CHAPTER THREE

AMBER

 

I RIPPED THE eviction notice off my apartment door. “You’re shitting me.” I kicked my packed suitcase that sat outside the door. That has got to be illegal. I had never heard of a landlord packing a tenant’s stuff before. I tried my key but, of course, it didn’t work. I kicked my suitcase again, before sitting on the ground and opening my phone. I scrolled up and down my contacts before closing it. I actually had no one to ring. I smelled of smoke, sick, and alcohol. I needed a bed. Tiredness had me wanting to lie down on the floor, but my poor dress had taken enough abuse. I got up and pulled my oversized suitcase out of the building before waving down a taxi. I still had alcohol in my system so driving my car wasn't an option.

“Take me to the closest hotel,” I told him. He looked at me in the rear-view mirror, his eyes narrowed slightly. I opened my purse and took out ten dollars, waving it at the mirror. Without missing a beat, he reached out and took it before pulling away from the curb. Money held such power; such a pity I barely had any. 

It took us only a few minutes to reach the nearest hotel, and when I stepped out onto the sidewalk with my suitcase, I looked up and up and up. It screamed wealth. This was so far outside my spending bracket that I considered getting back into the taxi, but the taxi driver made the decision for me as he pulled away from the curb. This hotel it would be, then. I hated the rotating doors, so I opted for a side door. A man in a tailcoat and top hat held the door open for me. Yeah, I really couldn’t afford this.

 

EMMETT

 

“Please.” Blood dripped from his mouth as he spoke. I flexed my hands, the skin between my knuckles cracked and bleeding.

Three of my men stood in the room. They watched, but didn’t move.

“How many?” I asked again.

John’s head dipped down, his chin resting on his chest as he cried. Drool mixed with blood dripped from his mouth. He looked up at me and started to plead.

I felt my skin split as my fists connected with his jaw, left, right, left, right, right. I always finished off with a double right. The last two, I put force behind them as some of his teeth hit the concrete floor, along with blood.

More blood from his nose and mouth streamed down the front of his blue shirt. “How many?” I asked again, as Michael handed me a cloth for my hands. I dabbed at my bleeding knuckles before handing the cloth back to Michael.

“Ten.” John spat out more teeth, and I knelt down when he stopped coughing up blood.

“That wasn’t so hard, was it?” I asked him. I slapped his face to remind him to answer me.

“No,” he said.

“I want you to give me the names and details of the ten… boys?” I said boys like it was a question. He confirmed with a nod.

“I’m going to die?” He questioned as he spat out blood away from me, and when he looked back I answered him.

“Yes, you are."

I got the ten boys’ names and listened to every detail before I killed John. As I left the basement, my moral compass came on, and I wondered for the thousandth time if what I was doing was for the greater good, as I told myself, or did I enjoy it too much?

 

AMBER

“Are you kidding me?” I asked the spotty teenager who looked at me briefly before looking at his phone.

“No, that’s the price.”

I don’t know what was pissing me off more, the price of Febreze or this guy’s attitude. I looked at his name tag, ‘Usher.’

“Usher, sweetie, I don’t think your boss would appreciate you serving a customer while being on your phone.” I spoke real sweetly.

He looked up at me now, not even a flicker of embarrassment in his eyes. “Maybe I’m the boss," he smirked. The cheeky little fecker.

I laughed until his cheeks turned red. “Oh sweetie, that’s cute, but I seriously doubt it.” I held out a twenty for my Febreze, newspaper and, two tins of John West tuna, in sunflower oil, of course. He snapped it out of my hand, and I got like ten cents of change. He didn’t even offer me a bag. My large handbag would hide a body in it, but that wasn’t the point.

I left Usher and his phone alone and made my way back to my overpriced hotel room. I had booked myself in for three nights; the cheapest room being two hundred and ten a night, not including breakfast. If I wanted that, it would cost an extra twenty-five. I entered my room, my two dresses hanging on the door of the wardrobe, one of them my black little dress, the other a royal blue one that I had worn last night. I couldn’t afford dry cleaning right now, so I got the bottle of Febreze out of my bag and sprayed them before taking a long and overdue shower.

 

I sat on my king-size bed; the mattress dipped with my body. Everything about this room screamed luxury. I had a mini bar; I opened it several times and closed it, removing nothing. It cost like eight dollars for a glass bottle of coke. I just couldn’t justify it. 

I was feeling so much better after washing, I dressed into my favorite ripped jeans and a green chiffon shirt. My hair was still wet, and I brushed it out, leaving it down. As I scooped it to the side, I examined all the dead ends before letting it fall back to my waist. Another thing to add to my list; when I got money, get a haircut. I reached into my bag and took out my tuna and newspaper. Opening the paper to the job section, I shuffled deeper into the mattress, getting serious. I was not leaving this bed until I found a job.

My stomach growled, and I reached for the tab on the tuna tin and pulled. What normally happens is the lid comes off. What happened to me? I was left with the tab in my hand. “Feck.” I threw the tab on the lush carpet that my feet now sank into. Taking the second one I pulled the tab with more care, but it snapped off in my fingers. "Are you kidding me?" I asked the ceiling.

My stomach growled the whole ride down the elevator. The hotel had a guy in the elevator who pushed the button for me. We arrived at the ground floor and I walked across the cold, black marble. Please, no one look at me, I chanted as I glanced down at my bare feet. The receptionist who I had met on my arrival greeted me with a fake smile. I was the master of fake smiles, so I gave her one right back. I popped my tuna on the counter. “I’m looking for a tin opener,” I said with my wide, fake smile. She looked from my tin to me twice before looking around her desk. I leaned over to see what she was looking at. Her desk was practically empty, only for a computer, phone and pen holder. I couldn't see anything else.

“Sorry, I don’t have one.” I wanted to roll my eyes. Really are you sure? Why don’t you check your penholder or purse?

“Maybe if you rang the kitchen, they might let me borrow one.” I tried to keep the sarcasm out of my voice, but she lost the fake smile. So, she noticed. She picked up the phone, but someone behind me had her replacing the handset. Her eyes told me whoever stood behind me, she was pretty delighted to see.

“Riley is everything all right?” I froze. I knew that voice. I turned and looked at Emmett. He wore a fresh suit, stiff as a poker, but still as serious.

“Are you following me?” I asked him while grabbing my tin of tuna off the reception desk protectively. It was my dinner, and I couldn’t afford to lose it.

“Miss Green is looking for a tin opener.” I didn’t glance at Riley. The mockery in her voice had my cheeks burning.

“You work here?” I ignored her and asked Emmett, narrowing my eyes.

“I’ll be just a moment.” Emmett didn’t answer my question, but left and I turned to Riley.

“He works here?” I asked her, and she gave me such an odd stare before giving me a fake smile.

“Something like that.”

“What does that mean? It’s either like that, or it isn’t.”  I did a very abrupt head movement from left to right that flicked my hair, mimicking her Barbie-like ways.

“Are you mocking me?” No, I have a kink in my neck that just kicked in now for no reason.

“Excuse me?” I tried to do that really confused, dumb look that she had given me when I had booked into the hotel, as if I wasn’t good enough for this hotel. She glanced over my shoulder and her smile reappeared. Emmett must have been back. He was, and he had my tin opener. I smiled at him, genuinely happy. “You’re a lifesaver. Will you let the kitchen know I’ll have it back ASAP?”

“You can keep it.” He glanced down at my bare feet but didn’t say anything, so I didn’t either. I waved my tin opener at him. 

“So, thanks again, Emmett. We’ve got to stop meeting like this.” I laughed. He just nodded with a quick tip of the head. 

“Enjoy your stay, Miss Green.” This was getting a little too awkward.

“Yeah, well, thanks again.” I tried not to run across the lobby floor. The bellman held open the elevator door, and I thanked him as I got in. I turned to see Emmett walking towards us.

 “Close the door,” I mouthed through the side of my mouth at elevator guy, who still held the door open for Emmett. My words fell on deaf ears. Once Emmett stepped in, the elevator doors closed.

“I’m not sure if you read our policy, Miss Green, about pets?” I stared at Emmett, confused as he fixed the cuffs of his shirt. His knuckles were coated in bandages. I wasn’t sure where this was going. I looked at elevator guy, who stared at the door like it played out a movie.

“No, I didn’t, and stop calling me Miss Green. It’s Amber, and what happened to your hands?” I clutched my tuna and tin opener. My stomach flipped when Emmett looked at me. It wasn’t the nice flip; his stare was heavy on my shoulders.

“Amber,” he said my name as if he was trying it out, and decided he didn’t like it. “I got attacked.”

“It looks like the attacker came out worse than you.” I thought he would smile, but he just stared at me until I had to glance away. I didn’t care about his hands, or if he got attacked. I just wanted to get back to my room and eat my tuna.

“Floor two, Matthew.” Matthew had been staring at the door but now he pressed for the second floor. I felt stupid that I had forgotten to press my floor, but I was on floor two as well. Great, we were on the same floor. I had no luck.  “There are no pets allowed in the hotel.”  Emmett randomly stated bringing us back to his original question.

I looked at Emmett now, feeling seriously confused.

“I don’t have a pet,” I said each word clearly. He glanced at the tuna, with an expressionless face.  “What are you looking at my tuna for?”

“I thought perhaps you had a cat in your hotel room."

“Because I have a tin of tuna?” I had to clarify. Now I was starting to understand the confusion.

“Yes, Miss Green–” I narrowed my eyes at him. I could tell he didn’t appreciate it, but I didn’t care.  “Yes, Amber,” he amended.

“That’s a stupid conclusion. I like tuna. I was just about to have it in my room when the tab broke.” I showed him the top of the tin. “Hence the tin opener. I hope that’s okay with you, Emmett. I mean, I get you work here, but you're acting like you own the place.” Matthew coughed as the elevator doors opened and I walked straight out, so done with being interrogated. My room was straight across from the elevator. Once I had my door open, I looked back at Emmett, who still stood in the elevator as I turned to close my hotel room door. Matthew smiled at me, but I was too hungry to smile back.

The tuna tasted like a five-course meal. I ate all two tins; I hadn’t realized how hungry I was.