Lost in Silence (The Lost Series Book 1)(7)

“I’m sure President Grant will cover it,” his voice is different now. Not quite fear but close enough.

Fucking bottom feeder, you better be scared. I’ll fucking rip out your throat.

“Done, now give me the name,” the urge to follow through with my silent thought is strong. It was a good thing he only existed through the phone line right now.

“Just a second,” he places the phone down on the counter. I can hear him rustling through some papers before coming back on the line. “Jane Doe.”

“You’re fucking kidding me?” I groan.

Jane-fucking-Doe!

“Afraid not, it’s what the card says,” he answers and I swear loudly. It’s smart she didn’t use her real name but Jane Doe? Really? “No credit card on file, paid cash daily for her stay and no other contact information.”

This shit is serious bad news, I can feel it deep. Using this name in particular worries me. Did it mean she doesn’t know who she is? Or is her use of it more psychological? Choosing a fake name and back story isn’t hard to do and I wonder why she hadn’t been more creative.

Jane Doe stood out in record keeping. It put a bigger target on her back, making it that much easier to track her. I can only hope she used it this once and if not she was at least using a different back story wherever she went.

“Anyone come in asking about her?” I didn’t have to elaborate, Roland isn’t completely addled. He knows who I mean.

“Not on my watch but I’d have to check in with Norma. She’s on tonight,” he sniffed. Norma, his wife, is one scary bitch. I doubt I’d get anything out of her. She didn’t like questions.

I hang up the phone without saying goodbye and reach for my cell. I want to call this in but it has nothing to do with the job I’m here to do. King wouldn’t appreciate the distraction I’ve found. He’d probably send one of the guys down here to check on me if he got wind of this shit.

I could call Sneak. He owes me a favor or two and he’d keep quiet about it as long as I provided him with a mountain of moon pies. I flip open the phone but stop short. I didn’t have a name to give him. Jane Doe isn’t much to go on.

Fuck!

I resist the urge to chuck the device at the wall and instead flip it closed. It lights up and begins to ring in my hand. I look down at the caller I.D. It’s the call I’ve spent the last few days waiting for. I take a breath and allow myself to slip into character.

Back to work.

“Hey Devlin,” I say into the phone after I quickly flip it open. “I’ve been waiting for your call man.





Chapter 2


Hudson

After my call ended with Devlin, I sat perched in my chair gazing out the window. It was late afternoon and I hadn’t heard any sounds coming from next door. No shower. No television, even though I knew she used it for the background noise and light. No one could watch that many infomercials and still function normally.

All was quiet. Too quiet. I don’t like silence. It unnerves me.

Maybe it’s because my mind goes to work and it isn’t good for anyone when that happens. I hear a scratch at the door, followed by a soft knock. Standing from my chair I move towards the door, my gun in my hand, quietly cocking it. I hadn’t seen anyone approach from my spot at the window. No one has walked by in ages.

My ears strain for any sound or movement. I hear nothing.

Damn it Rivers, get it together.

I turn back to my chair but I hear the knock again, more distinct this time. Moving back to the door I look through the peephole and see nothing. Another knock, more urgent. Still no one in sight.

Quietly, I turn the lock and slowly open the door. A small figure crouched low to the ground pushes against the door. Before I can react, the figure moves quickly past me and into the small closet across the room. I follow behind thinking it’s a small animal but stop suddenly.

The figure opened and closed the door to the closet, something an animal was incapable of doing. The hoodie, I recognized it. It was her. The girl next door.

I turn back to the door and softly close it, pushing the lock back into place. I uncock my gun and place it back in the holster on the table, all the while keeping my back to the closet. I reach for the lamp at my bedside and switch it off, engulfing the room in darkness.

My gut screams, something is brewing on the horizon.

With my neighbor safely settled in the closet, I wait for whatever it is to rear its ugly head. This girl is the center of something dark and whatever it may be, there’s no going back now.

I open my mouth to assure her of her safety but my words stick in my throat. There isn’t a point vocalizing what she already knows. I close my mouth and wait in deafening silence.