Page 34 of Forever Gone

“Thanks.”

Selena switched off the lamp, leaving the ceiling light to guide her toward the door.

“Good night, Connor.”

“Good night, Selena.”

She returned the radio to her bag.

The corridors seemed longer on the way out. Selena locked the teachers’ lounge, checked the rear exit, and walked toward the lobby without allowing herself to slow near the old empty trophy case. The echo followed again, but this time she did not turn.

*

The Wilson Motel sign blinked above the office when Selena pulled into the lot.

Several rooms had lights behind their curtains. A man in work clothes carried a bag of takeout toward Room Eight, and a television flickered blue through a gap in another window. Room Five waited near the middle of the row.

Selena parked, collected her bag, and tried the key.

It entered halfway before jamming.

She pulled it out, tried again, and put more pressure on the lock. The key refused to turn.

“Of course.”

Selena walked to reception.

The bell above the door clacked when she entered. Eric Wilson sat behind the counter with his feet on a lower shelf and his glasses low on his nose. His receding brown hair appeared flattened on one side, and the mustache he had grown before Selena’s last visit remained in place. A bowl of popcorn rested beside the register.

On the small CRT television, a woman in a silver cape crept through a cardboard castle while a creature with three eyebrows waited behind a curtain.

Eric glanced up.

“Hey, Selena. You have a good day?”

“It’s been interesting.”

“That usually means somebody else had a bad one.”

Selena set the brass key on the counter. “The door’s sticking again.”

Eric glanced toward the screen. “Are you really going to ask me to stop watching Bikini Vampires from the Fourth Dimension?”

“You’ve seen it before. Several times, Eric.”

“I notice different details each time.”

“It’s either that or I sleep in here on the floor.”

“Don’t be silly. I’d let you sleep on the counter.” Eric considered the narrow surface between them. “I’d even get you a pillow.”

Selena laughed.

Eric reached for the remote and paused the film. The woman in the silver cape froze with one hand raised.

“If you promise me a couple of drinks in here Saturday night and watch a movie with me again, I’ll fix it.”

“You know it’s your job, Eric.”