7
THE ANT HILL
“You hungry?” she asks.
“Always.”
“Come.”
He follows her through a steel door on the other side of the room.
They’re in a hallway. The floor tiles are old and cracked, the walls could use some paint, and the ceiling needs a little plaster, but the place is clean.
He follows her down the hall, past a row of doors. A mop leans against the wall like an old man taking a cigarette break.
She stops, takes a metal ring out of her pocket, finds the right key without looking, and unlocks a door. “Come. Upstairs.”
The stairs are rickety and the light’s not really pulling his weight, but he walks up.
The door at the top of the stairs is also locked, but she lets them in.
While his hand reaches for the doorknob, Horvath hears a low vibrating sound, like the hum of electrical
