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Chapter 9
+25 BONUS
I steadied my voice, trying to sound casual despite the panic rising in my chest. “Almost done. Just… give me a minute.”
My hands trembled as I covered the phone’s mic. “What do do?”
“Open the door and run,” came the firm response.
I kicked the door open with a crash, bolting out before she could react.
“Valerie, where are you going? Why the rush?” Her voice trailed behind me, but I didn’t stop.
I burst out of the room, running straight for the stairwell. I didn’t have a plan, only the primal instinct to get away. But as I rounded a corner near my floor, I froze. Two men in police uniforms crouched near my room, fiddling with tools.
I stopped, my breath hitching.
Were they sent by the policeman? That would make sense he couldn’t reach me in time, so he sent local officers. But something felt wrong. I took another step closer, and that’s when I saw it. They were trying to pick the lock.
They weren’t police.
Panic surged. All my defenses—my doorstop, my pepper spray–were inside that room. I had nothing on me. My phone suddenly vibrated, loud in the suffocating silence. I muted it as quickly as I could, but the sound had already caught their attention. Their heads snapped toward me.
I turned and ran.
The phone rang again. I answered without stopping, my breath ragged. It was my best friend.
“Where are you? Are you okay? What’s going on?” Her voice, familiar and frantic, broke the dam. Tears streamed down my face.
“I’m at the hotel,” I gasped. “I can’t go back to my room. They’re chasing me. I’m running to the lobby!” “Stay calm! Just keep moving, whatever you do!”
The footsteps behind me grew louder, closer. My chest tightened, and my legs felt like lead, but I couldn’t stop.
Eighteen floors. I was on the eighteenth floor. Making it to the lobby felt impossible. The elevators weren’t an option–it was too late for that.
My mind raced. Ten floors. Nine.
Then I remembered. Lloyd–he was staying on the ninth floor.
Desperation cleared my head. What was his room number? 91… something?
My thoughts blurred as I barreled toward the ninth floor.
Chapter 10
