Arcanum Hominem (#1)

Chapter 74

Hours passed, and Levi finally tracked down the first five people on the list for us. 

"Now, you'll have to be careful. Number five on the list was the more challenging one, so I'm guessing that means he's the most important. At least out of the five people I found. Go after the first four first, and then go to him. I'll make sure to keep you guys updated on their locations. Good luck." Levi told us, and I nodded. Killian and I were already in the car, ready to track down the first name on the list. 

Carl Towns.

"Thank you for the update, Levi. We'll be seeing you." Killian thanked him before nodding and driving off. The first target was in our area, which was convenient for us. There was a motel that was about thirty minutes away from where we were, and apparently, that was where the target was staying. 

"What's the plan? If we go in from the front, he'll definitely see us. Is there a way in from the back or something? Did Levi send us anything yet?" I asked Killian, and he glanced down at the tablet in between us. 

"Check that and see. I'm not exactly sure." 

I grabbed the tablet and turned it on. There was a message from Levi, and in the message were schematics of the building. 

"I don't know how to read this." I squinted my eyes at the plans, trying to figure out where the back entrance was located. 

"Let me see it." Killian glanced down before looking back at the road. I zoomed it in a little bit and held the tablet in his face so he could get a good look at it. He kept glancing at the tablet and the road, and then he nodded. "Look at the legend at the bottom, and it should help you out. This one actually has names labeling each area. Look for that." 

I looked for the legend and found it, and soon, I was able to find the back entrance. I continued to look at the schematics and study it the best I could while talking to Killian about our plan for capturing this target. We were going to park the car a few cars away from where the target was located so that we weren't spotted. And then we were going to go up the stairs in the back and ambush him from there. We weren't exactly sure if the target was still in his motel, but we would figure that out soon. That wouldn't be a problem. If his location moved outside of the area we were about to be in, Levi would contact us on our comms. With traffic, it took us about forty minutes instead of thirty, which was a little frustrating because the target could've moved in that time, but he didn't, thankfully. We made it to the motel and saw that there were a few cars in the parking lot. Killian parked the car on the opposite side of the parking lot, and we exited the car. I stretched and took a better look around. It was cloudy in this area, the wind blowing a little harsher than normal. It felt great against my skin, though, and I relished in it. 

"I think the back stairs are this way." I pointed straight ahead to the only open area, and Killian nodded, looking around with his eyes narrowed. We walked to the open space and entered an area with a roof over our heads. The motel was run down and an ugly cream color that was so worn with old paint, I was surprised it was still standing. There was no one else out here, so we were able to successfully make it to the stairs in the back of the building. The stairs were rusty and rattled even though we walked on them slowly. I cringed with each noise it made. We finally made it to the second floor, and I looked up at more stairs. The target was on the fourth floor. We slowly walked up two more flights of creaky stairs, and after much rocking and low curses, we made it to the fourth floor. 

"Do you see which door it is?" Killian asked from behind me, whispering. I looked for 4D, which was the room, and shook my head. He moved from behind me, getting in front, and quickly walked forward, pulling his gun out from his side. I did the same, eyes wide as I checked around us to make sure that we weren't going to be ambushed. We were still in the clear, and when I turned, looking at Killian again, he was standing in front of a door. I walked up to him, and he looked at me, nodding and pointed at the door. I looked at it, and it indeed had 4D on it. I backed up so that Killian could have more space, and he grabbed a tool out of his pocket, placing it on the doorknob. The tool twisted itself, and there was a click of the lock turning. Killian grabbed the tool and held up his hand, a finger coming up and stopping at three before pointing at the door. I nodded, and Killian grabbed the doorknob, slowly turning it. The stench of cigarette smoke left the room and I wrinkled my nose in disgust, turning my head to inhale clean air before entering the room with Killian. I held my gun up, arms locked as we cased the small room. Killian checked the bathroom and closet, and we both put our arms down. There was no one in here.