The cool façade he portrayed when I walked in faltered a little. He tried to smile, but I could tell it was forced. “Of course, Dr. Mills.”
My cell buzzed and I looked at it. It was my brother texting me that he and a FBI agent was coming to see me and Nora.
I texted back, “Already have one here named Martins.”
“Dr. Mills, who are texting?”
I answered quickly just as my brother texted back.
“My brother is on his way with news about Ayana, and I was just texting him back that I didn’t give a shit.”
Martins’ eyebrows rose and he said, “Speaking of your brother, did he mention how Ms. Peters is doing?”
“He didn’t say,” I responded, taking the rest of my Scotch back and moving to the bar.
“Well, what is your professional opinion? I understand you had to revive her?”
Martins moved closer to me. I poured my glass and faced him.
“Who told you I did that?” We stared at each other for a minute before I asked, as I brought the glass to my lips. “My brother doesn’t even know that and aren’t you two working together?”
The text my brother returned to me a minute ago, after I told him who was here with me said simply, “Martins is with me,” confirming my suspicions that this was Allen.
“Did you give her that bruise on her face? Did you rip her shirt like that?”
Allen studied me closely, and then tilted his head to the side.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. I had nothing to do with any bruise or rip. She was perfectly fine when I left her. As a matter of fact, she was begging for more when I left.” He laughed, adding, “That’s some extraordinary pussy she has, wouldn’t you-”
I didn’t let another syllable leave Allen’s mouth. Just as he moved to the inside of his jacket, I threw the liquid from my glass in his face. He closed his eyes for just a second, taking his eyes off me, and that’s when I threw the glass I had in my hand at his forehead. The impact caused him to double back and just as he did, his hand pulled out the gun.
Years of training took over, and I went in first, hitting him in his wrist, snatching the gun and tossing it. Allen moved to grab me by my waist, but I had a knee ready for his face and I connected, feeling the cartilage and bone against my knee, until I heard that crunch for a second time tonight. The moment he came up clutching his face, I moved my body slightly to the side and kicked just above his knee, causing just enough pain for him to step back and make his hands instantly move from his face. That’s when I gave him my strongest right to his temple and he dropped.
My brother suddenly came crashing through the door with about four cops in plain clothes all pointing their guns at me. I stepped back from Allen’s body with my hands raised as Allen slowly started coming to. My brother watched me for a moment. I calmed down, I heard whimpering and sobbing both coming from inside the room. My eyes fell to Allen, who while getting cuffed and being read his rights, whimpered softly. Then they went to Nora, who was rocking back and forth crying holding herself with her eyes closed.
My brother appeared in front of me.
“Brad.” I gave him a head nod and he continued, “I asked if you were alright?”
I took a few deep breaths. “I’m fine.”
“Do you want to tell me what happened?”
As I gave my brother the story of what happened, the man who cuffed Allen moved toward me. He went to retrieve the weapon that I tossed and put it in the back of his pants.
My brother looked over at him. “Are we going to have a problem Martins?”
I looked at the man my brother called Martins and he watched me too. He then shook his head and looked at my brother. “Considering what Allen has been up to, bringing your brother in would only expose the mess. Consider this his one and only pass.”
My brother scoffed and shook his head. He looked back at me and said, “Listen, I need to get some paperwork done on this mess. I’ll call you tomorrow.”
I nodded again and watched my brother move to Nora.
“I’m still debating if it’s even worth charging you for obstruction of justice or not. You’ve made a mess of this shit that’s for damn sure, so don’t think about leaving the city until I speak to you first.”
He nodded at me again, then walked out. When the door closed, Nora’s red eyes looked up at mine. If she expected to get an apology from me for what just happened she was in for a rude awakening.
*****
It took me a few hours to get to sleep, so I wasn’t surprised I felt like shit when I woke the next morning. The feeling of exhaustion felt worse than I had ever felt working double shifts at the hospital. I showered quickly and got dressed. I had to go through my bags again and repack before I was ready to check out of this place. The memories from this hotel was something that I would gladly leave here.