Hide 'N Seek Read Free Page B

generator kicking in.
    What she wouldn’t give to have another round with Blondie. Although Sydney had her doubts she was a real blonde. She could have taken the woman down had she not introduced Sydney’s right side to a taser gun. An introduction she would have been happy to live her life without.
    There was no furniture in the room except for the cot. Given the size, Sydney concluded that it was some sort of storage room. Only a single bare light bulb hung from a white electrical cord that cast a snake-like shadow against the cement wall. The concrete floor was a dingy brown and she didn’t want to think about what the brown spots were that covered it all the way to the door.
    “What now?” she asked aloud. The question of the moment raced through her mind. She breathed in deep and exhaled slowly several times, trying not to give in to the fear that threatened to suffocate her.
    How was she going to get out of this mess? Would anyone notice she’d gone missing? She didn’t think so. Through the haze, bits and pieces of information floated into her thoughts. Lunch with Markie…pictures…men with guns.
    She was supposed to meet her sister for lunch. This wasn’t the first time she’d stood Markie up. Markie would think she’d brushed her off and go on about her business. The way she lived her life had finally caught up to her. Fear settled over her like a blanket.
    Sydney thought about Derrick. He was tall, strong and full of life. She had wanted to be a better person because of him. He’d made her laugh and told her she was special. Then she remembered he was dead. Given her present situation, she might suffer the same fate.
    •  •  •
    It had taken the entire day but the bedroom window was boarded up to be replaced within a few days, and the front door locks changed.
    At 7:00 p.m. the police finally left and the superintendent, a lanky man with sunburned face, dropped the new set of door keys in Markie’s hand, leaving her to deal with the mess inside the apartment.
    Since Markie’s name was on Sydney’s lease as an emergency contact he had no problem giving her the keys.
    Before she thought about sweeping up the glass or putting the books back on the shelf, she removed her jacket and threw it on the sofa. She grabbed a white garbage bag from under the kitchen sink and proceeded to the washroom.
    Kicking off her shoes, she threw them in the garbage bag and set the bathtub. She sat on the edge of the tub, rolled up her pant legs to her knees and sank her feet into the warm soapy water.
    Oh, I think you stepped in something.
    She thought about Mr. Navigator as she sat on the edge of the tub drying her feet with a towel. Nothing gets by him.
    Then something occurred to her. The bathroom was the only room that was still intact. Everywhere else, in the apartment was in a shambles except for the bathroom. Why? It was the only place that hadn’t been searched yet.
    Her eyes focused on every detail in the bathroom. From the white pedestal sink, to the silver medicine cabinet with the mirrored door, to the white tiled floor covered with the red bathroom mat.
    The toilet was beside the tub. Above the toilet was a framed picture of a baby sitting in the midst of mounds of toilet paper. Above the picture was a vent for the washroom fan.
    Throwing the towel aside, she rose to her feet. With one foot on the toilet lid and the other balanced on the edge of the tub, Markie peered through the slits of the vent and thought she saw something inside.
    Markie jumped to the floor then raced towards the kitchen. She grabbed a dinner knife from a drawer and headed back to the bathroom. Using the flat edge of the knife she pried the cover off the vent and pulled out a manila envelope folded in half with a telephone number written across the top. Sitting on the edge of the tub, she brushed off the dust from the envelope and opened it.
    Inside the envelope were several pictures of a black van with the company name, Beck