Booktree.ng_Forgotten-Witness

look like it was floating under dingy water but it was better
than nothing. She opened the narrow drawer in the bedside
table and found a bible. Someone had written a profanity on
the cover and misspelled it. Josie closed the drawer. There was
no iPod, tablet, book, or notepad. There was nothing in the
room that a normal traveler would have. There was no loose
change, no pen, and no keys. There had been no medicine
bottles in the bathroom. There was nothing to indicate that
someone had eaten here. The bureau was clean, too. She
pulled back the sheets and stuck her hand under the pillows of
the first bed and then the other. No nightclothes, books, or
treasures. She lifted one mattress and then the other and
wanted to wash her hands when she was done.
Josie opened the top drawer of the bureau.
Nothing.
She opened all six drawers.
Nothing. Nothing. Nothing.
She swept the room again with a sharper eye and was
rewarded for the effort. A small, wheeled bag was tucked into
the corner of the room, half hidden because it was black and
the sheers had blown over it. A case could be made that she
had already broken a passel full of laws just by walking into
this room and searching it. Josie, of course, could argue an
exception. The door was open and she was concerned about
the occupant. Searching a closed, partially hidden suitcase was
another matter and it should have given her pause.
It didn’t.
***
The girl poked at the numbers and letters of the keyboard
earnestly and yet she still made mistakes. Little sounds of
frustration bubbled up between her lips but she was careful not
to be too loud. The last thing she wanted to do was bring