“Yes, but we took a picture of Kelly entering a room.”
I look at the grainy surveillance photo. “Her hands are tied.”
“Yes, they are.”
“How did you find her?”
“Stroke of luck. The car was parked illegally, so a parking violation ticket was issued.”
“Could they really be that stupid? Or is it a trap?”
“Only one way to find out, sir.”
We’re getting into a car. I don’t trust myself to drive right now. My men are driving me towards that small desert town as fast as we can go.
Hold on. I’m coming for you.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Motel Room
Kelly
The smell of the motel room is horrible. It smells like decaying trash. Rotting food has a sort of sweet smell. The motel room smells like it’s rotting, but without the sweetness.
“Eat,” she barks at me. There’s an open bag of potato chips in front of me. I don’t touch it. I don’t even know her name. She just yanked me into the motel room closest to the car and closed the curtains. After cutting off my zip tie, she cuffed one of my hands to the headboard.
“I’m not hungry.” I can’t eat in this place. It’s filthy. I feel like vomiting. I’m totally miserable and my stomach feels like it’s digesting itself.
“You have to eat.” I can hear the desperation in her voice.
“Why do you even care?”
“I don’t.” But there’s a little tremble in her voice. She’s scared of something. I just don’t know what.
“What’s at stake here? If I starve myself to death, nothing will happen to you.”
“I’m not holding you for myself,” she snarls at me. She takes a step towards me that makes me think she’s going to claw at my face.
“Why am I here? Is it Ariana?”
She just shakes her head. “The less you know, the better.”
“Your boss isn’t Ariana, is it? It has to be someone else.”
“Shut up.” She runs her hands through her hair so that it sticks up a little bit. She paces around the room. She keeps looking at the phone, as if she really wants to make a call but knows that she shouldn’t.
“Why don’t you call whoever it is you’re worried about?”
“Not secured.”
She sits down on the bed. She’s staring out the window, drumming her fingers on the mattress.
“You left behind all your stuff when we ran, didn’t you?” I smile for the first time in a long time.
Good news. We’re in the middle of nowhere and she has no backup.
“Stop smiling. I still have a gun, so don’t even think about running.”