“What happened?” Ralph’s face filled with concern.
My eyes momentarily flashed to the entrance looking for familiar, unwelcome faces. “I’m not sure.” I turned back to Ralph. “I think she was bitten by a spider in my room.”
“Who?”
“A woman from a property management company.”
“Holy Mary, Mother of God.” He performed a rapid catholic sign of the cross. “Stay down here while I contact an exterminator.”
I headed to the pay phones that lined the far wall, called Nancy’s office, and explained what had occurred.
“What hospital?” the receptionist asked.
“I don’t know. I assume it would be the one closest to downtown.”
“Thanks for the call.” She hung up.
I sat on the bench by the check-in desk and worried about Nancy. She came to help me and now she was in the hospital, probably taking my place. But based on everything I knew about spiders, I suspected the paralysis was temporary and she might be fine after she received the medication to counteract the venom.
My mind drifted to the fate of the spider. My parents were arachnologists, and spiders were always sacred to them. They never would have allowed one to be harmed, even if it were poisonous. I was convinced the spider had been planted in that box. It didn’t deserve to die because of that. It’s just a scared, delicate creature doing all it knows. I hoped I’d have a chance to find it before the exterminator arrived.
Ralph leaned over the counter. “They’ll be here within the hour. You shouldn’t go back to your room until they’re finished.”
“But I need to go up and get a few things.” I rubbed my arm, trying to keep goosebumps to a minimum.
“Just grab your bare necessities and don’t be hanging around long with those nasty bugs.”
“Thank you, Ralph.” I nodded in appreciation and went to the elevator. In my room, I searched around the windows, the corners, the bathroom, and only found a black spider. I thought Nancy had been bitten by the chestnut brown one I saw on the floor. It looked something like a hobo spider.
After placing the black spider on the outside ledge where it would be safe, I heard a knock and closed the window.
Opening the door, I saw a heavyset man wearing a grey uniform with DB Exterminators woven above his pocket. “Please come in.”
He entered with his equipment. “Miss, you’ll have to stay out of your room for four hours. Also, you can’t sleep in here tonight. I’ll let the hotel clerk know.”
I picked up my purse and swept my eyes over the room one more time. I hoped I would spot the spider. When I failed, I bit my lower lip and retreated to the hall.
Just then, Brett stepped out of the elevator. “You okay?” he asked, putting his arm around my shoulders. “Ralph told me what happened.”
“Yeah. I was searching for the spider. It might help her if they knew the type it was.” I didn’t want to tell him how I felt about spiders. People always thought it was strange. “But now the exterminator is here.”
“The sooner it’s gone the better. I don’t want an ambulance coming for you.”
“You didn’t per chance send me a gift?” I felt silly and presumptuous the second my question flew out of my mouth.
“No, but if you’d like a gift from me, I’d be more than happy to oblige.” He tilted his head to the side and offered a wink.
“I’m sorry, that’s not what I meant. I guess I’m just stressed out.”
He caressed my arm. “No, I’m the only who should be sorry. You’ve had a bad morning. But why did you ask if I had sent you a gift?” Brett raised a brow, showing concern.
“The spider came in a package.”
His eyes narrowed. “You thought I sent you a spider?”
“No. No. It was in a small box with a ring. If you had sent it, I wanted to contact the jewelry store and tell them what happened in case there are other spiders.”
“The ring must’ve been sent by another admirer,” he said, smirking. “What was the return address?”
“There wasn’t one. It was postmarked in Billings.”
“Mind if I take a look at the box?”
“Let me see if I can get it.” I opened my door, stuck in my head, and asked the exterminator, “Can I get something?”
“Yes, but hurry,” he said, spraying a corner.
Only Nancy’s documents lay on the table; the box and ring were gone. “Have you seen a small box and a ring with a black stone around here?” I pointed to the coffee table.
“No, ma’am. I haven’t started working on that part of the room yet.”
I scanned the floor again, returned to the hallway, and shut the door. “Strange. I can’t see the ring box anywhere. I told Nancy I’d come to the hospital so I need to get going.”
“Would you like me to go with you?”
“If you don’t mind.” I felt relieved I wouldn’t be going alone. Nancy had been bitten in my room so her family might think I was somehow responsible. I wondered if that might be right. If the Crussetts had found me, the wrong person became the victim. I knew whomever they had sent wouldn’t leave without getting their target. They’d be hanging around somewhere waiting for an opportunity.
When we stepped out of the elevator, Ralph motioned for me to come to the counter. “Here’s your messages, Miss Jones.” He handed them over.
“Thanks, Ralph,” I said. “Where’s the closest hospital?”
“Just a few miles away.” He pulled out a map from under the counter. “Let me show you.”
“Would you mind giving Brett the directions while I read these?” I asked, holding up the messages.
He nodded and talked to Brett as he highlighted the route on the map.
The first message was from Betty Madsen, the receptionist at Nancy’s office. It read: “I haven’t been able to locate the hospital where Nancy was taken. Could you give me more information?”
The second one came from Nancy’s brother. It read: “Can you tell me where the ambulance took Nancy?”
There were three other similar messages. My eyes darted to the door and I tried to recall the name on the ambulance. Nothing came to me. I turned back to the check-in counter. “Ralph, do you know what ambulance company picked up Nancy Stewart?”
“No. Is there a problem?”
Tapping my fingers on the counter, I replied, “Her co-workers and family can’t locate the hospital.”
“Did you call 9-1-1?” Brett asked. “Or did Ralph?”
“I called.” Again, I tried to sound calm as my adrenaline spiked.
“Let me check with 9-1-1,” Ralph said. “They’ll know.”
Brett and I sat down while Ralph called.
The exterminator walked over to the counter and put his equipment down on the floor. As soon as Ralph hung up, the exterminator said, “I’m finished. No one should go in the room for at least four hours. And no one should sleep there tonight.”
“I’ll move her to another room.” Ralph multitasked by looking at vacancies while dealing with the bug man. “Thank you for coming so quickly.”
Brett took my hand. “You can stay in my room.”
I brushed away chills his touch brought, and tried to handle his offer with a modicum of diplomacy. “Brett, I’m not really comfortable with staying there overnight. I’m just not ready for another relationship yet.”
“I didn’t mean to insinuate we would be bed partners. You’d sleep in the bed and I’d take the sofa.”
“Let me think about your kind offer, but first I need to find Nancy.” I walked beside him to the counter.
“They have no record of your call,” Ralph said.
“That can’t be. I talked to them,” I snapped. Shaking my head, I glared at the phone. “If I didn’t, then who requested the ambulance? Let me call them.” I picked up the receiver and dialed 9-1-1.
“What is your emergency?” a woman asked.
“Earlier today I called because a woman had been bitten by a spider in my ro
om at the Towne Hotel.”
“Miss, I just talked to the hotel clerk about that and checked all our records. No one has called today from the Towne Hotel,” she said firmly.
“I talked to a man and he sent an ambulance.”
“That is impossible. Our male employees all work the nightshift. This morning you would have talked to a woman.”
“I called,” I hissed, feeling irritated they couldn’t keep better track of their employees.
“I’m sorry. We log all our calls, and there wasn’t one from the Towne Hotel.”
I slammed down the receiver. “They claim I didn’t call.”
Brett held my shoulders. “Relax. She’ll show up.”
After taking several deep breaths, I asked, “Ralph, can I see the yellow pages?”
He handed it over, and I flipped to ambulance companies. Only three were listed. Brett sat down while I made the calls. When I finished, I felt discouraged and gave Ralph back the phone. “None of them sent an ambulance. I watched the paramedics put her in one.”
“Even if I didn’t get the company name, I saw an ambulance. Here,” Ralph said, handing me more messages.
I quickly glanced through them. They were all the same: “Where is Nancy?” An uneasy feeling vibrated through my body as I became more convinced the Crussetts had found me. Conner knew I liked spiders and I wouldn’t have hesitated to pick one up. Did someone think Nancy was me? We were about the same size. We both had brown hair. Hers was short and curly, while mine was long and wavy. She was older, but, from a distance, they might not have noticed. If she had been mistaken for me, I knew she’d never be found.
Another large group of people converged into the lobby. Glimpsing out the window, I saw a parked tour bus and sat down next to Brett.
“Anything new in the messages?” he asked.
“No. I better contact the police,” I said, reluctantly.
“Do you want to call them from my room?”
My eyes darted back and forth over the crowd milling about as I searched for unwelcome familiar faces. “Yes. It won’t be noisy there.”
Brett had a corner room with two windows, one on each exterior wall. As soon as we entered, I placed the call and talked to an officer named Lieutenant Barnes. After I filled him in, he asked me to come down to the police station.
“I’ll be there soon,” I said and then clicked off.
“Let me take you.”
Standing quietly, I felt a knot in my stomach and bit my lips, speculating how much the police would want to know. If I mentioned the Crussett family and they weren’t involved, I’d be responsible for letting them know where I was.
Brett wrapped his arm around my shoulders. “Is something wrong?”
I gazed at him and saw the concerned expression on his face. He was my only friend in Billings. I needed to confide in someone. “I don’t know. I came to Billings to get away from some people, and now I’m wondering if they’ve found me.”
“I suspected you were running from someone. Whenever we go anywhere, your eyes are always scanning the crowd. Even today, I noticed you looking at everyone who entered the hotel.”
“I don’t know what to do,” I said with trembling lips. “Could they have put the spider in the package? How much should I tell the police?”
“You don’t have any proof the spider was deliberately sent. If someone wanted to harm you, that was too elaborate of a plan. There wasn’t a guarantee the spider would bite you.”
“You’re right.” I rubbed my forehead. “Spiders can’t be trained. That’s just a conclusion I jumped to since there wasn’t a return address and Nancy is missing.”
“Before you say anything to the cops about your personal situation, wait and see if someone takes credit for the ring.”
“That’s what I’ll do. I didn’t mean to burden you with my problem.”
“Sara, I’m glad you did.” He tenderly squeezed my hands. “Ready to go?”
“Yes. Let’s get this over with before Nancy’s family shows up here.”
In the lobby, Ralph again handed me more messages. I thumbed through them. They were all about Nancy, except one. It was from Sherman’s, a department store in Billings, asking if I received the gift they sent.
I sighed with relief. “The ring came from Sherman’s,” I told Brett. “Last week, I was their 100,000th customer. They said I’d receive a prize, but I had no idea it would be that nice. Well, except for the deadly spider.”
“All that worrying for nothing.” He tapped his forefinger across the end of my nose playfully.
I appreciated him wanting to lift my spirit. “Let’s just cross fingers I’ll be able to find the ring when I have more time to search my room.”
Brett pulled into a parking stall in front of City Hall. We headed to the entrance while I admired the building’s Art Deco design with its ornaments and motifs. Trying to delay my meeting with Barnes as long as possible, I stopped and read the police memorial. Then Brett took my hand, and we stepped across the threshold. The foyer was a large open space with signs posted next to the hallways. We went to the right, the one marked police department, and headed through another set of doors. We stopped at the information desk.
“May I help you?” a female officer asked.
“Yes. I’m here to see Lieutenant Barnes.”
Just then, a robust man with a thick handlebar mustache approached the desk from the other side. “I’m Lieutenant Barnes,” he said in authoritative voice as he walked toward us. “You must be Miss Jones.”
“Yes,” I said, shaking his hand. “This is my friend, Brett Daborel.”
After they shook hands, Barnes led us into a conference room. Brett sat patiently at my side as I watched Barnes curling the ends of his mustache while I repeated everything I had already told him over the phone.
“Nancy Stewart’s family and co-workers have been trying to locate her. They’ve left me these messages.” I held them up.
“I’ll take those.” Barnes’ husky hand reached forward as I handed them over. “We’ll locate Ms. Stewart and contact her family along with everyone who left you a message. In case we need any additional information, will you be staying in Billings for a while?”
“Yes. I’m planning on making this my home. Will you let me know when you find her?”
“We’ll keep you informed.”
I left City Hall feeling relieved professionals would be searching for Nancy. They had the skills and resources needed to locate her.
“That wasn’t so bad, was it?” Brett asked.
“No. They didn’t ask anything about my personal life.”
“I didn’t think they would.” He opened the car door. “Where do you want to go for lunch?”
“I just want to go back to the hotel.”
“You have to eat. There’s a new Italian restaurant that just opened. How does that sound?”
Since he had been so supportive, I agreed and said, “Good.”
During lunch, he talked about the new movies in town we should see. Finally, after working on me for an hour, he convinced me to go with him to the matinee of The Other Woman; probably to get my mind off Nancy.
After the movie, we returned to the hotel; Ralph waved his hand, gesturing us over.
“Lieutenant Barnes and Sergeant Harmon just left. They asked some questions about the 9-1-1 call. According to them, I confirmed everything you had already told them. Then they checked out your room. They just did a walk-through because of the strong smell of pesticide.” He picked up a key from the counter. “There weren’t any rooms available on your floor so I’ve put you in room 720 for the night. You should be able to go back to your room tomorrow.”
“Thanks.” I took the key. As tempting as it was, my senses warned me against accepting Brett’s offer of sleeping in his room. I would stay in a separate room.
My room reeked from the chemicals in the poisonous spray. I quickly gathered a few things and headed to room 720.
The sou
nd of a door slamming awoke me. I flipped on the nightstand lamp and glimpsed at the clock: 1:30 a.m. I turned off the light, rolled over on my side, but I couldn’t seem to relax enough to drift off. Instead, I thought about Nancy’s disappearance. I couldn’t shake the feeling the Crussetts were somehow involved even if they hadn’t sent the ring. Maybe the spider didn’t come in the box. I flicked back on the lamp, climbed out of bed, and checked the deadbolt lock to make sure it was securely in place.
Getting under the covers, I reached for the lamp switch and felt something drop on my hand. I looked and saw a chestnut colored spider, like the one I spotted on my floor after Nancy was bitten. A chill ran through my body as I decided to catch it. Climbing out of bed, I kept my hand rigid. The spider began to crawl up my arm while I walked to the bathroom. I took a tissue, placed it in the spider’s path, and let the spider move onto it. Carefully, I picked up the tissue with the spider cradled inside and dumped out the contents of my make-up bag. As my heart raced, I eased it in, zipped up the bag, and then smiled to myself.
Wondering if there were more spiders, I slipped on my robe and searched under the bed, the dresser, the nightstand, and pulled down the bed covers. Nothing. I was content that it was safe to go back to bed. Lying between the sheets, I found it impossible to sleep. I rose again and made a cup of coffee.
I sat down in the cushioned chair and appreciated the peace and quiet as I sipped it. Leaning back, I closed my eyes and wondered about everything that happened the day before. I felt a sting on my foot, looked down, and saw a chestnut brown spider crawl off it. I flinched, and my mouth popped wide open. I knew I needed to stay calm to slow down the spread of the venom in case it was the same kind that had bitten Nancy.
I picked up the phone and punched Brett’s number.
“Hello,” he answered, sounding groggy.
“I’ve been bitten.”
“Damn! Be right there.”
Slowly, I stood, unlocked the door, and left it ajar. I eased back down in the seat and examined my foot.
Brett rushed in. “Have you called 9-1-1?”
Dead and Gone Page 110
