Detective Jordan
We spoke to the twins a bit more and then I went to have my stomach checked out. My wound was ripped open and they had to stitch it closed again, I was warned if I pull it open again I will have to have surgery next time.
The rest of the day and the next day we bought clothes and rented an alright hotel room, no, plural, rooms. Grant tried to speak to me about the whole Elizabeth ordeal but I shot him down very quickly and at every single turn he tried to take down that road which involves my feelings towards the case.
I got to have good hot long showers, but then needed to change my dressings, but it was sooo worth it. Two nights of rest was everything I needed to feel recharged, even if my rest was not for long and oddly enough I was longing for Elizabeth's company.
Another shower and dressing change in the morning, and I was ready to take on the world again.
I step out my room and head to Grant's room next to mine. I knock on the door but don't get any response. "Hey Grant? You up?" I ask loudly through the door but there's no answer. I try to stop the panic that is rapidly filling my body. I bang on the door. "Grant?" I swallow hard and try to hear for any noise. "Travis!?" Fear overtakes me and I try the doorknob and it opens.
My heart stumbles because he never leaves a door unlocked. "Travis?" I ask with a shaky voice. I walk through the room but I don't find him.
My thoughts turn to Elizabeth, terror grips my throat as I run out the room to hers. I don't knock. I don't even stop to think. I burst through the door and the front of her room empty. My stomach sinks as I make my way deeper into the room. "Elizabeth?" My voice is broken. I can't. I can't lose them too.
Her bathroom door is slightly open, but my eye catches some blood smeared on the sink infront of me.
Without thinking twice, I fly into the bathroom looking for her injured or dead body.
Instead I find her butt naked standing in the bath/shower. My eyes widen and my mouth falls open, I'm frozen in place. She on the other hand shrieks and reaches for a towel but slips and falls into the bath.
Instinct controls me as I rush towards her to help her. She tries to stand but flops back down. The blood slowly being spread across the bath. "Get out!" She screams when I finally grab her arm to help steady her.
It is only then that I realize that it's her booby wound that is bleeding, she was probably trying to clean the wound and change the dressing.
Her boobs jiggle with every movement she makes, I quickly hang my head and close my eyes. "I-I'm so so sorry." I stutter out. "I couldn't find Grant..." I explain while she tries to take deep breaths to calm herself down. "I found your door open and saw the blood on the sink... I... I... thought..." my voice breaks again and I want to kick myself for being so weak.
"Miles... okay... I'm okay... just-"
Footsteps rush into the room and stop suddenly behind me. "What the actual fuck?!" I hear Grant's voice from behind my back.
I flinch, knowing how bad this must look. "Get the fuck out! Both of you!" She shouts, I let go and walk sheepishly out the door.
Grant stands there expectantly but my emotions take hold of me and I lose control. "Where the fuck were you?!" I shove him backwards. He is stunned and just stares at me. I walk up to him and grip his shirt in my hands, my eyes glossy. "I thought he fucking got to you man!" I shout and roughly shake him.
I let go of him and lean my head against the wall. "You never leave the fucking door unlocked." I say softer. "Then I saw blood in the bathroom..." images flash through my mind of that night I lost my mom and dad. Mom had run into the bathroom to hide but they found her inside. Once the bastards left and I came out of hiding. I found her bloodied body sprawled out on the bathroom floor.
I take a breath before I push away from the wall. I feel like I'm being suffocated in this place now. I need to get out. I walk past Grant not looking at him, I stop by the bathroom door. "I-I'm sorry Elizabeth... it just... reminded me of..." I gulp and try to just spit the words out. "Of my mother's death." There I did it.
I rush out the room ignoring my partner who is repeatedly calling for me to come back.
I make my way, even though there's a lot of hobbling and wobbling, out of the hotel and into the fresh air. I stand on the pavement and lift my hand to catch a taxi.
One stops infront of me and I climb in, as I close the door I see Grant and Elizabeth both standing in the doorway but I turn my head away quickly and tell the driver to head to the warehouse.
When we get there he stops. "Is this the place Sir?" He asks me.
"Just hang on." I sit and run a few things over in my mind. If Jayden needed to leave here, he'd probably want to get as far as possible from here. And to do that he would need to drive a long distance and for that he would need gas. "Is there a gas station somewhere close?" He nods his head.
"Yes, there are a few but in which direction is the one you're looking for?" I stay quiet again before answering.
"One on the way out of town, one on the edge of town?" I ask him and he nods his head, he pulls away and heads in a direction.
We stop at a small station. "Wait for me please." I say before I step out.
I walk into the store and straight to the cashier. "Hiya handsome, how may I help you?" She asks batting her eyelashes and chewing gum loudly.
I clear my throat and pull out my badge. "My name is Detective Jordan. I want to know if a guy came in here two days ago or so. Black hair and green eyes?" She stares at me for a while before answering me.
"Um sorry Detective. I get a lot of customers and I don't remember all of them." She says and I quickly say my thanks and head out. But I stop when I notice a camera above the door.
I quickly backtrack to her, her eyes light up. "Show me the footage." I don't ask, I command her.
She glares at me and moves to a monitor next to the cash register. She clicks a few times and turns the monitor towards me. "Give me the mouse." She does as I ask. "Thanks." I mumble out as I focus my eyes on the screen. I fast forward and watch multiple people enter and exit the store.
By the time that I've probably seen the 50th person enter I am ready to give up, but thankfully I don't, because a guy with black hair walks in but I can't see his face. I play it in normal time and wait for him to leave. When he does he stops and looks directly at the camera before putting his head down and walking out the store.
"Got you, you mother fucker." I mutter thinking she can't hear me but I'm wrong. Her eyes widen and her mouth slacks. I stop the footage where his face is visible then I turn the monitor to her. "What did he buy? And what did he say?" She stares at me for a while before getting herself together.
"Oh that guy with the black hair." She spits out at me, I take it he didn't make a good impression. "He had gas... uh... gum... energy drink... sandwich... ummm." A person can actually see the gears turning in her head. "Oh cigarettes and a lighter." I stiffen, he doesn't smoke... my stomach flips...
She blows a bubble thinking again. "Oh. He said him and his girlfriend were traveling through." She says with a snarl.
"Did he say where he was going?" I ask hoping and praying that he did.
"Something about going home. Should I be sca-"
I stop her. "Thank you! Have a good day!" I run out the store and to the taxi. "Take me back to the hotel please." I ask breathlessly.
Ofcourse, that's where he took her. He took her to the place she hurt him the most so that he can hurt her there.