I’m pacing back and forth, arms crossed. I know something’s fucking wrong.

It doesn’t take two hours to get lunch. Maybe she decided to run again, but that makes no sense. She left her duffel bag here with most of her money and all of her stuff. If she was going to run, she’d take the bag and sneak off in the middle of the night or something. She has just enough for lunch and that’s it.

No, something else happened. I’m imagining the worst case scenario, heart hammering in my chest, when I hear it.

Footsteps outside. Two pairs of them, followed by a third pair just a minute later. It stops outside of my door. I stand there, tensed and staring at the door, when she screams.

I throw open the door and jump out just as two big guys come barreling past at her. She stumbles backwards, trying to get to the stairs, as the shorter of the two grabs her. He’s grinning huge, with a bald head and a thick neck. The other guy’s thinner, taller, with squinty eyes and a neckbeard. He spots me as I walk over to him.

“Oh, shit, Moe—”

He doesn’t have time to finish that sentence. I smash my fist into his nose, breaking it instantly. I follow that up and slam my left into his gut, grabbing him by the shirt and throwing his skull against a neighbor’s door.

He crumples down. The guy called Moe curses and grabs Kay by the hair, dragging her along, trying to get away. She fights him, though, kicking and punching.

I run over and grab the guy, wrenching him away from her. He goes for something in his pocket but I bar his arm and flip him over my hip, tossing him onto the ground. It’s a move I’ve used a lot, using his weight against him. He slams onto the ground and I follow it with a knee to his throat and a fist to his jaw.

He groans as I hear the other guy getting to his feet. I stand and go to chase but Kay stops me.

“Let him go,” she says.

“Why? He knows where we live.”

“What are you going to do, kill him?”

I hesitate a second. “Shit,” I say.

Moe’s trying to get to his feet but I kick him back down. He groans and rolls side to side, holding his ribs. I reach down and drag him up, shoving him along back to our room. Kay follows at a distance as I throw Moe into our bathroom. She shuts the front door behind us and locks it.

“Better not fucking touch me, asshole,” Moe says. I kick him in the knee and he crumbles against the toilet.

“Why not?” I ask.

“Because, man. I’m fucking made. I’m untouchable.”

“You don’t look untouchable to me.” I slam his head against the toilet seat. “You seem pretty easy to touch, actually.”

He groans as I grab his hair and yank his head back.

“Who sent you?”

He grins, his mouth full of blood. “You know who, Julian.”

I flinch at my own name. “Hunter sent you.”

“Yeah, he sent us. And he’s gonna kill you. Gut you like a pig.”

I frown. “I don’t doubt that.” I let him go and he falls back down, leaning against the toilet and groaning.

Kay watches from the doorway, lingering and scared.

“What do we do?” she asks softly.

“I don’t know,” I admit.

“We can’t stay here. The other asshole will bring more.”

“I know.” I tense my jaw. “I want to break that fucker.”

“Julian.” She touches my face, and for a second, it brings me back. “We have to go.”

I suck in a breath and let it out. I turn back to the bathroom and approach Moe. He flinches and whimpers a bit when I kick him one more time.

“How much?” I ask him.

“Half a million,” he groans right away. “For both of you. A lot less for just the girl.”

“I’m guessing you were here for the easy pickings, right?”

He doesn’t answer.

I sigh and glance back at Kay. She’s packing everything already, getting ready to go.

I crouch down next to Moe and stare into his eyes. “I’m not going to kill you.”

The relief is palpable. Pathetic animal.

“But you’re going to give Hunter a message for me,” I say. “Tell him I’m coming. Tell him his old friend is coming for him, and he’d better be worried.”

Moe stares at me with his pig-stupid eyes and I turn away from him, dripping anger like acid from my body. Kay nods at me and throws her duffel over her shoulder. I grab my bag and we’re out the door together, walking through the blinding sunlight, hurrying away from the motel as fast as we can.