Deviled!: Lake Erie Mysteries Book 2 Read Online Free Page A

walkway to a service entrance which had a nonmotorized swinging door. I pulled it open, and we practically blew right into the lobby. Emergency lights were beginning to flicker as the generator kicked on. There was just enough light to see our way to the main stairwell.
    June leaned heavily against the stairway entrance door. A puddle was forming around her feet. “Should we get our hike on and walk the twelve flights, or wait it out here until the power comes back on?”
    “Let’s do it. I’m freezing.”
    “Stairs it is then. Make sure to record these points in your Weight Watchers log. This is going to be an unscheduled calorie buster.”
    “Joke now, my friend. Your metabolism will crash eventually, and you’ll be asking me for advice.”
    “Okay. Sorry. Come here and help me push. I can’t get the door open. Something is blocking the way.”
    We both put a shoulder to the door and shoved. It gave about an inch, but that was it. I tried to imagine what could be big enough and heavy enough to barricade our entrance to the stairwell.
    “Just push, Francie.” June was peering through the tiny opening into the blackness on the other side. “It looks like a canvas bag, probably overstuffed with somebody’s dirty laundry.”
    “Well, let’s do this,” I said. “On the count of three—”
    “Wait. On three or after? I’m never sure.”
    I rolled my eyes. “One, two, then push.”
    “Got it. One . . . two . . .”
    We shoved. The jammed door sprung open, and we barreled through the opening, landing in a pile at the foot of the stairs. The oversized canvas bag that had apparently been propped against the door flopped over and thudded against the floor and out of our path. I only hesitated a moment before hitting the stairs all-out, determined to prove to June that I still had it in me.
    “Come on, June. We’re going to catch pneumonia if we don’t get dry soon.”
    Huffing and puffing, we finally attained the holy grail of floor twelve. I had barely enough energy left to get the door open and make a beeline for the bed. I flopped my wet self across the covers and took some deep breaths while my heart rate normalized. June headed straight for the bathroom and turned on the shower. Fifteen minutes later, she emerged from the steamy room cocooned in a white, fluffy bathrobe, a matching towel wound around her head.
    It was my turn. There was plenty of hot water, even with the backup generator providing our electrical power. There were also plenty of plush towels and another complimentary robe. The memory of our teeth-chattering, underwear-soaking misadventure was fading away. Good riddance. I sat down on the pillow-top mattress of the queen bed and watched June reapply her makeup. “I think we’re getting too old for this kind of vacation,” I mused while fluffing my hair with my fingers.
    “Now don’t go getting all dramatic, Francie. It was just a summer storm. They do happen here on the islands. Regularly, I might add.”
    “I know, but after Memorial Day, I’m just a bit leery of coincidental disappearances. That empty boat slip spooked me. I’m not gonna lie.”
    “Well, you have a point, my friend, but this time I assure you there is nothing to worry about. Hamm and Jack got the weather alert from the rest of the people at the docks and decided to leave so they could beat the storm. And men being men, they just forgot to tell us. I’m sure they thought we were already elbows-deep in some dramatic nonsense seminar and wouldn’t even notice they had left.”
    I knew that what June said made perfect sense, but just to be on the safe side, and to ease the tiny voice of doubt trying to grab my attention, I spilled the contents of my handbag onto the bed, extracted my phone, and pressed Hamm’s number. He answered on the first ring.
    “Hi, Honey. Is everything okay?”
    “I’m fine, but I was a little worried about you. I tried calling you earlier, but it went right to voicemail. June and I just