Page 22 of The Whispering Girls

Wednesday 1950 hours

Katie grabbed her Glock and readied herself in seconds. A strange scraping noise emitted from one side of the lodge.

“Fuss,” she whispered to Cisco.

The dog immediately took his place at her left side and moved in unison with Katie. It brought back memories of their time in the Army when they had to move around and through dangerous areas.

Katie quietly went to the kitchen and found the flashlight, but didn’t turn it on yet. She and Cisco moved stealthily through the common area toward the entrance. Pushing a curtain aside, she surveyed the outdoors. It was almost pitch-black and it was difficult to see the outline of the stairs and balcony, unless you knew where to look, as the outdoor lights were out as well. She hoped it was just a blown breaker and not something more complicated that would take days to repair.

The scraping sound again…

Katie released the indoor locking mechanism and quietly turned the knob. Making a hand gesture to Cisco to stay anddown, she slowly pulled the door open—an inch and then wider. Her gun was directed forward.

Many things ran through Katie’s mind. It was possibly burglars, since the lodge was empty most of the time. Or worse…

She stepped her left foot out and then her right. Looking down the stairs everything appeared to be black and odd shapes. If you stared too long, your eyes played tricks on you and everything seemed ominous and dangerous.

Once she had her feet planted firmly on the landing, she turned on the flashlight, aiming both her gun and the light down the stairs.

“Hi,” said Officer Clark. “I didn’t mean to scare you.” He had a sheepish expression on his face, and had been trying to carry up two folding tables.

Katie let out a sigh and let her pulse slow to normal. “You could have sent a text.” She returned inside, put her gun in a drawer, and hurried back out. “Let me help you.” She left the flashlight on and targeted it on the balcony and down the stairs. It wasn’t much, but it helped them guide the tables inside.

“What happened to the lights?” said Clark as he leaned the tables against the wall.

“I don’t know. They just went out before you came.”

“Hmm.” He looked around and saw Cisco in the corner. “Is your dog friendly?”

“Depends. Do you pose a threat?” she said and smiled.

“Not right now.”

“He’s fine.”

“Did I hear right from the chief that you were in the military?”

“Yes. Cisco and I were an explosives K9 team for two tours.”

“Army?”

She nodded.

“Wow. Thank you for your service.”

Katie smiled and never knew what to say when people expressed this. It brought up so many memories—good and bad. She nodded again to the officer.

“Everything okay?” said Jack, standing at the open door.

Katie startled and became mad at herself because she hadn’t heard him come up the stairs. She was either hearing sound carry strangely in the forest, ornot hearingsomeone walk up the stairs.

“Yes and no.”

“Lights go out?” said Jack.

“Yes, just a few minutes ago.”

“Strange. The clinic lights blinked but then stayed on. I’ll go take a look at the breaker box. It’s downstairs.”