Cold Snap: A Hannah Linklater Mystery by Jaclyn Rymal

Author:Jaclyn Rymal [Rymal, Jaclyn]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2024-04-13T00:00:00+00:00

Sixteen

Hannah spent most of the day in the lounge, listening to the radio. Interspersed between songs like “Stayin’ Alive” or “Runaround Sue”, were ghastly weather reports stating that the fierce winds would continue to pick up speed. A calm, unflappable voice narrated the weather reports, its neutral tone grating on Hannah’s nerves. Despite knowing it wouldn’t improve her mood, every attempt to change the station was thwarted by the allure of another catchy tune, coaxing her back into her seat. She held her ground in the lounge, determined not to retreat to the safety of her room.

At five o’clock, she headed to the kitchen, warmed up a can of tomato soup, and made a grilled cheese sandwich. It was a light meal, but she hadn’t wanted to make anything more complicated than that. She entered the dining room and set down her meal on an empty table. Some of the other guests were there as well, eating quietly. The silence amplified the tiniest of noises. She could hear the clink of forks on plates and the scraping of butter being spread over a piece of bread. Above it all was the incessant howling of the wind. Gone was the boisterous, lively conversation and the playful, teasing banter between Hazel and Ernie. Margaret and Beth gave her a nod in greeting but went back to their plates quickly.

Her meal went by uneventfully, the taste of tomato soup and grilled cheese mingling on her palate. It was too early to go to bed, so she took care of her dishes in the kitchen and washed up.

Heading into the lounge, it appeared that this was where most of the guests and staff had gone. A pall of somberness hung over the room. The television emitted a low, eerie hiss, its screen obscured by dancing static, while metal bunny ears perched atop it like vigilant sentinels. She settled into a plush chair, her fingers gripping the edge of Salem’s Lot until her knuckles turned white.

Hazel knitted quietly, her needles clicking together like Morse code. Dan paced restlessly, his agitation rolling off of him in waves. He stalked over to the lobby several times, checking and rechecking if the phone lines were back up. Ernie sat nearby, focused on a small radio that crackled with static. He fiddled with the dial, trying to keep the AM channel clear as the weatherman described the blizzard conditions outside.

Edgar sat in front of the chess board, an empty chair opposite him. He gave a friendly wave, and she returned it. Walter sat near him reading Field & Stream. He glanced up briefly, gave her a curt nod, then went right back to reading his magazine.

“Snow accumulation is expected to reach sixteen to twenty inches, with wind gusts up to seventy miles per hour,” the monotone male voice reported.

A small susurration of sighs went around the room at that.

“Stupid phone lines. Stupid blizzard,” Dan muttered under his breath, casting furtive glances toward the others as if they were somehow responsible for his frustrations.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.