Junior's Luck

Junior's Luck-Chapter 14

The shooting stopped a few seconds later. From the floor below, the voices of Hartley and the Frenchman filtered through the ceiling. They argued, but Kelsey could not understand what they said.

"That was a machine gun with a silencer." Kelsey imagined bullets penetrating the boards on which he stood, ripping through his feet. "We have to get out of here."

Junior had his back to him, his arms outstretched, feeling along the edges of a door frame Kelsey noticed for the first time. Junior turned around, his eyes wide, his face stretched by a big smile, and said, "It's a secret panel."

Before Kelsey said or did anything, Junior slid his hand into a notch cut in the panel and jerked it open. He slipped through the gap, stuck his head out, and motioned for Kelsey to follow.

He's crazy, Kelsey concluded. I have the flashlight, and I'm not going in. He can't go far without light.

Junior withdrew into the darkness.. A click broke the silence and a wedge of light illuminated the passageway. It drew Kelsey to the opening, where he saw Junior standing in the middle of a walk-in closet, hanging on to a cord that dangled from a naked bulb overhead.

Now he got his first good look at Junior since they left the hospital. It frightened him. Junior resembled someone made-up for Halloween. The charcoal gray circles under his eyes contrasted ‌with his bloodless face. Perspiration glistened on his upper lip and forehead. The hand holding the cord twitched.

"You all right?"

"Neat, huh?" Junior surveyed the closet.

Except for the secret panel that formed the back wall of the enclosure, Kelsey saw nothing of interest: a few clothes hangers scattered along a wooden rod and a couple of empty shelves.

Junior stood by the closet door; his fingers clasped the glass knob.

"What are you doing?" Kelsey asked

"I already looked. No one's in the room." Junior had a mischievous grin planted on his lips. "Let's hunt for evidence."

In three steps, Kelsey was next to Junior. He touched Junior's cheek with the back of his hand. It confirmed what he suspected.

"Hey, don't!" Junior pushed Kelsey's hand away.

"You're burning up. You need to go to the hospital."

Junior's face revealed his disappointment at his friend's suggestion. He twisted the glass doorknob and unlatched the door. The light from the closet spilled into the room. Kelsey followed Junior through the open doorway.

A few boxes littered the wooden floor. Against one wall leaned a mattress and box springs. Standing in the center, looking lost, was a chest of drawers. Junior jerked out the top drawer. It was empty except for a paper liner. He checked the others and found nothing.

"I bet they hid the drugs in there." Junior pointed to the mattress and box springs.

They had started to inspect the bedding when the light dimmed and disappeared with a barely audible click. The closet door had swung closed. Kelsey fumbled with the flashlight. Before he switched it on, the sound of soft footsteps falling in quick succession came from the hall. Someone was running toward the room. He and Junior scurried behind the mattress and box springs as the person entered and closed the door.

Kelsey heard panting and whimpering. Who was it? Fortunately, whoever it was didn't bother to turn on the lights. Peeking around the mattress, he perceived the faint outline of a slender, graceful form. For a second, he wondered if it might be the ghost, but he remembered the footsteps and the door. Ghosts don't walk or run; they glide. And they pass through doors; they don't open them. Who was it?