Total pages in book: 110
Estimated words: 107557 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 538(@200wpm)___ 430(@250wpm)___ 359(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 107557 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 538(@200wpm)___ 430(@250wpm)___ 359(@300wpm)
Rez followed, already knowing this guy was going to be a major pain in their ass. More than the damn chili dog.
“Don’t know shit,” the shaggy-haired guy said, raising his chin in faux defiance.
One solid punch to his ugly mug and he’d be curled up on the ground crying for his momma.
Nox sniffed loudly. “Man, that smells like some shit weed. Was it you burning that trash?”
“Nope.”
Nox leaned closer and inhaled deeply. “That skunk weed’s still clinging to you like Drakkar Noir from the ‘80s.”
“Like what?” The man’s brow dropped low, making him look like he just stepped out of a cave with a club in hand.
Nox shook his head. “Anyway, guessing recreational pot use is still illegal in this state?”
“You ain’t from Ohio?”
Nox dipped his chin as well as the pitch of his voice. “I say we were?”
“If you’re not, you’re out of your jurisdiction and I don’t give a shit what you might think I did.”
Rez scratched the back of his neck as he watched Nox do his thing. While entertaining, he wasn’t scoring points with the asshole on the other side of the counter.
“Look,” Nox started, “we won’t call our brothers in blue to report illegal drug use on the premises if you help us out.”
“Help you out how?”
“Just have a few questions that need answered.”
“Like?”
Nox held up his phone and practically shoved it in the guy’s face. “Have you seen him? He a guest? Or was he a guest?”
Seconds after the motel employee glanced at the phone, a wall slammed down on his expression. When he lifted his gaze, it slid from Nox to Rez and back to the phone. “Might’ve seen that guy.”
Hot damn. They might finally have a lead. “Recently?” Rez asked next.
“Been a few days.”
“How many are a few?”
“Two, three maybe.”
“He rent a room?”
“Yeah.”
Nox swiped his finger across his screen, then held the phone up again and asked, “How about her?”
The desk clerk dropped his eyes to the picture and a flush sprinted up his neck. “Not so sure about her.”
Fucking liar.
“Take a closer look.” Nox shoved his phone in the guy’s face to the point it actually bumped his nose. “What do you think? She look familiar?”
“Might have seen her, too.”
“Naked?”
The man pinned his lips together.
“You pay the guy she was with to fuck her?”
“Now why the fuck would I do something like that? I don’t got to pay for sex.”
Rez leaned into the counter and watched the man carefully when he asked, “You take sex with her in exchange for the room, then?”
There it was. Written all over his face despite trying to hide it. The man probably knocked off some of the room’s rent in exchange for knocking his balls against Sloane’s sister. Son of a bitch.
“She still here?” Rez asked.
“Assuming so since they haven’t checked out.”
“What’s their room number?”
The man held up his palms and took a step back from the counter, shaking his head. “Told you too much already. You ain’t getting anything else from me without a warrant.”
Rez had no doubt they would get the info they needed without a warrant. In one way or another. “Need the room number, Herbert.”
“My name ain’t Herbert.”
“Kind of fits you, though. Need the room number, Bert, or we’re going to go down the line banging on everyone’s doors ’til we find her. Be easier on you and your guests if you just told us what we needed to know.”
“I’ll call the cops.”
“Sounds good. Need their phone number? It’s easy to remember since it’s only three digits. I’m sure once they arrive and we tell them why we’re looking for this woman, they’re not going to be happy that you didn’t help.”
“Doubt they’ll be happy about that skunk weed you were toking, either,” Nox added.
“If they don’t bust you for that weed, bet they’ll get you on solicitation charges if you stuck your dick in her. Or sexual assault since I’m sure she’s not in any kind of shape to consent.”
When the man paled, Rez’s stomach churned. While a solicitation charge wasn’t that big of a deal, rape or sexual assault would be, but that wasn’t what spooked the guy.
Dread began to fill his chest. His reaction must have bothered Nox, too, since his jaw turned to steel.
“I don’t trust pigs.”
“Me neither,” Nox said.
The clerk’s unkempt eyebrows pinned together. “You said you are one.”
“You trust every other front desk clerk?”
“I’m not a clerk.”
“What are you, then?” Rez asked.
“The night manager.”
“Like I give a fuck. Room number,” Nox demanded.
“What’s that information worth to you?”
With a muscle now popping in Nox’s jaw, he pulled his wallet out of his back pocket, dug out a Benjamin and slapped it onto the counter. “There you go. That’s what the information is worth. You don’t even have to say a word. Instead, indicate their room number somehow. We promise that no shit will splash back on you.”