“I mean… It just said that he wanted to commit suicide or whatever. I reported it to the police, they came and took it, and then that was that.”
Melissa sat up straight. She was clearly inebriated, but she was still managing to put the pieces of the story together in her head.
“Tell me it was the same cops,” Melissa said.
Amber felt hot blood rushing to her face. She hoped that Melissa and Stephanie wouldn’t notice.
“It had to be, right?” Melissa asked.
“The same as what?” Stephanie asked.
Melissa turned to her friend. “The cops that came and took the note must have continued onto the neighbor’s house. Then, he killed them and threw their stuff in the pit. That’s what happened, right?”
Amber lifted her glass of stale beer and then set it back down when she remembered how terrible it tasted.
With a quick sigh, she nodded and said, “Yup.”
Melissa put her hands together like she was praying and then reached out for Amber’s hand.
“You are so lucky.”
Amber scrunched up her face. “What?”
“I mean, lucky that he didn’t come for you. They’re still looking for that guy. Don’t you worry that he’s going to come in the middle of the night and try to kill you?”
“No,” Amber said. “I’m not.”
“I would be,” Stephanie said.
The two of them agreed with each other and broke into a conversation about what they would do if a murderer came knocking in the night.
“I really am going. It was nice to meet you again,” Amber said as she stood. She picked up her jacket and purse and slung them over her arm.
“Catch you later,” Melissa said with a wave.
Amber smiled.
She walked through the door and down the hall. The doors to the big dining room were open. Everything had been put away. There was no way to tell that the wedding reception had taken place. The party had come and gone. Somewhere, upstairs, the new wife and husband were probably celebrating their union. Amber was already regretting that she had decided to take a room for the night. As spooky as it was living alone, it would have been nice to sleep in her own bed—way less effort, at least.
Amber laughed at herself as she walked.
It was virtually the same argument that she had used as an excuse to stay at the hotel. She had told herself that she wanted a change of scenery in order to get a fresh perspective. Truthfully, both arguments were rooted in the idea that she was looking for change. It didn’t matter what choice she made, the other would always seem more alluring.
Passing by another door, she saw a familiar sweater. Amber slowed and saw that Nick and Riley had never made it to the lobby after all. Nick was manhandling a pinball machine and Riley was standing behind him with his arms crossed.
Amber kept moving before she was spotted. They were nice enough, but she really didn’t want to have another conversation with people she didn’t know. There were too many unexpected questions.
The hotel had a cramped elevator, but Amber chose the stairs. Three flights up, her room was at the back. It had a nice view of the hills although that had been wasted on her. By the time she arrived, she only had been able to spend a few minutes getting settled in the room before she had to go back downstairs to the reception. And now it would be too dark to see anything.
She paused before she climbed the last flight of stairs. Someone was sitting on the floor.
“Jennifer?”
Jennifer let out a startled gasp.
“You scared the life out of me,” Jennifer said. “You’re so quiet.”
“Why are you in the stairwell? Where’s Aaron?”
Jennifer’s shoulders slumped. “Long story.”
# # #
Amber settled down on the top step, next to Jennifer, taking quick stock of her. The makeup had been washed off her face and she was in sweat clothes and slippers. It looked like she was ready for bed. One of Jennifer’s fingers picked at the polish that was chipping from her thumbnail. That type of decoration looked out of place on Jennifer’s hands.
“Long story?” Amber asked.
“Long and boring,” Jennifer said with a quick smile. “Aaron has been working with this company in Australia. They’re doing a server migration that has to be done on Sunday before five, so they’re trying to get everything wrapped up and I guess it’s not going well.”
“What’s a server migration?”
Jennifer laughed. “Long and boring. I don’t know what it is about those conversations. I guess that I hear the stress in Aaron’s voice and it… I don’t know. I couldn’t listen to his side of the meeting anymore, so I came out here.”
“You want to go down to the bar?” Amber asked. “Stephanie and Melissa are still down there.”
Jennifer laughed, shook her head, and covered her mouth.
“No!”
Amber smiled. “Come hang out with me, then. We can watch TV or maybe sit out on the balcony and watch the snow fall.”
“You don’t mind? You look exhausted.”
Amber raised her eyebrows. “Thanks?”
They laughed together. “I didn’t mean it that way. I just know you had a stressful drive and I…”
Amber stood up and grabbed Jennifer’s hand. “Come on.”
Three: Balcony
Every blanket from the hotel closet was draped on top of them. Jennifer had one leg folded up underneath herself and the other swaddled as best she could. Amber sat cross-legged on the bench next to her.
Amber took a sip from a tiny bottle and held it out. Jennifer liberated one of her hands to take the offering.
“It’s almost worth it,” Amber said.
“What is?”
“The view.”
“Oh,” Jennifer said. She handed the bottle back as counterfeit alcohol warmth ran through her. “Our view is terrible. I guess in the daylight it’s nice. We’re facing the slopes, so maybe it would be fun if it were ski season. This time of year, it’s just
