Creepers

20

No, keep control, Balenger warned himself. You're letting this damned place get to you. Stay focused. You've been through worse than this. He had a sudden sweat-producing memory of a foul-smelling sack tied around his head. No! Don't think about that! Suppose one of the others sees you holding the gun. If they learn you're armed, they'll surely wonder what else they don't know about you.

He waited, studying the shadows. Inhaling through his nose, exhaling through his mouth, holding each breath for three counts, he calmed himself. The sound at the end of the hall was not repeated. It could have been caused by anything-the building settling or the wind outside knocking something against a wall. Around the corner, the faint conversation continued. Nothing to get alarmed about, he thought.

"Everything okay?" Rick asked from the entrance to the corridor.

"Just finishing." Managing not to seem startled, Balenger closed his fly.

"You took a while. We were worried you might be in trouble."

"Enjoying a quiet moment." Balenger zipped up his Windbreaker, then picked up the bottle, its plastic warm from his urine.

"Where do I leave this?" he asked as he came around the corner, seeing the crisscross of headlamps.

"Not in here," the professor said. "Leave no trace, remember?"

"In your knapsack," Rick said. He went around the corner, heading toward where Balenger had been.

"First time for everything." Balenger made sure the lid was tight and shoved it into his pack.

From down the hall, he heard Rick urinating into his bottle. "Well, we're getting to know each other."

"We're talking about whether we should continue," Cora said.

"I'm okay, honestly," Vinnie assured them.

"You looked awfully shaken up a minute ago."

"I'm fine." To Balenger, it seemed that Vinnie was determined not to show weakness in front of Cora. "We traveled a long way to get here. We've all been looking forward to this, not to mention the time and money we put in. I won't let you go back because of me."

"But are you able?" Cora asked.

"There's nothing the matter with me," Vinnie insisted.

"Good," Rick said, coming back, zipping his knapsack shut. "I still want to know what's in Carlisle's penthouse and Danata's vault."

"Whose turn next?" Conklin asked. "Cora?"

She looked as if she was trying to avoid the awkward moment but was eager to get it finished.

As she left, Balenger glanced down at an object on the floor. A file folder.

"We found it in the office behind the check-in counter," Rick said. "It had an interesting label so we pulled it out. That's when we heard shouts from the walkie-talkie."

Balenger picked up the file and scanned his flashlight over the label: police reports. "Yeah, that's an attention getter." He flipped through the pages.

"A lot of crimes happen in hotels, mostly theft, but the guests never know about any of it," he said. "Bad for business. Usually, the police keep their investigations discreet. This file starts with the most recent incident and-"

Cora screamed.

Rick was suddenly in motion, charging around the corner, Balenger racing behind him. With Vinnie and the professor next to him, Balenger stared down the corridor. Zigzagging headlamps showed Cora with her back pressed against the wall, her jeans half down. Kleenex was on the floor next to her half-filled bottle. She gaped toward the far end of the corridor.

"Something's down there!" she said.

Rick hurried to get in front of her, blocking any threat. Good man, Balenger thought. In a frenzy, she pulled her jeans up, buckling them, all the while continuing to stare along the corridor.

"See anything?" Conklin asked.

"No," Balenger said, conscious of the gun under his Windbreaker.

"Yes," Vinnie said. "There."

Fierce eyes blazed from the end of the corridor.

Near the floor.

Balenger allowed himself to relax a little. "Another animal."

The converging lights revealed its head glaring around the corner.

"Hell, another albino cat," Rick said.

It bared its teeth, hissing.

"Look how it stands its ground," Vinnie said. "Not afraid of us. Feral. Furious that we're intruding."

"Must weigh twenty pounds," Rick said. "From that banquet of rats downstairs."'

"When I was a kid, I spent summers on my grandmother's farm," Vinnie said. "There were a bunch of feral cats in an abandoned barn down the road. They ate every mouse, rabbit, and groundhog for miles. The birds got smart and stayed away. Finally the cats took to killing chickens. Then they graduated to goats and-"

"Thanks, Vinnie," Conklin said. "I believe we get the idea."

"What happened to the cats?" Balenger asked as the white animal hissed again.

"A farmer left poisoned meat. Didn't work. The cats were too smart to touch it. The guy said he counted at least fifty of them and was glad to jump back in his car and get out of there. A neighbor's wife claimed they made a try for her infant daughter. So, finally, about ten farmers got permission from the game warden or the sheriff or whoever and went out there with guns. I remember the shots lasted all afternoon. My grandmother said she heard they killed over a hundred."

"Vinnie," Cora warned.

"Well, this is just one. Scram!" Rick shouted. He took out his water pistol and sprayed vinegar in the cat's direction.

The liquid didn't come close. Even so, the cat gave a final hiss and disappeared around the corner.

"See, it doesn't like us any better then we like it."

Balenger noticed that during the commotion Cora put the bottle of urine into her knapsack. She shoved the Kleenex into a plastic bag, sealed it, and stuffed that into her knapsack, also.

"Are you okay?" Rick asked.

"Fine." She sounded apologetic. "It surprised me is all."

"Maybe we shouldn't go on."

"Hey, it wasn't anything." Embarrassment made her stand straighter. "We've all had jumpy moments in various buildings. Isn't that some of the point? To get an adrenaline rush. Just because I yell on a roller coaster doesn't mean I don't want to take another ride."

But it seemed to Balenger that she wished they were leaving.

"If that's what you want," Rick said.

He sounded reluctant, also.

"Let's go," Balenger said.