Read 27 - A Night in Terror Tower for Free Online

coins from my pocket. I held them up to the driver.
“I don’t really know what is what,” I confessed. “Can you take the right amount
from these?”
    The driver glanced at the coins in my hands, sniffed, then raised his eyes to
me. “What are those?” he asked coldly.
    “Coins,” I replied. I didn’t know what else to say. “Do I have enough to pay
you?”
    He stared back at me. “Do you have any real money? Or are you going to
pay me with play money?”
    “I—I don’t understand,” I stammered. My hand started to tremble, and I
nearly dropped the coins.
    “I don’t either,” the driver replied sharply. “But I do know that those
aren’t real coins. We use British pounds here, miss.”
    His expression turned angry. He glared at me through the little window in the
glass partition. “Now, are you going to pay me in British pounds, or are we
going to have some major trouble? I want my money—now!”

 
 
13
     
     
    I pulled the coins away from him and raised them close to my face. It was
dark in the back of the taxi, and hard to see.
    The coins were large and round. They felt heavy, made of real gold or silver.
It was too dark to read the words on them.
    “Why would my parents give me play money?” I asked the driver.
    He shrugged. “I don’t know your parents.”
    “Well, they will pay you the fifteen pounds,” I told him. I struggled to
shove the big coins back into my pocket.
    “Fifteen pounds, sixty—plus tip,” the driver said, frowning at me. “Where
are your parents? In the hotel?”
    I nodded. “Yes. They were at a meeting in the hotel. But they’re probably up
in the room now. We’ll get them to come down and pay you.”
    “In real money, if you please,” the driver said, rolling his eyes. “If they’re not down here in five minutes, I’ll come in
after you.”
    “They’ll be right down. I promise,” I told him.
    I pushed open the door and scrambled out of the cab. Eddie followed me onto
the sidewalk, shaking his head. “This is weird,” he muttered.
    A red-uniformed doorman held the hotel door open for us, and we hurried into
the huge, chandeliered lobby. Most people seemed to be heading the other way,
going out for dinner, I guessed.
    My stomach grumbled. I suddenly realized I was starving.
    Eddie and I made our way past the long front desk. We were walking so fast,
we nearly collided with a bellman pushing a big cart stacked high with
suitcases.
    To our right, I could hear dishes clattering in the hotel restaurant. The
aroma of fresh-baked bread floated in the air.
    The elevator doors opened. A red-haired woman in a fur coat stepped off,
walking a white toy poodle. Eddie got tangled in the leash. I had to pull him
free so we wouldn’t miss the elevator.
    We stumbled into the elevator. As the doors slid shut, I pushed Six. “What
was wrong with that money?” Eddie asked.
    I shrugged. “I don’t know. I guess Dad made a mistake.”
    The doors slid open on six, and we hurried side by side down the long, carpeted hall to our room.
    I stepped around a room service tray on the floor. Someone had left half a
sandwich and part of a bowl of fruit. My stomach rumbled again, reminding me how
hungry I was.
    “Here we are.” Eddie ran up to the door to room 626 and knocked. “Hey, Mom!
Dad! It’s us!”
    “Open up!” I called impatiently.
    Eddie knocked again, a little louder. “Hey—!”
    We pressed our ears close to the door and listened.
    Silence. No footsteps. No voices.
    “Hey—are you in there?” Eddie called. He knocked again. “Hurry up! It’s
us!”
    He turned to me. “They must be out of that meeting by now,” he
muttered.
    I cupped my hands around my mouth. “Mom? Dad? Are you there?” I called in.
    No reply.
    Eddie’s shoulders slumped, and he let out an unhappy sigh. “Now what?”
    “Are you having trouble?” a woman’s voice asked.
    I turned to see a hotel maid. She wore a gray uniform and a small white cap
over her short,