Will searched the room for something, anything, he could use as a weapon.
He pulled open the wardrobe, and found a broken umbrella shoved into a back corner, missed by an errant cleaner. Snatching it, he turned back to the door at another knock, louder this time – more insistent.
He hurried across to the desk and stuffed the laptop and hard drive into his backpack, not waiting for the system to shut down. Kicking the backpack under the bed, he moved to the door.
His hand hovered over the chain mechanism, before he cursed.
When he checked into the room, he never thought to find out if he could open the door with the chain still attached. As it was, the door took up the whole end of a short passageway rather than opening out into the room, so he couldn’t open the door to see who was outside without removing the chain – there simply wasn’t enough room to crane his head around the door to look.
‘Shit,’ he muttered, hefted the makeshift weapon in his right hand, and wiggled the chain from its fixing.
He grabbed the door handle, twisted it, and swung the door open, weapon raised.
His mouth dropped open in shock.
Erin stood in the hallway, hair plastered to her head, her clothing soaked through. Mascara ran down her face, a bruise covered one cheek, and she hugged her arms to her chest, shivering.
‘Let me in,’ she said through chattering teeth. ‘Quickly.’
Will stood aside, let her pass, then slammed the door shut and re-locked it. He propped the umbrella against the doorframe before turning to her.
She was moving fast through the apartment, grabbing Will’s things and shoving them into his hands.
‘What’s going on, Erin?’
‘We need to move – now.’
‘Why?’
‘He’s found you.’
‘Rossiter?’
‘And his cronies.’ She threw his jacket at him. ‘They came here earlier. I saw them.’
She stopped, dead centre in the middle of the room, and dropped his jacket on the floor.
Only then did he realise her hands were shaking, an uncontrollable tremor that couldn’t be explained away by the cold rain she’d obviously been standing in.
‘What happened to your face?’ he asked, dropping his belongings onto the bed and pulling out the backpack from under it.
‘He found out I’d spoken to you,’ she said. ‘I said I’d met you at the press conference, and that you’d offered to buy me a drink, that’s all.’ She sniffled, and turned away. ‘He hit me anyway.’
In two strides, he covered the space between them, and instinctively drew her into his arms.
‘It’s okay, we’ll move,’ he soothed. His gaze wandered the room as he spoke. Some toiletries in the bathroom – a razor, toothpaste – and he’d be clear. ‘I’ll grab the rest of my stuff. Go out to the car and wait for me, we’ll find another motel.’
She pulled away, shaking her head. ‘Don’t you get it?’ Her voice rose. ‘How the hell do you think they found you?’
‘What do you mean? I haven’t used my phone since I’ve been here – the battery’s out of it, look!’ He pointed at the separated parts on the bedside table. ‘So, unless someone told them where to find me…’
‘What – you’re accusing me now?’ she sneered. ‘Bloody hell, Will – give me some credit!’
‘Well, what do you expect? I only met you two days ago – I tell you where I’m staying, and then suddenly your uncle and his henchmen track me down!’
Erin’s eyes narrowed, and she folded her arms across her chest. ‘This all kicked off between you and my uncle before you even met me, Will, so don’t you dare accuse me of being a traitor.’
‘There’s no other explanation!’ He watched as she took a deep breath.
‘When we spoke yesterday, you said your apartment had been trashed and you’d been getting instructions from an unknown caller, yes?’
He nodded.
‘Have you heard from him since you dropped off the hard drive on Monday, even though by now he’s probably realised you haven’t run to the police and that you’re somehow still going after Rossiter?’
‘No.’ He bit his lip.
She took a step back. ‘You know who the caller is, don’t you?
He nodded. ‘It’s Malcolm Gregory.’
Her face paled. ‘Are you sure?’
He shrugged. ‘Yes.’ He bent down and picked up a sock that had been missed in their frantic rush through the motel room, and tucked it into his backpack. ‘Maybe I haven’t heard from him because he’s still going through the files?’
She shot him a look of disbelief, uncrossed her arms and huffed in frustration. ‘Will – think! The only reason why he wouldn’t be phoning you now is that he doesn’t need to. So, what does that tell you?’
Will’s insides plummeted. ‘He’s following me,’ he mumbled. ‘How?’
‘They traced your car! They’ve probably realised you’ll avoid the phone!’
Will swallowed, the reality of Erin’s words hitting him hard.
‘How?’
She shrugged. ‘I don’t know – either Rossiter’s got someone on his payroll who can access the CCTV network and they’ve traced your licence plate, or,’ she shivered again, ‘someone put a bug on your car when you were at the press conference. They must have guessed you might show up after all.’
Cold crept through Will’s veins at her words, the enormity of the situation crashing through the last of the reassurances he’d created for himself over the past three days.
‘We need to move, Will. Enough talking, okay?’ Erin thrust his backpack at him, slid the phone parts off the bedside table and pushed them into his hand. ‘Is that everything?’
‘Bathroom. Razor.’ Will mumbled, still trying to keep up with the turn of events.
He watched as she raced out of the room, and then returned with his razor and toothpaste.
‘All the essentials, huh?’ She managed a small smile as she handed them over.
‘Something like that.’ He dropped the items into the backpack, before following her to the door. ‘Um – where are we going?’
‘Somewhere safe.’
She turned and led the way out the room, down the corridor and towards the fire exit at the end, where she stopped, her hand on the door.
‘Will? When we leave here, no asking questions, okay?’
He frowned, and waited for her to explain.
‘We need to move fast. I’ve found another motel about two miles away. Paid cash,’ she said. ‘But we can’t hang around. They’ll know you’re back from wherever you’ve been so they’re going to be paying this place a visit soon. We have to hurry – I don’t fancy our chances if they spot us leaving, do you?’
‘Okay,’ said Will, and set his shoulders. ‘You’re right.’ He brushed past her, pushed the outer door open, and then looked down at her. ‘Ladies first?’
She rolled her eyes, before ducking under his arm and out into the night.
Will followed, a hundred questions racing through his mind. ‘I didn’t know you had a car.’
‘I don’t. We’re walking,’ she said. ‘How do you think I got this bloody wet in the first place?’