Chapter 25
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Sam walked into the hotel and scanned the lobby for a payphone. She didn't realize that in the age of cell phones how scarce phone booths had become. She considered going to ask the front desk if she could use one of theirs but there was a group of about thirty Japanese businessmen surrounding the desk so she ruled that out.
She wandered into the bar – surely there had to be a phone there. The music was loud and the bass was pounding so hard she could feel its vibrations in her ears. She wandered to the restrooms and spotted a payphone between the men's and ladies rooms.
"Malone," Jack answered.
"Jack, it's me Sam," she said into the phone, sticking a finger in her ear to try and still some of the noise.
"Sam? I can barely hear you. Where are you?"
She crouched into the corner of the phone booth and spoke louder hoping he could hear her over the din of the bar noise. "I'm checking out a lead at The Regency."
"You're checking out of The Regency?" Jack said, clearly misunderstanding her.
"No. I. Am. At. The. Regency. Checking. A. Lead." She punctuated each word hoping he would understand her.
"What?" Jack asked.
"I AM AT THE REGENCY. GET OVER HERE!" she yelled, startling a woman exited the ladies room.
"What are you doing there?" Jack asked.
"CHECK..." she began when a man who clearly had too much to drink bumped into her causing her to hang up. He mumbled 'sorry' as he hurried into the men's room. Sam clicked the phone hoping Jack was still there but the line was dead.
She decided that he most likely would head over here so she put the phone back on the receiver and headed out of the bar.
Since it would take Jack about twenty minutes to get here she decided to run upstairs and just listen to see if Eleanor was in her room.
Sam got off on the seventh floor and walked down the hall to room 7310. Her heart started racing when she saw that the door was open and the maid's cart was parked outside. She knocked lightly but didn't wait for an answer and just walked inside. She spotted the maid wiping the bathroom sink and cleared her throat.
The maid looked up and was startled to see her. Sam gestured that she was sorry and the woman began to calm down. "I'm sorry to have startled you."
"It's okay," the maid replied. She had short brown hair and light, pale skin.
Sam waited for her to regain her composure and asked, "Has the woman staying here already checked out?"
"Yes." She nodded.
"Do you mind if I look around?"
She shook her head. "No."
"Thanks." Sam walked into the bedroom and saw that it had already had the once over. The bed was made and the room had been straightened up. She was about to turn back around to ask the maid if she ever saw Eleanor when she felt a sharp pain in the back of her head and fell to the ground.
She was on the floor, disoriented and confused; trying to figure out what had happened when she looked up to see the maid standing above her with a white cloth in her hand.
"I thought I already got rid of you," she said, eyes glaring. Then she quickly knelt down and pressed a white cloth to her face. Sam struggled against her strong grip but knew it was a lost cause when suddenly everything went black.