Chapter Two

 

 

Dirk cursed aloud as he sat watching door number thirteen of a run-down motel on the south side of town. That was his unlucky number, not a good sign. He’d been suckered into the job and he was pissed off about it. He would still do the job to the best of his ability but he wasn’t happy.  Apparently, there was an immediate need to re-evaluate his ability to trust the people in his life.

“I shouldn’t have taken the damn case until I’d gone over the information first, like every other case I take. Damn it.”

He’d spent the rest of his afternoon reading over the thick file while he sipped on coffee in the diner around the corner from his house. He had a bad feeling about it when he hung up with his friend but he’d never had an issue before so he wanted to trust him. The man was in big trouble.

“Another damn woman. At least this one got herself in a shit-ton of trouble and actually needed the protection.”

And she did too, deep. She was a photographer but she might as well have been a private investigator for all the sneaking around and police scuffles she’d gotten herself mixed up in. This time however, she’d done it up good. Hers was a case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time.             

Maybe with this woman, Dirk would be able to protect her from the bad guys instead of just babysitting. From what he’d learned so far about who she was, she knew how to get in the thick of things and she didn’t care. He had to give her kudos for trying to hide herself in an unrecognizable setting and she had no car either, unless she’d hid it further away from the motel. He’d already run plates on every vehicle in the lot and been to the manager so he knew exactly which room she was in. If he put a little pressure on the kid, he might have gotten her room key too but he’d save that option as a last resort if she didn’t come quietly.

What he didn’t want to do was let on that he was there just yet. Dirk wanted to keep an eye on the surroundings and people coming and going, making sure to catch the ones that didn’t belong. Every so often the curtain moved to one side or the other so she was keeping a lookout as well, which meant she was running scared.

He sat up in his seat when he saw her door open. She looked both ways before she speed-walked down to the closest stairwell.

“Where in the hell are you going?”

She had quite the police rap sheet but seemed like a smart girl, only getting caught for petty misdemeanors even though they were some high-profile cases.

“She probably cried her way out of them like a typical woman.”

This time, however, she wasn’t making a great decision by going out in the open before it was completely dark. He didn’t know for sure who was hunting her yet but anyone smart enough to mess with a government official knew what they were doing. They would find her, it would only be a matter of time.

He still wasn’t ready to introduce himself but with her out of her room, he could probably sneak in and be there when she came back. He started to open the car door when he saw her moving quickly back to her room with a handful of snacks.

“Shit, guess I’ll be waiting a little longer after all.”

***

“I hate this.” She threw the handful of snack machine items onto her bed and twisted open the pop bottle for a drink.

She was pretty much stuck in her room. Going out in the daytime wasn’t smart, she knew that but she was starving so it didn’t leave her much choice. The motel didn’t have a restaurant and she didn’t have her car to drive for dinner. All her things were at the other hotel. She had no change of clothes or personal belongings, and no contact information. If only she could think clearly for just a minute, there were safe places in the city she could lay low until she figured out her next move. She just couldn’t remember one. If only she had her personal phone on her. It had everything she would need. She just didn’t usually make a habit of taking it with her when she was working. Might be one thing she’d need to rethink.

She couldn’t call her dad again. He’d gone ballistic the last time, and besides, he was too close to the situation. Good thing she used her mother’s maiden name as her last name. That way they wouldn’t connect her to him, if they knew who she was. She only hoped her dad wouldn’t concoct a plan to come rescue her himself. A body guard might not be a bad idea but she didn’t have that kind of money readily available.

As she munched on the granola bar, she took one last glance out the window. The car was still out in the lot but it’d been there a while. Nothing was moving so it was probably just her imagination. Maybe the owner had a room there too and she was just over-reacting.

“I need to take a shower.”

Her clothes weren’t that dirty but maybe tomorrow if the coast were clear, she could sneak back to the other place and collect her things.

“It’s too far to walk downtown so I have to get to my car.”  It was in a lot a couple blocks away if it was still there. She wondered though, if it might be smarter to go at night. She could hide behind buildings or in alleys. Unfortunately, she wasn’t a fan of the dark. Even though she’d done more stakeouts at night than any other time, just to get the perfect picture.

She grabbed the little shampoo and conditioner bottles from the sink area, along with a bar of soap and started the hot water. The mirror quickly steamed over so she turned on the fan and shut the door, locking herself in the bathroom. A byproduct of watching too many scary movies.

As she climbed in under the spray, the muscles in her shoulders started to relax. For a rundown motel in a seedy part of town, the water pressure was amazing, she could stand in there all night. She took her time scrubbing her body while she went over every detail of what had happened to her that day. She needed a sizable amount of sleep. Then maybe her head would be clear enough to work a way out of this mess.

Reluctantly, she ended her shower, dressed and cautiously opened the bathroom door, halfway expecting to see a stranger waiting right there when she emerged. But alas, the coast was clear.  Leaving the door open, she cleaned up her mess, hanging the towel and wash cloth on the rack and decided she would watch a little TV to help her sleep. If she hadn’t seen any unwanted visitors yet, she doubted they would come now.

The room was dark as she walked past the bed and turned on the television, adjusting to an acceptable volume but not too loud. She found a channel less boring than the others, then bent over toward the floor and patted her hair with a towel to remove the wetness. When she was upright again and removed the towel, she moved toward the bed and screamed.

“Who in the hell are you and what are you doing in my bed?”