The Assignment

Chapter 5

I found out the hard way how chilly Minnesota is in late spring, kicking myself for not packing accordingly. I was shivering when I stepped out of the car in the parking lot of a hotel in Thief River Falls.

We'd been driving for what felt like weeks, and I'd made up my mind that I never wanted to sleep in a car again. I had aches and cramps all over and my shoulders and neck were sore from the uncomfortable position I'd been trying to lay in.

Joey tiredly walked around to my side of the car. I was surprised when he shed his jacket and draped it around me. I wanted to tell him I was fine and that I didn't need it, but who was I kidding? I was freezing and my thin sweatpants had been a terrible fashion choice.

I tugged the jacket tighter around my body while I watched Joey retrieve our bags from the backseat.

"Why are we at a Hilton?" I frowned at the big letters on the side of the building.

"When you're wanted in a situation like this, people are going to expect to find you at a cheap roach motel," he said, rubbing his tired eyes. "While it is more expensive to stay at a nicer hotel, it's also less predictable. I like my odds."

He effortlessly tossed both our bags over one shoulder and I followed behind as he trekked across the parking lot to the hotel entrance.

"Can I help you?" a short redheaded woman with purple highlights asked us from behind the front desk.

I leaned against the wall beside the doors, feeling my eyelids droop while Joey spoke to the woman. I'd been going back and forth between catnapping and fighting sleep for an ungodly amount of hours, and my reflection in the lobby mirror appeared as I suspected: I closely resembled a raccoon in the eyes. I'd completely zoned out by the time Joey walked back to where I stood.

"Ready?" he nodded to the elevator.

I felt like I was sleepwalking as we entered the elevator. A ding sounded when we reached the sixth floor. Joey lead me down the hall in the direction of room 629.

I was anxious to get to sleep in a bed for a change. The car naps had given me a painfully stiff neck. I was also anxious to take a shower, but I could feel sleep trying to overtake me again, and decided that could wait until the next morning. All I could think about was the heavenly feeling of a pillow under my head and some cozy, warm blankets.

Joey flipped on the lights inside the room and my idea of a perfect night's sleep immediately went down the drain.

"Oh, no," I groaned.

There was only one bed in the room, and it wasn't a large one either.

Joey simply shrugged, setting our bags on the floor and going into the bathroom.

I noticed the curtains were wide open and quickly made my way over to the window to shut them. I was being paranoid. How could someone see us on the sixth floor? Still, I didn't want to allow anyone the slightest opportunity.

I sat down at the foot of the bed and surveyed my surroundings. We'd driven all the way from Boston to fucking Minnesota in under twenty-four hours. I flashed back to the last time I'd taken a drastic trip like this. Two years prior. I still remembered speeding my way through Virginia like my life depended on it. Because it did. But that couldn't happen again. I wouldn't let it. I wouldn't let myself buy into the idea that anyone might have followed us all the way to Minnesota. If it was the estate they wanted, they could have it. Three million, to me, wasn't worth being on the run. He hadn't been worth the sheer terror I'd felt then, and money wasn't worth it now.