Chapter Twenty-One
Mimi and Ted stood before the locked gate of the power plant. The leaves on the trees behind them were making lovely whooshing noises in the wind, which Mimi might have found relaxing, had she not been searching for Kara.
“Where are they?”
Ted pulled out his cell phone and dialed the plant’s main number. “Hey, Betty, it’s Ted. Can you let us in? We’re out at the gate.”
“Oh gosh, Ted, yes, sorry. The cameras are down. We’ve reported it, but you know how that goes. First it’s reported here, then to tech, where it gets stuck in the paper lane. I’m clocking out, so I’ll let you in. Just a sec.”
A few minutes later, Betty opened the gate using her security card. “Sorry,” she said. “Jackson is in there, but he may not hear you if he’s upstairs. He’s the only one on shift for the next hour, until Paige and Joe show up.”
“Thanks, Betty,” Mimi said as she turned toward the massive plant. Plumes of smoke puffed from the stack like gusts of breath. “Will you be sad to see the plant close?”
Betty stood in the parking lot, her hand on her rounded hip, and smiled.
“You know, I think I will. I mean, look at this place.” She laughed, nodding toward the plant.
The brick looked as if it had been painted with soot, and the windows were coated with the same dark film, several of them broken.
The coal yard, one massive black pile, lay beyond the building.
“It’s like the forgotten child. No one’s cared for it in years, but I love the old place. ”
Mimi leaned in toward Betty, “It doesn’t creep you out, all those levels? And it’s so big.”
“Pfft,” Betty swatted the air. “Are you kidding me? It just looks creepy. There’s never been one lick of trouble.”
When she and Ted entered the building, Mimi observed, “There’s so much wasted space.” Her voice echoed against the emptiness.
They met up with Jackson and he led them across the massive first floor.
“What is that?” Mimi pointed to a wall of lights and switches.
“That’s what we call the heart of the plant. If there’s a shut down, these lights go out and all doors to the outside and the lower levels automatically lock.”
Ted pointed at a long lever that stuck out from the right side of the wall. “Will this shut it down?”
“As a matter of fact—” he pushed Ted’s hand away from the lever, “yes, it will.” He gave him a chiding look. Jackson led them up the open staircase to the second floor. “We’ve got a backup generator, but we don’t need that craggy old thing turning on. The damn thing is on its last leg.”
Mimi looked down the open two stories as they climbed the grated metal stairs. She gripped the metal handrails.
“I wouldn’t touch that,” Jackson said.
“Too late.” Mimi held up a blackened palm.
“Just don’t scratch your nose,” he said.
“Why is the whole building open like this?” She looked down at the first floor. The center of the building was open from floor to ceiling.
“Circulation,” Jackson explained.
“Jackson, I’m not sure what we think we’ll find, or even if Kara is missing, but did you notice anything out of the ordinary on Wednesday?”
Jackson shook his head as they reached the landing. “I wasn’t here. We were supposed to have a new employee start that night, but he never showed up.”
Mimi shot a concerned look at Ted.
“You’re sure? Any chance he might have shown up and…I don’t know…done something to Kara?” Ted said.
Mimi gasped. Ted verbalized what she’d been afraid to. “Ted?” Her eyes grew wide. “Do you think that could have happened?” She crossed her arms across her chest and covered her mouth with her hand.
“No,” Jackson said quickly. “I don’t think so. Corporate does complete screenings on our employees. Anyway, the guy never showed up. He left a message on my voicemail. He took another job.”
“Oh, thank goodness,” Mimi said.
They walked into the small, barren office. Two metal desks faced opposite walls, a file cabinet next to each one. Jackson ran his finger down the list of time cards on the wall, withdrawing Kara’s.
“See, here it is. She was here, and she clocked out a few minutes early, which is no great shakes. They all do that once in a while.” He set the time card back in the holder and looked at his watch.
“Since she didn’t show up to take Ben’s slot, she’s not due back until tomorrow night at seven.
Any chance she just took off for a day? I’m sure the whole town knows about Daryl, and Kara’s sensitive. ”
“She would have told me,” Mimi said. Her eyebrows drew together. “Or maybe she wouldn’t have.”
“She has no car,” Ted said.
“Right. Her car’s in the shop.” Mimi sat in one of the chairs.
An alarm echoed off the walls. Mimi jumped, covering her ears. “What’s that?” she asked.
“Alarm. Coal chute is clogged.” Jackson looked at his watch. “I’ll have to get that. No crew for another forty-five minutes. Hold tight. This shouldn’t take long.”
“Can I help?” Ted asked. “I’ve always wondered what it was that Kara does all night.”
“Be my guest. We’re closing soon anyway. It’s probably the last chance you’ll have to see the chute in action,” Jackson said. “Grab the mask, gloves, and goggles.”
“Really?” Ted asked.
“Really.” Jackson raised his voice above the beeping of the alarm. “Trust me on this. You don’t want to get that stuff in your lungs.”
Ted turned to Mimi. “Are you okay, Mim? Do you mind?”
“Of course not. I’m fine. Go. How often do you get to see a clogged coal chute? I need to find the ladies’ room, anyway.”
“Downstairs, across the hall, turn left. That’s the cleanest one, I’d imagine. No one uses it.”
Mimi smiled. “Got it. Thanks.” She covered her ears, “Can you turn off that beeping?”
Mimi walked across the open first floor.
Enormous tanks lined the far wall. Four massive grates made up one side of the floor, giving Mimi a view into the underbelly of the plant.
A pool of water lay far beneath the grates.
Mimi circumvented them, walking toward the hallway Jackson had mentioned.
Each of her steps echoed. She wished she’d worn her sneakers. The screeching of the alarm continued.
When Mimi turned the corner into the hallway, a shiver ran down her back.
The cream-colored walls reminded her of a sanitarium.
The beeping of the alarm and the slapping sounds of her footsteps sent her mind into a tizzy of tricks.
Anything can happen to me here. No one would know.
“Dramatic much?” she whispered to herself, but she couldn’t lessen her growing fear.
Goosebumps climbed up her arms. The bathroom was just a few steps away.
Mimi grabbed the doorknob and turned, opening the door only a few inches.
Then she chided herself for being such a scaredy-cat.
If Kara can do this, so can I. Only she couldn’t.
She wasn’t brave enough. She wasn’t brave enough to protect her own daughter.
How could she be brave enough to go into a darkened room in the recesses of the power plant?
Her knuckles turned white. She reached in and flipped on the light, just as the alarm stopped ringing. Silence.
“H…hello?” she said to the empty locker room.
I’m such an idiot. She took a deep breath, walked in, and jumped when the door slammed shut behind her.
Hand over her heart, she laughed at herself.
Mimi hurried into a stall and did her business, trying to ignore the fact that the only sound she could hear was that of her urine hitting the toilet water.
After washing her hands, she opened the door, peering into the hall.
Mimi’s heart pounded against her chest, despite her best efforts to be brave.
Which way had she come in? She looked left, then right.
What had Jackson said? He hadn’t. The hallway ended on both sides where it connected to another hall.
Mimi followed the hallway to the right, which ended in a large open room, similar to the one she’d crossed.
She’d obviously gone the wrong way. A voice filtered down from above.
Mimi looked up through the open ceiling.
“Ted?” she yelled. Her voice echoed. The voice she’d heard quieted.
“Jackson?” she yelled. When no one answered, Mimi assumed they couldn’t hear her.
There was a metal staircase across the room, and next to that, an elevator.
Mimi hurried over. She put her hand on the handrail of the staircase and took two steps up, sighed, then looked at her hand.
“Damn it.” She wiped the soot from her hands onto the back of her jeans, then retreated, pushing the button on the elevator repeatedly. “Come on, come on.”
The elevator door opened and Mimi stepped in. She pressed the number three as the doors closed. The elevator breathed to life, jolted, then descended down toward the basement.