Chapter 63
Sean moved quietly toward the door. The carpet muffled his steps as he paused at the entrance, trying to listen for any sign of the person inside. But it was dead silent.
The room’s entry hallway was narrow, which meant the person waiting for him inside was either in the bathroom or flush against the wall at the end of the hallway, ready to attack the moment he came into sight.
Sean braced himself and then entered the room. He focused on the bathroom door first, the light on, and he searched the ground for any sign of a shadow. He found none. Five steps to the door.
Four.
Three.
Two.
One.
Sean paused and then crossed the threshold. The bathroom was empty, which meant the person was on the other side of the wall. Sean continued down the short hallway and then braced for another confrontation.
Six steps. Five. Four. Three. Two. One.
Sean again paused and then moved in one swift motion to clear the corner.
But no one was there.
Sean’s heart hammered, his breathing quick, and it was only because his senses were so heightened that he noticed the movement out of the corner of his eye.
The figure jumped up from behind the other side of the bed and fired three shots.
The first two hit the wall, missing Sean, but the third grazed him before he could duck.
Sean then quickly dropped to the floor, flattening himself as the gunman moved to gain the upper hand, but Sean had the gun ready, firing to keep the man from getting close.
And then, without warning, the man flew over the bed, tackling Sean on the floor.
Sean managed to fire one more shot before he lost control of the gun and then reached for the assailant’s weapon.
It was Marco Donvoan. The bastard had found his way back into the hotel, and Sean wondered if he’d ever even left in the first place.
The two men rolled back and forth between the wall and the bed, neither able to gain the upper hand. Sean kneed Marco in the stomach, legs, and groin, but the man didn’t relent.
Marco still had the size on him, but now that Sean had fought him once before, he knew the mobster relied on brute strength. He had no finesse, no real skills in subduing someone, but Sean did.
Sean slowly worked his way into a more advantageous position, using the leverage of his hips to keep the man from twisting back on top of him. While he did this, Sean also worked his arms around the man’s head, pulling his neck into a tight squeeze.
This left Sean open to some punches to the ribs, but it was worth it to gain the strategic position.
He allowed Marco to hit him a few times, gritting his teeth as the big man pummeled him, but as Sean worked his legs between Marco’s, he managed to straighten the man out, which allowed even more leverage on his neck, and the punches slowly weakened.
Eventually Marco passed out, and Sean released him.
Sean shoved the gangster off him and then sat up to catch his breath. But he didn’t linger long, wanting to make sure that he restrained the brute by his wrists and his ankles this time, tying him up like a hog.
“That should hold him,” Sean said as he stood.
Sean patted the gangster down and found one more pistol on him, one that he definitely hadn’t had when they’d met before. Sean didn’t know where Marco had stashed it, but the fact that he had come back here, after escaping, was strange.
Why wouldn’t he have just kept going? He had a head start, and it would have been hours before any law enforcement could have found him.
Maybe he thought Roger would help him, or maybe he wanted the drugs. Either way, it was an oddly dumb decision, even for someone like him.
Sean was about to pick the man up and drag him out of the room when he noticed shouting coming from down the hall. Sean hurried to investigate and then followed the noises back to the dining room.
The voices were angry, and the shouting had grown more intense. It appeared the anger had finally boiled over, and it couldn’t have happened at the worst possible time.