“What the heck was that?” Rory says.
“Who knows? Probably just a finicky elevator.” I stare at the doors, waiting for them to open.
They don’t.
“You’ve got to be kidding me.” Rory starts pressing buttons like a fanatic.
“Ror, that’s not going to help.” I grab my phone to call the front desk.
“Hotel Marquee, how may I direct your call?”
“Hi, this is Callie Pike in room 1213. My sister and I are stuck in the elevator.”
“Oh, goodness. Can you tell me which elevator?”
“I don’t know. The middle one.”
“The middle one on the east or west side?”
“I don’t freaking know. Check the one that’s not moving.”
“I’ll get someone on it right away. In the meantime, don’t panic.”
“Don’t panic?”
“Yes, please don’t panic. Is there anything I can do for you?”
“Uh…yeah. Get the elevator moving.”
A forced chuckle meets my ear through the phone. “We’ll get you out of there as soon as we can. You have my word.”
I shove my phone into my pocket with a huff. “She asked if there was anything she could do for us. Sure, a three-course breakfast and some coffee would be great. Just make it appear in the elevator, why don’t you?”
“Your sarcasm isn’t going to help right now, Callie.”
I let my legs give way and drop my ass on the floor of the elevator. Which turns out to be a big mistake. “Ow!” I cry out.
“Are you okay?”
“Yeah.” I don’t really want to divulge to my sister what Donny and I were up to in bed last night.
“Got a little spanking, huh?”
So much for not divulging anything. “Crap. Is it that obvious?”
“It is to anyone who’s done it.”
“TMI, Ror.”
“To each her own,” she says. “I never really enjoyed it that much. Did you?”
Rory and I are very close. I’m closer to her than I am to either Jesse or Maddie. We’re the closest in age of all our siblings, so we’ve always been thick as thieves. But discussing my sex life with her? Yeah. Not going to happen.
“I’m going to pretend you didn’t ask me that.”
“So you liked it, huh?” She laughs.
“Why are you laughing? You’re so freaked about our situation that you can’t sleep, and on top of that, we’re stuck in a damned elevator.”
“Callie, babe, I can laugh or I can cry, I guess.”
“I hear you. But I’m not sure my sore ass is something I want you laughing at.”
She sits down next to me, minus the ouch. “They’ll get us out of here, Callie. It’s a good thing neither of us are claustrophobic.”
“Right. That’s what I’m thankful for right about now.”
“Hey. You’ve always been the strong one. You’re the one who tells me this is going to be okay. I need you, Cal.”
Strong one? Is she kidding? “You know what? I don’t know if it’s going to be okay. I have no idea what’s going to happen. We don’t even know what we’re going to find when we open that safe-deposit box. If they’ll even let us open it.”
“They’ll have to open it for us. It’s in my name. The problem is that we’re going to have to pay for them to saw the lock off.”
“Are you kidding me? They don’t keep extra keys lying around?”
“It’s a security thing. Each box requires two keys to open it. One that stays at the bank, and one that the box renter keeps. That’s me. And I no longer have the key.”
“What the hell kind of system is that?”
“It’s actually a good system, sis. Keeps it more secure.”
“Well, it sure as heck doesn’t keep it secure when someone steals our freaking key.”
“True. But whoever has that key can’t open the box. The box is in my name, and I’d have to show ID.”
“Are you sure about that?”
“I’m not really sure about anything.” Rory sighs. “For all we know, whoever has our key could have gotten a fake ID with my name on it and opened the box.”
“Or paid off some bank employee to let them in.”
“You’ve been hanging around the Steels too long. No one else would think about the payoff.”
I ponder a moment. Is she correct? She’s right. A month ago, I would have never considered a payoff. It would never have crossed my mind. Pat Lamone doesn’t have any money. Nobody we know has any money. Except the Steels…
And a thought spears into my head.
I thought that I do not like. Not one bit.
But before I can think too much more about it, the elevator jolts, and we’re moving.
Chapter Thirty-Five
Donny
I’m waiting outside the offices of the energy board when someone finally shows up at eight thirty—a young blond woman wearing jeans and a sequined T-shirt. Must be casual Friday. I didn’t have an early breakfast meeting at all. I told Callie a lie, and I feel like shit.
Blondie clinks a ring full of keys. “Good morning. Are you waiting for someone in particular?”