Midnight's Lair Read Online Free PDF

midnight - or even later.
         How about tonight? he thought. He began to tremble slightly. It was always exciting to enter a guest-room with the pass key and have a look around. He'd been tempted all week to try Darcy's, but he couldn't leave the restaurant until 8.30 and by then he was afraid the guides might come back from town and he'd be caught. This was Friday, though. He could do it tonight.
         I will! I'll do it!
        Waiting for 8.30 became an agony. His heart raced, his mouth was dry, his clammy hands trembled. Only twice did new guests arrive for dinner, and he was grateful each time for the interruption that briefly distracted him from dwelling on what lay ahead.
        Darcy's room. Her clothes. Her personal things. The bed where she slept. The bathroom where she'd been naked in the tub.
        He couldn't stand the waiting.
        At twenty minutes after eight, he left the door and crossed the foyer to the cashier's booth. 'Minnie?' he asked in a pained voice. The scrawny little woman, leafing through a stack of bills, looked up at him. 'I'm not feeling real hot. Do you mind if I go now? It's only ten more minutes before…'
        'You do look a mite puny, hon. You go on ahead. Your daddy won't never be the wiser on my account.'
        'Thanks, Minnie,' he said, and made his way slowly to the door, hanging his head and holding his stomach just to make it look good.
        Outside, he straightened up. After the air conditioning of the restaurant, the evening felt warm. He took a deep, trembling breath, and started along the walkway towards the hotel. His father would be manning the registration desk, so Kyle entered the side door at the end of the west wing and trotted up the stairs to the second floor. The corridor was deserted; his footfalls were quiet on the thick carpet. As he passed the main stairs at the halfway point, he saw a middle-aged couple on their way up. He slowed down. Glancing back, he saw them reach the top and turn the other way.
        At the door marked 210, he looked back again. The people were near the far end of the corridor, the man unlocking a door. A moment later, they were gone.
        Kyle listened. No sounds came from behind the door. Just to be safe, however, he knocked. If Darcy or Lynn should answer, he'd say that Dad had sent him to look for Tom, who sometimes watched the desk for him. Did they know where Tom might be?
        Nobody answered the knock.
        He dug a trembling hand into the pocket of his slacks and pulled out his key case. The keys clinked together, loud in the silence, as he fumbled for the right one. At last, he had it. He pushed it into the lock, turned it, gently twisted the knob, and eased the door open.
        He saw no one, but he left the door open while he crept forward far enough to see through the alcove on the left. Nobody in the bathroom.
        The girls were gone, all right.
        He stepped back to the door and shut it.
         I'm in!
        He leaned against the door and took deep breaths, trying to calm himself. The curtains at the other end of the room were open. The wooded hills in the distance were gloomy with dusk. If Kyle didn't waste time, he'd be able to get by without turning on any lights - except in the alcove and bathroom, which didn't have windows.
        He rubbed his sweaty hands on his slacks, and pushed himself away from the door. The alcove had clothes hanging along one side. He would give them a look later. And the bathroom. He moved on.
        The twin beds were both made, but a little rumpled. Clothing was scattered on top of the nearer bed: blue pants lying flat with the legs draping the edge, a white blouse lying in a heap, a white bra. The pants had a wide waist. The bra had broad straps and enormous cups. Lynn 's. So that must be Lynn 's bed.
        Because of the difference in the girls' sizes, Kyle had no trouble figuring out which drawers of the built-in bureau