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The city had cut off water and power to the building long before Taire had id as the outside, and the boards and sheets of plywood blocked out any light from the street She’d bruised and scraped her hands and face falling over things more than once, but eventually she’d memorized every inch of the place, until she could walk freely in the dark Now shefurniture in the lobby, sure of every step, leaving puffs of her breath to hang in the frozen air
To keep anyone fro her presence she’d been careful to disturb nothing, leaving the cobweb-laced drapes drawn open and the front desk to collect nothing but layer upon layer of dust and dead insects Rats had been a problem for a while, until she’d found all the holes they’d been using to get in and sealed the some drywall patches and filler that she’d taken from a supply shed at a construction site
Every tiuilt ate at her sto that didn’t belong to her was better than waking up to find sonawed off to line a rat’s winter nest
Since the elevators no longer functioned, Taire used the service stairs to go up to her roo the way she checked each step for new footprints or signs that so was an open invitation to anyone left out in the cold, and the plywood boards were getting old now This winter was going to be a bad one; she could al snowstorht the for another place
She thought of the faint blue glow that had appeared so briefly under Rowan’s sleeves Or maybe I won’t have to
The door to the room she used was locked like all the others, but she’d filched one of the er’s desk and used it to let herself in It was the sle twin bed covered with a cheap brown and green paisley spread, an eotten to the TV sets before the case went to court), and a cramped shower and toilet The inch of water left in the toilet had frozen
Taire had chosen the room not because of the bed, which she never used, but for the closet tucked away behind the door The ser suite, and the closet between them could be opened from both sides If sos and slip out into the adjoining suite without opening the interior door or being seen
She went into the bathroo down her jeans before she crouched do and emptied her bladder into the drain It had taken some practice before she’d learned how to pee that ithout splashing herself with her own urine When she was finished she stepped out and poured down the drain a little bleach fro she kept hidden behind the toilet The smell from her urine abruptly disappeared
Out in the roo it on the closet rail before looking down at the sagging black garbage bag that contained her spare clothes and shoes She’d spread the extra blanket she’d found on the closet shelf over a mound of sheets and cushions she’d removed from some rooms on another floor to make a bed for herself Because the closet was only three feet wide she had to sleep curled up like a shriainst the inside of the door, but the cramped quartersout in the open
At first it was like curling up in a refrigerator, but it didn’t take too long for her to warm up in the small space The three blankets she’d taken fro even on the coldest nights
She didn’t bother to remove her shoes as she settled in, covered up, and clenched her teeth to keep thean to warrowl After a fewto it, she took half a protein cereal bar from her jeans pocket The foil wrapper crackled as she unfolded it and held the torn end to her nose Although it was stale now, the white chocolate, toasted rice, and dried strawberries still made her mouth water It was the last of her food stash, and she knew she should save it for tory now to sleep
Her eyes stung as she nibbled at it, chewing every bite slowly to o she would have been asleep in her own bed, warm and cozy, her belly full She’d never realized how lucky she’d been to have so ranted Back then she’d wasted enough food in one week to live on now for a one, as if it had never been
No more mistakes
Taire reached under one of the pillows, took out the flashlight she’d found in a utility closet downstairs, and turned it on as she reings The paper, a glossy, professionally printed flyer, had the photo of a young girl in the center along with a detailed description Anyone who had infor, the flyer proiven a reward of five hundred thousand dollars All they had to do was call the toll- free number printed on the flyer
Taire cruers, and then s it back in her bag She was convinced that Rowan could help her, but asking for that help would be al She didn’t knoan The biker chick ht even turn Taire over to the cops
She was so close that it didn’t see now But they could, and just like the last ti She had to be very careful, or she’d blow her last chance to ht with her father If she didn’t fix this, he would never let her coain He wouldn’t send her to the room This time he’d make sure she never had a place to live or soht Taire tucked a cold hand under her cheek and closed her eyes, i herself back in her old bed, surrounded by white eyelet lace curtains and clean linens, falling asleep while watching the snow fall outside Rowan’s here now, and she’ll et back hoonna coes, Sean?" Rita the answering service operator asked " ’Cause I’ll tell ya, we got a pool going on you now"