Page 40 of Clean Hack
Which started to mess with my head and I couldn’t have that right now.
Now that I’d taken a moment to really look at the shape of the room, I was surprised that the cops hadn’t been called. But it was clear from the lack of flashing lights outside and the fact that it still looked very much like a crime scene that there was something bigger at play here. It had taken me just under an two hours to get here, which was a miracle considering I was over four out when she called me. I sped like a motherfucker. There was something about the panic in her voice that had me tied up in knots on the inside and hating the fact that I was so far away. So I did my damnedest to get here in the blink of an eye. I was damn lucky I didn’t get pulled over. I wasn’t going to complain though.
“No one’s called the cops?” I asked almost dumbly and resisted the urge to scratch my head.
There was a tiny, jerky shake of her head as she reached her long, frail arm out and pointed at one of the bodies. It was then that I noticed they were wearing cuts. The Devil’s Kings. I’d heard rumors and little snippets of conversations along my travels and while doing jobs. This was the motorcycle club that had so many others shaken for the past couple of years.
I took that as a sign that the people around were as afraid of the MC as my in-shock psychic was.
“The place is empty. I’m the only person renting a room and the manager or owner or whatever probably knows better than to call.”
Her voice came out shaky, but loud enough to where I could hear it. She hadn’t taken her eyes off of mine since we first locked gazes. I may have taken a moment to check out the damage, but I could feel her eyes on me as I did so.
“Are you…hurt?” I hesitated, not knowing if I should move closer to her even though I wanted to. I didn’t want to scare her any more than she already was.
“N-no,” she swallowed and seemed to snap herself out of her shock just a bit. “No. They tried but I guess I, um, got the best of them before they had a chance to do anything to me. I’m just a bit banged up, but nothing I can’t walk off.” She let out a nervous, huffed laugh.
“Can I look? Just to make sure. You’re probably still high on adrenaline and don’t really feel how bad it could be just yet.”
At her nod, I moved closer and held out my hand. She reached for me and uncurled her body to stand. At her full height, the top of her head reached my chin. She looked up at me and there was something swirling in her eyes. We were close. Too close for me to be able think straight. She was young. I couldn’t really tell you how young, but Icouldtell you that I hadn’t been her age in a really long fucking time.
She took a step back and I got my head in the game. She was banged up as all get out. Parts of her face were swollen slightly. There were bruises all over her pale skin, some of them clearly in the shape of handprints. I swallowed down my anger and softly reached into the open part of her ripped shirt. She didn’t flinch or back away, so I kept going. Her ribs felt fine and as I moved the fabric away, I could see that there wasn’t any bruising there. That was one good thing at least. I tried, and nearly failed, not to react or notice how soft and smooth her skin felt against my fingertips. It felt so wrong on so many levels, but there was something there that I couldn’t seem to push away.
I cleared my throat, dropped my hands away from her body, and took a step back.
“Go take a shower. Scrub as best as you can and leave your clothes in a pile in the shower. I’ll…get to work out here,” I said trying my best to keep my voice even and smooth. I didn’t want to say anything that would add to her anxiety and I knew that reminding her of the mess that surrounded us wasn’t going to help.
“Yeah, sure. That’s a good idea. I mean. I would guess. I don’t really know what to do. Though, I should. You know, watching you as long as I—” Her mouth snapped shut and I could tell that she hadn’t meant to say most of that out loud, especially that last part.
I couldn’t stop the odd smile that tilted up one side of my lips. And I didn’t miss the way her eyes darted down to take in the sight.
“Shower,” I said low and soft as a reminder of what she was supposed to be doing. I didn’t push further on how much she knew about me but knew that I’d sure as hell be asking a million questions later. Which meant that I was thinking there would be a later with her.
I thought on that last part for a moment as she moved away from me. Yeah, I was going to make sure that there was a later, because there was something that had been building slowly over the years. So slowly that I hadn’t even noticed it until recently. I wasn’t saying that we were destined to be together, but we were meant to be in each other’s lives some way. And I wanted nothing more than to get to knowmy little psychicas much as possible.
“What’s your name?” I asked just before she shut herself in the bathroom.
“L-Lucy,” she said then closed the door with a soft click.
Lucy.
I smiled, albeit briefly because there was a shit-ton of work to do and no fucking time to waste.
I got my head in the game. As I slipped out the door, I checked my surroundings. The night was quiet. Almost too quiet. Even though this place was out of the way and shady as all hell, there was no way this had gone unnoticed. The place seemed vacant but I had no doubt that there was someone up in the office. Or was, at one point. Maybe they were dead too but I had a feeling I wouldn’t get that lucky. What struck me as odd, was that there wasn’t a car or motorcycle in sight. That led me to think one of two things happened. Either they parked somewhere out of the way to sneak up on her, or they chased her on foot back to this room. I didn’t really need answers to do my job, and most of the time I preferred not to know anything, but this was different. I knew that before I even got in my truck and floored it down here. I needed to know what happened here.
I grabbed my supplies out of my truck, my mind racing with how I was going to separate this job out. There was a lake in the middle of the city that was home to many of alligators. That could work for half of the bodies. There was also the vast ocean not that far away. But I didn’t have access to a boat right now. I didn’t keep bodies around any longer than I had to.
I turned and headed back into the motel room. I closed the door softly behind me and heard the water still running in the bathroom. I had this need to go in there and check on her, but I decided to keep my distance for now. This was a big enough shock in itself, but I had this feeling in my gut that it was even more so for her.
I laid the bodies out on four different tarps, all spread out next to each other. There was barely enough room between the end of the bed and the dresser, but I made it work. I decided to start with the big, meaty body first. Taking in his bashed in skull, I had a feeling that he was the hardest to take down. I was a little stunned that she’d managed to do all this herself—or so I assumed. Part of me just wanted to roll these guys up in a rug and toss them in the river, but I was smarter and better than that. I made quick work of dismembering body number one. After he was in fourteen pieces, I packed most of him up in three empty buckets.
I was starting to worry that I didn’t have enough supplies on me. Matter of fact, I knew I didn’t. This night was just not going well at all. I carried the buckets out, placed them in the bed of my truck, then scanned to see what Ididhave on me.
I heard something that sounded like feet shuffling behind me. Without warning, I whipped around, prepared to take whoever it was down without a second thought.
“I got some of them drum barrels in the shed if that’d help ya out, son,” the frail, weathered man said staring me in the eyes, unblinking. He stopped a good few feet away, as if he knew not to crowd me.
I blinked at him but said nothing.
