The Last Keyholder

by Jamie Summer

  “Hello, Ms. Cavanagh,” he said. I let my gaze wander between the two of them.

  “Sorry to barge in on you, but I’m sure you can guess why we’re here,” the one next to me explained. I nodded.

  The newcomer pulled up a chair. “First of all, I’m Detective Johnson. This is Officer Langston. We’re sorry for what happened to you. Are you feeling okay?”

  It was clear who was the leader in this dynamic duo. It was also clear who had the better manners.

  “I’m okay.”

  “I’m glad to hear that. We’re here because of the hotel fire last night. Can you tell us what happened?” he asked.

  I studied him. He had dark black, short hair and bright blue eyes. Even in the darkness, they shone. Something about his looks made me think of Nathan. A sharp pain radiated through my chest and I closed my eyes in order to stop the tears I felt.

  “I went to sleep. The next thing I knew, my friend…” I stopped. “Did you find my friend?” If the officers were confused by my sudden change of direction, they didn’t show it. Instead, they looked at me curiously.

  “Which friend?” Officer Langston asked, his brown eyes studying me closely.

  “Nathan Holwell. He… He came to Dublin with me.” I was surprised at the calm tone of my voice. I wanted to scream, wanted to yell at them to find Nathan, but I felt my whole body starting to shut down. Again. It didn’t want to deal with any more death.

  “Ms. Cavanagh, I need you to stay with me. Do you need anything? Water? Food?” Detective Johnson asked. “Take a deep breath. You’ve gone through something horrific. It will take time to understand it. We’re trying to get to the bottom of what happened and need all the help we can get.” I heard his words, but it took a long time before they connected in my mind.

  “My friend, Nathan, was in the room next to mine. He was the one who woke me. We ran into the hall, but I sent him…” I swallowed. “I told him I needed something from my room. He went back in. That’s when the hotel employee showed up and dragged me out of there.” I finished in a calm voice, which not only surprised the officers, but myself. Turning off my emotions was the only way I could deal with it. There was no way my heart could handle losing another person close to me.

  “Ms. Cavanagh, are you sure your friend ran back into your room?”

  Images of Nathan replayed in my mind. Getting me out of my room. Worry on his face. Arguing with me over a stupid notebook. Seeing him run back into my room.

  How could I think a notebook was that important? Was it more important than getting out alive?

  Someone grasped my hand. I hadn’t realized I closed my eyes until I opened them to see Detective Johnson watching me, looking worried.

  “I killed him. I killed him.” I repeated the phrase over and over. He leaned in, enveloping me in his arms. I felt myself fall apart. I didn’t know how long I cried, but Detective Johnson didn’t complain. He held me wordlessly, stroking my back.

  “You didn’t kill anyone,” he said. As much as I wanted to believe him, I couldn’t. It was my fault Nathan went in there, so it was my fault he didn’t come out.

  “I killed him…”

  The words rang true in my ears. Every time I repeated them, the tears ran again. The pain of losing someone I cared about wasn’t anything new to me, but just when I thought I’d have the chance to move on with my life, fix the one regret I had, I got myself in even deeper.

  “Ms. Cavanagh, you need to listen to me.”

  The urgency in Detective Johnson’s voice made me glance up from my comfortable position on his shoulder. Part of me knew I should be embarrassed for my outburst, but I couldn’t bring myself to care enough.

  “The fire department checked everything, checked everywhere. They didn’t find a body in your hotel room. Or anywhere else, for that matter. No one died in that fire.”

  I stared at him, mouth open. “What did you say?” I needed him to repeat it. I needed to make sure I hadn’t heard him wrong.

  “They didn’t find any bodies. After you told the fire department your friend was still in there, they searched the whole hotel, but couldn’t find anyone. Every one of the guests is accounted for…except Nathan Holwell. The only thing we can think of is he somehow saved himself. We have units out searching the area. We’re also checking other hospitals and clinics to see if he’s there.”

  “You mean Nathan’s alive?” My voice sounded as unbelieving as I felt.

  “He might be. We can’t say for sure, but he definitely didn’t die in the fire,” Officer Langston added.

  It was too good to be true. Could Nathan still be alive? How had he gotten out of the hotel?

  “We’ll find him. I promise you that.” I turned toward Detective Johnson again. The earnest expression on his face made me want to believe him. I wanted to believe karma didn’t think it needed to mess with me again. “Is there anything unusual you remember from that night? Did you see any strange activity?” I shook my head. There wasn’t anything that had struck me as weird. “Okay. Anything else you can think of that might be important? Anything at all, no matter how insignificant.”

  “Sorry, there wasn’t anything. When we came back from dinner, I went upstairs and crashed.” Then I remembered. I furrowed my brow. “Wait, there was something a little weird. Something woke me up. It sounded like a knock on the door, but when I opened my eyes, there was nothing. I thought I imagined it, so I went back asleep. That’s the only thing I can think of.”

  They both nodded. Detective Johnson took out a small notepad and scribbled something down.

  “Do you think it could mean anything? I mean, it could’ve been something ordinary. A stone hitting my window, someone bumping against the wall, anything,” I remarked.

  He smiled. “Yes, that’s a possibility, but nothing is too small to check out.”

  They asked me a few more questions, mostly about what I was doing in town and how long I planned to stay. I answered without giving away the fact I was chasing an urban legend. I didn’t think they would’ve considered it a good quest to be on.

  After another five minutes, they got up and left, promising to keep me updated. They also asked me not to fly out of the country until this whole mess was sorted. I agreed, but told them I’d need to move on eventually.

  “The investigation might take some time, and we need to make sure you’re available. If there is no way you can stay any longer, please contact us and let us know where we can reach you,” Officer Langston told me.

  “Of course,” I confirmed, then they walked out.

  The nurse, Lina, came in, holding a tray of food. My appetite was still almost non-existent, but she said she wasn’t leaving until I ate a little bit, that I needed the strength. She had a point, but the mere thought of eating made me feel sick to my stomach.

  “Please,” she urged.

  With a sigh, I picked up my spoon. It was only chicken soup, but it was something easy to eat in order to get my body working again. I consumed about half of it before telling her I had enough. She didn’t pressure me to finish it, which I appreciated.

  “They’ll find your friend.” I looked at her in irritation. “I heard the doctor and the officer talking. You’re looking for your friend, right?”

  I nodded, feeling my chest getting heavy again. The feeling of someone putting a string around my heart and pulling it tightly only added to my current condition. I tried to shake it off, but it was impossible.

  “Ms. Cavanagh, it’s okay. I’m here. They’ll find your friend. He didn’t die in the building, so there’s hope. You’re not responsible,” Lina said, grasping my hands and squeezing. “He’ll be okay.”

  I tried to find her warm eyes through my tears, finally breathing a sigh of relief as her face came into focus again.

  “That’s better.” She smiled. “I’m sorry.” I wanted to wave her off, but any movement seemed like a huge effort right now, so I simply sat and did nothing.

  “I thought he was dead. I thought
I killed him,” I whispered.

  “You didn’t. The officers said as much. That’s what you need to focus on. They’ll find him. Maybe he’ll find a way to contact you.”

  Contact me… My phone! Why didn’t I think about that earlier?

  “Where’s my stuff?” I asked. I knew I didn’t have much when I left the hotel room, but I remembered putting on a robe and grabbing my cell phone.

  Lina pointed at a shelf beside my bed. “We put everything on there.”

  I made a move to get up, but she grasped my shoulders before I’d managed to stand.

  “What are you looking for?”

  “My phone. Maybe he messaged me,” I told her hastily.

  Hope blossomed in her eyes. She walked over to the shelf, rummaging through the small pile until she found my cell. I grabbed it from her and checked for any missed calls or messages. I had a few, but my heart sank when I realized none were from Nathan. I had one from Gwen, who wanted to know how the hunt was going, and one from my parents, who were checking to see how I was doing. There was also a missed call from Jeff, my boss, and one from an unknown number that had left a voicemail. I clicked on play and held the phone to my ear.

  “We told you this was only the beginning. The building will burn faster than you can react next time. There will be no escaping. Death is coming for you.”

  Dread settled in my stomach and I had trouble breathing through the panic gripping my insides.

  “Ms. Cavanagh, what’s going on?” I heard the panic in Lina’s voice, but couldn’t speak.

  Before I could stop myself, I pushed the button to replay the message. The voice and the message were still the same. Each word was like a stab through my heart.

  It was my fault.

  “Ms. Cavanagh… Emlyn… Talk to me, please.” The beeping around us got louder and faster, and the doctor rushed in.

  “What’s going on?” he asked.

  Everything became a blur of movement. I felt someone probing my arm, someone turning my head left and right, but I wasn’t actively participating.

  They’d set that fire knowing the hotel was full of innocent people. They didn’t care. Just like they didn’t care about shooting at people in front of Buckingham Palace. The only difference was, by some miracle, no one got hurt this time.

  “Ms. Cavanagh, can you hear me?” I heard in some back corner of my mind, but whoever spoke wasn’t as important as the message taking up all my focus. I needed to find out who it was from. They had software these days for that stuff, didn’t they? Why didn’t I think about this sooner?

  Ouch.

  “What the hell?”

  “Ah, there you are.” It was Lina’s voice. My eyes focused on the spot Lina had pinched. “Sorry, but you went into your own head and we needed to get you back,” she apologized, but I could tell she wasn’t even slightly sorry.

  “What happened?” the doctor asked, glancing at the cell phone still clutched in my hand.

  “Nothing. I thought about Nathan and panicked, I guess.”

  “I’m sorry. I’m sure the police will do everything they can to find your friend. What we’re going to focus on is getting you better. If everything works out, we can get you out of here later today,” he explained.

  I realized I didn’t even have any idea what time it was. The clock on the wall showed eleven forty a.m. Getting out of here sounded like heaven…until I realized I had nowhere to go.

  “Where will I go? I don’t have a hotel to go back to.” It was a stupid question, but I was in a foreign country with no friends. Add in the fact I had just escaped death for the third time and I was about done. I should leave and fly home. Give up everything and go back to my life.

  Yet I felt certain that, the moment I’d make a move to leave the quest behind, they’d find me. They’d make sure I knew their threat was as real as it could be. That they meant everything they said.

  I had no intention of dying. I had told Nathan that more than once.

  I was just clueless as to how to go on.

  Where did the sudden feeling of uncertainty come from. There was something not adding up about those incidents and the threats. Before I was able to think about it more, the doctor started speaking.

  “The hotel actually took care of that. They have a sister hotel in the city and booked you in there. Once you’re ready to go, we will call you a shuttle service that will take you to your new hotel.”

  I felt tears running down my cheeks. The thoughtfulness of people who didn’t even know me, didn’t know I was the one responsible for the devastation that was handed to them, brought tears to my eyes.

  Lina came over and hugged me. I readily took the comfort she offered.

  “They didn’t have to do that,” I managed to say.

  She pulled back and smiled at me. “I know. But that’s what people do around here. They take care of each other.”

  “We’ll give you another hour or two to rest. If your vitals are stable throughout, we can get the papers ready and have your shuttle waiting for you tonight,” the doctor said.

  “Thank you,” I whispered. He gave me a nod before leaving, Lina following shortly after. I was suddenly alone in the vast emptiness of my room. I still grasped my cell phone, which taunted me. I opened it and went to my recent calls, my finger hoovering a few seconds before I hit the call back button. I knew it was a long shot, but there was no harm in trying. My heart raced in my chest, anticipation running through me.

  The line rang three times before an automatic voice told me the number I was trying to reach wasn’t known. I should’ve guessed. Sighing, I put my phone down on the table next to my bed and lay back against the headboard. It was worth a try, but I wasn’t surprised the number had been disconnected since leaving me that ominous message.

  Nathan.

  I sat up and grabbed my cell again, then scrolled down my contacts until finding his number. Why didn’t I think of this sooner? It should’ve been the first thing I did after waking up.

  The line rang a few times, then his voicemail picked up.

  “Nathan, if you get this, please, call me back. I need to know you’re okay. I need to know you’re alive.”

  I started crying again at the mere thought of him, and even though I tried to sound calm, I wasn’t sure it worked. After I hung up, the phone fell from my hand, clattering to the floor. Exhaustion, both physically and mentally, overwhelmed me.

  There was nothing I could do at this point…except wait. And sleep. I decided to take the few hours I had been given to get some rest before I needed to face the world again.

  I wasn’t ready yet.

  And I wasn’t sure I ever would be.

  Chapter Fourteen

  The sound of the door opening woke me from my slumber.

  “Hello, Emlyn,” the doctor greeted me, his eyes looking tired, but gentle.

  “Hey,” I mumbled.

  “Your vitals and oxygen levels look good, so we feel confident about discharging you. I’m guessing you don’t want to spend any more time here than necessary.” He smiled. “We’ve called the hotel shuttle service, so they should be here soon. The police left their cards for you, just in case there’s anything you remember. We’ve also prepared your aftercare instructions.” He handed me a stack of papers, along with two business cards—one for Detective Johnson and one for Officer Langston. “Once you’ve eaten and the shuttle’s arrived, you’re free to leave.”

  I swallowed. Free to leave. Did I want to leave? I know I should be rejoicing at the idea of leaving the hospital, but the mere thought of going to a strange hotel alone made me want to run and hide. And I wasn’t usually like that. Escaping death more than once might change your perspective, though.

  “Thank you. For everything.” I smiled at him.

  He turned around to leave, but stopped at the door and looked back at me. “In case you’re wondering, there hasn’t been any word on your friend yet.” And with that, he left.

  I had no idea how he k
new what the current status of the search for Nathan was, but I didn’t care. All I cared about was the fact there was nothing. No sign of him. If they searched the hospitals and clinics nearby, they should’ve found him by now, right?

  I pushed the worries away and tried to stomach some of the food they had given me. There was a slice of toast, some butter, marmalade, and an apple. Still not a whole lot, but food wasn’t high on my list of priorities right now.

  I munched on the toast a little, then placed it down on the plate when I realized it wasn’t doing any good. I got dressed in my jeans and shirt, but the smell of smoke clinging to them made me wish I had a fresh set. Everything burned in the hotel, though. My passport. My wallet. My clothes. Everything was gone. Panic settled within me, my breath coming out in short gasps as reality finally settled in. I had lost everything.

  Losing my passport was going to be an issue I’d need to deal with. A few deep and calming breaths cleared my head. There was no leaving the country without one, so that should be the first thing I did. However, the only thing I could think about doing was looking for Nathan. I didn’t want to waste time talking to bureaucrats when I could be out there searching for him.

  There was a knock on my hospital door. I glanced up to see Lina entering. “I brought you a fresh set of clothes. They aren’t the best, but it’s what the lost and found still had. Might be a little big or small, but I tried to find something that seemed close.”

  I could’ve kissed her. The clothes—a pair of jeans, a blue shirt, and gray hoodie—weren’t anything special, but they felt like my most prized possession at this point.

  “Thank you so much. This is… Thank you.” I gave her a grateful smile.

  “No need to thank me.” She waved me off. “I knew you couldn’t walk out of here smelling like smoke, so I checked to see if we had something that might fit you. I got lucky. Also, your shuttle is waiting outside—when you’re ready.” The last part felt as if she added it for my benefit. Did my face show how much the mere prospect of leaving scared me? “You’ll be fine out there. They’ll find your friend, then you can leave this bad experience behind you.” She took my hand in hers. “I believe that with all my heart.”