Day of the Dead Read Online Free

up.
    They came in. The man spotted the bloody towel on the floor. He picked it up and put it in a trashbag. He wore latex gloves, like you’d use to do dishes.
    Michelle sat back down on the bed. She didn’t know what else to do.
    The woman immediately squatted by Michelle and covered her hand with her own, which was dry and a little rough.
    â€˜This is terrible,’ she said, ‘and we are so very sorry. These things should not happen in Vallarta.’
    â€˜Things like this happen everywhere,’ Michelle murmured.
    â€˜I think we can move you to another room, right? A better room.’
    Michelle thought about it. She stared at the heaps of clothing, the puddle of blood now drying in the refrigerated air.
    â€˜Yes,’ she said. ‘Yes. I don’t want to stay in this room anymore.’
    They moved her to a suite in a newer wing, one with a separate bedroom and a bar, a wide balcony with wrought-iron furniture. She checked the balcony first thing. It could not be reached through another suite; there was no way to climb up to it that she could see.
    After the woman from the front desk and the man from reception moved all her things, hung the clothes that had been in the closet, arranged her toothbrush, cosmetics, and moisturizers on the bathroom counter – after all that had been done, the offer of tea by the hotel staff turned down, Michelle stepped into the shower. Stood under the spray for a very long time.
    When she got out, she slipped into the silk pajamas she’d packed, the sleeveless top and shorts. She considered having a whiskey from the minibar, thinking it might relax her, might help her sleep, but she already had the beginnings of a headache, so instead she took an Ambien. Tom’s prescription. Why let them go to waste?
    She climbed into bed, closed her eyes. What replayed in her head was not the robbery, the assault, but Daniel’s face, over hers.
    Maybe I should have gone to the hospital, Michelle thought as the drug began to take hold. Would that have been the right thing to do? But she barely knew Daniel, after all. Couldn’t even ask for him by name.
    The breeze from the ocean billowed the gauzy curtains on the balcony. I should get up, she thought. I should close the door. But she was safe here, wasn’t she? And she was so tired, and the air smelled good.
    She watched the curtains expand and contract, as though they were breathing.
    Eventually her breaths slowed down to match, and then she slept.
    â€˜We hope you can stay a little longer, Ms. Mason.’
    The woman behind the front desk, a different woman from the one last night, briefly rubbed her hands before composing herself. She was trim, perhaps Michelle’s age, carefully made up, with a gold necklace and gold earrings that looked to be a set. Even in the heat of the patio that served as the hotel lobby, only the faintest dewy perspiration dampened her forehead. Michelle was already dripping sweat.
    â€˜We are so sorry about what happened. We’d like for you to stay as our guest and enjoy yourself.’
    Everyone was being very kind, Michelle thought. Probably they were worried about lawsuits.
    The robbers had somehow gained access to a vacant room next to her old room, climbed from that balcony onto hers. Obviously the security was not what it should have been. If she were in America, she could probably sue.
    But in Mexico? How did things work here? Would it be worth it to try?
    â€˜Right now I’m scheduled to leave on Sunday,’ she said.
    â€˜Of course, of course. We could make an arrangement for you to stay here in the future, if you’d like to return. Or if you decide you’d like to stay a little longer, we can do that as well.’
    â€˜Thank you,’ Michelle said. ‘I’ll think about it.’
    Even with what had happened, it was tempting. Spending time on the beach, drinking margaritas on the hotel’s dime, sounded better than her current