Tortured Dreams

Chapter Forty-Nine

Chapter 49

"Where we going chief?" Xavier asked as we entered the hall.

"Somewhere you won't need that," Alejandro gestured to my coat. I watched it sail back into the hotel room as Xavier tossed it.

"Where?" Lucas made a face.

"Michael got a hit on Welbourne; he's three floors above us in a suite."

"Well, that's probably not a coincidence." I pulled on my holster and checked that the guns were loaded.

"Probably not." Alejandro pointed to the stairs.

Lucas grabbed the door and we slipped into the stairwell. The hotel designers had tried to keep it from looking drab. There was very thin pinstripes on the walls following the angles of the stairs. They were set low to the ground, barely noticeable. The paint was beige, the pinstripes were hunter green.

Lucas took point. Despite his massive size, he moved silently. His footfalls making almost no noise in the enclosed stairwell. I was not as stealthy. My footfalls sounded like thunder. Even my breathing seemed loud.

We reached the tenth floor. Lucas peeked out the door before opening it. We hadn't been given a room number. There was no need. Alejandro, Michael and Xavier had already piled out of the elevator and stood outside the door, guns drawn.

Alejandro made hand motions to Lucas. Lucas moved, I shadowed him, unsure what else to do. I didn't understand hand signals.

I stood slightly behind Lucas. Alejandro moved in front of the door. I had seen enough movies to know to expect him to kick it in and watch it explode. Or have it be rigged up to fire a shotgun directly into the chest of our "fearless" leader. Alejandro drew back and kicked the knob at the handle.

I held my breath. Nothing happened. I exhaled loudly.

"Were you expecting something?" Lucas grinned.

"I was expecting more than nothing," I admitted.

"Life is rarely like the movies. It is usually far worse."

"Are you two done?" Alejandro had his gun trained in the room. Everyone else was staring at us. I blushed.

"Good," Alejandro started into the room. He let out an audible gasp.

Lucas pushed me in behind Alejandro. I couldn't help but let out a gasp either. The room smelled of death. Not the romanticized version they talk about in movies, but real death. All the sphincters in the body relax; this includes the valve at the top of the stomach, all of them in the intestinal tract and the couple between the bladder and the outside. Decomposition also begins immediately. Creating more gasses to release.

I gagged. I tried to breathe through my mouth, but the smell was already in my nose. Then my eyes found the bodies.

Ten women, hog tied. Their legs were to us, pulled up; I couldn't see how they had died yet. Xavier came up next to me. He handed me a breath mint and some peppermint balm. I spread the peppermint balm under my nose and inserted the breath mint into my mouth. It helped, but I could still smell the death in the room and the skin on my upper lip tingled from the peppermint oil.

"Oh my fucking god, RATS!"  Lucas let out a squeal and ran to the bathroom.

He slammed the door behind him with enough force that it rebounded against the frame, failing to latch. His massive frame leaped up onto the toilet. For a moment, he stood perched on the center of the toilet lid, his eyes darting around the room like a terrified prairie dog. There was a loud cracking sound. The porcelain lid on the toilet gave out. Lucas let out another squeal as his feet plunged through the lid and into the toilet.