“Huh,” Nia said. “You kids, you never learn.” Then shelooked around the dusty motel room. “This place smells like cat urine.”
“I think it is cat pee,” Leah agreed.
This was even worse than the last cheap motel Ivy had been in.This one had a double bed with a dirty gray bedspread, a purple shag carpet,and walls that were so dirty they appeared yellow when they were supposed to bewhite. A film of dust and yellow pollen covered every surface. A rickety dresserand a dented bedside table were the only furniture in the room besides the bed.Leah’s laptop lay open on the mattress.
“How did you get ahold of him finally?” Ivy asked.
Leah shrugged. “I just kept getting on the internet and hesaid he wanted to meet. I think he’s worried about his friend. Good ole Harrygot arrested, remember?”
“Oh,” Ivy said, her shoulders settling. “That makes sense.So, we’re expecting a trap?”
“Oh, we’re definitely expecting a trap,” Leah said. “Ihaven’t sent him the address yet, but we need to be ready as soon as I do. Ihave weapons in the closet.”
“I’m ready for this,” Ivy said.
The door burst open, and a large man filled it with asemiautomatic weapon in his hand. “I’m ready, too.” He looked around, studiedthe three of them, and then slowly stepped all the way inside before shuttingthe door. “Where’s Harry, and what did he tell you?”
Ivy couldn’t breathe. She took two steps to the side as Niawent the other way, leaving Leah in the middle. If he fired, he could onlyshoot one of them, and the other two could rush him. As a human, he was a goodsize, over six feet and solid muscle, and he had to be in his early fifties.The jerk looked like he could fight. His eyes were green, though.
“You’re BlueEyes237?” Leah settled her stance.
“That’s me,” he said. “I know who you are, and I know youentrapped Harry. What I want to know is what he told you.”
Oh, man, he thought they were private detectives orsomething like that. Ivy cut a look at Leah, and she gave a barely perceptiblenod.
“Why don’t you tell us everything and we’ll say youcooperated,” Ivy said evenly, trying to sound authoritative.
“How about you tell me everything and I don’t shoot yourass?” the guy said.
“How’d you find us?” Leah asked.
The guy looked around the crappy motel room. “You’re not theonly one who can track an IP address. The Wi-Fi here isn’t secure.”
Leah frowned. “I guess I got a little too excited to finallymeet you,notblue eyes. Who are you anyway?”
“That’s a question you’ll never have answered.”
Vehicles roared into the lot outside, tires screechingwildly as they slammed on their brakes.
“Dammit,” the man yelled, pivoting. “You set me up.”
“Of course, we set you up,” Leah said, frowning. “But Iactually don’t know who’s out there.” She edged to the gross-looking red velvetcurtains and peered outside. “Uh-oh. This is so bad.”
“What?” Nia asked, hurrying toward the window.
“Hey,” the man yelled. “I’m the one with a gun.”
“Just a second,” Ivy said, holding up a finger and hurryingto the other side, looking outside. Did Athan find us?”
“No,” Leah said, paling. “That isn’t Athan out there.”
Ivy gulped and opened the curtain wider to see Kurjansoldiers stepping out of the two nearest SUVs. They were easy to recognize fromAthan’s description of them. Everything inside her went cold. She looked towardthe bathroom. “Is there a window there we can use to get out?”
“I think so—” Leah started to say.
Just then, projectiles flew through the window, shatteringthe glass and spinning in every direction. Smoke started to pour through theroom, and then the floor seemed to explode.
* * * *
