𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐆𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐇𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐥

Chapter 5: Lost

The pair rode silently in the service elevator. Ellen with a wry smirk on her face and Wren with a somewhat puzzled look plastered onto her's. The lift stopped at the Housekeeping department and the doors slid open.

Ellen put a hand on Wren's shoulder "I'll wait here for you, go say what you need to say Abigail."

Wren silently nodded and made her way to the manager's office. Before Wren could even knock on the door it was quickly pulled open by Abigail.

"Well? Did you find anything?" Abigail breathlessly asked.

Colette had clearly disclosed the purpose of Wren's shadowing of Ellen.

"Only this..." Wren began to reach into her coveralls to present the decoy notebook.

Abigail held up her hands and adverted her eyes "I don't even want to see it, whatever it is, just take it down to Lost and Found."

Strange.

"Alight... I'll just... go then." Wren turned around and headed back to the service elevator.

Ellen was waiting, leaned up against the wall with her arms crossed "That was quick. Figured you two would have more to talk about."

"Me too, but she didn't even want to see what I found..." Wren paused "... I think Colette is keeping her in the dark too."

"Too?" Ellen questioned.

Wren realized she hadn't actually explained what Colette had sent her to search for "We'll talk on the ride down."

The pair slipped into the Elevator, the doors slid shut, and Wren immediately disclosed everything Colette had told her in the quickest way she could.

"Colette told me that Mark had been stealing money and company property, that's why I was sent. That's what I was searching for." The words leapt from her throat.

There had to have been a better way to put that.

When Wren looked down at Ellen's face she already see her going red.

"That Fucking Cunt! And you believed her?!"

Wren took a step back "I-I didn't know anything, I didn't know what was going on, Mark didn't tell me shit-"

"Mark was your friend and you just believed Colette? Without any question? Really?"

"I-... I don't know... I just..."

Ellen scoffed "Some fucking friend."
"Ellen, I-"

"Whatever, lets just drop the notebook of and be done with it."

There was a brief moment of painful silence that Wren felt compelled to break.

"I'm sorry."

Ellen let out a deep sigh. She looked up towards Wren and her expression softened a bit "Don't be..." the edge had left her voice "... you didn't know. Let's just drop it."

The doors slid open and gave way to the basement of the Pelletier. The air was thick and damp and smelled of mildew. Wren winced as soon as the smell struck her. Like housekeeping, the floor in the basement was bare concrete and the walls were exposed brick. Unlike housekeeping there were no LED lights. The narrow hall leading to main desk of Lost and Found was lit by two light bulbs, One in the center of the hall, and the other directly over the desk. Neither bulb seemed to have been change in at least a decade and now emitted a sickly yellow green glow. The bulbs just barely lit the hall, the desk, and the door on the back wall behind the desk.

"I fucking hate this place. Let's just get this over with." Wren shuddered as she spoke.

The two slowly approached the empty desk, the only sound between the two of them being their own footsteps and the sound of water dripping from some unseen leaking pipe. The desk was empty except for a bell that had a sign that read Ring For Assistance.