“Good luck, Chloe.” Matt hangs up, and I turn to Belle, who is standing far too close to have missed what was said. She bites down on her long acrylic nails.
“Motel…” I mumble, pulling up a list on my phone. There are three not too far from here. I’ll start with the closest. “Thank you, Belle.”
“Of course, darlin’! Lemme give you my number. I want to check in later, okay?” She takes my phone and puts her number in. “All right, well, go get ’em.” She pats my back with a firm hand and passes my phone to me with her other.
I normally can’t stand to drive without music playing, but it’s silent in the car as I drive fifteen minutes to the motel by the water. It’s closed–—as in boarded-up and half burned-down closed.
Okay, one down, I guess…according to my phone, the second motel isn’t too far. I scan every black car that passes me twice, hoping to see Warren behind the wheel. The second location is open, but his car isn’t in the parking lot. Still, I park Emily’s car and run to the front desk.
“Hello,” I say to the female employee behind the desk. She’s a little older than me and has straight brown hair and a serious expression.
“Hi.” She flips a page in her book without looking up.
“I was wondering if a guest named Warren has checked in?”
“We don’t give out guest information. If they’re expecting you, you can go right up to their room,” she answers, boredom heavy in her tone.
“Right, well… sorry, what’s your name?”Time to lay on the charm.
“Stevie…” She looks up from her magazine suspiciously.
“Hi, Stevie, the thing is… my boyfriend and I got into a fight, and he stormed off. It was a misunderstanding, really. I’m just trying to find him to let him know he should come home.”
Stevie nods slowly, pulling her bottom lip into her mouth. Her eyelids close with sarcastic glee. “Uh-huh. Totally hear you on that. The thing is… this is a motel. We would not be in business without runaway dudes or affairs. It’s sort of our thing?”
“Got it.”That was a bust.
“Hypothetically, though, there is nothing stopping you from going and knocking on each of the guest’s doors…” She shrugs.
“Uh, thanks.” I head towards the exit. “Have a good one, Stevie.”
“Warmest regards.” she says as the door shuts behind me.
I pull out my phone before getting back into Emily’s car. I could use the minute to stretch my legs though. The temperature has dropped as the sun begins setting. I send a quick text to Luke, letting him know I spoke with Matt and have one more motel to try. He sends back a thumbs up as a car pulls into the parking lot.
A black car.Warren’s car.
CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
My sigh of relief creates a puff of steam in the cold air around me. Warren pulls into a spot right outside the entrance. With the falling snow and the hood of my coat blocking my face, I don’t think he notices me leaning up against Emily’s car across the lot.
“Hey!” I shout at him as he gets out of his car. The wind picks up, and a gust of snow swirls with a high-pitched whistle. “Hey!” He doesn’t turn to me as he reaches the door and enters the lobby.
I jog across the parking lot and follow him inside.
“Name?” Stevie is asking as I shut the door behind me and pull off my hood.
“Warren Davies.” She looks immediately at me, her lips twitching. Her expression saysthis oughta be good.
Warren follows her line of sight over his shoulder, and I offer a weak but hopeful smile as he turns.
Gorgeous sombre eyes find mine across the room. His head drops, brow furrowed and mouth pouted. He tenses as he opens his mouth to speak, but I beat him to it.
I turn to the front desk. “One room, please.” Stevie nods and slides a key across the counter behind Warren’s back. He doesn’t move, stunned. “You know, I tried to get your attention outside.” I inject as much levity in my voice as I can manage, taking a step towards him.It’s okay, I’m approachable, I’m safe.
He plays along cautiously. “Yeah?”
“Yeah… you can’t park there.” I gesture to the parking lot outside. “That’s a loading zone.”
