by Morgana Best
The music in the room was loud. I wondered how I would ever hear anyone yell ‘Happy Birthday.’ Suddenly the room went quiet. My heart beat faster and I broke into a cold sweat.
As soon as I heard the fateful words, ‘Happy Birthday,’ I pushed the top of the cake. It readily flew off. I jumped out of the cake to a round of applause. I stood there dumbstruck. Vicky shot me a glare and I realised I was meant to sing to the blaring music.
I wasn't sure of the words, so I made them up. I mean, I didn't think anyone else would know the words either. I was surprised how good I was at ad-libbing. I moved my head up and down, put a mean look on my face, and made a lot of guttural animal sounds.
Vicky looked absolutely shocked, but everyone else applauded loudly, especially the man I suspected was the government official, given the paper party hat on his head. He applauded the loudest. Not that I could hear him–I was judging by the way his hands moved.
When the music stopped, I realised I had to stop singing. Everyone cheered. I nodded and walked backwards to the door. I slipped out and shut it behind me. I pulled off my heels, left them there, and ran back to my wing.
I looked over my shoulder to see if anyone was following me and ran straight into someone. "I'm terribly sorry," I said.
To my horror, it was Julie.
Julie’s jaw dropped open. “Oh my goodness, Misty! Look at you. A bit kinky,” she sniggered. "You do have hidden depths. And I thought you were just a boring small town woman. Who knew you were leading a double life?"
The people behind her all stared at me in shock.
I smiled and nodded and walked away as fast as I could. As I rounded a corner, a pair of hands gripped me and pulled me into a room.
Chapter 14
I lifted my foot to kick my attacker when I saw it was Douglas. "What are you doing?" I snapped at him.
"I need to speak with you," he said. "Why on earth are you dressed like a, a, …" He did not finish his sentence.
"It's a long story."
He folded his arms over his chest. "I have all day."
I let out a sigh of resignation. "All right, if you must know. I broke into the office to look at the guest register on the computer."
Douglas interrupted me. “You did what?"
I shot him a glare and continued. "I wanted to see if someone had booked a lot of rooms. You know, the vacant rooms." I craned my neck to look around his room for clues, but it looked like any other hotel room.
"I really don't know what you're talking about," he said.
"There are sixty-seven rooms here, but there are not many guests. One of the maids told me there’s a big birthday party being held at the moment and that the office was empty so I broke into it to look at the computer," I explained patiently. "I wanted to know if my suspicions were correct, that someone had booked a lot of rooms only to have them remain vacant."
Douglas nodded slowly. "Good thinking. And what did you find out?"
"I didn't get that far," I lied. "However, I did see that Julie, my nosy postal lady, had booked a week earlier."
"I don't know who she is," Douglas said.
"Still, it's strange. She said she'd only booked after she discovered I was coming here, so how could she possibly have booked a week earlier?"
Douglas shrugged. "Maybe their software is off. Did you discover who booked the other rooms?"
I shook my head. "No, I already told you that. Just as I was about to find out, a man came in. He thought I was the birthday party singer, so he dragged me along to jump out of a cake and sing for some government official."
Douglas was looking entirely confused by now.
"I’ve had a terrible experience. I don't want to explain it all," I said. “Tell me why you dragged me into your room."
"It's about Lucas Wallace’s journal, Misty," Douglas said. "You don't seem to be taking this at all seriously. Thousands of people could die if we don't find that journal."
I raised one eyebrow. Surely, he was exaggerating.
Douglas pushed on. "The journal contains dangerous secrets.”
"What kind of dangerous secrets?" I asked him.
Douglas hesitated. "Well, we don't exactly know, only that they’re dangerous."
"You're lying," I said. "You can't expect me to help if you won't tell me anything."
"Why should I tell you anything when you don't trust me?"
"Well then, what's the point of this conversation?"
I swung back to the door, but Douglas beat me to it. He stood in my way, barring the door. "Misty, you will have to trust me when I tell you that this journal can't fall into the wrong hands. There are dangerous people after it."
"So you keep telling me," I said. "You don't seem to want to tell me any specific details that might help." I waved my hand at him. "Why can't you find the journal? And why do you think I can?"
"You're staying in Lucas Wallace’s room," Douglas pointed out. "It must be hidden somewhere in the room."
"But I've already searched the room," I protested.
"Not well enough."
I sighed. "Well, if you think I'm going to invite you back to my room to look through it, you're sadly mistaken."
"Come on, Misty," Douglas said in a cajoling tone. "Two heads are better than one. You haven't found it, so you need help."
"If I need help with anything, I'll ask John."
Douglas looked horrified. "John? You haven't told John I wanted the journal, have you?"
I jutted out my chin. "What if I have? I don’t keep secrets from him."
Douglas's expression grew stern. “I know you don't trust me, but I'm not lying when I say that if the journal’s dangerous secret falls into the wrong hands, terrible things will happen."
"What sort of terrible things?" I prompted him. "You have to be a bit more forthcoming if you want me to help you."
"The journal holds the key to something that could unleash terrible creatures into this world."
"You're kidding me, right?"
Douglas opened his mouth to speak, but the door opened hard into the small of my back, sending me stumbling forwards. I turned around to see Julie.
She looked shocked to see me but recovered quickly. "Misty, I thought I saw you come in here. I knew it wasn't your room. Have you become an escort or something? I knew your hours had been cut, but I never guessed you would go into this line of work. Anyway, I was worried for your safety. When you didn't come out, I thought I'd break in and save you."
"An escort? An escort?" I sputtered. "I'm nothing of the sort. I was, um, doing a job as a birthday singer. A paid job as a birthday singer and that's all it was," I added. I could hardly tell her it was all a consequence of being caught breaking into the office.
A sly smile covered her face. "If you say so. And who is this gentleman?" She flashed Douglas a wide smile.
He held out his hand to her. "Just call me Douglas," he said. "And you are?"
"Julie. I'm a good friend of Misty's. It's lovely to meet you."
"Likewise." He shot her a fake smile. Douglas looked none too pleased to see her.
Something worried me. It seemed to me Douglas and Julie knew each other. Surely Julie hadn't been following me, because after we bumped into each other she had gone the other way. Had she, in fact, turned around and followed me? I couldn't be sure.
Nothing was adding up. The more I investigated, the more questions rather than answers presented themselves.
"Well, I'll be on my way. You sure you're all right, Misty?”
"Yes, I've known Douglas for a long time," I said, and then realised Julie hadn't asked me how I knew Douglas. She hadn't been at all curious, unless she truly believed I was an escort. Yes, something was wrong here.
"I'm going back to my room to change now," I said to Douglas after Julie left. He opened his mouth to say something, but I held up one hand to him, palm outward. "No, that's enough. If I find the journal, I'll let you know." Of course, I had no intention of letting him know. I hurrie
d out his door, with him right behind me, and ran straight into John.
To say John was shocked was the understatement of the century. "What's going on?" John said, his expression terse.
"Misty and I were having a nice little chat in my room," Douglas said with a wink.
John’s face turned bright red.
"I've had a terrible time!" I said. “I’ll tell you all about it, John. Come to my room before anything else happens.”
I took John by the arm and hurried him in the direction of my room. "I've already been through this probably five times. Maybe it was only once, but it feels like a thousand times," I told John. "I suspected that one person booked a whole lot of rooms that they had no intention of filling, with the sole purpose of forcing me into Lucas Wallace's room."
I stopped for a moment to pull my phone out of my handbag. I pulled up the photo and showed him. "Does this name look familiar?"
John's expression was one of shock. "No," was all he said.
"Anyway, the maid who was cleaning my room told me the office was shut for a few hours due to a big birthday party for a government official. I broke into the office and looked on the computer and that's where I found this." I tapped the phone on the screen. "I was leaving the office when a man came. He thought I was the birthday singer. He told me to dress in these terrible clothes, and an overbearing woman escorted me to a cake. I had to jump out of the cake and sing a dreadful song to this official before I could make my escape."
"Why didn't you simply tell him it was case of mistaken identity?" John asked me. The tension had partly left his body.
"Because he said he was relieved I was the birthday singer in the office, and if it had been anyone else, he would’ve called the police."
John looked doubtful. I pushed on. "Anyway, I was on my way back when I ran into Julie, and then as I was going past Douglas's room, he pulled me inside and told me I had to find Lucas Wallace's journal."
I relayed everything Douglas had said to me. I added, "And then Julie burst into his room. You know, I wouldn't be surprised if they knew each other. She looked surprised to see me and she made up some cover story about thinking I was an escort. She said she had followed me, but I was sure nobody had followed me. I kept looking over my shoulder. Do you think the two of them know each other?"
"It's certainly possible," John said. "Maybe Douglas has been paying her to keep an eye on you for some time."
We had reached my room. "That wouldn't surprise me at all."
"Look, I have to do a bit of work on a case,” John said. “Do you have plans for dinner tonight?" I shook my head. "Join meet me at the restaurant at seven? We can compare notes then."
"Sure.”
John gave me a quick kiss and then left. I let myself into my motel room, intending to remove the dreadful clothes as soon as I could, when I remembered he hadn't told me which restaurant at the hotel. I opened the door to call after him, but he had already gone.
Julie was standing there, leaning against the wall, watching my door.
We locked eyes and then she hurried down the corridor.
Chapter 15
A loud knock echoed through the hotel room and snapped me from my sleep. I rubbed my eyes to rid them of fatigue. Had I imagined it? I’d slept in my own room, but had been so scared that I’d been up half the night. It seemed as though I had only just fallen asleep.
I had also tossed and turned as John had cancelled dinner at the last minute, giving his work as the excuse.
I sat up in the bed and listened for a second knock. After several seconds, it came. I jumped out of bed and hurried for the door. Standing there was a tall, thin man wearing a dark uniform. If his peculiar moustache hadn’t distracted me so much, I might have noticed right away that he worked for the Hydro Majestic hotel.
I stared at the man, focusing on the light brown creature that rested atop his upper lip. I tilted my head as he raised his eyebrows but said nothing. His moustache was thick and bushy in the centre and twirled up at its ends, almost as if both sides were racing to touch his nose.
“Excuse me, Ms Friday?” he finally said, shattering the silence. “Your tour of the Jenolan Caves is at eleven. The bus will be here at ten for all booked guests. It can’t wait for stragglers.” He handed me a small envelope. “Have a nice day,” he added, before continuing down the hallway.
I closed the door to my suite and looked at the envelope in my hands. I had no idea what tour he had been talking about, but it was obvious I was holding the answer in the palm of my hands. I leant backwards, my back pressing against the closed door as I ripped open the envelope and pulled out a small card that read: Misty Friday and guests. Enjoy your all-expense paid trip to one of the Blue Mountains’ most breath-taking natural attractions.
I read the note over and over, hoping I would miraculously discover something new if I looked just a little bit harder. I wasn’t sure who had booked the tour for me or why they had, but time wasn’t going to slow down and wait for me to come up with the answer. The man said the bus would be arriving at ten, and a quick glance at my phone showed it was already just after nine.
I decided to text Cordelia and tell the news. I figured I could invite guests, or hoped so, anyway. Hey som syerosu prosn, Skinny perhaps? Booked us for tour of the ejnolan caves. The bus will be eher at 10. lets emet up in the lonny in 30.
I then looked at what I had written, deleted it, and typed it again, more carefully this time. Oh, if only I’d learnt to type! My fingers had a mind of their own. Hey, some mysterious person, Skinny perhaps? booked us for a tour of the Jenolan Caves. The bus will be here at 10. Let’s meet up in the lobby in 30.
Cordelia’s response was fast. That sounds like fun! I’ll be ready in thirty.
I thought about John. I wanted to invite him, too, but was he working? He had already stood me up. I was sensitive to rejection, so didn’t want to invite him and have him refuse. I decided to type an ambiguous message. Someone mysterious booked me a tour of the Jenolan Caves. It said I could bring guests. Cordelia and I are leaving on the bus at 10. I smiled, both at my cleverness, and the fact that I hadn’t made any typos for once.
I brushed my hair, applied makeup, and then headed towards the exit. I shut the door and tested the knob to ensure it was secured. Then, as I turned to leave, a pain knocked me backwards. I gripped my upper left arm with my right hand in reaction to the sharp pain that was sending jolts of agony through it.
I looked up into the face of Julie.
“I’m so sorry!” she said. “I wasn’t looking where I was going.”
“That’s fine,” I said through gritted teeth. “Well, see you later. I’m in a bit of a hurry.” I pushed past Julie, massaging my arm. As I walked down the corridor, I saw that Julie was following at a distance, so I ducked this way and that, trying to lose her. It proved to be more difficult than I thought. Finally, I headed for the lobby, thinking I had given her the slip.
Cordelia was already there.
“Hey,” I said. “I ran into Julie down the hall, literally, so I was trying to shrug her off.”
“Did it work?” Cordelia asked, bobbing her head up and down in an attempt to see over my shoulders.
I shook my head and chuckled. “I think it’s safe to say she’s gone.”
“So, how exactly did you get booked for this tour?” Cordelia asked me, raising one eyebrow and scratching her chin.
“Not a clue. A note was delivered to my room. Could it have been Skinny?”
Cordelia looked thoughtful. “Dunno, but why would she send a note to you instead of to me? Or not to both of us? And surely she’d tell us?”
I shrugged. “Who would know? Who else could it have been, though?”
Just then, a familiar voice sounded behind me. “Where are you two going?”
My spirits sank.
“We’re on holiday, Julie,” Cordelia said. “People don’t just sit around in a hotel room when they go somewhere on a holiday.”
“
I know that, but sitting around in my hotel room is exactly what I’m going to end up doing if I don’t find something fun and exciting to do.” Julie pouted. “I’m going on a tour of the Jenolan caves soon,” she added, a glint in her eyes.
I rolled my eyes and then glanced at Cordelia, hoping for some sort of assistance in dealing with the annoying woman. I was suspicious of Julie’s relationship with Douglas, and that was one more reason I wanted to avoid her.
Julie was still talking. “I’ve never explored caverns or anything adventurous like that. It should be really nice. Better than drinking booze and playing video games,” she concluded in an angry tone, just before pointing out the door. “The bus!” She ran out.
Cordelia shook her head and laughed. “I thought you said you’d lost her!”
I rubbed my forehead. “Is it bad to take Advil as a preventative?” I asked. I looked at Cordelia, but she was staring over my shoulder. “What are you looking at?” I asked, turning around. As I did, I saw John walking over to us.
“I know you didn’t exactly invite me, but you did say that you could bring guests,” he said, with a broad smile.
I smiled awkwardly.
“I’ll go and find Julie and make sure she doesn’t make any enemies for us on the bus. Just a few words from that woman and they’ll hate us the entire way,” Cordelia joked.
I knew she was just making up an excuse to give us privacy, so I smiled. “Thanks,” I said.
John took my arm. “Listen, I think this is some sort of trap or something. Something doesn’t feel right. I don’t think you should go. Maybe tell Cordelia and whoever else you invited that you aren’t feeling well?’
I shook my head. “I can’t do that. If you’re right and this is a trap, then it’s important that I don’t decline the tour. What if this is our only chance of finding out what’s going on?”
