Part 7 (1/2)
About twenty minutes later, the light in Debbie's room clicked on. I knocked softly on the gla.s.s with my bare knuckles, then knocked again a little harder.
Footsteps approached.
Debbie opened the curtains a little and stared out, confused. It took her a few seconds to look down and notice me. When she did, she almost collapsed with surprise.
”Open the window,” I said, mouthing the words clearly in case she couldn't hear me. Nodding, she dropped to her knees and shoved up the lower pane of gla.s.s.
”What are you doing?” she hissed. ”What are you holding on to?”
”I'm floating on air,” I joked.
”You're crazy,” Debbie said. ”You'll slip and fall.”
”I'm totally safe,” I a.s.sured her. ”I'm a good climber.”
”You must be freezing,” she said, spotting my feet. ”Where are your shoes?
Come in, quick, before you -”
”I don't want to come in,” I interrupted. ”I climbed up because... well... I...” I took a deep breath. ”Is the offer still on?”
”What offer?” Debbie asked.
”The offer of a kiss,” I said.
Debbie blinked, then smiled. ”You are crazy.” She laughed.
”One hundred percent crazy,” I agreed.
”You went to all this trouble just for that?” she asked.
I nodded.
”You could have knocked on the door,” she said.
”I didn't think of that.” I smiled. ”So how about it?”
”I suppose you deserve one,” she said, ”but quickly, okay?”
”All right,” I agreed.
Debbie stuck her head out. I leaned forward, heart beating, and pecked her lips.
She smiled. ”Worth coming up for?” she asked.
”Yes,” I said. I was shaking, and it wasn't from the cold.
”Here,” she said. ”Here's another one.”
She kissed me sweetly, and I almost lost my grip on the wall.
When she moved away, she was smiling mysteriously. In the reflection of the dark gla.s.s, I saw myself grinning like an idiot.
”See you tomorrow, Romeo,” she said.
”Tomorrow,” I sighed happily. As the window shut and the curtains closed, I climbed down, delighted with myself. I practically bounced back to the hotel. I was almost at the door before I remembered my shoes. Hurrying back, I retrieved them, shook the snow off, and shoved them on.
By the time I got to the hotel, I had regained my composure. I opened the door of my room and entered. Evra was watching TV. He was focused on the screen and barely noticed me coming in.
”I'm back,” I said, taking off my coat. He didn't reply. ”I'm back!” I repeated, louder.
”Um,” he grunted, waving distractedly at me.
”That's a great att.i.tude,” I said. ”I thought you'd be interested in how the night went. I'll know better next time. In the future, I'll just -”
”Have you seen the news?” Evra asked quietly.
”It may surprise you to learn, young Evra Von,” I said sarcastically, ”that they don't show newsreels at the movies anymore. Now do you want to hear about my date or not?”
”You should watch this,” Evra said.
”Watch what?” I asked, irritated. I walked around behind him and saw it was a news program. ”The news?” I laughed. ”Turn it off, Evra, and I'll tell you about - ”.
”Darren!” Evra snapped in a very unusual tone. He looked up at me, and his face was a mask of worry. ”You should watch this,” he said again, slowly this time, and I realized he wasn't kidding.
Sitting down, I studied the TV screen. There was a picture of the outside of a building on it, then the camera dissolved to an interior shot and scanned around the walls. A caption told viewers that the photographs Were from stock footage, which meant they'd been filmed sometime in the past. A reporter was babbling on about the building.
”What's the big deal?” I asked.
”This is where they found the bodies,” Evra said softly.
”What bodies?”
”Watch,” he said.
The camera came to rest in a dark room that looked the same as all the others, held on the scene for a few seconds, then dissolved back to a view of the building's exterior. The caption told us that these new picture had been shot earlier that day. As I watched, several policemen and doctors came out of the building, pus.h.i.+ng stretchers, each of which held a motionless object covered by a body bag.
”Are those what I think they are?” I asked quietly.
”Corpses,” Evra confirmed. ”Six so far. The police are still searching the building.”
”What does it have to do with us?” I asked uneasily.
”Listen.” He turned up the sound.