a bannister, which was dusty. The whole place was probably not up to code. “They’re probably glad to have your business.”
“They gave me a deal since I’m going to be here a while doing research.” She turned her key in the door. “Well, good night.” She entered her room and closed the door behind her.
Jude sat down in his room. Though everything looked dated, it was very clean. He opened the bedside drawer and pulled his handgun out of the shoulder holster. He stared out the window as the snow fell with increasing volume and velocity. He didn’t need to form any attachment to Lacey however temporary. He was here to find a kidnapped eight-year-old girl who was the daughter to millionaire George Ignatius.
Before becoming a private eye, Jude had been a police officer. He’d used his contacts in the department to get a trace of the vehicle that had abducted eight-year-old Maria. The home across the street from where she’d been kidnapped had a camera to record who came to the front door. Jude had isolated the time of the abduction on the recordings. The vehicle that took the little girl appeared in the background.
That trace on the vehicle had led him here. And now he couldn’t do anything. From where he sat on the bed, he rested his elbows on his knees and his hands on the sides of his head. The rising frustration tied his stomach in knots.
This whole investigation might have gone sideways. His phone still wasn’t getting a signal. If there was a landline, it probably wasn’t working either. He couldn’t call George. He’d never forgive himself if something happened to that little girl.
Again, he opened the drawer where he’d put his handgun. He hadn’t noticed the Bible there before. Standard-issue even for this hotel. Not that he would ever open that book again. Not only did not being able to prevent the murder-suicide sideline his career, it stole his faith. He didn’t know what he believed in anymore. That frantic prayer on the mountain when Lacey had shown up was the first time he’d prayed in ten years. And God had answered.
Jude lay down on top of the covers, staring at the copper ceiling, waiting for sleep to come.
He rubbed his chest where it felt tight. Though the kidnapper had not yet made a ransom demand, the clock was ticking for little Maria. A day ago the kidnapper had contacted George to let him know Maria was alive.
This storm moving in would delay his chance to search the residences that were on that mountain road. Even as the wind rattled the window, he could feel his chest tighten. He had to bring the girl home safe. In a way, he felt like his own life depended on that.
With the storm picking up intensity outside, Jude closed his eyes and willed himself to go to sleep. His last thought was of the auburn-haired Lacey. She was a hard woman to read, but she intrigued him. What was her story?
The heaviness of sleep invaded his muscles and he felt himself drifting off. He awoke to the sound of a woman screaming. Lacey was in trouble!
Lacey screamed when she awoke in total darkness, sensing that someone else was in her room. A footstep thudded in the darkness moving toward her.
Heart pounding, she fumbled for the bedside light. It didn’t click on. The storm must have taken out the electricity. Her flashlight was in her backpack across the room. The curtains were pulled tight. She couldn’t see anything. The darkness and being awakened from a deep sleep left her disoriented.
She could hear someone moving around the room.
“Who’s there?” She cleared her throat, trying not to give away her fear in her voice. “What are you doing in my room?”
She swung around and let her feet fall on the carpet. What obstacles lay between her and that flashlight? She couldn’t remember. She took two steps before she hit a piece of furniture.
A body brushed up against her. Terror paralyzed her in her tracks. She could sense someone moving very close to her. Her heartbeat drummed in her ears.
Hands wrapped around her neck.
She twisted to one side before the attacker could grab hold of her.
Her heart beat so wildly, it felt like it would jump out of her chest. The man or woman reached out and tugged at her shirt, probably trying to grab her again or feel their way in the darkness. She whirled away, crashing into more furniture.
Someone pounded on the door. “Lacey, is everything okay in there?”
It was Jude.
She opened her mouth to speak but no words came out. Terror had stolen her voice.
She could hear the intruder fumbling around. Jude was shaking the doorknob.
“Lacey, come on, open up.”
She stumbled across the dark room, feeling along the wall until she found the doorknob. She unfastened the dead bolt and swung open the door.
Jude shone a flashlight into the room. “What’s going on?”
The light bounced around the room. Lacey got only a glimpse of her intruder before he exited out of the other door on the other side of the room. All she could say for sure was that he was a tall thin man. Not the broad-shouldered man she’d seen on the mountain.
Lacey grabbed Jude’s flashlight and ran in the direction the man had gone. The door where the intruder had escaped was ajar. The place was so low security it had been unlocked. She entered an adjoining room that was not occupied but must have been part of a suite that connected to her room at one time. She shone the flashlight all around. The man was gone.
Jude came up behind her. “What’s going on and can I have my flashlight back?”
“Sorry.” She handed it back to him. “There was somebody in my room.”
“I’ll see if I can catch him.” Jude’s footsteps pounded up the hallway and then faded.
She was left in the dark. A rush of terror over the assault, which may have been an attempt on her life, caused her knees to turn to mush.
Jude returned. “I couldn’t see anyone. I don’t know the layout of this place. There are a bunch of boarded up areas. I searched as best I could. I think he must have escaped.”
“I’m sure there is more than one door he could have slipped out of.” Her voice still vibrated with fear.
Jude’s words filled with compassion. “I would have gotten to you faster from my room. It took a minute to find my flashlight in the dark. Why don’t you come back and sit down?” He led her gently back into the room and pointed her toward a chair. He stood at the window and pulled back the curtain. “Looks like the power is out all over town.”
She stared out the window. Her room faced the back of the hotel, so they were looking at residences. All the windows in the houses were dark. She saw only the occasional tiny glow of light coming from a flashlight or a lantern or maybe even a candle.
She wrapped her arms around herself, still trying to process what had just happened.
Jude patted
