people.”
She held out her hand and he took it very greedily and together they walked back toward the hole to see whom else they could comfort.
Kathy Santos had a smile on her face as she headed back toward where the lobby once stood. She was very pleased that the boys were safe and now all she had on her mind was finding that hunk, Steve Sidel, and seeing what she could do to make him notice her again. She was taken aback when she saw all the people scattered around under the palm trees, apparent survivors from the cave-in, of the lobby. She ran up to Beverly Forham and asked if she had seen Steve Sidel. Beverly told her that she thought Steve was still in the hole and he might come out soon because he had been down there a long time. In the meantime several other people emerged from the hole and climbed very unsteadily up the aluminum ladders with the help of the twins. She told Beverly she was going down into the hole and see if she could find Steve. Beverly nodded her acceptance and smiled, wishing her luck.
Kathy Santos climbed down one of the two aluminum ladders and saw that it looked very dark down in the hole as she stood on the fractured roof and looked down. One of the twins put his arm on hers and said.
“It’s not really that bad down there. They have flashlights and every time my brother or I helped someone up we could see a little bit down there. I’m sure you’ll be able to find your way around and I know they can really use some help down there. Well, good luck.”
Kathy descended into the hole and was amazed that she could see around her. She started walking toward the double doors of the lobby when she saw Steve Sidel leaning over an elderly couple that were lying on the floor.
“You have to get up.” Steve was saying. “We don’t know how stable this place is, I think it’s getting really scary around here.”
Kathy could hear the compassion in his voice and her heart went all out for him. She started to walk closer when she heard the desk clerk Paula let out a little yelp. She turned around and saw a really spacey guy holding a gun on the desk clerk and she tried to blend back into shadows. She knew she couldn’t be of any help if someone threatened her with a gun so she hid in the shadows until the gun slinging crew moved away her.
Tyrone Washington woke up with a blasting headache. He placed his left hand carefully on the back of his head and felt a jagged gash that was sticky to the touch. He moved his head slowly to the left and right trying to work the stiffness out of his neck and wondered who the hell he was. He heard a low moaning and realized with a shock it was coming from his own mouth. Get right, he said to himself and looked slowly around.
A pale glow was coming from the floor about twenty feet away and he realized it was an emergency light that had fallen from its ceiling mount and was partially covered with debris. In the faint light he could see several shapes that looked like crumpled human figures. A sharp cry of pain emitted from one of the figures about ten feet away and he tried to figure out what had happened to place him at this given spot at this given time and he still wondered just who he was.
He could see in the dim light that he was in a very large room, ballroom size, and there were fallen boards and overturned tables and chairs among the human shaped figures. Some type of disaster must have happened and obviously he had been struck on the back of the head. He slightly recalled a petite, very attractive blonde women asking him where the manager’s office was located and he vaguely recalled a sharp stinging in his right shoulder as he was about to answer her. The image slowly faded and he felt slightly nauseous. Well, it should come back to me he thought and maybe then I’ll remember who I am.
Tyrone Washington got slowly to his feet and as he was getting up he heard a heavy thud come from beneath his feet. He looked down in the soft glow and saw the gleam of a very large revolver at his feet. He realized that he had dropped it when he was struggling to get up and he felt down his right side and felt an empty leather holster. Why would I be wearing a gun he thought? He picked up the gun and felt the front of his shirt and found a metal badge affixed to his chest. I must be some kind of law enforcement officer he thought. He shook his head trying to clear the cobwebs and decided that if he was a lawman he best get to work doing whatever a lawman would do. He staggered toward the light he could see coming from a large crack in the roof and saw a small group of people gathered near the opening. When he was less than twenty feet away, he saw one of the men holding a gun to the head of one of the women that was near the opening. He slid back in the shadows and bumped into a person already crouched down in the darkness.
“Oh thank goodness you’re here officer.” A female voice softly whispered. “Those guys are acting really insane. They have already shot a deputy and I think they’ll shoot anybody that gets in their way. What can you do?”
“I’m sorry lady. But, I can’t even remember who I am. How am I going to rescue anybody if I can’t even remember who I’m suppose to be?”
“Did you get hurt?” Kathy Santos realized he was favoring the back of his head in the dim light and reached a caressing hand to the back of his head and felt the jagged gash that had by now stopped bleeding. “Oh my gosh you’re really hurt. We have to get you some medical help right away.”
“No really. I’m fine. I just can’t remember who I am. But, it will come back to me I’m sure. Let’s just play it safe and hide here until we know what’s going on.”
“Okay, but I think your name is Tyrone. At least that’s what your name tag says. I can barely read it in this dim light.”
“Tyrone huh. Doesn’t ring a bell. Well we better wait to see what these crazies are going to do. Are you sure you are all right?”
“I’m fine and by the way, my name is Kathy. Kathy Santos.”
“Glad to meet you Kathy.” He started to get glimpses of a very attractive woman in a bright green bikini out at the pool in the recesses of his mind. Then he had thoughts of a cute woman holding a tiny baby. All of a sudden his memory came rushing back like a tidal wave and he was engulfed in happiness at the wonderful pictures in his mind of his wife and kids. Thank you Lord he thought, and smiled at Kathy Santos.
“I remember” He told Kathy. “I’m a security guard here at the resort and somebody drugged me with a shot. It didn’t work right away so, I started to turn around and see who stabbed me with a hypodermic needle, when the lady I was talking to swung her purse at me which must have been loaded with something heavy and split my head open, I remember seeing the smile on her face as I started falling. One of the vilest smiles I’ve every seen. She must still be here somewhere and I bet she’s with that guy holding them.”
“I wouldn’t doubt it Tyrone. We need to definitely get some help.”
Steve Sidel wondered what was keeping Paula Howard from coming back from the opening after delivering Tiffany Royal and Brandon Miles. He helped an elderly couple up and pointed them toward the opening and had just turned around to continue looking for other survivors when a gunshot echoed loudly in the enclosed lobby. His immediate reaction was to duck and when he looked around in his crouched position he could see several figures in the dim light from the jagged hole in the roof.
A woman’s scream had paralleled the gunshot and he thought it came from the same direction as the shot. He melted further into the shadows and started working his way toward the opening still in a crouched position. His entire concentration was focused on the people at the opening and he jumped quickly backwards when he came in contact with a very soft human back. A sharp very low yelp sprang back at him from the person he had bumped into and he peered intently into the darkness until he recognized the very attractive face staring back at him with very large eyes.