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As I paid my bill at the front cash register, I didn’t need to ‘act’ nervous, either. I already was.
“You alright, Fiona?” Judy asked.
I weighed whether I should say anything at all, then figured it was good for my alibi.
“I just got a call. I think my motel room got broken into.”
She clucked again. “Well bless your heart… you need to get away from those bikers, darlin’. They’re bad news.”
I couldn’t have agreed with her more.
But there was no getting out at this point.
I was afraid there was no getting out at all.
Before I left Charlie’s, I tore up the telephone numbers on the piece of paper Eddie had given me and flushed them down the toilet.
Then I walked out of the diner to go confront my fate.
31
Idrove into the motel parking lot and stumbled out of my car. Jack was waiting for me just outside the door.
“Hey,” he said, his voice deep and sympathetic. His arms wrapped around me and he kissed the top of my head. For a brief second, I felt safe again. Like all of this was a bad dream.
But then I gradually woke up from the dream, and delicately pushed myself away from him.
“Just… take it easy,” he warned me as I walked toward the room as though in a trance.
The door was slightly ajar. The doorjamb was ruined – from Roach kicking it in.
At least Jack wasn’t in on that ugly part of the evening.
I pushed the door open and gasped. The room was a fucking disaster area. Every single piece of clothing I owned was strewn all over the floor. The mattress had been slit multiple times with a knife, with stuffing bulging out like an animal’s guts. The dresser drawers were pulled out, the place was –
My photo album.
The one with Ali’s photos.
Jesus Christ.
If Jack saw it –
I checked all the drawers on the floor, since I wasn’t sure which one was which.
None of them had it.
I flung underwear, blouses, socks, and jeans off the threadbare carpet, but didn’t find a thing.
No album. No sign of it. At all.
I started to freak out. I didn’t have to act, either.
My entire reason for being here – snatched out of my grasp.
Every record I had of her – gone.
It was like losing her all over again.
