It felt like an eternity, but when they finally got there, they circled the one-story motel slowly. Nine had jumped in too, so the three of them sat there, waiting impatiently now. Without going to the doors of the three rooms in question, there was no way of knowing what was behind the closed doors. So, they waited a bit out of sight but close enough they still had a clear view of all three rooms, including the one closest to where a van was parked. Even if they weren’t checking out today, there’d have to be some movement soon.
After an agonizing, uneventful twenty minutes, the door closest to the van opened, and all in the truck sat up tensely. Leo exhaled when they saw a woman in dark sunglasses and a sun hat—Samantha Bozigian. She carried what looked like empty bags, the kind you have to take into the supermarkets or pay for your own bags. She hopped in the van but then killed the engine and walked back to the room. She opened the door, stood halfway in with the door open, then closed the door and walked back to the van.
They debated whether they should follow her but decided she was likely coming back. She would’ve had suitcases or at least filled bags if she were leaving for good. After doing the waiting game again for another agonizing while, they finally had movement again. One of the other doors they’d been watching opened.
Richard Nixon, an older man, and what appeared to be his wife, walked out of the room with their rolling carryon bags. Leo and his friends watched them load the bags in the trunk of their car and drive off. Leo and his roommates exchanged frustrated glances. With two eliminated, Leo was done waiting to see what was behind door number three.
“You guys stay here.” He reached for the door handle. “I’ll go—”
“Whoa, look,” Orlando said, tapping Leo’s arm.
Leo turned to see a guy walk out of the room Samantha had walked out of. A tall well-built young guy, he was carrying the room’s ice tub. They watched as he started to walk away, but then the door opened, and he turned to it. From the angle they were sitting, they had no visual of whoever was standing at the cracked-open door. The guy, who looked to be in his late teens possibly early twenties, exchanged words with whoever was in the room, and then the door closed.
As his breathing and heart rate sped up, Leo kept his eye on the guy, who stopped right in the middle of the motel where the vending and ice machines were. He filled the bucket then stood in front of the vending machine.
“Check it out,” Nine said, pointing at the window of the room the guy had walked out of.
The thick curtains were drawn open. But the sheer curtains were left closed, and it was hard to make out anything more than a figure. Not from as far as they were sitting anyway.
Leo peered harder, trying to make out if it could possibly be Allison in there. Unless there was someone else in there still holding her captive, this would’ve been a good opportunity for her to run. Yet the door remained closed, and no one came running out. Of course, these could just be Samantha’s travel mates, and Allison might not be in any of these rooms. But if Leo had to go with his gut, that wasn’t the case.
They all saw it at once. Door number three. A woman carrying a baby and holding another little one’s hand walked out of that room, leaving the door open behind her. Then a kid no more than ten years old and a man walked out, pulling rolling suitcases. Seemed Jonathan Brown and his family were on some kind of road trip.
Leo’s eyes were instantly back on the guy from the other room, walking back with the ice and drinks he bought from the vending machine. The door opened before he even got there, and whoever was inside reached out to help him with the drinks. The whole thing was a little too fucking friendly for him to stomach if, in fact, that really was Allison in the room with this guy.
Leo waited until Jonathan Brown finished packing up his brood. He didn’t want an audience or innocent kids around in case this got ugly. As soon as they drove away, he opened his door.
“Where you going?” Orlando asked.
“To get a closer look. You two stay here.”
He got out and walked across the parking lot. His adrenaline was already thundering. A small part of him hoped Allison wasn’t in there because, regardless if she was in there willingly or not, shit was about to go down. This time there’d be no justifying what he might do to this guy.
Reaching the room in question, Leo walked over to the car parked in front of the window and pretended to fumble with invisible keys at the door. He glanced up and saw the two figures move about in the room. That was when he got a glimpse of the other person—a much shorter person—who had long hair. There was a light on in the background possibly to the bathroom or hallway just outside the bathroom. The long-haired person’s body moved just so it was silhouetted by the light.
If Leo hadn’t been so obsessed with that ass and those curves he may not have been so sure it was her. The buzzing in his ears began even as he started toward the door, but only grew louder when both figures moved onto the bed. Fuck knocking. As soon as he was close enough, he kicked the door with the bottom of his foot as hard as he could.
“Allison, you in there?”
Before he could kick it again, Orlando and Nine were already there.
“You saw her?” Orlando asked as Leo kicked the door again, this time making it crack.
“I know you’re in there, Allison,” Leo yelled, feeling like a madman already. “Open the fucking door!”
Before he could kick it again, the door swung open, and he was face-to-face with his beautiful Allison. Only she didn’t look the least bit happy to see him. The buzzing went silent, like a deadly calm before the storm as he took her in from top to bottom. She was half dressed in a tank, short loose-fitting shorts, and no shoes. His heart went from bursting at the sight of her to pounding nearly out of his chest. The guy wasn’t in the room anymore. Leo glanced around behind her.
Slamming the door the rest of the way open, in case the little fucker was hiding behind it, Leo felt a fury that came close to what he’d felt the night he saw the other asshole’s hands on her. Only this time an agonizing ache in his heart accompanied the all-consuming fury.
The door to the bathroom opened. “Ali, you okay?”
“I’m fine. Stay in there.”
Even as the pain of knowing she was protecting this guy suffocated Leo, he focused on the raging inferno instead. “Who the fuck is he?”