The Wharf

When she got to her room, she fired up her laptop. She planned to find out the identity of her talkative ex-con. As the computer booted up, she shed her clothes and wriggled into a bikini. Then she grabbed the hotel-issued terry-cloth robe and threw it over the back of a chair.

She leaned over the laptop, her hands hovering above the keyboard. What was the murder of a sister called? Fratricide? Or was it something different for a sister?

She tapped the keyboard. He’d been imprisoned at Walla Walla, but that didn’t necessarily mean he’d committed his crime in Washington.

She twisted her stiff neck from side to side and then shoved the computer away. She could do this the next morning before she met with Ryan Brody. Right now, she needed a little relaxation.

She slipped her arms into the robe and knotted the sash around her waist. Twisting her hair around her hand, she headed for the bathroom. Her toiletry bag hung on a hook on the back of the door, and she dug inside one of the pockets until her fingers tripped across a hair clasp.

She secured her hair, dropped her key card in her pocket and pulled her door securely closed behind her.

The vacant indoor pool beckoned. She shrugged out of the robe and draped it over a chair. She jerked her head toward some splashing coming from the hot tub. Three teenage boys rose from the bubbling water in unison, steam floating off their bodies.

They better not be heading toward the pool. She sat on the edge and lowered herself into the lukewarm water. She kicked off the wall, and the water enveloped her as she sliced through it, her arms windmilling and her flutter kick just breaking the surface.

In, out, in, out. Her regulated breathing calmed her and cleared her brain of all the ugliness she dealt with on a daily basis—all the ugliness yet to come.

She finished her laps and, placing her hands flat on the deck, hoisted herself out of the pool.

One glance at the hot tub and a trail of water leading to the door told her the boys had left. She made a beeline for the sauna. She pulled one of the heavy doors open and poked her head inside where the dry heat blasted her. It was blissfully empty inside. She spread her towel out on one of the wooden benches and stretched out on her back, crossing her arms beneath her head.

She’d play it cool with Brody. She’d play it nice and civil—just like she had with Daniel Walker. Not that Ryan Brody, youngest police chief in the state of California, was a serial killer.

But his dad was.

She stretched out her legs and wiggled her toes. It felt great, but she couldn’t take much more than ten minutes in the sauna.

A sound at the doors had her doing a half sit-up. She stared at the heavy wooden doors but nobody entered the sauna.

Good. Maybe someone had heard her in there. She rolled to her stomach, burying her face in her arms.

Sweat trickled down her back and dripped from her elbow. Sitting up, she dabbed the corner of her towel between her breasts.

She swung her feet to the floor and ladled a small amount of eucalyptus oil over the hot rocks. They sizzled and the fresh scent of eucalyptus soaked the room.

She took a few deep, cleansing breaths and then stood up and pushed at the door. It wouldn’t budge.

She wiped her hands on her towel and grabbed one of the door handles with two hands and gave it a shove. Wedging her shoulder against the wood, she drove into one door and then the other. The doors stayed firmly in place and now her shoulder hurt.

What the hell? The bellhop had told her the pool area was open all night and the sign on the door had verified that. There was no way they’d be locking up now. And why would they lock the sauna from the outside?

She pushed at the doors again and heard a rattle against the wood.

“Hello? Is anyone out there? Can you open the doors?”

Only the hissing and dripping of the rocks answered her.

She scanned the walls of the sauna for a phone, an emergency shutoff or a call button and saw nothing but smooth, dry wood.

“Hey!” She pounded her fists against the doors. “I’m in here.”

Sweat poured off her face and she mopped it with her towel. Trickles of it ran down her chest to her belly and more droplets crept down her spine.

Her breathing shortened and she parted her lips to drag in a long breath. The dry air filled her lungs.

She dumped another ladle of oil on the rocks and gulped in the rising steam.

Someone had to come in there shortly. If the pool was open twenty-four hours, maybe the cleaning crew came in the middle of the night.

She tried one of the doors again, driving her shoulder against it. Again, she heard a rattling on the outside. Was there something blocking the door? A sauna wouldn’t have a lock on the outside.

She planted her feet on the wood floor and flattened her palms against the double doors. She dug in and pushed with her entire weight. One of the doors moved past the other about a half an inch.

She pressed her eye to the crack, but the doors were too thick and there was very little space between them.

She put her lips to the space between the doors and screamed. “Help! I’m locked in the sauna.”

The yelling weakened her, and her knees wobbled. She put a hand out for the bench and sank to its hot surface, which scorched the backs of her thighs. Everything was hot now.

She ran her tongue around her parched mouth and tipped her head back to peer at the ceiling. She eyed a square vent with mesh across it. Could she fit through that? Where did it lead?

She stood on the bench and reached for the vent, her fingertips skimming the mesh. She rolled up her towel and stood on top of it. She slammed the heels of her hands against the vent and then noticed the screws.

With nothing gained except sore palms, she lowered herself to the bench.

Her robe. She’d left her robe hanging over one of the chairs. Maybe someone would notice it from the gym that looked out onto the pool and come out to pick it up.

She pressed her face against the double doors again and screamed. “Help! I’m in the sauna.”

She was going to meet her death in a hotel sauna. A laugh bubbled to her lips. Her parents were going to have a helluva lawsuit.

She pressed her hands to her hot, moist face and her eyelids fluttered. How long had she been in there? Maybe she’d just pass out, and they’d find her in the morning.

She dropped to the bench before her knees could buckle under her. She’d try screaming again in a minute or two—when she got her breath back.

A voice! Had she imagined it?

She hopped up, adrenaline surging through her body. “Is someone there? I’m in the sauna.”

Scratching and scraping noises echoed from outside the sauna and the doors wobbled. Then they flew open and cool air rushed into her wooden prison.

She heard a male voice, strong and angry. “What the hell happened?”

Her legs couldn’t support her and she fell forward.

Her rescuer caught her in a pair of solid arms, and for a moment she melted against him. “Thank you. Oh my God, I was trapped in there.”

“You’re burning up. You need water.” The man took a step back and tilted up her chin.