The Hotel – 16

"Do you honestly think she's alive and hiding somewhere?" Marsh asked me.

"I don't know!" I replied in frustration. "If she is hiding, I'm going to kick her out of the troupe, the sooner the better."

"I would if I were you. It will mean canceling the next few performances, including the one here, but we don't need someone like her trying to make things miserable for everyone else."

"Exactly." I paced, wondering how Tessa could be so uncaring that she'd jeopardize everything we did and the reason we were here, just to get her revenge on Jenn and Kirby, because I was fairly certain that's what she was doing.

Slowly, the cast came back into the ballroom, costumed and in makeup. Poor Caitlin looked terrified, which was unfortunate because if worst came to worst she would have to step in to do Tessa's role for real tomorrow night. I had decided on the spur of the moment we would not cancel the performance, no matter what. If she had to carry the script with her, the way she was at the moment, so be it. At least she was familiar with the basics from watching earlier rehearsals before we came up here. I would make an announcement before we began the actual performance to let the audience know we'd had to replace Tessa, but not why.

The first act rehearsal went about as I expected. Everyone immersed themselves in their roles and did a good job, including Caitlin once she'd calmed down. Tessa's costume was big on her, but I knew she could, and would, take care of the problem by the time the show opened.

I was aware, halfway through the morning, that we had company watching from the back of the ballroom. It was Edwin, accompanied by two men. Both of them had eyes that seemed to miss nothing that was happening, which let me know they must be the searchers he'd talked about. I went over and he introduced them before sending them on their way, telling them it was imperative they find Tessa, wherever she was.

"They will," he assured me. "They know what they're doing. They'll begin outside because I'm very certain Tessa's nowhere in here. "

"Are you? I'm not, since you said there was no way she could have left."

"I said I turned on the security. That doesn't mean she couldn't have left before I did, or found an open window."

"In this weather? Who'd leave one open?"

"Tessa, if she planned all this ahead of time."

I frowned. "The system wouldn't have alerted you that one of them was open?"

"No. Unfortunately it's not that sophisticated. We're far enough up in the mountains that I decided we were safe and didn't need all the fancy bells-and-whistles. The system is mainly to alert us if a guest decides to go wandering too late at night." His mouth tightened. "Some people are stupid that way, especially if they've had one too many drinks."

"Makes me glad I don't run a hotel," I replied, smiling briefly.

"With any luck, if she did find a way out of here, there will be footprints because it rained soon after midnight. If so, my men will be able to track her."

"I hope so. If she snuck out, I'm going to be, okay I already am very pissed and she'll know it the next time I talk to her." With that said, I went back to watching the rehearsal.