Six(59)

Six pulled the gun from his waistband and pointed it at the guy who was talking. “Look, I’m tired and really don’t want to run out of here and find another motel. That is the single reason I haven’t pulled the trigger. You and your homeboys need to go.”

The leader stepped up, his jaw jutted forward, eyes in slits. “You think you can take me and my boys, cabrón? You’re nothin’ but a yuppy with a gun.”

Oh, boy…

I stood up and walked to the doorway, my arms wrapping around his waist as I peered out.

“You’re nothing but a poser. This guy here is the real deal. Leave on your own now, or leave in a body bag.”

The confidence and the words were not normal for me in that type of situation. But I had confidence in Six. He wasn’t going to put up with them.

“Shit, puta, shut your f*cking mouth.” He reached down and grabbed his crotch. “Or better yet, come over here and I’ll keep it occupied.”

Six groaned.

“I hate your shitty motels.”

The words were barely out when every cell in my body jumped, my ears going deaf for a second before a loud ringing set in.

The leader fell back from the force of the bullet moving through his skull. His friends didn’t even have time to get over their shock before four more shots deafened me, and all five of them were on the ground.

The correct response was to scream or hyperventilate or throw up. While I was suddenly on the nauseous side, Six killing them had me running for my suitcase instead of the hills. I prayed nobody else came out of their room in our escape, because they too would join the body count.

In trying to get them to go away, I riled them up instead. Everything was mushy and my ears were ringing as I stuffed my toiletries bag back in my suitcase.

“I hate this shit,” he said as he picked up his weapons bag and grabbed on to his suitcase. He looked to me. “Hurry up.”

I stared down at them, transfixed, watching as the blood seeped out of their lifeless bodies.

It was the longest I’d gotten to look at Six’s meticulous and deadly handiwork. It was the first time in weeks I was reminded how ruthless and savage he was.

“Come on.”

My hands shook as I blindly reached for my purse, his book bag, and suitcase. The ground seemed uneven beneath my feet as I dragged the suitcase behind me. At the threshold I glanced down at the bodies surrounding the entrance.

“Don’t step in the blood,” he said with a calm coolness. It was the same tone one would use when talking about wet paint.

He turned back to grab my bag as I continued to stare down at his handiwork.

The death before me was a reality I hadn’t seen from him in weeks. But their fate was the same as mine. I would soon be the one bleeding on the floor, eyes void of life.

My head was swimming, and everything seemed to pulse around me.

“Lacey!” Six’s voice broke through.

I looked up at him in confusion. He shook his head, jaw clenching as he reached out for me. Holding on to his arms, he helped me step over the blood.

Once on my feet outside the massacre, he grabbed on to my jaw, forcing me to look at him.

“You need to focus on me.”

I gave a shaky nod and blew out a breath. He let go and handed me the weapons bag as he took my suitcase. Steel steps clanked beneath our feet and in the distance, I heard sirens. Six didn’t say anything, but he picked up the pace. He was at the trunk loading the bags in when I reached him. After tossing in the ones I was carrying, we climbed in. The engine roared to life and with a quick switch of gears, we were off.

I looked back at the hotel and the few windows with the curtains drawn watching us go, then close up.

“They were never leaving alive, were they?” I asked as we sped down the road, away from the sirens and flashing lights.

“No.”

“Why?” I didn’t understand why someone wouldn’t walk away when threatened like that.

“Because they’re cocky *s who don’t back down, even when their insides are screaming at them to.”





“Oh, come on! How many shithole motels does this city have?” I asked after an hour of driving.

We’d pulled into an almost identical architectural stain as the blood covered one we fled.

“A lot,” Six said as he turned to me. “Vegas, baby.”

I groaned and reached for the handle.

My hands shook as I exited. While the adrenaline had worn off, there was some residual aftereffects that prevailed. Weakness and fatigue being some of them. Luckily my ears had stopped ringing, but there was still a strange feeling in them.

Once again, the room was out of date and well worn. I collapsed onto the bed as soon as we entered.

The images of the dead gangsters were on my mind. I couldn’t shut them off. I’d seen enough death to last a lifetime since Six.

Death chased him and the other Cleaners. And only I knew why Three was able to be taken out.

“You aren’t as great as you think you are,” I said, my face half mashed into the comforter. “The Cleaners aren’t invincible.”

He stopped unloading his computer and stared at me. “Are you actually going to tell me what you know?”

Was I? Thinking back on what my tired brain said, it was a sort of interlude. Did I want to tell him? But what did I really know?