"Get up, sleeping beauty," Jayden said softly.
"What?" I asked, rubbing my eyes.
So many mornings had already passed, and I still couldn't get used to the bright light as soon as I woke up.
But this morning, something was different. Actually, the light wasn't that bright.
"Jayden, what time is it?"
"6:30."
"But why? Why are you up so early? And why are you waking me up too?"
I turned on my side and covered my head with the duvet.
"Because it's time to start your lessons."
"What lessons?"
The bed creaked, and I felt Jayden almost on top of me.
I poked my head out from under the covers. "You're crazy. You know that?"
"No. No one has said that to me before."
"Well, I'm telling you now. Mmmmm..." I stretched my arms up, yawning.
"Okay. If you want, we will postpone the lessons."
"Not that I don't want to." I propped my elbow on the bed and rested my head on my palm. "I'm just not ready."
"How come you're not ready?"
"I don't know. I'm not mentally ready, I guess."
"Come on. You'll love it, I promise."
"Okay. But first..." I rolled over him. "I need to wake up." I brought my face closer to his. "Can you do something about that?"
"Well, I made coffee..." Jayden raised an eyebrow seductively. "But you seem to want something stronger than that..."
He pressed his lips against mine; my t-shirt was already flying to the other end of the caravan.
***
1 hour later
"Come on before I give up." I nodded to Jayden, getting off the bed.
We put on our clothes and went to the garage. Jayden put a helmet on my head and wheeled the bike out.
"Come on, jump on it!" he winked at me.
I took a deep breath and got on the bike. I was scared beyond belief, but at the same time, I was excited to learn to ride. And I didn't want Jayden to think I was a coward.
"I'm ready."
"Okay, put your hands here." He began to assist me in positioning my hands and feet correctly. "The right hand is responsible for the front brake. By turning the handle here, you apply the gas. On the left are the clutch and turn signals." He crouched next to the bike. "The right foot is responsible for the rear brake. And you change gears with your left foot. Are you going to remember all of this?"
"Right hand—front brake and gas; right foot—rear brake; left hand—blinkers and... What was that? It was connecting something." I squinted, trying to think.
"The clutch, Savi." Jayden barely managed to stifle a giggle, but I could already tell, even just by his eyes, that he was on the verge of bursting into laughter.
"Okay. Not funny. Let's continue. Left foot—gear change. Ha! Aren't I good?"
"You're perfect. Now, look here." He pointed to the board. "Speedometer, tachometer. The rest of the details will be provided later. We will start with practicing starting and stopping."
My stomach had already curled up into a ball. You can do it, Savi! I repeated in my mind.
"Now we'll start the bike." Jayden reached over me and pressed the red button. The sound of the engine starting up made me jump. "Calm down. The bike won't leave on its own."
I took a few more deep breaths. "Let's go!" I said, clutching the handles hard. God, had those words come out of my mouth?
"Okay. The engine is on fire: clutch, first gear. You release the clutch slightly. Without gassing. You will feel the bike begin to move slightly."
"Oh my goodness!"
"Now brake, clutch, release from gear."
"I did it! And I stopped!"
"Savi, you didn't move." Jayden couldn't hold back his laugh this time. He put his arms around my neck and kissed my shoulder. "Now, you're going to do it. Follow the steps, but after engaging first gear, you start to release the clutch slowly and apply the gas at the same time."
"Clutch, first gear, release the clutch, hit the gas," I repeated the steps out loud several times, and before Jayden could say anything, I was already in motion. "I'm moving! I'm moving! Jayden, I'm moving!"
I didn't even look at the speedometer to see how fast I was going, but it felt awfully fast. However, the fact that Jayden was running parallel to the bike contradicted this.
"Just go ahead. Give it some more gas. You're doing great, Savi."
I started to ride faster. The feeling was indescribable! At the end of the yard, I stopped, released the gear, and turned off the engine.
I turned back to Jayden, who had stopped running next to me at one point. "I made it! Look how far I've come!" I exclaimed excitedly.
"Come back now."
I went slowly back to him. All alone! And without falling once!
"You were right!" I lunged at his neck after following all instructions for a safe stop.
He removed the helmet from my head and placed it on the seat of the bike. "I told you you'd love it. A few more lessons, and you'll ride, and I will be the passenger."
I didn't expect that I would be able to do it. I was shaking before I'd started. But, when I had taken the plunge, the fear seemed to disappear. I'd focused. My body had tightened. All senses heightened. It was amazing!
"I'll ride you as much as you want," I replied. "Oh. That sounded—"
"You promise?" Jayden asked me with a devilish grin.
I gave him a playful shove. But a moment later, I grabbed his t-shirt and pulled him back to me. "Actually..." I looked at my watch. "Maybe we can ride for a while right now..."
***
09:20 am
"Good morning, Evelyn," Jayden and I greeted her as we walked into the motel.
"Good morning, kids. Where are you headed?"
She came over and hugged Jayden, then me.
"Evelyn..." I didn't know how to begin. "There's no easy way to tell you this, so I'll be straight with you. Your husband's cousin is lying and stealing from you."
Evelyn looked at me with a serious look as if she didn't want to believe my words.
I briefly explained to her what I had discovered and shared my plan to go straight to the accountant's office.
Her eyes grew sad. I wished there was a way to spare her pain. At least I could help her get her finances in order.
After a few minutes of silence, she turned to me. "I trust you, Savi. Thank you for taking the time to help me. I can't believe Monica did that."
"It's not necessary to come if you feel uncomfortable."
"No. I will come."
"Okay. I'm going to change and be back in five minutes," I said and headed to my room.
I put on the clothes I had bought the day before, styled my hair as best I could, and returned to Jayden and Evelyn.
The three of us got into the car, and in fifteen minutes, we arrived at our destination. Monica Miller's office was on the ground floor of a small building overlooking the street. Jayden parked out front. I got out of the car and pulled on my jacket.
Evelyn looked at the building, then at me with tears in her eyes. "Savi, I—"
"It's okay. Stay here," I told her and headed to the office.
A few seconds later, I greeted Monica Miller. "Good morning."
The accountant standing behind her desk responded back, "Good morning. How can I help you?"
I took a few steps inside, discreetly looking around. The office was rather untidy; a dustpan was visible on the shelves of the cupboards. The walls were slightly cracked; there was fallen plaster in places; the floor was old linoleum, foaming in many areas.
"My name is Savannah Wilson. I'm here on behalf of Peyton Mitchell—the head of the Controls and Revisions Division of the Internal Revenue Service. We are conducting an audit of the Moonlight Motel and need you to provide us with their full documentation."
For a moment, Monica Miller's expression became serious, and although she managed to control herself, for a brief moment, her eyes showed a degree of panic.
"Would you show me your badge, please?" She requested.
I had been expecting that question.
I reached into my purse, pulled out Peyton's business card, and confidently placed it on the desk in front of the woman. "You can call my boss, Ms. Peyton Mitchell. I am her intern."
The accountant took the business card in disbelief. She picked up her phone, dialed the number, and pressed the speaker button.
After two rings, Peyton picked up. "Internal Revenue Service. Peyton Mitchell is on the phone. How can I help you?"
"Good morning, Ms. Mitchell. This is Monica Miller from Miller Accounting. A woman is here—" She raised a questioning look at me.
"Savannah Wilson," I repeated my name.
"Savannah Wilson." Monica continued on the phone. "She says she's coming on your behalf."
"Yes. I have sent Miss Savannah Wilson in her capacity as an employee of the Controls and Revisions Division of the Internal Revenue Service. Please assist her with whatever is needed."
You're the best, Peyton, I thought to myself.
"Of course. However, I would have expected your employee to have a badge on her. Haven't you been taught that every public servant must identify themselves?"
This woman had balls, I had to admit.
"Weren't you taught that stealing is a crime and punishable by law?" Peyton asked, beating her up all the same. "Now, if you have no further questions, I wish you a pleasant day. And I expect you will not hinder our work."
Peyton didn't even wait for an answer before she hung up the phone.
Monica Miller looked at me. "May I ask why an audit of the Moonlight Motel is necessary? Is there something wrong?"
"I'll get back to you after you provide us with the documentation so we can do the audit."
The woman got up and began rummaging through the folders on the shelves. She pulled one out and handed it to me. "I can assure you that everything is fine."
I flipped through the sheets until I got to the expenses section. As I had assumed, the numbers did not correspond to those in Evelyn's documents. They were three or four times lower.
"If you think everything is in order, could you explain why the invoices you gave the motel owner are not identical to the ones I see here?"
"I don't know what you're talking about." Monica continued to keep her cool.
"Let me remind you then. All the invoices you present to your client have been pre-invoiced by you with values that are several times higher. Now, do you still not know what I'm talking about?"
"You can't prove anything," she snapped back.
"Perhaps I cannot. But there are authorities that will—"
"I'm not going to prove anything, Monica." Evelyn, who had apparently decided not to wait in the car any longer, interrupted me before I could finish my threat. "I don't want to prove anything. You tarnished the memory of my husband—your own cousin. If your conscience doesn't wake up someday and punish you, I don't know what could."
"Evelyn, it's not what you think." The accountant's tone suddenly softened as she began to try to justify herself.
"Save your words. I don't want anything to do with you from here on out." Evelyn started for the door. "Come on, Savi."
I went out with her, even though I didn't want to agree to leave it at that. This woman deserved to suffer consequences. But there was time to convince Evelyn of this.
We got in the car, and Jayden drove us back to the motel.
We all got out, and Evelyn gave me a big hug. "You may not realize it, Savi, but what you did for me really means a lot."
"I didn't do any—"
As I said my words and hugged Evelyn back, I felt a sudden weight in my arms. By the time I realized what was happening, her body had slumped to the ground.
❤️ A/N ❤️
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