The Ninth Floor

by Liz Schulte

  “Who would know who you’re closest to? Your aunt was pretty obvious—you came home for her and spent every day with her, but the others you’ve hardly been around.”

  “Blair came to the hospital quite a bit too, but Vivian didn’t.”

  “Vivian could’ve been a mistake. He could’ve come to your apartment for you and she was home. That might be why we haven’t found a body.”

  I plopped back down in the chair. “Comforting.” I pushed away the new wave of sadness bubbling up. “So someone who works at the hospital?”

  “It would explain the use of the ninth floor. It’s the only suggestion that makes sense. Who do you think they’ll go after next?”

  “I have no idea.”

  “Have you talked to the doctor recently?”

  “Not since Bee died.”

  “You should check in.”

  A new knot of worry formed in my chest. I retrieved my phone and was shocked by all the missed calls. I forgotten I’d put it on silent. I smiled a little when I saw Jack’s name on the list. He was still okay. I dialed his number.

  “I’ve been trying to get in touch with you all day. Are you okay? I’m so sorry about Blair. Is there anything I can do?”

  “It’s okay.” I pressed my lips together.

  “I want to see you, Ryan. We have things I think we should discuss.”

  “Not tonight. I just need to be alone for a while. It’s been a really bad day. I’ll call you tomorrow, okay?”

  “Ryan—”

  “Take care of yourself, Jack.” I hung up and looked over at Aiden. “He’s fine.” I called my father and Ashley back as well. Dad said that he and Mom were staying in Springfield with Blair, who’d been moved was doing all right, but was still in serious condition. I told him what happened to Briggs.

  Dad was quiet for a long time before he spoke. “Ryan, I think you should leave again.”

  I shook my head, though he couldn’t see me. “This can’t go on forever. Aiden is with me and the local police are involved. Don’t worry about me. Just make sure Ashley and Blair are safe. I’m going to keep my distance from everyone for now. I’ll be okay.”

  “I’m sorry we kept all of this from you.”

  “Have a good night. Tell Blair I’m thinking about him.” I hung up and put my phone back in my purse. “We need to go to my parents’ house and get the dogs. Dad pawned them off on the housekeeper. We can stay at Bee’s house.”

  Aiden didn’t complain. The dogs were sitting in one of the windows when we pulled up. It was so good to see them. I checked them over for injuries, but they were fine. Why would the person trash my apartment, take Vivian, but leave the dogs unharmed on the deck? How did they even get the dogs to go out there? Sid and Nancy weren’t fighters, but they’d protect their territory. I said as much to Aiden, and he suggested maybe Vivian put them on the deck before anything happened, which was possible. We walked to Bee’s house. It was sad being there, knowing she’d never come back. Aiden went through the house before letting me in. I offered him a guest room, but he chose the couch by the front door. The dogs and I headed up for bed.

  I closed my eyes and petted the big dogs curled up against me. Before long, sleep carried me away from all of my problems.

  The phone ringing jolted me awake. It took a moment to figure out where I was, and then that sinking feeling that comes with late night phone calls set in. “Hello?”

  There was silence on the other end. I glanced at the caller ID, but the number was blocked.

  “Hello?” I said again.

  “Ryan? Ryan? Help me!” Vivian screamed from the background.

  “Vivian? Where are you? Who has you?” I yelled. The call disconnected. I scrambled out of bed, the dogs hot on my heels, and ran for the stairs. “Aiden, Aiden! She called. Viv called.” I didn’t slow when I saw a dark silhouette at the bottom of the stairs, assuming it was Aiden. “She’s still alive.”

  The dogs cut me off, snarling. I stopped as the figure lifted a gun. “Take care of the dogs, Ryan, or I will.”

  The voice was too low to recognize. I grabbed their collars. Where was Aiden? “Who are you?”

  “The dogs.”

  “Sid. Nancy. Upstairs.” Sid whined while Nancy ignored me and continued snarling and gnashing her teeth. I backed them up the stairs, talking soothingly to them, hoping Aiden would show up. When he hadn’t by the time I shut them in a bedroom, I assumed the worse. Slow, heavy steps pounded up the stairs. I thought about running, but I was worried if I got away he’d kill Vivian. I had only one choice, fight.

  The footsteps were closer. I continued talking to Sid and Nancy without knowing what I was saying as I scrambled for something—anything—in my reach. My fingers curled around a thin, metal lamp. I waited until I felt him close to me. Then I swung the lamp as hard as I could. He blocked the attack, used my momentum to turn me until my back was to him, and curled his arm around my neck. I stomped on his feet and clawed at his arm.

  “Ryan, Ryan, Ryan. Why are you fighting me?”

  I knew that voice, but it was too soft to place. There was a pinch on my neck before what felt like cold liquid shot into me. Everything went black.

  *

  Thrump. Thrump. Thrump.

  My head felt like it was going to split in half. I groaned and tried to move but couldn’t. I forced one eye open and then the other. I was lying on the ground, my hands tied together behind my back, my feet bound, a cotton gag over my mouth.

  More footsteps—pattering, light, running. “Are you okay? What happened?”

  I tilted my head to see my rescuer. He untied the gag. “Jack? What are you doing here?”

  “I got a call. What the hell happened?” He knelt down and fumbled with my constraints as I scanned the dark, abandoned hallway.

  “Hurry. He’ll be back soon.”

  “Who will?” He sounded strange. I looked over my shoulder. He was covering his mouth with his hand. Before I could ask what was wrong, his laughter filled my ears. Confusion swirled with fear. What was wrong with him?

  “Jack?”

  He laughed harder, falling back on his butt, wiping tears from his eyes with the back of his hand. “You should see your face. You honestly thought I was going to let you go. Priceless.” He grabbed my face with both of his hands and kissed me uncomfortably hard. “I just got you back, Kailyn. I’m never letting you go.”

  I couldn’t speak. I shook my head, my mind fighting against a lingering fog and a throbbing headache.

  “Why would I go to all of this trouble? Why would I bring you here, just to let you go? You’re so fucking dumb. It’s hard to imagine we’re related.” He smacked my forehead. “Well, I guess you’re only my half-sister.”

  “What are you talking about?” I couldn’t follow his train of thought. “Jack, you need to listen to me—”

  “No, I’m done listening to you. I am so happy this charade is finally over. I don’t know how much longer I could have kept it up. Do you have any idea how hard it was to pretend to be smitten with you? At first I thought it would be easy. I mean you’re hot, but blah, blah, blah all the time.” Jack flapped his hand together in front of my face to mimic talking. He jerked his head up and to the right. “I’m going to tell her. I will. Stop nagging me. I got her here, didn’t I?”

  I swallowed my fear. He had completely lost his mind. Who was Kailyn?

  “I had to practically hold your hand every step of the way. Seriously, could you be any more thick? Those schools they sent you to didn’t do you any favors, sis—”

  “Jack, you aren’t well. It’s this hospital. It’s this floor. I promise you I’m not your sis—” Jack slapped me so hard my eyes rolled into my head.

  “No more talking,” he shouted inches from my face, hate and rage filling his eyes. “Do you know how long I’ve been planning this? How much time and energy and patience it took to bring you back here? The voices always telling me to get you, to bring you to them, but they never said how.”<
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  He stood up and paced away from me, rolling his shoulders. When he turned back, he was calmer. I was even more afraid. “You still don’t understand. Samantha Cobb was my mother too. She worked for your father and they had an affair. Do you know what it was like to be an unmarried, single mother—pregnant again—in Goodson Hollow, unable to tell who the father was? Do you know what it was like for her son? The names they called her. The names they called me.” Jack’s face was red with rage.

  “Then she had you and they told her you died, but she knew. She knew he stole you, so she took you back, and then they killed her. She never came back to me. The Sterlings stole you from her, and she couldn’t handle it. I wasn’t enough. You killed her, Kailyn. Had you never been born, she wouldn’t have left. I would have had a mother.” He ran his hand gently down my cheek that was still burning from his strike.

  “I was going to keep you, and we were going to have a family again, the way Mother wanted, but it turns out, I don’t really like you very much. So I’m going to set things right.” He winked and pointed his gun at my head. “Can you guess how?”

  I couldn’t believe this was happening. He was always so nice. I prayed I would wake up. “Jack, please.”

  “You’re right. It isn’t fair to make you guess when you don’t know everything.” He let his gun hand fall back to his side and sat cross-legged in front of me.

  “Bringing you back wasn’t as easy as you might think. In some ways I began planning it the day she died. I had my father’s name, and no one knew I was her child, so I was adopted by the first family who fostered me. Everything I did was to get back into this hospital. I had to go back to the beginning to see where everything went wrong. I needed a position of power, of trust, so I became a doctor. Years of medical school, Kailyn, and all I did was think about you. I even wrote to you, but you were never here. You forgot about us. Your new family hid you well, like the dirty little secret you were. I thought about killing you so many times after you came back, but it wouldn’t have been right. There was a plan. It had to be here. They said it had to be here. I needed you to know that if it were up to me, I’d keep you.”

  “You’re insane.”

  “No. Not insane. Would an insane person wait twenty-six years and develop the perfect plan? I studied your family’s medical history. They didn’t talk about you and all anyone here knew were useless rumors. Then I met Bee. She was a wealth of information about you. I studied you. Learned where you were weakest and I manipulated that. I made sure Bee got sick because it would bring you home. I even made you reconcile with the rest of your family so they’d feel your loss just as I felt my mother’s. Your death will tear them apart. Neil and little Blair will blame dear ol’ Mom. Ashley won’t know what to think and he’ll try to mediate until he hates both sides. I’ll tear them down brick by brick.” He smiled.

  “And good job talking about the ninth floor, by the way. I couldn’t have planned that better. You believed everything I told you. Briggs was my only hiccup. He wasn’t supposed to come back and you certainly weren’t supposed to choose him over me. We’re blood after all. Where’s the love?”

  I wanted to throw up. If he thought he was my brother, why would he date me? “Why? Why would you pursue me romantically?”

  “It’s okay that you didn’t choose me. You didn’t know. I fixed everything. I took care of them all. Everyone who would have tried to stand in our way.”

  “Why them?”

  “The window washer saw me here. He could have told anyone. I couldn’t have that, could I? Leigh told you to move your aunt. I heard her myself. And Peggy? Well, she was the worst. She actually told you I lied to you. Unacceptable. Briggs nearly took you away again, but I stopped him. All that’s left now is that little bitch Vivian who went and moved in.”

  “Jack, just let me go. You don’t want to do this.”

  “I do want to do this. This is all I want to do. I didn’t want to date you. I didn’t want to paint your house or listen to you talk. This,” he said, grabbing my face, “is all I want. The wheels are in motion. The story has been written. You killed Briggs because he discovered the truth and then you killed yourself.” He nodded.

  “It will work. You were naturally upset to find out your mom isn’t your mom, but then you learned about your daddy’s affair, the death of your real mom, and that you were banging your brother. It was all too much to handle. Then Briggs found out the truth and tried to blackmail you to take him back, but you couldn’t be with him because you loved me even though that’s sick—so you killed him on the very floor you’re obsessed with. Poetic, really. Then you killed yourself when the guilt became too much to live with. See, Kailyn. In the end you weren’t a bad person.”

  I strained back and forth against the ropes binding my hands behind my back, trying to loosen them even a little. “We never slept together.”

  “People assume. The hospital is a hotbed of rumors and I didn’t hide how I felt about you. There’s even video of us in the stairwell.” He gave me an over-the-top wink that made me feel dirty. “It isn’t too late if you want things to be more authentic.”

  “Where’s Vivian? What did you do to her? How does she fit into your story?”

  “She’s close—and she’s your punishment for leaving me a second time, Kailyn. You’ll watch as she dies and know that, once again, it’s your fault. You’re going to be the best legend the ninth floor has ever had. The child who survived being born here goes on a murdering spree. It practically writes itself. People will be scared to even whisper your name.”

  “How is that going to help or change anything? You’ll still be alone. My family will still have gotten away with everything. Do you really think one little article can take down a powerhouse like the Sterlings? Do you really think they’ll give a crap about me dying? Hell, they own the newspaper. There won’t be a story.”

  “Your self-confidence when it comes to them sucks. Your little brother worships the ground you walk on. Your father isn’t far behind. And your fake mommy? Well, yes, she’s a bitch, but she’s a bitch who wants to have a relationship with you, even if you’re too blind to see it. Even the oldest one doesn’t hate you. All they want is to be a family, but you keep throwing it back in their faces.”

  Jack brushed my hair from my face in that way I used to find endearing. I needed to vomit. “You would have been so much better off with me,” he continued dreamily, “but it’s too late now.”

  “What will you do to them?”

  “I’ll watch them suffer. Then, when they’re starting to heal or move on, I’ll pick them off one by one. None of them will live long, but don’t worry, I’ll take good care of them.”

  “And Aiden? How does he fit into your story? And the letters.”

  “I already burned the letters. Thank you for getting them all back for me. Did you like your presents?” He narrowed his eyes. “Was Aiden the one on your couch? I don’t think he’s going to make it. Had I known you cared, I would’ve brought him along.” He looked at his watch. “Whew, look at the time. It’s so nice to be able to tell someone about this, but I have rounds to make in a couple hours. We really need to get started.” He patted my leg. “The floor has waited long enough for you, don’t you think?”

  Chapter 27

  Jack trotted down the hall and disappeared into a room. I bit my lip, grabbed my thumb, and pushed hard, trying to slip the rope over it. I needed to go just a little bit farther. I pushed harder and—pop. Heat and searing pain doused me, but the rope slid free. I couldn’t move my thumb, but I didn’t care. I untied my feet as fast as I could and stood up, looking for a weapon. The only thing in the hall was a flashlight Jack had left. I gripped it in my good hand and went toward the room where Jack was. I pressed my back flat against the wall around the corner and waited for him to come back to me, my heart beating hard in my chest.

  The door at the end of the hallway opened. I heard the rattle of a wheelchair and him crooning nonsense to Vivian. I tense
d and waited and waited. I couldn’t swing too soon—and I couldn’t tip my hand about my presence. The wheelchair’s chrome footrest passed me, then the wheel, then—

  I smashed the flashlight against the side of Jack’s head. He crumpled and went down hard. I hit him again.

  Vivian’s head was hanging down against her chest and her face was bruised. “Vivian?” I shook her gently, but she didn’t react. I felt for her pulse and was relieved to find it. I grabbed the chair and pushed her, running down the hallway. I couldn’t carry her. I wasn’t strong enough.

  The doors to the stairwells were locked. I rattled them and called for help, glancing over my shoulder to check Jack. He was starting to stir. I shouted again, but I knew it wouldn’t help. Even if someone heard, they’d ignore it. We had to hide until I could figure something out.

  I pushed Vivian into an empty closet that actually had a lock and shut her inside. I was pretty sure he’d come after me and ignore her. I needed to get to the other doors. Maybe they weren’t locked. We had to have gotten up here some way.

  Jack groaned and blood ran down the side of his face as I approached on the opposite side of the hall. The gun was lying beside him. My stomach twisted. Why hadn’t I grabbed it before? Stupid, stupid, stupid. I looked toward the door and then back at the gun. I needed to get it before he did. I went for it without hesitating. His hand closed over mine as soon as I touched the weapon. His other hand wrapped around my throat and squeezed. “You fucking bitch.”

  I tried to pull away, but his grip was too strong. He stood, squeezed harder, and slammed me against the wall. I clawed at his face with my free hand, and he slammed me into the wall again. My head cracked back, and my vision started to go black around the edges. I grabbed his hair and jerked as hard as I could, grinding my teeth against the pain in my hand and ramming my knee upwards. His grip on my throat loosened just enough. I yanked out of his grasp and ran.

  “I’m going to kill you slowly,” he shouted behind me.