Wet: Undercurrent (2 page)

The chime of her phone alarm pulled her out of her thoughts. She had to get ready for dinner. But this wasn’t over. The path to the true reason she had come to this hotel had revealed itself. She planned to take it… after dinner.

* * *

If she had to fake one more laugh, she was going to scream. Richard was a man who liked to hear his own voice and tell a lot of unfunny jokes. Or maybe she found no humor in his jokes because that mysterious hallway had her distracted. The only reason she hadn’t excused herself was because she couldn’t go sneaking around while the hotel was bustling with guests and staff. Her search would end right as it started if someone caught her in that hallway again.

Once was a mistake. Twice was intention. That would make the staff suspicious of her, which might mean cutting her trip short. She had to be careful and patient… and laugh at Richard’s jokes since she couldn’t find a valid excuse to get away from the man. Thanks to him, she’d learned a good amount of information about the history of the hotel and the décor. That alone made her suffering worthwhile.

The more Lulu learned, the more impressed she was that Voda had been able to compete as well as it had. Voda was fifty years old and had no hope of pulling even with Onsen now or any time in the future. Lulu just had to find a way to impart that news to her boss.

She prayed her boss would accept her report and decide to work harder at improving Voda’s reputation -- not that the five-star resort needed improving -- rather than taking more drastic measures, like sending in a spy to act as an employee. He’d said it jokingly, but Lulu had heard a hint of truth in his statement. Besides, people only did cliché stuff like that in movies… she hoped.

Once she got away from Richard, she would find out if her boss was serious. If she were at home, she could check her phone and make up some excuse about turning in early because of work the next morning. Being on vacation -- working or not -- didn’t afford her the luxury of using that excuse.

Fate must have been looking out for her, because Richard’s phone rang. He excused himself before answering it. Lulu turned her attention to her dessert while pretending not to listen. She hoped the call was about something that would make him end the evening.

Richard broke into a huge grin. “Now? No. No. That isn’t a problem at all. I would be happy to meet with you. Thank you very much. Yes. Yes. Thank you.” He ended the call and faced Lulu. “Your suggestion paid off. The hotel CEO is on the premises and wants to meet with me to discuss the idea now. I hope you don’t mind me cutting the evening short?”

“Of course not. Go. This is a great opportunity.” Lulu flashed her most winning smile and found she didn’t have to force it. She offered up a prayer of thanks to the CEO for recognizing a good thing and acting on it. “Good luck.”

“I’ll tell you about it later.” Richard waved as he rushed away.

Lulu waved back and then turned the wave to the nearby waiter. He took her dessert to be boxed while Lulu smiled at the possibility of never speaking to Richard again. He didn’t know her room number, and Onsen was a huge hotel. Besides, his trip ended tomorrow while she had three more days.

The waiter returned with her dessert, and Lulu took it back to her room. After a quick nap, she planned to head to the mysterious hallway and see if she could get down it without being spotted. The easiest time to do that was when the hotel was at a skeleton crew.

She sent off a quick email to her boss about her plans for the evening before setting her phone alarm and going to sleep. Thinking about what she might find kept her awake, but sleep did come. She didn’t feel as though she had slept that long when her alarm sounded. But a little sleep was better than none. She didn’t want fatigue messing up her plans.

To help her plan along, she stripped and put on a robe. Anyone who saw her would think she was going to the hot springs for a late-night dip to avoid the crowds. The hot springs only closed for two hours each day for cleaning, and that was during dinner. Her plan was perfect so long as she didn’t get caught. But every plan could be considered perfect given those parameters.

She grabbed one of the books she had brought with her to add to her cover. She always said she would read more and hadn’t managed to do it yet. That didn’t stop her from buying more books or packing five of them for this trip.

The hotel was empty and quiet when she walked through the lobby headed for the hot springs. The two clerks at the reception desk smiled at her when she passed and then returned to their work. Nothing suspicious about her. Not at all.

Lulu stopped before the hallway that wasn’t there and pretended to look at a painting she couldn’t see. The hallway had three doorways -- two on the side and one at the end. It was the one at the end that interested her most. The two on the side were probably for the employees to get to different parts of the hotel. Going through one of those was a sure way to get caught.

She took a breath and started forward. Last time the woman who had caught Lulu had snuck up without warning, but Lulu had also been distracted. This time she listened for every sound that could be someone headed in her direction.

Her small trek to the last doorway ended without incident. A sophisticated keypad lock greeted her when she reached the door. That had to mean whatever was behind the door was important.

She glanced over her shoulder and then back at the keypad. Now what? She touched the enter button on the keypad, hoping for the best. It beeped and there was a loud click. No way she was that lucky. She pushed the handle down, testing to see if the door had really unlocked. It moved. Could the code be that simple? It made sense. No one would think to push the enter button and nothing else.

With her breath held, she eased the door open and peeked around the corner. No one was there. She entered the room and then closed the door as softly as she could. As an added precaution, she turned the lock. She hoped no one would think the door being locked was suspicious.

Now to investigate this room at the end of the mysterious hallway that didn’t exist. Not that there were anything worth investigating, unless she counted the empty shelf against the far wall and the small wooden trunk on the other side of the room. She doubted the trunk held anything more than some towels. Lulu would have sucked her teeth in disgust if she wasn’t trying to be quiet. The room also held another hot spring pool. What was the big deal about that?

The only differences between this one and the one in the women’s guest bath were that it wasn’t surrounded by fake rock formations to make it look like it was carved out of a mountain, it was smaller -- big enough for three or four people instead of fifty -- and it was surrounded by a thick straw rope suspended between barrier poles. Strips of white zigzag cloth -- it could also be paper, she wasn’t sure -- hung from the rope at even intervals. Was that the Japanese version of a “Do Not Enter” sign or something?

Maybe the pool was being cleaned. Or maybe this was the employees’ only pool. That would explain why it looked more like a small swimming pool than a hot spring. That also made sense. But why all the secrecy? And that still didn’t explain the hallway only she could see… well, she and the woman who had caught her.

Lulu looked around for anything else that would explain away the weird phenomena. The room only held the pool. She walked over to the rope and peered over it into the pool. Nothing special about it. Clear blue water. That was it.

The light scent of musk and incense wafted under her nose. The staff had scented this pool. They should do the same with the others. The aroma was nice. Though they probably didn’t because of those guests with perfume allergies.

The sound of something hitting the floor made her whirl and face the door, prepared to make up an excuse for her presence in the room. No one was there. The sound had come from outside. Was the person headed for the room? She needed to hide in case they were. But where? The only place was the pool and it was clear water. Not a very good hiding place… unless the person outside only glanced around quickly and then left. The depths of the pool couldn’t be seen from the doorway.

Lulu decided to chance it. She trotted around the edge to the side farthest away from the door and stripped out of her robe. After wrapping her book in the robe, she shoved them inside the trunk. There was muted beeping as someone typed on the keypad.

Those few seconds were all she needed. She moved her foot past the barrier. An electric shock coursed up her leg, making her slap her hand over her mouth to keep from crying out. She’d received worse shocks from touching the doorknob after rubbing her feet on the carpet, but it still hurt and she hadn’t expected it. There was nothing metal in or around the pool so she didn’t know what had caused the electrical discharge.

Lulu ignored it and dipped one foot into the water with the intention of easing in so she didn’t cause ripples. Sliding under the rope barrier and trying hard not to disturb it, she slipped into the water. She sucked in a deep breath and ducked under the water just as the door opened. The person must not have seen her because she didn’t hear anything that sounded like a commotion. Not that she could hear much in the water. She couldn’t see anything outside the pool. But that meant they couldn’t see her either.

All the same, she stayed near the edge of the pool closest to the door. If the person who had entered decided to check the pool, they would have to look straight down to see her.

She felt every beat of her heart as she waited for some telltale sign the person had left and it was safe for her to surface. None was forthcoming. The decision would be made for her soon because she needed to breathe. Being caught trumped drowning.

After another few seconds, she opted for air. She reached one hand above the surface and waved. No one grabbed her, so she surfaced and looked around. The room was empty and the door was closed -- both good signs.

That was enough investigating for her. It was one thing to play guest and gather information that way. It was something different to sneak around and chance being charged with trespassing.

Lulu retrieved her robe and put it on before leaving the pool room. Whatever the purpose of the room, it didn’t have anything to do with the hotel’s success. She still had no answer for why the hallway was invisible to everyone but her, but that would have to remain one of life’s mysteries.

She decided to make her lie the truth and visited the hot springs for a quick dip to help her relax after her near miss. In the morning, she planned to be a typical guest and forget all about invisible hallways and mysterious pools of scented water.

A scent that must be stuck in her nose because she could still smell it. If it was possible, it smelled stronger now than when she had been in the secret pool room. That made no sense. There was nothing in the hot springs that could be causing the smell.

She looked around to be sure. The room was empty except for her.

Then why did it feel like a hand was caressing her stomach? Lulu stared at the empty water in disbelief. There was no mistaking the feel of a hand -- a male hand -- sliding up her belly to her breasts.

She didn’t believe in ghosts or phantoms or anything else like that. She also knew she wasn’t imagining the fingers that circled one of her nipples, making it stiffen. When a second hand cupped her thigh, she’d had enough.

Lulu scrambled out of the water and ran, half slipping, for the locker room and her robe. It was time for bed. A good night’s sleep would make all the secret hallways and invisible men go away. If it didn’t, then she would be asking her boss for a real vacation away from any and all hotels.

Lulu could still smell it -- musk and incense. A good night’s sleep and almost scrubbing herself raw trying to get rid of the scent hadn’t helped. It lingered. If this was an elaborate booby trap set up by the staff to catch trespassers, it was working. It also had her more than a little freaked out.

“Lulu.”

She glanced over her shoulder and almost cursed. Richard. He headed her way with a Japanese man in a business suit following him. She forced a smile. “Good morning, Richard.”

“I’m glad I caught you. I was telling Mr. Mizuno that you were the one who suggested the tour.” Richard held a hand out to her. “Masato Mizuno, this is Lulu Swade, the woman I was telling you about.”

Mr. Mizuno offered his hand. “It’s nice to meet you, Ms. Swade, and I thank you for the innovative idea. Onsen was looking for a community service project to fund this year. Your suggestion couldn’t have come at a better time.”

Lulu shook his hand. “You’re welcome, Mr. Mizuno. It just seemed like the right solution at the time.” And her boss would wring her neck if he found out she’d given it to the competition.

“That is an interesting perfume you’re wearing.”

Oh, crap
, Lulu thought, trying to hide her panic. If he recognized it, he would know she had been snooping. She smiled with a small shake of her head. “I’m not wearing any perfume. It must be the hotel soap. You have such fragrant products.”

Richard said, “They do. I’m happy the gift shop sells it. All original Japanese recipes. Completely natural and organic.”

Mr. Mizuno chuckled. “Richard, I think you missed your calling. You should stop teaching and come on at Onsen as a sales rep.”

“I’m passionate about what I love, and I love Japan.” Richard shot Lulu a winning smile. “I was regaling Lulu about the highlights of the hotel and its history last night before your call. I’m hoping she found it interesting enough to want to pick up where we left off. I’m extending my visit two more days to talk shop with Mr. Mizuno.”