Chapter Forty Harriet
Chapter Forty
Harriet
The four of us tumble out of the car, forming a tight circle outside the building’s entrance. Martin called the cops on our way here, but there’s no sign of them yet.
“Should we wait for them to arrive?” Steven asks, clutching the baseball bat that he insisted on bringing along to his chest.
I shake my head. Now that we’re here, I can’t wait another second. I need to know that he’s okay. “We should go in.”
“I agree. He might be in trouble,” Mindy adds.
We all turn to Martin. “We should go in, I think,” he says. “But somebody needs to wait here for the police. Steven?”
His mouth drops open. “Me? I’m the only one with a weapon!”
Martin looks at him incredulously. “The other day, you walked down six flights of stairs to save a spider’s life. Are you trying to tell me you think you could hit someone with that thing?”
“I would if…ugh.” Steven throws up his hands. “Fine. Whatever. Go. I’ll stay here.”
The lobby is quiet, as is our elevator ride up to the second floor.
“It’s that one,” I say, as we exit into the hall. “Second door to the right.”
But I freeze in place. He’s probably fine, I tell myself. His phone ran out of batteries. He lost track of time. He—
“Are you okay?” Mindy whispers.
I shake myself. Keep it together. “Yeah. All good. Let’s go.”
We stop at the door, and Martin tries the knob. “It’s open,” he whispers. “Did you lock it when you left?”
I think back, but the memory is a blur. When I left, I was mostly doing my best not to cry. “I don’t think so?”
“Okay, that’s a good sign. You guys ready?”
I take a deep breath. Mindy gives him a thumbs-up.
He pushes open the door.