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I found a motel room as close to the address as possible. I’d have liked to be closer, but it was an expensive neighborhood, and the motel trade didn’t cater for those kinds of people. I paid in cash for one night’s stay, though I didn’t know if I’d ever get around to sleeping in the bed. If things went well, and I was able to find Catalina, I doubted we’d be hanging around for long. Unless I was also able to kill Elliot Torres and all of his men, too, we’d be on the run again.
I was aware my chances of that happening were minuscule. Yes, I’d managed to kill everyone back at the compound, but that was because they’d trusted me, at least in part. I was supposed to be there. That was the only reason I’d been able to walk up to them and put bullets in their heads. I wondered if anyone had discovered the compound burned to the ground yet, and if any of the bodies had survived. I doubted anyone who’d worked there would report the fire. The first people to arrive would most likely be customers, and again, I highly doubted any of them would report the place to the authorities. It wasn’t as though they’d want to be questioned about what they were doing there either—I doubted they’d want to risk their wives and families being notified. Perhaps they’d place an anonymous call, but I expected most of them would just get in their cars, drive away, and pretend like they hadn’t seen anything.
I’d make my move after dark, but first I needed to make sure I was prepared. My plan was to go over the wall at the back of the property, using the overhanging branches of the tree on the sidewalk to obscure myself from the cameras. Once I was over the wall, I’d need to break the glass of the structure on the back of the house to get access. I hoped it wouldn’t be alarmed, but I doubted my luck would take me that far. I’d be lucky if I wasn’t shot just climbing over the wall.
I went to a sporting goods store and bought some more ammo for the gun, and two flick knives. Violence was a part of me now, where it hadn’t been before. I was different, changed by what I’d done, but I didn’t regret it for a second. Maybe I’d feel differently in a week or a month, when Catalina was safe and it finally sank in that I’d murdered my own father, but right now all I felt was cold, righteous fury. The man serving behind the counter gave me a couple of curious looks. While I’d managed to stay clear of any blood spill or splatter, my clothes were greyed with ash and stank of smoke. There was no possibility he could have thought I was up to anything good, buying knives and bullets in my state, but my money was as green as anyone else’s, and it seemed people were more than happy to take it rather than ask any awkward questions. I left the store and went via the drive-through to get a burger and fries. I wasn’t hungry, but I needed to eat. I had to keep my strength up for Catalina. That was all that was important.
Taking my purchases back to the motel room, I let myself in and locked the door behind me. I didn’t think anyone from the compound would have followed me here—they were all dead—but still I couldn’t let my guard down. I might have been spotted driving by Torres’s place earlier, and he could have sent his men out to track down the car and find out who I was. I’d come too far to be taken down at the last minute.
I couldn’t remember the last time I’d relaxed fully.
When I finished eating, I slipped the knives into places for easy access. Then I cleaned the gun and pocketed the ammo, first making sure there was a full clip in place.
Finally, I took up a position on a chair in the window, so I could watch for anyone who looked suspicious, and waited for nightfall.