***
Mika dropped them off a block from the hotel.
"What time do I need to be here tomorrow?" asked Mika, leaning closer to the passenger side window.
"Don't worry about it," said Elsie.
Elsie turned to her friends as Mika drove away. Alex had a look of horror on her face and Charley was busy paying attention to the donuts displayed in the bakery's window.
"Elsie, I thought Mika was our ride home. What are we going to do now?" asked Alex.
"I changed the plan a little Alex. I can get one of the bellboys at the hotel to drive us home."
"Are you sure about that?"
"Yes and for the last time, stop worrying."
The girls, each outfitted with matching jeans, sneakers, and backpacks, walked down the street calmly and strolled into the Plaza Inn & Suites.
"Miss McCracken, so nice to see you too, I didn't know you'd be here as well," said the doorman.
"Always good to be seen, Rob," said Elsie as she led her friends through the front door. Once inside she immediately recalled what he'd said to her, "So nice to see you too".
Her eyes couldn't believe what she was seeing across the gleaming lobby. Her parents, standing with their backs to her, were talking to the general manager. Elsie jerked both of her friends by their arms and dragged them into a nearby alcove.
"Ouch, what's going on Elsie?" said Alex.
Elsie wasn't that successful at moving Charley's tall muscular frame so Charley remained planted partly in the lobby looking up at the dazzling display of chandeliers.
"My parents are here," Elsie told Alex, trying hard to keep her voice low. "Charley, get over here."
Charley scampered to her friends. "Hey Elsie, I think your parents are here," she said.
"We know. Keep your voice down." Alex pulled Charley closer and completely into the hideaway. "This is a bad sign Elsie, maybe we should try this another time," she said, sounding terrified.
"We won't have another time. Jordan won't come back to our town for at least another two years."
"Well, what are we going to do now?" asked Alex.
The first option that Elsie considered was a preemptive strike on her parents. She'd approach them and explain why she was in the hotel and Alex and Charley would sneak upstairs to suite 2302. She liked that option a lot. It would allow her the opportunity to keep her caper alive.
Out of the corner of her eye, Elsie noticed a red box. As she examined it a little closer and in more detail she realized that it was a fire alarm. She began to smile.
"Elsie, are you okay? Please don't tell me you're going to do something crazy?" said Alex.
"Alex, take Charley into the bathroom and wait for me," said Elsie, with a commanding tone.
"Okay." Alex sheepishly grabbed a hold of Charley's wrist and led her into the nearby women's bathroom.
Elsie knew that she was taking a risk because someone else or a whole lot of women for that matter could be in the bathroom; however, she quickly rationalized that her entire plan was risky and there wasn't any reason to stop now. She calmly stepped towards the alarm and pulled the lever.
She had forgotten how loud the alarm was but amid all of the instant commotion she slid into the bathroom with her friends.
"Alex?Charley," she said, almost at a whisper.
"We're over her," said Charley from the ADA stall.
"Good, you guys have your feet elevated." Elsie joined them.
"How long do we have to stay in here?" asked Alex.
"Our company standard is to have the entire hotel cleared within five minutes so it shouldn't be long. Somebody will check this bathroom shortly but they'll just stick their head in the door and look for feet. Once they leave, we're home free."
"I hope," said Alex.
"Yes, me too," said Charley.
"How much do you want bet."
"I'm not the betting type, you know that, Elsie," said Alex.
They remained quiet in the stall and looked at each other for the next few minutes although it felt like five hours. The door crept open and someone said, "all clear in here", and then it closed.
"That's our cue," said Elsie. "All hotel guests and staff will move to the parking lot across the street and wait for the fire department to officially check the building. We can go up to the room now."
Elsie and her friends moved carefully out of the bathroom and through the lobby making sure that no one could see them from outside of the building. Leading the way, Elsie continually gave multiple hand signals to her friends for stopping, stooping, running, and walking all the way to the prepared suite.
"I'm so glad we finally made it but why did we have to use the stairs?" asked Alex. She was out of breath.
"The fire alarms disable the elevators," said Elsie as she took off her backpack and opened it.
"Really?" Alex sounded like she thought Elsie was making things up.
"Yes?hey, none of that is important right now. Let's get inside." Alex opened the door to the room and held it as her friends entered in completely different ways. Alex stumbled about and fell face first on the large antique sofa sitting in front of the large window with an excellent view of the city. Charley ran around from room to room like a kid in a candy store.
"Calm down, Charley. Act like you've been here before. Alex, get up. You're not that tired. We have work to do." Elsie closed the door but made sure that it didn't make any noise. "Okay, let's get dressed and after that, Alex you can hook up your stuff."
"Can I at least have a glass of water, Elsie?" asked Alex while panting.
"You know how to get to the kitchen."
Alex stood up slowly and glared at Elsie. "You don't have to get an attitude, Elsie, you still need our help."
"What does that mean, Alex?" Elsie glared back at her.
"You know what I mean. You need my help the most so you need to watch how you talk to me. You've become more of a mean girl every passing minute."
Elsie's face wrinkled with disappointment. Her ire was growing. She wasn't upset at what Alex had said to her; she was more pissed off by Alex's body language and lack of hustle which made Elsie think that Alex was considering throwing in the towel.
"Alex, if you for one minute think about quitting on me, I'll tell your father about your late night visits to Mister Bender's pharmacy."
Alex's opened mouth and corresponding inhale that rebounded throughout the suite confirmed for Elsie that she had made her point.
"You wouldn't," she said to Elsie.
"I would and you know I would. Now let's get to work."
The girls unloaded their backpacks and changed their clothes; each dressing in black Chuck Tyler's, black jeans, and black hoodies.
"Don't we look cool? Time for a selfie," said Elsie as she stood in between her friends and snapped a photo. Charley posed a big smile; Elsie was straight faced and Alex looked sullen as they hugged each other awkwardly.
"I hope that photo is only meant for your phone, Elsie," said Alex.
"Nah?I was thinking about posting it on Autopic."
Alex pulled away from Elsie and picked up her computer. She walked to the business station and plugged in all of her gadgets. "That's not funny, Elsie," she said.
"Just get everything set up already," Elsie said as she walked towards Alex.
"Elsie, what are we going to do with these things?" said Charley while holding three ski masks.
"Later, Charley; they're for later," said Elsie as she shook her head again humored by her friends ignorance.
"What do you want me to do right now?" asked Charley.
"I want you to look out of that big window and tell me when all of the guest start coming back to the hotel."
"Okay," said Charley as she skipped over to the large window.
Elsie turned her attention to Alex. "Everything set?"
"Yes, we're on. I can see everything. I've also checked guest records and Jordan has sui
te 2300 reserved for two nights. It says he supposed to be here at four o'clock."
Elsie looked at her watch. "That's about thirty minutes from now. They should be?"
"Hey, Elsie, the crowd is walking across the street."
"You stole my thunder, Charley, but thank you."