“That’s just it.” Lucy’s blush was genuine, her tone uncertain. “You see, I just checked in yesterday, from Wilmington. I was so excited about actually being in Miami, for the first time, that I just didn’t think of anything else. The name is Mrs. Carrol,” she added, as though she really expected him to recognize her and the name was merely redundant information.
The clerk consulted a card file briefly, slid one partially out, and asked, “Mrs. Ralph Carrol?”
“Of course,” said Lucy.
“Room three-sixty,” he told her, then turned to the key and mail cubicles, reached into one, and took out a key attached to an oval piece of leather. “The extra is here, so you must have left yours in your room when you went out.” He held the key out to her.
Lucy wanted to grab it and run to the elevator. But she smiled gratefully and said, “How thoughtless of me. But I was so excited.” She thanked him as she took the key, and did not try to restrain herself as she tripped to the elevator, where a uniformed operator waited outside the open door. She stepped inside and said, “Three, please,” and breathed a deep sigh of relief.
On the third floor she was thankful for the bright lights in the corridor and arrows pointing directions for room numbers. She found 360 just around a corner, and her heart pounded madly as she knocked.
There was no response, and, after waiting a few seconds, she inserted the key and turned it. The door opened quietly and she stepped inside the dark room, felt along the wall for a light switch, found it, and the room was flooded with light from a frosted ceiling fixture.
Turning to close the door, she heard movement behind it. Suddenly a blanket descended over her head, shutting out the light and completely enveloping her body.
Instinctively she fought back in wild panic, but strong arms pinned her arms against her body. Then she was lifted in the air, smothering and gasping for breath, and carried across the room where she was dumped on the bed. A man’s weight held her down.
Her feet were free, and she kicked wildly, but something was tightened around her waist. It felt like a strong belt or strap, imprisoning her arms in the dark folds of the blanket. She was left like that, kicking and struggling to free herself.