“I used to hate being sent down to get wine,” she said, but he could tell by the look in her eyes that she wasn’t going to let that stop her. Clearly she was curious why someone had put a new lock on the door. So nothing was going to stop her.
They dropped down the stairs into a labyrinth of tunnels that carried pipes and conduits, the ceilings low, the smell old and damp with a hint of putrid. He’d known he would eventually have to see what was down here in the underbelly of the hotel. Anna had assured the marshal that Megan’s diary wasn’t in the locked basement, so he hadn’t bothered to break the lock to search. In truth, he’d had no desire to come down here.
CASEY TURNED QUICKLY to the right and headed for the large locked door of the wine cellar. But Finn was shining the flashlight beam the other way into one of the main tunnels that ran under the hotel. A lot of the lights had burned out down here. As her eyes were starting to adjust to the darkness beyond, she saw him studying marks on the dirt floor. “Finn?”
“Something’s been digging down here,” he said as he squatted down near one spot along the wall. “That’s probably the sound we’ve both heard.” He shone the beam over the wall. She could see where the brick appeared to be decayed and disintegrating. “It looks like your grandmother had parts of this basement shored up with new brick and rock over the years.”
He rose to his feet, letting the beam of light drop to the floor again as he turned to her. “Probably an animal got in somehow and was trying to dig its way out.”
She felt a chill. If she’d had any thoughts of saving the place, she didn’t now. Even she could see that keeping the hotel would cost a fortune to maintain it. Seeing where something had dug only made her more anxious to get out of here. She felt as if she couldn’t breathe until they got back to the upper floor. She yearned for the fresh air just outside.
Finn stepped to her, gently brushing her shoulder as he did. His gaze settled on her, sending slivers of pleasure rushing to her center. “Let’s see about that wine, shall we, and get out of here.”
She couldn’t agree more as she hurriedly stepped to the wine cellar’s large wooden door and went to use the passkey. When she saw that someone had added a large padlock, she let out a frustrated exclamation.
“Problem?” he asked as he stepped closer and saw the padlock. “That’s odd, isn’t it?”
“Very. Why lock an already-locked door? Why change the lock on the door down here to begin with?” she said.
“What do you want me to do?” He met her gaze and chuckled. “That’s right. It is now my wine cellar, so if I want to break it open...” He grinned. “I’m opening it. I’ll be right back.”
Casey looked around the cold, damp space, wondering who had changed the locks and on what authority. Not that it mattered. She just didn’t want to spend any more time down here than was necessary. She was almost regretting the plan to check the wine cellar. She would rather be upstairs in bed with Finn right now.
She couldn’t help but notice that it seemed overly dark down here. It appeared every other bulb had burned out and needed to be replaced. Not that it now had anything to do with her, she reminded herself. She had to let go of this place. Let it be whatever it would be from here on out.
As she waited, she couldn’t help remembering another time down here when she’d thought she was alone—and hadn’t been. She’d come down to get a bottle of wine for the restaurant at her grandmother’s behest.
She hugged herself from the chill that wound round her neck at the memory. She’d just started to open the door when she’d sensed someone behind her. If Megan’s ghost was still hanging around this hotel, then she was here right now. Casey swallowed back the bile that rose in her throat as she slowly turned, sensing again something behind her. This time no one was there. Had she really expected to see Megan standing there—just like last time?
The memory was so sharp and painful that she couldn’t believe ten years had passed. Megan standing so close that Casey had felt the hair stand up on the back of her neck. She’d turned, catching that cloying scent of perfume, startled to see Megan. Even more startled to see the knife in her hand.
“What—”
That was all she’d gotten out before Megan had pushed her against the wine-cellar door hard enough to take her breath away. She’d expected to feel the bite of the blade, given the wild look in the young woman’s eyes.
But instead, Megan pressed a finger to her lips and whispered “Shh” next to her ear. “The monster will hear you.”
Casey’s heart had been pounding too hard to hear anything but the rush of blood careering through her veins.
She wanted to push the woman away, but Megan was still brandishing the blade in front of her face. She told herself that the young woman was just trying to scare her. It was working.
“You can’t—”
Megan silenced her with a hand to her mouth.
They stayed like that for a long moment until Casey had had enough.
She’d pushed Megan away, angry enough to have not cared about the knife. “What kind of stupid game are you—”
“You know about the monster, don’t you?”
“What are you talking about?”
Megan eyed her for a long moment, eyes narrowing with anger. “How could I have forgotten? Of course you know. This is your hotel.”
Was the woman delusional? Or just toying with her?
“They’re waiting for this wine,” Casey had said, realizing that she didn’t care one way or the other
