The same elderly lady manned the front desk. She gave a genuine beam as the pair stepped in through the front door, accompanied by the tinny jangle of a bell overhead.
‘Mr. King!’ she said. ‘I wasn’t sure if I’d see you again.’
‘Hi, Yvonne,’ he said. ‘Nice to see you.’
‘And who’s this?’ she said with the hint of a wry smile.
‘This is Kate, one of the locals. Would we be able to stay the night again?’
‘Of course. I fixed up your room earlier today. You can use the same one. If I’m not mistaken, you still have the key.’
King tapped the pocket of his windbreaker and smiled. ‘I do too. Sorry about that. It’s been a busy day to say the least.’
‘That’s quite alright,’ Yvonne said. ‘I knew you’d return it at some point.’
King reached into his other pocket and withdrew a pair of fifty-dollar notes from the stack tucked away. He slid them over the counter. ‘The extra is for your generosity last night.’
Yvonne smiled. ‘Thank you very much.’
King leant on the counter with both elbows. ‘Yvonne, listen. I have a favour to ask.’
‘Don’t worry,’ she said. ‘I already know. I won’t tell anyone.’
Silence. ‘What?’
‘I already had a couple of police officers pop in today. They were looking for you. I said I’d never heard of you.’
He was momentarily taken aback. At a loss for words, he cocked his head. ‘Why did you do that? I could be anyone.’
‘I’ve been on this earth a long time, son. I know a good man when I see one. You don’t mean anyone harm. Whatever you’re doing, you’re trying to help.’
He smiled. ‘Well, I’m not sure how you know that, Yvonne, but thank you.’
‘You two lay low for as long as you need, dear.’
King nodded his thanks and led Kate out of reception and upstairs to the same room he’d stayed in the night before, the number ‘4’ still scribbled on the door. He unlocked it and stepped inside. The room had been cleaned to perfection, the type of job that could only have been accomplished after years of experience. The bed had been made, the toiletries replaced, the curtains straightened, the floor vacuumed. He guessed Yvonne had been in the motel business for a very long time. Perhaps why she was able to work out his intentions so effortlessly.
‘You stayed here last night?’ Kate said, following him in.
He nodded. ‘First night here.’
‘What did you see on the way into town? What got you wrapped up in all of this?’
King sat down on the bed and pondered his next move. It would do no good to keep secrets from her. They had to combine what little information they had if there was any hope of working out what was happening behind closed doors in the town of Jameson. He wasn’t sure if she would react well to what he had done. But after a long moment of consideration, he decided he wouldn’t hold back.
So he told her everything.
Kate sat in the chair opposite the bed, listening to what had transpired the night before. She gave nothing away in her expression as King spoke. He told her of how he’d watched the construction workers die, and how he’d retaliated against the killers, eventually murdering them both. Still, she did not react. When he finally finished she sat completely still, mulling over what she had heard.
‘You killed them?’ she said.
‘I’ve killed a lot of people, Kate.’
‘Bad people?’
He ran a hand through his hair. ‘I wish I could sit here and tell you that I’m some kind of hero, but if you add up everything I’ve done I can’t be. I always try to do good things, but over my career I’ve killed far too many people for it to be acceptable. No matter how bad they are.’
‘Were you a soldier?’
‘A very specialised one. I operated off the books, outside the boundaries of the law. The division of the military that I worked for officially doesn’t exist. And sometimes I found myself in situation where if I didn’t succeed, the consequences would be enormous. So sometimes I went above what is right. To get the job done. And I don’t know if I can stop.’
‘You mean with what’s happening here?’
‘I think I might go too far. If something terrible is going on behind closed doors here, it might make me revert to my old ways. And I don’t want you to think I’m some kind of monster.’
‘You’re not,’ Kate said. ‘Not at all.’
‘You sure?’
‘I’m sure. You saved my life.’
‘That doesn’t make me a good person.’
‘Your intentions are pure. I’ve spent less than a day with you and I can already tell that.’
He smiled. ‘Didn’t you tell me to fuck off this morning?’
‘I’m not telling you that now, am I?’ she said.
He looked at her and saw a woman who had spent much of the last year in isolation, dealing with her issues, attempting to forge a new life out here in the woods. He saw much of himself in her. That had been the whole point of his journey to Australia. To escape the demons of his past. To try and find some kind of normality.
Perhaps they could find it together.
He leant in and pressed his lips against hers. Briefly, he thought he’d made the wrong move.
But he hadn’t.
She kissed back with a passion King hadn’t anticipated. Her lips were soft and as they fell back onto the bed he found himself wondering when he’d last enjoyed a moment as much as this. For as long as he could remember his life had been a whirlwind of pain and hostility. Now he let everything slip away and just focused on Kate, the way she moved against him, the way she touched him, caressed him. They locked eyes and King saw years worth of pent-up frustration in her green irises. He knew his probably showed the same, or worse.
As they tugged at each other’s clothing he noticed she was lithe, fit from physical exercise. He reached back, eyes closed, still kissing her. He pulled the bedsheets free. They slipped underneath and let the tension of the day dissipate. Nothing in the outside world mattered at that moment, not the killers in the forest or the imposter at the police station or the ten years of carnage King had wreaked across the globe that came back to him in night tremors. All forgotten. They moved against each other, naked, gasping, finding relief in the madness.
When it was over they lay back, out of breath. Kate rested her head against his chest and draped a bare leg over him and closed her eyes, relishing the calm. King felt his eyes grow heavy. Then his stomach grumbled, reminding him to eat. He rolled over and looked at her.
‘Dinner?’
She nodded. ‘I know a place.’
They went down to the main strip together, hand-in-hand. King stayed wary for any signs of trouble, but it seemed whoever wanted them dead had called it a night. Kate led him into a deserted diner near the end of the strip, sporting a handful of two-person booths pressed against the dirty front windows. The tabletops were scratched and the checkered tile floor looked like it hadn’t been washed in some time, but the owner was kind and the food was good. King ate and talked, and before he knew it the sky outside had fully darkened. When they finished they paid for the meal, scurried back to the motel and fell into bed.
It had been a monumental day. The bikers and the arrest and the breakout and the kidnapping and the assassination attempt shifted into a kaleidoscope of bad memories.
He slipped into a much-needed sleep, finding some semblance of relief amongst the chaos.
CHAPTER 18
They’d fallen asleep early — not long after ten in the evening — and as a result King found himself awake at just before six the next morning. He couldn’t sleep in anymore. Not since the military. That constant feeling that he had to be awake and alert to prevent an ambush would never leave him. For years he’d trained to be wary at all times and now it affected every aspect of his daily life.