Part 25 (1/2)

'Blush.'

'Toothbrushes.'

'Toothpaste.'

'Tampons and panty liners.'

'Lipstick.'

'Hair clips.'

'Powder.'

By the time Diane and Kelly arrived back at their hotel, the four suitcases had already been delivered to their room.

Kelly stared at them. 'I wonder which are yours and which are mine?'

'It doesn't matter,' Diane a.s.sured her. 'We're going to be here for maybe a week or more, so we might as well just put everything away.'

'I suppose so.'

They began busily hanging up dresses and slacks, putting their lingerie in drawers, and placing their toilet articles in the bathroom.

When the suitcases were emptied and everything had been put in place, Diane took off her shoes and dress and gratefully sank down on one of the beds.

'This feels wonderful.' She sighed contentedly. 'I don't know about you, but I'm having dinner in bed. Then I'm going to take a nice, long, hot bath. I'm not moving from here.'

A pleasant-faced, uniformed maid knocked and came into the suite, carrying an armful of fresh towels.

Two minutes later, she emerged from the bathroom. 'If there's anything you need, please ring for me. Have a good evening.'

'Thank you.' Kelly watched her leave.

Diane was browsing through a house magazine she had picked up at her bedside. 'Do you know what year this hotel was built?'

'Get dressed,' Kelly said. 'We're leaving.'

'It was built in-'

'Get dressed. We're getting out of here.'

Diane looked up at her. 'Is this some kind of joke?'

'No. Something terrible is going to happen.' There was panic in her voice.

Diane sat up, alarmed. 'What's going to happen?'

'I don't know. But we have to get out of here, or we're both going to die.'

Her fear was contagious, but it made no sense.

'Kelly, you're not being reasonable. If-'

'I'm begging you, Diane.'

Thinking about it later, Diane never knew whether she gave in because of the urgency in Kelly's voice or because it was the first time Kelly had called her Diane.

'All right.' Diane got up. 'We'll pack our clothes and-'

'No! Leave everything.'

Diane looked at Kelly in disbelief. 'Leave everything? We just bought-'

'Hurry! Now!'

'All right.' As Diane was reluctantly dressing, she thought, I hope she knows what she's doing. If- 'Quick!' It was a strangled scream.

Diane hurriedly finished dressing.

'Faster!'

They grabbed their purses and hurried out the door.

I must be as crazy as she is, Diane thought resentfully.

When they reached the lobby, Diane found herself running to keep up with Kelly. 'Would you mind telling me where we're going?'

Outside, Kelly looked around. 'There's a park across the street from the hotel. I-I need to sit down.'

Exasperated, Diane followed Kelly into the park. They took seats on a bench.

Diane said, 'What are we doing?'

At that instant, there was a tremendous explosion inside the hotel, and from where they sat, Diane and Kelly could see windows being blown out of the room they had been occupying, with debris flying through the air.

In stunned disbelief, Diane watched what was happening.

'That-that was a bomb'-terror crept into her voice-'in our room.' She turned to Kelly. 'How-how did you know?'

'The maid.'

Diane looked at her, puzzled. 'What about her?'

Kelly said quietly, 'Hotel maids don't wear four-hundred-dollar Manolo Blahnik shoes.'

Diane was finding it difficult to breathe. 'How-how could they have found us?'

'I don't know,' Kelly said. 'But remember who we're dealing with.'