Chapter 38
Wednesday’s roster means that Aada is due to clean on the fourth floor. She is relieved that it’s not the sixth, where the Silver Suite is located. She doesn’t want to go up there again if she can avoid it. Quickly she changes into her work clothes and takes the staff elevator.
Each floor has a special room where all the equipment is stored—cleaning trollies, and boxes of soap, shampoo, and so on for guests’ bathrooms.
Aada glances around before she opens the door. She is on high alert; she feels as if she is being followed all the time, although she hasn’t actually seen anyone since she sensed that horrible shadow in the parking garage.
Her shift ends in three hours. She longs for the security of her own accommodation, a place where she can lock herself in.
She takes a few steps into the narrow space and reaches up to the shelf of clean towels.
Suddenly the door slams shut. The light goes out; it is pitch black.
Time stands still.
Aada wants to scream, but dare not. He must have found her, and now she is trapped in here. There is no way out, and no one will hear her cries for help.
She should never have come here.
The darkness is making her panic. When she takes a step forward, she bangs her forehead so hard that she sees stars. She wobbles, but grabs a hold of a shelf and manages to keep her balance.
It is impossible to orient herself, but she thinks she can hear another person breathing.
Only a few feet away.
There is no air, and a terrified whimper escapes between her lips. Then the light comes on, and her colleague Sussie is standing in the doorway, looking surprised.
Aada stares at her, openmouthed. She is holding her hands up in front of her chest in a defensive position; she is so scared she can’t move.
Her throat is constricted; she can’t make a sound.
“Did I scare you?” Sussie says. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to. I hit the switch by mistake and happened to close the door at the same time.”
Sussie is ten years older, and has worked at the hotel for years. She is responsible for the rosters.
Aada shakes her head and tries to find the words in her broken Swedish. She gives up and chooses English instead.
“It’s okay. I thought . . . after what happened . . .”
“I understand,” Sussie reassures her. “Everyone is shaken up—hardly surprising under the circumstances.”
Aada manages a weak smile. “Exactly.”
“By the way, have the police interviewed you yet? They spent a whole hour questioning me, and I wasn’t even working over the weekend.”
Aada doesn’t know what to say. She dare not admit that she has deliberately stayed out of the way. If her bosses find out, they might be angry.
“I have to get to work,” she mumbles, lowering her head and grabbing the rest of the items she needs to add to her trolley.
Tears are scalding her eyes as she scurries away.