“Where are Mark and Kate?” she asked. He shrugged. “Off doing what young people do, I suppose. Off with their friends.” It seemed so very long since she’d last seen them, especially Kate. She couldn’t remember if Kate’s hair was still red and in that cute little pixie or if it was back to being long, and dyed that awful vampire black. “You look concerned, Ellie.” It seemed to her that he was being overly casual about the absence of the children, as if nothing in the world could possibly be wrong. “Let’s just decide one thing together, Ches. Make a little pact.” “Sure. What do you have in mind?” She pictured the red and blue lights of an emergency, pulsing through the living room windows, pulsing against the walls. “Let’s not let Kate drive anymore, anywhere. Let’s agree that her driving days are done.” “It’s a deal.” He leaned closer, regarding her with a puzzled look. “That doesn’t seem to be the only thing that’s bothering you, Ellie.” He was right. But how to put into words what the trouble was? “Well,” she said, “the people here are all very nice, and just look at those pretty flowers. But never in my life have I stayed in a hotel for so long, for no apparent reason. Never have you drifted in and out of my sight like you’ve been doing lately, like the wind. It just doesn’t make any sense, Ches.” He gave her hand a squeeze. “Who ever promised life would make sense?” He’d said that countless times over the years and, sadly, he’d always been right. He lifted her hand to his lips and kissed it. “Now, tell me that’s only the wind.”
VIII Thoughts of the now-empty Room 106 had been lurking in the back of Sara’s mind, like images from a bad dream. At the end of her shift, deciding that the room