Side Effects

Chapter 27

I cleaned up the best I could in the couple minutes I allowed myself before we got back out on the street. While we did have to pop into the hotel for the files, I wasn't going to risk a shower, that would take too long and put us in a vulnerable position. Worst case, we could use towels and water on the plane once we were airborne, and then take a real shower after we landed in whatever state they could get a flight plan for.

"Can we take a cab?" Alaya wondered as we made our way to a main road. Neither of us had any idea where we were, so it was the safer option.

"Yeah, I think we should. I have some cash so we don't need to use credit cards. We can't take too long, and we can have them drop us off near a side entrance and sneak in." They couldn't be everywhere at once, so this was our best bet. Grab the bags and run right back out.

"Good. Because I'm wearing a lace thong, and it's already chafing. I wasn't expecting to be running around this much!" she grumbled with a pout, and I couldn't help but laugh in spite of the situation.

"We'll get you out of those, don't worry about it!" I assured her. It was too bad she wasn't wearing a skirt, she could have slipped them right off!

There was a taxi stand on the next corner, and we grabbed the first one, giving them the name of the hotel. It may have been chillier outside than it had been in our previous stops, but we were both sweating now with all the stress we were under. Thankfully, the taxi was air conditioned, and I gave a breath of relief as we were able to take a load off our feet for a little bit. We weren't too far from the hotel, we'd walked to the harbor after all, but we needed this break.

As the hotel came into view, I told the driver to pull over, and he quickly did. I slipped him a few extra Euros for a tip, and we hurried into the crowd. "Just keep your head down, and don't walk too fast. We just want to blend in," I reminded Alaya.

"Just blend in with the other people who are walking around as freaked out as we are?" She had a point. Everyone seemed to be on edge, and I couldn't blame them. We weren't too far from where the explosion was, and any time I saw someone with a backpack or a military physique I had to keep an eye on them. Hell, other than Tim, I couldn't remember anyone that had looked like that, but I couldn't stop doing it anyway.

We slipped into a side entrance and ignored the elevators in favor of the stairs. We quickly walked up to the 5th floor, and then went to our room. It was a calculated risk, but I thought it was worth the chance. If they assumed they got us, and they didn't know about the files, they would leave the hotel room alone. To do otherwise would make authorities look at me and Alaya as the targets of the attack rather than the random victims of a senseless crime, which is what they probably wanted. If we'd had a seat in the middle of the café, or hadn't been looking at the door, they probably would have got us too, but we were lucky. Their plan, had it worked, would have had us dead and no fingers pointing at my sister, so I could understand why they did it.

I just hated that it happened.

How the hell had my sister sunk so far? Did my parents know about what she'd done? Fuck, I wasn't looking forward to explaining all of this to them!

I shook my head to clear it of these thoughts as we reached the door to the hotel room, which still had the Do Not Disturb sign on it from the previous night. I used the key card, and we slipped inside. Taking a quick look around, we both ended up shrugging as everything looked to be as it was when we left.

"Hold on!" Alaya quickly slipped out of her jeans, then changed her underwear. As happy as I was to see her out of her pants, not even her delectable figure could arouse me with the nerves that had me on edge.

Maybe on the plane though.

"Does that feel better?" I asked.

"You have no idea! I love the way the lace thong looks when you're stripping me, but I shouldn't have worn them for a day out in the city. The rest was just the fucking icing on the fucking cake." She slipped on a pair of more comfortable panties and then her jeans and we were ready to go.