Chapter 83. I Owe You
Wren was jolted awake by the deafening sound of his cell phone ringing and a very loud car horn outside her motel. His mouth spat out curses before he got up from his bed. Then he reached for his cell phone on the nightstand. Wren cursed whoever the honking madman was, he would be impotent forever.
"What?"
“I was outside your motel. Hurry out. I found important information.”
"Arrgh, my head hurts. Did you honk the horn?"
"To wake you up, you damn lazy bastard."
"I'm not lazy. I went to sleep at two o'clock."
Wren got off his comfortable bed and dragged his feet to walk toward the window. He peered out at the barren landscape outside the motel and a few cars languidly parked in the parking lot. A dark blue Chevy was parked near the motel driveway, the nose of the car facing inward, and he could see the silhouette of a man holding a cell phone to his ear. Now he was sure that the man really was the madman he had just cursed.
"It's your fault you only slept at two o'clock. There was a shooting incident on I-15.”
"What's the problem with me?" asked Wren curtly.
“I followed the gps signal as you asked.”
"Good. That's what I hope you'll do. You shouldn't be dealing with the shooting on I-15."
He walked away from the window and took the mineral water on the table. He clamped the cell phone on his shoulder and drank greedily. This time he didn't wake up with a hangover like yesterday. It was because the cheap motel didn't have beer or alcohol in its dilapidated rooms. If this motel had a mini bar like the hotel he had rented yesterday, he might have been drunk all night because he was too frustrated with the way things were.
It was just a motel with clean beds and decent bathrooms. However, he was grateful that the motel provided bottled mineral water in his room. At least, he could get water as soon as he woke up and when his mouth was dry. He couldn't rent a good hotel because it was too conspicuous and would leave a lot of administrative traces. Logan's men must have been looking for him because he escaped from the plane that was supposed to take him to New York. He couldn't be conspicuous to cover his tracks, so he could find Riley's whereabouts.
“You damn stupid idiot. The shooting involved Logan and the woman who went with him. I saw them leave the house a few hours ago. They were followed by a group of unidentified people, then their car was fired upon.”
"You're at the crime scene now?" Wren's eyes widened. He quickly moved to the bathroom to wash his face and tidy up his overly wrinkled appearance. He barely recognized his own face when he looked in the mirror. The dark circles under his eyes looked as black as the soot on the bottom of a pot. His eyes were very red. His lips were dry and cracked. He was no longer the handsome doctor that many women in the hospital usually liked, but he looked like a poor homeless man in front of the mirror.
"I only took a quick look. I couldn't stay there long because they would notice my presence. We'd better meet them now. Maybe we can find the shooting victim."
"What about Riley?"
Wren wiped his face with a towel, then ran to bed to put on his shoes. He turned on speaker mode and hurriedly put on his shoes while occasionally cursing because he couldn't tie his shoes properly. He grabbed his jacket and checked the money supply in his backpack. Luckily, he had time to take cash for supplies during the escape. Maybe he needed a few days to stay there before he decided it was safe to return to New York.
“Maybe she got shot, maybe she didn't survive. Many possibilities. You better get your damn ass out of this dilapidated motel right now, and we will go to I-15 to see the remains of that shooting."
“One minute. I’m on the way out."
Wren cursed in annoyance and stuffed his phone into his pocket. He then unplugged the charger from the socket and walked hurriedly toward the door with his backpack swinging on one shoulder. His right hand grabbed the jacket and his left opened the doorknob. The cold air mixed with the scorching morning sun greeted him fiercely. He had to squint his eyes to block out the bright sunlight this morning.
Great, he thought angrily. Even though it was supposed to be fall, Las Vegas still had the sun shining brightly.
After he closed the zipper of his backpack and made sure all his stuff were safe, he immediately ran toward the dark blue chevy that was waiting for him. The motel had been paid for when he came to book the room. The motel owner, the old man, wouldn't be looking for him if he suddenly left his motel and made the whole room a mess.
"Gaston, I owe you for this."
Wren opened the back seat of the car and tossed his backpack into the passenger seat. He then sat in the front seat and fastened his seat belt before he turned to Gaston, who was looking at him grumpily.
"I can't believe that you're the doctor who helped me in the past."
"What do I look like right now?"
"You're such a hobo. Where is your angelic face and your alluring smile?”
Wren reflexively scratched his rough chin because of the beard he hadn't had time to shave.
“To hell with an angelic face. Hurry up and get this car to I-15. How long has it been since you saw the shooting incident?”
Gaston took his car down a deserted highway, then drove toward Route I-15 to the east. He wore sunglasses to block out the intense sunlight that was shining outside and blinding his vision.
“About an hour ago. Maybe the show is over. Local police would not intervene in the shooting. The show will only end when one of the parties loses.”
"So what do you mean by that?" Wren asked worriedly.
“Perhaps the woman you were worried about has become a victim.”
"Logan is with her. Riley might be fine."
"No one can guarantee it. The shooting was terrifying. They are not random people because they have sophisticated weapons. I saw that there was a chest of guns and ammunition in their car.”
"Did you see Riley get shot?"
"Not too clear. It's so messed up there. Desert dust clouded my vision. But the gunshots were very loud and intense.”
Wren let out a shaky breath. He didn't want to speculate about anything for now. It was too early to speculate. These kinds of things actually crossed his mind when he walked out of Logan's house yesterday afternoon. Logan's enemies were too many to avoid. Riley had a good chance of meeting one of them in the near future. But he didn't expect it to happen so quickly.
“What is your relationship with that woman? You love Logan's new toy?"
“I am responsible for her life because I made Riley deal with Logan. I want to free her from Logan.”
"It seems impossible."
"I know. My plan to take Riley here failed. You haven't even had time to come up with a fake ID for her yet."
"I'm sorry about your bad luck, dude."
"Damn it. Don't make fun of me."
Wren punched Gaston in the shoulder in annoyance at the sound of his howling laugh. Gaston was a total damn man for mocking him when he was totally messed up with all the trouble that had befallen him. How could he throw himself into the dark world he had been avoiding just because of a woman like Riley? He had committed himself to having nothing to do with the mafia and the underworld. But suddenly, he had crossed the line to save a woman he had only known for a few months. No. He had only known Riley for less than a month. He didn't even know anything about her.