Chapter 10
CHAPTER TEN
nyx
It's Wednesday night, and the anxiety has found its way back, rolling through my entire body and rattling my bones. Ashley texted us an address and time when she landed: meet at a run-down motel that rests along one of the few long roads out to what feels like an abyss. There aren’t many towns in this area, the next one along from this is another seventeen kilometers, and in-between is just farms and lakes scattered amongst more woodland.
The motel sits on its own, it's small. It has only around ten rooms in a one-story structure.
You'd drive right by it if you weren't paying attention. Lucky - or unlucky - if you consider how we got here, as Adam and I had to walk the whole way. Good thing we have years of military experience to travel distances like this with ease. Although, the cold nighttime conditions put a little bit more strain on our bodies. We couldn’t exactly ask to borrow a convoy in the middle of the night and sneak out.
Instead, I had to lead us both using stealth.
I'm used to blending in with the shadows, Noc taught me how.
The irony isn't lost on me how I'm now using all he taught me to try and lift the darkness that naturally appears drawn to him, uncovering whatever secret he has.
A secret dark enough he had to fake his own death and remain in Russia.
Adam followed my lead as I had us slinking through the trees, careful not to make too much noise or get caught by anyone in the watchtower.
Thankfully, there was only one stationed, and our patrol team consists of only five personnel - the CCTV is yet to be up and running, so that was a bonus.
We head towards the car park that spreads across the entrance.
Adam and I twist our footprints side to side, and I drop a stone in between them.
It allows me to check any additional tracks that might come in if we need to make a getaway - the stone serving as a marker of anything being disturbed.
We continue until we get to the pavement, and I notice the woman at the front desk looks like she's sleeping - I don’t blame you hun.
If I lived out in the middle of bum fuck nowhere, working at a motel that likely doesn't see many guests, I'd be bored out of my mind too.
We checked over the blueprints of the building before we got here, Adam managed to hack them from their council records beforehand so we could access our route.
The building is made up like outlines of half square.
The reception sits off to the left, a large window at the side so they can see the road and anyone coming into the carpark.
The rest of the rooms wrap all the way round.
They're all connected from an enclosed walkway that’s made up of cracked, plastic windows with an entrance in the middle, so the hallway is exposed to the elements and has no doors.
To the far right, mirroring the end where the reception lies, there's a small open room that has a machine, a TV, and an old battered sofa for guest access.
Adam patrols the front of the building, and I take the back.
We put our earpieces in and give each other the nod before separating, making sure that this isn’t a set up - and no unnecessary surprises await us.
Even though I want to trust Ashley, the fact she travelled all the way here to talk to us doesn’t sit right with me, but my need for the truth prevails.
Moving forward, I become one with the pitch-black night, my eyes adjusting naturally, like it knows me as an old friend and welcomes me in.
Walking around, I take in the cracks of the exterior roughcasting.
It’s really run down, poorly maintained from the outside, but the owners likely can't afford the upkeep due to the small amount of traffic they see.
Adam ran a check on the venue: it gets about five to six guests a month, mostly travelers staying for a night or two before moving on to the next place, with the odd guest who rents out a room for longer stays.
We made up scenarios on our way here, just to keep our bodies warm on the long walk once we hit the main roads.
From guessing people came here to scream into the void to tame their boredom, right to wives cheating on their husbands with the young hot farmer they met at the store.
My patrol seems clear, nothing suspicious or out of place.
The dirt road was clear and undisturbed, no footprints or tire marks.
I lower my voice to whisper, “You good?” Even though I'm quiet, my voice feels like it booms with how deathly silent is out here, not even a bird chirps in the trees. The lake that’s about a mile ahead is eerily still, it's as dark as the sky - almost looking like a portal to another world as the moonlight shines in the center of it, giving it a mythical feeling.
“Clear,” Adam confirms from the front. I continue my search, checking for any footprints or signs of the outer wall being disturbed if someone's made it onto the roof - scanning for remnants of it on the ground.
Extreme? Never. You need to be on your best game in situations like this, even your own can betray you.
We didn't make it to where we are by being sloppy.
I reach Adam as he stands off to the opposite side of the motel, turning our earpieces off for now.
I keep my voice low when I reach him. “Looks clear.” He nods.
Now we wait in the shadows until Ashley confirms which room she's in.
Two minutes later, Adam's phone buzzes with the text.
“Room 005,” he says once he locks it, and we move from the safety of the dark, to stroll through the tight walkway that leads to her door in the corner.
I check the girl at reception, she has the door closed and her back to us, still snoozing away.
The TV on the wall in front of her plays an old looking game show.
Adam sends the text, the door ahead of us bringing both our attentions forward as the sounds of multiple locks clicking breaks the silence.
Ashley peaks her eye between the crack, and it snaps between Adam and I before the door slowly opens on a creak.
My eyes instantly train on the gun she holds in her left hand.
She tilts her head to usher us inside and swiftly closes the door behind us.
The number of locks on the door tells me that those weren't here when she rented the room; she's likely added them herself due to the unknown situation. She doesn’t trust us just yet either.
Ashley stuffs her gun in the back of her jeans.
“Sorry for the sketchiness, can never be too careful. Take a seat.” She motions her hand for us to sit at the table under the window, the discolored, yellowish blinds closed over for privacy.
She takes a seat on the edge of the bed, positioned at an angle that gives her the advantage of viewing both us and the door.
I clear my throat. “Thanks for coming all this way to meet us Ashley, although I have to admit, I’m not sure why this couldn’t have been discussed over the phone?
” I turn to give Adam a tight smile. He's sitting with his elbows on his knees, eyes fixed on the door and fully alert.
He's letting me do the talking, keeping an ear out in case we need to haul ass out of here.
“Yes, well, when you told me it was about Nocturne I knew immediately what it was and, as much as I trust technology over a human, I’d rather not take any chances.
I must admit I was a bit suspicious.” She scans us with an icy gaze that makes goosebumps flare across my skin.
“Before I say a word, I want you to start from the beginning. Tell me what you know.”
I steel my spine, keeping my eyes locked with hers.
When the stakes are high, we’re trained to read body language.
One nervous shift of the hands, a slight glance of the eyes can give you a hint that someone is either lying, or biding their time bullshitting until they’ve got you right where they want you.
I tell her about the warehouse, keeping it vague enough to not breach any security measures, but also give her enough to know that she can trust me.
I tell her how I thought I saw Noc doing the deal, how Adam got the drone footage, and about lying to Graves.
She gets the whole truth about what was said to him, showing her the picture on Adams phone.
Giving her a little bit of my vulnerability, hoping that earns a little bit of trust from her.
I’ve openly admitted I lied to my direct line of command.
We go over how Adam cleared up the image, but intelligence had said he wasn’t known to them.
Adam pipes up that his skills are unparalleled, and that leads to an off-topic conversation about how he's our cyber warfare – another vulnerability in exchange for trust. That seems to warm her up. Adam and Ashley discuss his security app – our third foundation of trust setting in place. I go into the part where we found the files, and again, Adam tells her how he did it. She seems thoroughly impressed, and visibly relaxes before us. “So, that’s all we have. I just need to know why Nocturne is alive after all these years, Ashley. Is this something you can help me with?”