I just wanted to go home.
"Please, let me go home."
The man laid me down on a large bed then walked away. I followed him with my eyes until he disappeared out the door. He didn't close it, so I knew he'd be back. I used that time to look around as much as I could considering I could barely move my head.
I was in a motel room.
A cheap, bad seventies movie, hotel room. It wasn't even retro. It looked as if someone had eaten a bag of brown-toned Skittles and puked all over the place. Everything was faded and brown or tan or cream. It was just gross.
My eyes snapped to the doorway when the man walked back in. He set the brown grocery bag in his arms down on the small table by the window then reached inside and pulled out a bottle of water. He unscrewed the cap then brought the bottle over to me.
He sat down on the side of the bed then looped an around me and lifted me up far enough to drink the water. I wavered whether to drink it for about two seconds. My throat was as dry as the Sahara. I didn't care if it was drugged.
I drank until I couldn't drink anymore then pushed it away. "Thank you."
The man sighed as he screwed the cap back on then set the bottle on the nightstand. "I know you're not going to believe me, but I'm sorry this happened to you."
He was right. I didn't believe him.
"This Atkins guy, he's bad news."
I almost worked up the energy to snort.
"This motel room is paid for until tomorrow. That should give your friends time to come get you. I registered under an alias so no one should find you here if you don't tell them. Just be sure to be gone by tomorrow at noon or the motel manager might come asking questions." The man pointed to the bag he'd brought in. "There's some food and water in there along with your clothes."
I frowned, feeling more confused than I ever had been. "Why are you helping me?"
"After you call your friends to come get you, tell Danny to follow the money," he said instead of answering my question. "Atkins' entire world revolves around his money. If you can find a way to take that away from him, you can take him down."
What?
"You want us to take your boss down?"
"Oh yeah." The man chuckled, but it wasn't a happy sound. "Atkins destroyed my entire life. I'm going to see him destroyed if it's the last thing I do."
The man stood and started for the door.
"Wait!" I reached out a hand. "Who are you?"
The man paused in the doorway and glanced back at me. "Tell Danny I never disabled those cameras in his house. It was my former partner, Detective Curtis. He's on Atkins' payroll, so watch out for him."
And then he was gone, shutting the door behind him.
I scrambled for the phone on the nightstand. It took me more than a few minutes to actually roll over and reach for it. I definitely wasn't at full strength, but I wasn't about to shift until I knew this wasn't a trick. I wouldn't put it past Atkins to try something like this to find out where Danny was.
When I could finally grab the phone, I dialed Hank. There was no way in hell I was calling Danny's house.
Possible trap, remember?
"Hello?"
"Hank?" Oh my god, I was never so glad to hear someone's voice before. Tears sprang to my eyes and slid down my cheeks, which kind of surprised me. I didn't think I had any left. "Can you come get me?"
"Jesus! Kaito, where in the hell are you?"
Crap!
"Give me a minute." I set the phone down on the nightstand then pulled out the drawer. Just as I suspected, there was a phonebook and a pad of paper inside. I grabbed the pad of paper then picked up the phone. "Apple Tree Motel on Fifth Street."
