Chapter 14
Chapter Fourteen
Emma gingerly touched her head, hoping Matthias didn’t notice. Running to catch up with Nell had done her bruised brain no good, and she prayed she hadn’t caused more damage. Beside her, Matthias drove in silence.
“Where are we going?” she asked.
It took a few moments before he said, “Do you know where the Highlander Club is?”
Stunned, she shifted to take in his profile, his determined gaze fixed on the road in front of them. “The Highlander Club? In Washington?”
“Yeah.”
“I know where it is. Why do you want to know?”
His expression changed from determined to sour. “Give me directions. Then I’m going to drop you off at a hotel.”
“Hotel?”
“I don’t think you want to spend another night sleeping on the ground. You look like you have a headache.”
So much for hiding her pain. “Sleeping on the ground has nothing to do with it.”
He shot a glance at her before returning to the road. “What happened?”
“Chasing my sister down the street wasn’t good for my concussion.”
He grunted a response. “Point me in the direction of the nearest hotel, and then give me directions to the Highlander Club.”
She considered his request. “What do you mean by ‘nearest’ hotel? There aren’t any around here.” She gestured at the rolling pasture on one side of the road and the woods on the other.
“I didn’t mean within a mile.”
“There are a few in Washington.”
“Okay. Pick one.”
She considered a few of the cheaper chain motels and quickly dismissed them. She’d heard too many stories; read too many police reports in the local newspaper. Finally, she named a higher quality franchise that served a free breakfast and wouldn’t completely blow the budget. At least for one night.
“Tell me how to get there.”
“Keep going the way you are. I’ll let you know where to turn.”
A half hour later, they stood at the registration desk, their bags on a cart, key cards in hand.
Matthias wheeled the luggage trolley halfway to the elevator and stopped. “You can manage from here, right?”
Emma eyed him. “Yes.”
“Good. Now tell me how to get to the Highlander Club.”
“You still haven’t told me why you want to know.”
“Call it a hunch.”
“About what?”
His blue eyes narrowed. “Never mind. I’ll Google it.”
“Wait.” She caught his arm. “Nell. That’s what you and Eric were talking about when I came back downstairs. He thinks that’s where she went.”
His silence told her more than words could have. She’d grown up around here. The Highlander Club was in a part of town in which her mother had always insisted they lock the car doors. Like the cheaper motels, the Highlander was frequently named in news stories. Prostitution. Gun violence.
Drug deals.
“I’m going with you.”
“No.”
“Then I’ll drop our stuff off and call an Uber.” Or she could walk. The Highlander wasn’t far from where they stood.
Although, walking would be easier if her head wasn’t throbbing.
He took her by the arms and tipped his forehead toward hers, piercing her with those intense eyes. “No.”
“But—”
“No.” Then he grew visibly more empathetic. “Let me handle this. Nothing good will come of a confrontation between you and your sister right now.”
Emma started to disagree, but he softly shushed her.
“If this place is what I think it is, I’ll need to be on full alert to keep Nell safe. I don’t want to have to worry about you at the same time.”
She hated to admit he was right. “What am I supposed to do while you go searching for my sister?”
“Take our stuff up to the room. Watch some TV.”
She crossed her arms. “Try again.”
“All right. You have your laptop. Search trucking companies and identify the one you saw Nell get into.”
Emma considered his words. As much as she wanted to go with him, sitting with her computer might be as productive or more so. Especially if Nell wasn’t at the Highlander. “Fine,” she muttered.
“One more thing you might want to do. Cancel the credit card she stole.”
Emma thought about it. “No. If I keep the card active, I can track where she uses it. I’ll set up an alert to notify me the minute she makes a purchase. Besides, I don’t want her out there broke and doing God-knows-what to get her hands on more cash.”
Matthias’s mouth pressed into a contemplative scowl. “All right.” Then he leaned in and brushed her lips with a kiss. “Get some rest while you’re at it. You’re still recovering from last week. Trust me to take care of Nell.”
Emma watched as he turned, crossed the lobby, and left the hotel. “Get some rest,” he’d said. With her sister once again on the run? Not very darn likely.
* * *
Matthias was glad it was midday. The graffitied exterior of the Highlander Club looked sketchy enough in the daylight. He wouldn’t want to venture near the place in the dark of night. Not without backup.
He’d already taken a nonchalant stroll around the exterior of the building, noting it had two points of access: the steel and blacked-out glass front door, and a solid steel one set in the side of the structure near the rear.
As he returned to his Jeep parked across the street, he found a trio of teens circling it like vultures seeking a meal.
“Hey,” he barked at them. “Shouldn’t you boys be in school?”
They whipped around to face him, unsure whether to bolt or maybe add him to the menu.
“Who you callin’ ‘boy’, boy?” the tallest of the three, and apparent leader of the pack, said with a wolfish sneer.
Matthias didn’t slow his approach, which, if their expressions were any indication, wasn’t what they expected. “All three of you. Why aren’t you in school?”
Two of them slunk back. The cocky one held his ground, but after assessing Matthias, he seemed to decide his height advantage didn’t come close to countering Matthias’s muscle mass.
The kid didn’t retreat but appeared on the verge.
“School,” he said with a disgusted grunt.
“They can’t teach me anything I don’t already know. ”
Matthias drew to within inches of the smart ass. “So you’re a genius, huh?”
He puffed his scrawny chest. “Yeah.”
“A real idiot savant.”
He grinned. “Yeah.” The grin faded. “Wait. What? Did you just call me an idiot?”
Matthias didn’t respond, didn’t react, letting the kid figure it out on his own.
Which took way longer than it should’ve. His expression turned rebellious. He reached one hand behind his back.
The move didn’t surprise Matthias. He spotted the gun well before the young gangster brought it all the way around. With speed developed through years of training, Matthias snatched the wrist wielding the weapon and twisted.
The kid let out a girlish yelp. The semi-automatic pistol hit the pavement with a clank. He writhed in an effort to keep his shoulder in its socket as Matthias continued to crank his wrist and arm. Whimpering, the young genius fell to his knees.
The other two boys were already gone, pounding down the street and around the next corner.
“You’re hurting me! Let me go! I’m gonna call the cops!”
“Good. You do that.” With his free hand, Matthias snatched the gun from the street before releasing the teen.
The kid staggered to his feet and cradled his arm, still whimpering. “Gimme my piece back.”
Matthias released the magazine from the weapon and ejected the cartridge from the chamber. “You have a permit for this thing?”
The kid’s face reddened. “Maybe. Give it back.”
“Let me see some ID.”
“What? You some kinda cop?”
Matthias reached in his pocket and pulled out his badge wallet. “As a matter of fact…”
The young gangster apparently decided retrieving his “piece” wasn’t so important. He wheeled and took off after his buddies without looking back.
Matthias sighed, pocketed his badge, and pulled out his phone.
* * *
Emma rubbed her forehead, attempting to massage away the pain. Staring at her computer screen only served to exacerbate the ache. Her search for trucking companies was leading her nowhere. While she’d found lists with photos of their rigs, none of the logos resembled what she’d seen earlier.
She stood, moved to the hotel room’s window, and stared out at what had once been a thriving shopping area.
At least efforts were being made to keep businesses open, even if those businesses changed over time.
A former fast-food restaurant had been replaced by a tire and lube shop.
Another chain restaurant was now a booming Mexican cantina.
It might not be the same as when she’d grown up, but it was far from a ghost town.
The part she missed most, though, was visiting those places with Nell.
Where had Nell gone? Where was she now?
Nightmarish images flooded Emma’s brain in answer to her unspoken question. She pictured her younger sister washing down pills with alcohol, passing out in a dank alley. Dying. Alone.
Emma shook her head—a move that cleared the mental picture but amped up the pain level. She swiped away tears and returned to her laptop.
After a half dozen more failed searches of trucking companies, she clicked on a link and gasped at the picture that filled the screen.
A red tractor unit. Not faded like the one from this morning, but the logo was a match.
She scrolled down, passing information about driver opportunities and corporate careers, until she reached the bottom of the page and a “contact us” link.
She feared the only way to reach them would be by email.
Instead, three addresses with phone numbers popped up.
One was for sales. Another was for recruiting.
The third listed the company’s corporate office in Allegheny County.
Emma picked up her phone and keyed in the number. A recording answered with menu options. Without listening to them all, she hit zero and was relieved when the robo-voice asked her to hold. After a minute of tinny elevator music, a perky-sounding woman came on the line.
“This is Diane. How may I help you today?”
“My name is Emma Anderson, and I’m trying to locate my younger sister who ran away this morning. I saw her getting into a truck with your company’s logo on the door and was hoping you might be able to put me in touch with the driver.”
There was a long pause on the other end. When Diane again spoke, her voice was no longer perky. Instead, it carried a razor edge. “Our company has a strong policy against drivers picking up hitchhikers.”
“I don’t want to get anyone in trouble, but the fact is, it happened. All I want is to know where my sister went.”
The pause was shorter this time. “Where did you see her get in the truck?”
Emma gave the road’s and the housing development’s names.
“What time was this?”
“Between ten thirty and eleven.”
The rat-a-tat of computer keys filtered through the phone. “That’s Jim’s route,” Diane said softly, as if talking to herself.
“Jim who?”
“Can you give me your number? We also have a company policy forbidding us to give out our drivers’ information, but I’ll get in touch with him and have him call you back. Is that acceptable?”
If that’s my only option, Emma thought. To Diane, she said, “Yes,” and rattled off her cell number.
“Got it.” After a beat, Diane added, “I have a younger sister who’s run away a few times, too, so I understand. Jim—the driver—is a good guy and a girl dad. If he broke the rules and picked her up, it’s because he was worried about her. She’ll be safe with him.”
Emma thanked her and ended the call.
She’ll be safe with him.
Maybe Jim wouldn’t harm her, but Nell wasn’t safe anywhere with anyone in her current state of mind.