Page 54 of Never and Always
Chapter 12
It had been awhilesince Nick last visitedFlorida.
It was probably back in college, when he was in his freshman year. He and Glenn had gone down for spring break. That was a crazytime.
Nick had geared himself up to speak to Glenn last night. He’d hoped he would have returned yesterday, and now that he was here it was going to take even longer to confrontGlenn.
He wanted to tell Glenn about Mia. It felt like they were sneaking around, and it didn’t sit well with him, especially since Mia didn’t know that Glenn had warned him away fromher.
He didn’t want to tell her that part. He didn’t think it was appropriate because he was sure that would cause more contention between her and Glenn. Nick didn’t want to be the cause of that. There had been enough disagreements over the last few weeks and they all didn’t needanymore.
Nick was annoyed with Glenn, but he had to remember that the guy was just looking out for his sister. Whichever way he reasoned it to be, that was what it came down to. And it didn’t come as a complete surprise to Nick, either, since the warning had come yearsearlier.
He just wanted to get it all off his chest so he could be free to enjoy being with Mia. He knew he could have called Glenn, but this had to be done in person. It couldn’t come from a phonecall.
He’d only been away for most of the day but he missed her. He’d messaged a few times, opting for that rather than calling because he knew he’d be on the phone to her for hours. It would defeat the purpose of him coming here. He’d call her later if he got thechance.
Now he had to focus on the mission at hand. He was sitting in a rental car outside of a cheesy motel that overlooked the swamps. It was a rough area with the most undesirable types passingby.
This was the location they’d gotten from their intel. He’d been here for just over two hours, staking the place out and going over the information Sawyer gave him. They’d gotten the location, images of Alan, credit card transactions, and details of license plates for a blacksedan.
They’d set things up so that if any of the cards were used they’d know. The cards would also automatically become invalidated from the minute the pin numbers were used. Sawyer’s call to him this morning was all about this. Five of the cards had been used in the same convenience store in FortLauderdale.
The fact that five were used, or any at all, showed desperation. Most criminals, or people who wanted to keep things under the wraps, paid for everything incash.
They’d gotten the CCTV footage of Alan using the cards. That was this morning at six thirty. It was now four in the afternoon. He would have been worried about the time, but since coming here he’d gotten word that the black sedan had been spotted around town three times. This was apparently where he was staying. Nick thought that coming here was best, rather than chasing a car around town. The police had eyes on the car. It was their job to chase. His was to investigate in the way he felt would get the job done. That sometimes meant making sure you had the best position in thegame.
That’s where he was now. Being here meant he could keep watch for any unusual activity and plan the nextmove.
Nick looked up and gazed across to the front of the motel at the sound of a screechingcar.
He smiled to himself. It was a black sedan. As it stopped, out jumped the man of theday.
Alan himself.Idiot.
Nick was going to enjoythis.
He got out of the car and took out his baseball bat. It was a prop that scared most people, and Nick supposed he looked scary, too, in his leather jacket with Oakleys on his face and badass attitude. He looked like a bountyhunter.
He waited for Alan to go inside before he followed. Best to get the object of prey in a small area so he wouldn’t have anywhere to run, except where he wantedhim.
Alan went up the stairs to the second floor. Nick followed, keeping an even distance and trying his best to look as inconspicuous as possible with his bat. Not that anyone would have noticed. The receptionist was too busy doing her nails and the people who were in the foyer were playingpoker.
As Alan opened the door to room thirty-five and put one foot inside, Nick grabbed him by his neck, shoved him the rest of the way in, and closed the door behindthem.
Alan yelped when he saw Nick and looked like he was going to shithimself.
Nick laughed at the weakness of this idiot who’d caused so muchtrouble.
“Who are you? Please don’t hurt me. I’ll do anything,” Alan cried, holding up hishands.
Nick wouldn’t use the bat on him, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t going to do anything. He landed a fist in his face, cracking his nose, and as he reeled back from the pain, shrieking, Nick landed another fist in his stomach, sending him to thefloor.
Aside from all that this guy had stolen from Mia and the distress he caused her, Nick couldn’t help the annoyance he felt that this piece of trash had been with her. He’d had his hands on her, slept with her, pretended to care for her and tookadvantage.
This was the filth that Glenn was comparing him to. Someone like this who would never have the feelings Nick had forMia.
“You know it’s always best to check first before you prey on innocent women and steal their money. They may know a seriously pissed off ex-Marine who wouldn’t joke to kill you and take your head as a trophy,” Nickbalked.
