I did now.
We came out onto another side street. Jess turned down another, weaving between the buildings with the two of us in tow. The businesses changed from hole-in-the-wall restaurants to residential. Small apartments wedged into buildings originally intended as single-family dwellings, sliced and diced up in order to make more money renting the rooms and renovated apartments out to anyone who would pay.
The three of us emerged onto a main street. My senses told me we’d come only a block from the convenience store, the maze-like alleys making it a much further trek.
Jess put her hands on her hips and looked around, finally nodding at a dingy gray building. “He’s in there.”
“How do you figure?” Bran was brave enough to ask.
She viewed him with a mixture of curiosity and caution before speaking. I knew the tone, master hunter to unblooded kit.
“Look at the buildings.” A hand waved at the skyline. “He’s looking for a place to hide where no one will care or question what he’s doing or what noises he’s giving off.” The index finger pointed at an old house, the single entrance displaying multiple names on the mailboxes. “Too many nosy neighbors. Couldn’t keep a baby there without the neighbors wondering.” It shifted to a large single-family residence with a minivan in the narrow driveway. “Definitely not.” The hand settled on a hotel and the large sign advertising the rates. “Rooms by the day or week, cash on the barrelhead and no questions asked.” She arched an eyebrow at Bran. “Good enough for you?”
He gave her a sheepish smile. “Thanks.”
The single word caught Jess unaware. The breath caught in her throat as she looked at Bran then back at me with something almost like approval.
The iron mask fell, cutting us off.
“Don’t stand there with your mouths hanging open.” She cracked her knuckles. “We haven’t gotten Liam back yet.”
The moment had passed.
The hotel was a survivor, the stonework marking it as one of the older buildings in the area. The two doors at the top of the steps had been repainted a loud red that shouted discount paint sale. There was no doorman waiting to open the door for us other than a scrawny street cat scampering across the front to disappear into yet another alleyway.
We blew into the lobby like a troop of avenging angels with Jess leading the way.
The decorations consisted of a single beaten-down brown couch and mismatched blue lounger, both of which looked like they’d swallow you if you sat down. A stack of week-old newspapers on the chipped coffee table offered little entertainment. A battered old television set in the far corner bleated the local 24-7 news channel at a whisper.
Jess stopped at the desk.
A teenager worked on his cell phone, fingers flying over the minute keyboard. He wore a T-shirt with a mutilated yellow happy face, the eyes replaced with X’s and faux blood drops scattered across the front.
“Youwannaroom?” he grunted, eyes down on the minute screen. “Cashonlynocreditcards.”
Jess’s right hand slammed down on both of his, smashing the phone and pinning him to the desktop.
I could hear the tiny bones snap.
I didn’t care.
Her one good eye caught the kid’s gaze, locking it in place. “Man. Baby. Came through here not too long ago.” Her lips pulled back, showing bright white teeth. “Room number.”
His pupils were dilated, showing recent drug use. He studied Jess’s face, noting the scarlet gash on the left cheek with little emotional response.
“Hey. I could charge you with assault,” he replied in a monotone drone. He didn’t even try to pull free.
“Hey, I could give a shit.” The pressure increased, her hand muscles tensing.
The clerk frowned. “Ow.” He looked at Jess’s hand covering his own. “Ow,” he repeated with no anxiety or concern.
I wasn’t sure if the kid was stoned or dumb but this wasn’t going to end well.
“Dude, just give us the info.” I pulled out my wallet and peeled off a twenty. I hoped he’d be cheaper to bribe than Cindy at the last hotel—although they seemed to be sharing the same single brain cell.
His eyes flashed up to follow the bill as I moved it back and forth.
“Room number,” Jess repeated. She eased up on the punk’s hands but didn’t let go.
“Two-oh-eight. End of the corridor.” He watched the dyed paper dance in my hand. “Damned baby won’t stop crying. Bad for business.”
I dropped the money on the desktop at the same time Jess released him. The cell phone let out a pathetic beep as he pushed it to one side and grabbed the cash.
Bran threw down a fifty. “For the phone. And forgetting about all of this.”
The kid gave us a slow nod, studying the two bills. He looked down as we passed by the desk.
Jess led the way up the stairs, taking them two at a time. She didn’t say anything and didn’t seem to notice we were behind her. Her moves were fluid and quick as if she were twenty years younger.
I’d never seen her so focused, so intently in hunting mode. In her mind she wasn’t here in the city—she was in the forest and about to take down a predator almost as dangerous as she was.
She stopped in front of the hotel door. The cheap plastic stickered numbers had been scratched out two or three times with magic marker to the point of being barely visible.
Jess cocked her head to one side, looking at me. “Suggestions on how to do this? This is sort of your area.” The low whisper sounded like a gunshot in my ears.
“My area?” I pointed at myself. “I think my area ended when you got the scent off the smoke.”
She rocked on her heels, hands in pockets, and wearing a shit-eating grin. “Well if you’d take a bit more time to keep your skills honed you’d have been able to do the same thing.”
“Except I work for a living in the city,” I replied. “And I don’t need to be able to pluck a single scent out of a crowd. In fact it’d drive me crazy if I had to turn it on and off. It’s enough I almost go deaf in a group of teenagers, all screaming and yelping.”
Jess’s scar began to darken, the previous joviality vanishing quick. “It’s your heritage, it’s who you are. The least you could do is keep it in tune like a fine instrument.”
I felt my pulse increase. “You want to talk about keeping in tune...” I took a step back. “You got us this far—feel free to leave.” At the back of my mind the warning bells went off. I was tired and stressed out and wandering into dangerous territory.
“You think I’m going to walk away before you, you...” She waved at the door. “You do whatever you’re going to do? And what is that exactly?”
A baby’s cry came from inside the hotel room, interrupting our argument. It rose and fell in intensity, a continual wail of annoyance and fear.
“Stop it.” Bran stepped between us. “Shut up, both of you.”
I froze.
Jess gave Bran a curious look but didn’t say anything.
“Reb, pick the lock,” Bran snapped. He grabbed my arm and pulled me aside, away from Jess. “Do it.” He moved beside the door and rolled his shoulders back. “I’ll take care of things when we get inside.”
I knelt down and pulled the small case of instruments from a pocket. I never left home without them.
Jess stood by and watched, staying silent.
It wasn’t much of a challenge even with Liam’s crying jangling my nerve endings. The tumbler gave way easily under my assault, a deafening click signaling surrender to my keen Felis ears. I stood back up and nodded to the two adults.
“Now what?” I mouthed.
“Now this.” Bran grabbed the doorknob and threw the door open.
He charged in with an angry roar, leaving us behind.
Jess laughed as I gaped before we tumbled in after him.