage of it?
I lurched forward and hit something hard.
Bear stumbled back. “What are you doing?”
“Why are you leering?” I replied, stretching to touch the wall, using it to carefully walk down the hallway.
“Where are you going?”
“None of your business.”
I could hear Bear behind me. “June?”
“Stop following me.” I counted the doors until I came to the shredding bin, stuffed with papers. I tried Coach Vernon’s office, but my fingers traced the smooth metal of the keycard lock. My plan failed—I couldn’t break into their coach’s office. There was no way in.
Damn.
I touched the shredding bin, ready to find Montoya and help him get the power back. Smooth metal met my fingers, and I paused. The bin was locked but with a regular lock.
What was in there?
“What the hell are you doing?” Bear whispered, and I jumped.
“Don’t scare me. Go away.”
I needed a safety pin to pry the lock, and those were back at the dorm. Where could I find one? How many minutes did I have until the lights came on?
“First aid kit!” I realized and slammed into Bear again. “Would you get out of my way?!”
The Gladiators continued to argue down the hall, and I was running out of time. I grabbed the first aid kit from the maintenance room and dug through it, pulling out the gauze.
