Heart Song Anthology by Carolyn Faulkner (summer reads txt) 📗

disguise that much easier. The first locker she peeked into was empty other than a pack of gum and cigarettes, but she scored on the second. A maid outfit only a few sizes too big for Cora’s frame.

“Score,” she said to herself, then swiped it and went to change in the employee bathroom.

As she was pulling the musty smelling uniform over her head, she heard the door to the breakroom open and instinctively she slowed. In Danish, a stern voice was barking some command, then the door shut again, but there came small sounds of rustling, telling her that someone else was still inside the breakroom.

Cora finished dressing and hesitantly peeked out of the bathroom, then smiled as her eyes met the same little boy from the lobby.

“Hello there. Do you remember me?”

He looked up, his expression somber, then curious as he saw her. “The lady from the lobby!”

“That’s me,” Cora said cheerfully, holding her phone out to him with the picture pulled up again. “And do you know this man?”

The boy nodded hesitantly, glancing at the door as if he expected Greta to come through at any moment.

“It’s all right. He and I are just playing a little game, like hide and seek,” at his puzzled expression, she wondered if they had hide and seek in Denmark. She continued on quickly. “So, could you help me find him?”

He gave one big, enthusiastic nod before glancing over his shoulder to the door again. “But we can’t tell Mormor, she’s cranky!”

“Deal,” Cora whispered, putting a finger in front of her lips.

The boy giggled and led Cora through the employee area and into the main hallway.

“Do you have a secret route?” Cora asked quietly.

“No, just the stairs.”

That’ll work, Cora thought, knowing almost everyone would take the elevators, and for good reason. Though the boy ran up the stairs flight after flight as if he had calves of steel, Cora struggled after the first four flights. “How much further?”

“Not far.”

Three more flights. “How many floors are there in this hotel?” Cora asked, gasping.

“Five.”

“Five?”

“Ya, and he’s at the tippy top!”

“How is this only five floors?” Cora groaned, feeling pathetic now. Regaining her second wind, she sprinted to catch up with the boy and three flights later they were at floor number five. Trying to stifle her rapid breathing, she waved the boy forward. “Lead the way.”

“Oh no,” he said, standing up taller and reaching forward to open the door for her. “Ladies first.”

“My, my, what a gentleman,” Cora said, curtsying before sweeping past him in her too big maid’s uniform to scan the floor for her suspect. The hallway was empty.

Cora’s little helper ducked around her and sprinted down the hall, pointing. “There! There!” he said until Cora shushed him, then he slowed and covered his mouth apologetically.

Room 523. That’s where she would find this potential cigarette salesman. “Go back to the breakroom,” she ordered him at a whisper. “Our little game of hide and seek is over now. Thanks for your help.”

The boy smiled and nodded his acceptance of her appreciation of him before trotting off. Cora watched him go, her body buzzing, ready to knock and pretend to be housekeeping but making sure the kid was well away before she took the knocker between her fingers and lightly clicked it down against the plate. “Housekeeping,” she announced.

Her mouth felt dry as she waited. It typically did when she was in need of the taste of her stabilizing sugar, which calmed her nerves better than anything else.

When there was no answer, she took the knocker and rapped harder. “Housekeeping!”

The door gave way under the pressure and clicked open. Cora blinked, surprised. The door was open? Every nerve in her body tingled, every synapse firing a warning. He knows you’re here, they were saying. Go back. Go back.

But everything else within her desperately needed to prove to herself that she could still kick ass and take names, as she had before falling victim to Krone’s knife. So, she opened the door slowly and peeked inside.

Red. There were red flower petals drizzled all along the doorway. The light in the room was dimmed, at least that’s what she had thought at first but when she looked up she saw balloons, white, and red, and pink taking up the entire ceiling. The light shining through them turned the walls multiple colors as if they had been splattered with pink paint.

Puzzled, Cora wondered if the little boy had given her the wrong room, but nothing else about this investigation had made any sense to her so far, so she continued on. The bathroom she passed was filled with candles, the tub full of water and more rose petals. Upon the sitting area coffee table sat a huge basket filled with candy, mostly lollipops, and was that bubblegum?

“Took you long enough,” grumbled a voice behind her.

Cora gasped, her heart jumping into her throat as she spun around, but he was already on top of her. She struck out with one fist aimed for his diaphragm to paralyze him, but he deflected it, attempting to kick her legs out from under her. She kept her balance and managed to shoulder his chest and heard the air knocked from his lungs, but still he wrestled her.

He was too close for her to have a good look at him, but his movements were familiar. He anticipated her every move, when she stepped to take a swing, he stepped to deflect it. He moved fast, impossibly fast, battling her backwards even as he deflected her attacks. Like a violent dance, they twirled together around the coffee table filled with sweets and back towards the bed. She slipped on rose petals as she fought his herding movements. Blocking a kick with her leg, he had her. With a quick sweep of his heel, he had her other leg knocked from under her and she sprawled against the bed. Instantly he covered her, grabbing her wrists and locking them over her head. Body pressed