Psychological Damage by Alex Siegel

Author:Alex Siegel
Language: eng
Format: mobi
ISBN: 9781105053979
Published: 2011-09-10T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter Fifteen

Aaron knocked on the door of the motel room. He had the key but he didn't know what booby traps Marina had set. It was far safer to let her open the door from the inside.

When the door opened, her ragged appearance startled him. Her hair was a mess and she had circles under her eyes. She smelled like sour sweat.

"It doesn't look like you got much sleep," he said.

"I tried," she said, "but I kept waking up. I was restless."

"You want to go back to bed?"

"No, I'll try again tonight. I'm getting hungry. I haven't eaten yet today. Let me just take a quick shower and we can go."

Aaron, Wesley, and Yvonne went into the motel room.

While Marina was in the shower, Aaron looked around the room. They had told the motel management not to send a maid. Wet towels were hung over the furniture and the bed sheets were half off. Dirty clothes needed to be picked up and packed away. There just wasn't enough space for four people and a huge pile of luggage.

It was time to move out anyway. For security reasons they couldn't let Wesley stay in one spot for too long. Maybe the next stop would be a real hotel suite with separate bedrooms. They could afford to splurge on nicer accommodations.

Aaron noticed something odd about the sheets where Marina had slept. They were sliced up as if she had attacked them with scissors, but it was more likely she had used her fingernails. He leaned down and realized she had also cut into the mattress itself. Damn, he thought. Not just restless.

Marina came out of the shower wearing a towel.

"What's the plan?" she said. "How should I dress?"

"Good question," Aaron said, "are you going to continue your investigation? The next step seems pretty obvious."

"Oh?"

"There was only one witness to the murders, and his statement to the police was a tissue of lies."

"My uncle?" Her eyes grew wide. "We can't! I don't know where he is."

The vehemence in her reaction surprised Aaron. She is avoiding something, he thought.

"You don't have any idea how to find him?"

"No." She swallowed. "He ran off a few months after my parents died."

"Why did he run off?"

"I mean we separated," she said quickly. "He's gone."

He put a hand on her damp shoulder. "I don't understand. You were fifteen, a minor. He was the only family you had left. He abandoned you?"

She nodded. "Yes. That's exactly what happened."

Her face was pale. Liquid was dripping from her fingertips, and he realized she was leaking venom. He had never seen her do that before. She's losing control. I have to back off.

"Then I suppose your investigation is on hold for now," he said in a calming tone. "Let's deal with other business instead. The first thing is packing up and moving out of this motel. We've been here too long. You're hungry, so we'll eat after that. I was also thinking I should spar with Yvonne. Now that her confidence has improved, I want to see if she remembers how to fight like a legionnaire.

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