**NB. This story is as it comes – straight out of my head and may contain typos**
CHAPTER 7 – BLANE
By a miracle, we made it to Saint George, Utah, without the suspension falling out of the truck. Kayden didn’t seem to be a fan of the rear-view mirror because he failed to notice us in the distance when he pulled into the parking lot of the Rest-E-Z Motel and slotted his car neatly into a space at the far end of the building. The place was a dump—peeling paint on the buildings, a neon sign that blinked on and off at random intervals, and trash blowing along the walkway that ran in front of the rooms.
Kayden climbed out of his car and glanced both ways, trying to get his bearings, it seemed. After a moment, he walked to room six and knocked on the door. It opened a second later, as if the occupant had been waiting.
“There she is,” Joseph murmured.
Why had Wren come to this awful place? Whatever had happened, it must have been terrible.
“We should go talk with her.”
“You don’t think we should wait until Kayden leaves?”
“What if she goes with him? This truck isn’t going to make it much further. If they decide to drive to, say, Wyoming, we’ll be left smoking at the side of the highway.”
“Maybe I could source another vehicle?”
“What would you come back with this time? A bicycle?”
Joseph folded his arms and huffed. “Fine, we’ll speak with them.”
“I’ll knock on the door, and you can go around the back in case they try to escape through the window.”
“You really think they’d do that?”
Who knew? I mean, I’d seen it in a movie once, so it was a possibility. And these shoes weren’t designed for running. Plus I’d get hot, and I couldn’t take my jacket off because of the bloodstains on my shirt. This was when Vee would have been at an advantage—as long as she wasn’t hungry, she possessed strength and speed that no mortal could match.
“Just go around the back.”
“What if I listen in on the conversation?”
I’d already been shot once for loitering today, and I didn’t particularly want it to happen a second time, even to Joseph. He’d never stop whining about it. And the truck parked next to us was fitted with a rifle rack and a bumper sticker that said Gun control is hitting your target.
“We have the element of surprise right now. Let’s not waste it.”
I gave Joseph a few minutes to get in place, then climbed out of the truck. When I closed the door, the handle fell off again. Was our roadside assistance coverage up to date? Because we were going to need it on the drive back.
As I paused outside the door to room six, the quiet murmur of voices came from inside, plus soft sobbing. Wren? When I saw her two days ago, she’d been happy. What had Zion done to her?
I knocked on the door, and the voices stopped abruptly.
“Who’s there?” Kayden called.
Should I try the old “room service” trick? Hmm, in this place, no one would believe me.
“It’s Lucian Blane.”
Silence, then muttering. After a long moment, footsteps approached, the door cracked open, and Kayden’s face peered through the gap.
“Ah, shit. What are you doing here?”
“Performing outreach on behalf of the employee relations team.”
“How the hell did you get here?”
“In a truck, unfortunately.”
Wren appeared, her cheeks stained with tears.
“I’m so sorry I didn’t call.”
“That doesn’t matter. I just need to know that you’re okay. Can I come in?”
Kayden turned to his sister, and when she nodded, he opened the door wide enough for me to step through. The inside of the motel room was as bad as the outside. The carpet, bedspreads, and drapes all bore dubious-looking stains, and someone had earned seven years back luck for cracking the mirror. Was Blane superstitious? Not really, but his father moved in mysterious ways.
“What happened, Wren?”
“I…I don’t know where to start.”
Nowhere, if Kayden had his way. “Do you trust this guy?”
“I don’t trust anyone right now.”
I offered what I hoped was a winning smile. After Joseph told me I looked like Jack Nicholson’s Joker, I’d practised plenty of times in the mirror, and I liked to think I’d turned into Bradley Cooper with a hint of Zac Efron. Wren didn’t recoil in horror, so I had to be doing something right.
“If I wasn’t on your side, I’d have returned to Vegas and told Zion where you were, not knocked on the door to offer help.”
Now she shrank back. “H-h-how do you know about Zion?”
“Because when I went to your apartment to look for you last night, one of his acquaintances decided to drop by. You might want to invest in a better lock.”
I left Vee’s name out of it. Better for Wren to remain blissfully unaware of her dietary preferences.
“You spoke with him? What did he say?”
“Not much, just that he’d come to take you to Zion. Don’t worry about him coming back; he’s resigned from the job now.”
“Zion will send somebody else.”
“How do you know Zion?”
“I don’t. I only know of him.” Wren shuddered. “He’s a psycho.”
“If you don’t know the man, then why did he send a man to kidnap you?”
Wren glanced at her brother, and Kayden shrugged.
“Don’t look at me. I’ve barely met this guy. Do you trust him?”
“I…I’m not sure.”
Her answer shouldn’t have been important, but as she underwent an internal struggle, biting her lip as she did so, I found myself growing tense. I wasn’t exactly human, and yet I’d adopted their little foibles. Pride, for example. Her perception of me mattered.
Finally, Wren came to a decision.
“My friend Caria was dating a guy named Laurent. He’s the one who knows Zion. He uses him as… I guess you’d call him an enforcer?”
I let out the breath I’d been holding. She did trust me.
“That still doesn’t explain why Zion came for you.”
Wren sank onto the end of the bed. “Caria saw something she shouldn’t have, and she told me about it. Now I’m a loose end.”
“What did she see?”
Wren lost a shade of colour, and her voice dropped to a barely audible whisper.
“She saw a murder.”
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There's no decision to be made this week. The next chapter will be in your inbox in December.
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