Takedown Teague (Caged #1)(69)

“We need to find a place to sleep,” I told her.

“I’m good,” she mumbled. “It’s only about five more hours.”

“Bullshit,” I growled. “You don’t even look like you can walk any more, and my thighs feel like I’ve had a large vibrating vehicle between them for the past ten hours. I’m pretty sure my ass is going to fall right off if we go another hour.”

Tria reluctantly agreed, and we checked out a few of the standard motels right off the highway, but we couldn’t afford any of them. I finally had to start trying the less recognizable names in hopes that they would give me a discount, considering the lateness of the hour.

After another hour of searching, Tria wasn’t just looking like she was going to fall off the bike; she was actually starting to doze right there in the seat. There was only one last place to check at the final exit north of Portland before we were going to be out of options.

The dude at the creepy, dirty motel was less than helpful.

“We ain’t that kind of place.” He sneered at me as he spoke.

“Come on, dude,” I begged. Yes, I had gotten to that stage. None of my threats were working. “Twenty bucks for four hours—I know you aren’t full, and it’s after midnight. It’s practically free money.”

“I told ya, we don’t do that shit! Fuck the hooker behind the dumpsters at the Holiday Inn or something.”

“She ain’t a f*cking hooker!” I yelled.

“Whatever.”

I stomped out, and Tria glanced up at me, eyes drooping as I returned to the side of the bike. She must have been able to tell I had struck out again.

“It’s okay,” she said. “I can keep going.”

“No,” I said, “you can’t. I didn’t come out here with you just to have you fall asleep and kill us both on the f*cking road.”

“We’re kind of out of options,” she said.

“There has to be a park around here,” I said. “You could at least get a couple hours while I looked after you.”

“Hmm…” she mumbled. She didn’t even have the alertness to argue with me anymore.

I really needed to get her into a bed, but I was completely out of ideas. Growling at myself, I looked up into the sky and wondered if whatever deity was up there hated me. Without any obvious answer, I dropped my eyes again, and I saw a very familiar logo.

Fuck no.

Could I stoop that low?

High up in the sky, on what could have been the spike for the king’s banner on top of a castle, there was a huge, neon sign. On the left side sparkled a pair of silver circles as they twisted and turned within each other, creating a spinning vortex of marketing overachievement.

It sickened me.

As I glanced over at Tria, I wondered if she could even make it the few blocks up the street to get there. She wasn’t following my gaze but staring blankly at the center of one of the motorcycle’s gauges. I definitely had to get her into a bed soon. She wasn’t going to last a few more minutes.

Yes. For her, I could stoop that low.

“Come on,” I told her. “I have a plan—just a little ways up the street, if you can still make it.”

Tria nodded dumbly as I got back on the bike, which I was quite sure I hated now. We drove up a long hill, and I motioned for Tria to pull into a large parking lot and stop the bike near the front. Right between the entrance and exit drives was the tall pole with the spinning silver circles at the top.

She pulled off her helmet and looked at me out of the corner of her eye.

“If you think you are going to rob this place, I would much rather deal with a park bench than a jail cell.”

“No worries,” I told her. “Come on. Get that…that thing.”

Tria pulled the Great Bag of China out of one of the motorcycle’s packs and followed me into the posh lobby of a five-star hotel. I walked straight up to the front desk and asked for the night manager. She eyed me with contempt, and I just ignored it.

With a giant, pride-swallowing sigh, I reached into my back pocket. I grabbed my wallet, pulled out a black plastic card with a pair of silver loops and a number on it, and handed it to the woman. She took it with trepidation and a scowl.

“Call your corporate office,” I told her as I pointed at the card. “Then dial that extension.”

She eyed me, and for a moment I thought she might just call security and have us both thrown out, but then she picked up the phone and started dialing. I could feel Tria’s gaze on the back of my neck, but I didn’t look in her direction. I knew I was going to be pummeled with a bunch of questions as soon as the next opportunity presented itself, and I hoped to keep just a little bit of peace for a few more minutes. With any luck, she would be too tired to harass me and would just fall asleep.

“This is who?” The lady behind the desk was speaking into the phone. “You…you mean Michael Teague? I mean Mister Teague? Oh!”

She looked back at me with astonishment.

“I’m terribly sorry, sir,” she continued. “Yes, I know it’s late, but…but I’m the night manager at location oh-seven-four in Portland, Maine, and there is a…um…gentleman here who handed me a card with…sir? Um…”

She leaned over to her right to look at me more closely, and I turned to show her the left side of my head. I reached up with one finger and tapped the two silver earrings hanging there.