The Ninth Floor by Liz Schulte Page A

sat the
cherry deliciousness down in the box where it came from. “You have your own
giant house. Why would you want to stay in my apartment?”
    “Well, it’s
close to work for one.”
    I frowned and
shook my head.
    “Two, I’m
bored out of my mind there. I don’t have anyone to talk to or anything to do.
You didn’t want to move in with me, and I can see why you like it here. There’s
a busy street, lots going on all the time. And the apartment is going to look
amazing. You have three bedrooms once we get them all cleaned out. The place is
plenty big for two of us.”
    “There’s only
one bathroom.”
    “I promise I
won’t hog it.”
    “You always
hog the bathroom.”
    “Please.”
    How could I
say no after all she’d done for me? “Okay, but I don’t have another room
cleared yet.”
    She clapped
and threw her arms around me.
    “First rule,
no hugging.”
    Vivian
laughed. “Blair said he’d help me move the rest of the boxes out of the
bedrooms and kitchen so you don’t have to worry about a thing.”
    “You’ve been
hanging out with my baby brother a lot.” I narrowed my eyes at her.
    “Does that
bother you?”
    “Just remember
he’s young and should be dating girls his own age.”
    She laughed. “I’m
not dating your brother.”
    “Does he know
that?”
    She gave me a
weird look.
    I picked the
Danish back up. “I hope you like dogs.”
    “Sorry, I don’t
think I heard you. Did you say something about dogs?” Her eyes darted around
like she was looking for them now.
    “Two German
Shepherds. They should be here on Tuesday.”
    “Are you
joking?”
    “Afraid not.”
    He chin tilted
at a determined angle. “I can handle dogs.” She tapped a pink nail against the
box I brought in. “So who’s the secret admirer? The doctor?”
    “No, I don’t
think so. I honestly don’t know who’s leaving these. I think maybe my brother
Ashley—”
    “ These? As in more than one surprise present, and you didn’t tell me?”
    “Don’t get too
excited. They’re weirdo gifts. The first two were really strange. A creepy doll
and a broken picture of our family.” I smiled. “Still want to move in?”
    She made a
face. “Open it.”
    I got a knife
and obeyed. As always, there was a note on top.
    I’ve been
waiting so long to see your face, hear your voice. The wheels are in motion.
Soon you’ll understand.
    Chills made me
shudder as I handed Vivian the note, pulled back the tissue paper, and
uncovered out the latest offering. It was a heavy leather-bound book with old,
swollen pages. I flipped through it. It was a scrapbook of some sort. A bunch
of old newspaper articles. I glanced at my watch. I didn’t really have time to
look at it now. I had to get ready. I handed the book to Vivian. “See, it’s
weird. I’ve got to get ready to go. Thanks for breakfast, roomie.” I chuckled
on my way to the bathroom. When I came back out, Vivian was still sipping
coffee and flipping through the book.
    “Ryan, I don’t
think this is from your brother.”
    “Who else
would it be from?”
    She shrugged. “I
don’t know, but I think you should definitely ask him. This book’s filled with
articles about people who have died at St. Michaels.”
     
    *
     
    In the lobby of the hospital, I
ran into the same police officer who passed me on the stairs. He was waiting
for the elevator.
    I licked my
lips. “What happened yesterday?”
    His expression
was hard to read. “Somebody fell.”
    “Is she okay?”
    He raised an
eyebrow. “How do you know it was a she?”
    I shifted my
feet. “I didn’t go back down. I was curious.”
    We got on the
elevator. “You here visiting?” he asked.
    I nodded. “My
aunt is ill.”
    “What floor?”
    I frowned and
almost didn’t tell him until I saw his fingers hovering over the buttons. “Oh.
Ten.” I folded my hands together behind my back. “So she fell?”
    He gave me a
level look that I met unflinchingly. “Cause of death is still