No One Else to Kill (Jim West Series) Read Online Free Page B

animations where
the Cheshire cat smiled and all you saw was the smile.
    She might have made an interesting painting, but if her
aim was to be provocative, she shot past that to the spooky category.
    I stared at her a little too long and almost ran into
Frick and Frack , the two men wearing the Steelers
sweatshirts.
    “Excuse me,” I said and eased around them at the
doorway.   They both stared at me like I
was the one wearing the fire engine red lipstick. Neither said a thing.   If I hadn’t heard them talking to each
earlier in the parking lot, I might have thought they were mute.
    I contemplated having one last drink at the bar before
retiring to my room. Bev gave me a flirtatious wave which excited the usual
conflicting emotions.   A buzz from my
phone saved me from having to make a decision.   I waved back at Bev and walked out to the front porch.   A gust of cold wind ripped through my
clothing and took away any warmth I had dared to bring outside with me.
    “Jim,” the female voice in my phone said to me.
    “Hey Angie,” I said.
    “He’s still here.   He didn’t go.”
    “I know.   I guess he
got cold feet.”
    “That’s no excuse.   He needs to move on with his life.”
    I didn’t say anything.   What was I supposed to say? I waited her out.
    “I’m worried about him,” she said and paused again.
    I gave in.   “You
need to let it go, Angie, or you’ll get as obsessed about him as he is about
his loss.   He doesn’t appear to be
willing to let anyone else help him, so he’s going to have to work through this
himself.”
    “I’m sorry I dragged you into this.”
    “That’s all right,” I lied.
    “Are you at the lodge?”
    “Yes.”
    “Let me pay the hotel bill.   It’s the least I can do.”
    “No.   I can cover it
easy enough. I’m just staying the night anyway.”
    “I’m sorry, Jim.”
    “Me, too.”    We said our goodbyes.
    I returned to my room.

 

 
Chapter 4

 
 
 
    M
    y toilet flushed.   Not usually a very noteworthy event, I
admit.   However, the only light in the
room came from the radio/clock on the night stand next to my head.   It read three o’clock, and I was supposed to
be alone.   I could barely see through the
darkness to the bathroom door or to the door that led out to the hallway. They
both appeared shut.
    I scanned the rest of the room. It appeared empty. I
climbed out of bed still holding my pillow.   Not much of a weapon, but it was all I had.   The sound of the water filling the toilet
tank finished and silence once again reigned. I crept to the bathroom door and
listened.   Nothing.
    In the movies, they always show the door being opened
slowly. Not my style, and unless you’re absolutely sure you can do so without
making a sound, which is almost impossible, it’s a risky way to approach a
possible threat in such a small place. I took hold of the door as quietly as
possible, and then in one swift movement, opened it, and bolted inside
determined to surprise, if not scare, the person inside.
    Empty.   I switched
on the light and walked around my entire room.   I even looked in the closet.
    “Now that’s weird,” I said out loud.
    I turned off the lights and climbed back into the
bed.   Could it have been the toilet in an
adjoining room?   I didn’t think so.   The silence in the room almost had me back
asleep when I again heard something.
    I sat up.   The sound, barely audible,
crept in from somewhere outside the room.   I recognized the sound I heard right
away.   Somewhere in the hotel, someone
was crying.   Not a loud wailing cry but
rather a low soft sob.   It sounded like
it came from a man, although I couldn’t be sure.   I rolled over and tried to ignore it, but it
didn’t go away.   It suddenly dawned on me
that the crying sounded like it came from above me, and that didn’t make sense. The third floor was closed off
for construction.
    Already agitated over my self-flushing toilet mystery, I
decided