Future Past Perfect

Future: Five

The Harborview Arms Motel was on the docks in a part of the waterfront consumed with seedy characters and crime. Nathan would kill her if he found out she was here alone. But, she reminded herself, he wasn't going to find out. Spinelli would never rat her out. Besides, Nathan was too busy playing super spy with Anna he wouldn't even know she had left. She didn't care if he got angry with her either. If he wouldn't let her help find their son, she would do it without him. It would serve him right if she found Jamie instead of him too, considering how pigheaded he had been about not taking her with him.

All she wanted was to be with him. She didn't think there was anything wrong with that. Especially since she had been deprived of him for a year. But Nathan had dismissed her concerns and left her at Lulu's like a child who needed a babysitter. Spinelli tried to talk her out of tracking down the kidnappers on her own, but she wouldn't listen to him. He offered to help when he couldn't talk her out of it. She refused his offer insisting that someone had to take care of Georgie and ignoring his very pointed argument that she was doing exactly what Nathan had done to her.

Somewhere in her thought process, she knew she was behaving irresponsibly because she was angry with Nathan. She was angry with him for putting their family in danger. She was angry with him for ditching her at Lulu's house despite her pleading. And truthfully, she was angry with him for leaving her to join the WSB and letting her grieve for a year over him. Essentially, he had abandoned her yet again, even if he thought what he was doing was the right thing. It didn't matter if he thought he was protecting her, she thought stubbornly. He shouldn't have left her behind.

Maxie spotted the kidnappers' SUV parked in an alley behind the motel. God bless Spinelli's hacking skills. She parked her car down the street and walked back towards the motel, taking care to look as casual as possible. She passed a couple of teens talking furtively outside the motel but other than that, no one paid her any mind. The building itself had seen better days; graffiti scrawled across most of the edifice and broken window panes littered the upper floors. The interior wasn't in much better condition and looked like a relic of the Seventies. The front desk was a glassed in cubicle with a buzzer to ring for an employee. Maxie marched up to the window and pressed the button for help. She didn't have a plan or anything. Improvising was her strong suit.

When no one appeared right away, Maxie pressed the buzzer again and held it, waiting for someone behind the glass to take a hint. She was rewarded with the arrival of an older man, scowling at her. She let go of the button and smiled, waiting while he slid a small section of glass open.

He eyed her warily and snarled, "Rooms are $50 an hour. Cash only."

"I don't want a room," she replied, thinking fast. "I hit a car in the alley just now and I need to talk to the owners."

"So?"

"I don't know who owns it. Can you tell me if the owners of the SUV in the alley are staying here?"

"How in the ever loving hell would I know that?"

"Don't you have your guests leave their license plate number with you for insurance purposes?" She pressed.

"Are you kidding? Most of the people that stay here don't want no one to know they're here. You think I'm going to screw up a good thing by asking for traceable information? Get lost, lady."

He slid the glass closed and turned his back on her. She wasn't going to give up that easily though. She rapped on the glass several times. He looked at her over his shoulder and muttered something. She couldn't hear him, but if she had to lay odds on what he had said, she would guess it was a profanity laced command. She pressed the buzzer, smiling sweetly at him as she did. With another deep scowl, he returned to the glass and reopened it.

"Look, lady, I don't got time for your nonsense!"

"Fine. Listen, I lied about the reason but I really need to know if the owners of that SUV are here. They broke into my parents' house this morning and took something very valuable. I need to get it back."

That made him pause. He gave her a searching look with watery gray eyes. "Valuable you say? How valuable? Is there a reward if it's found?"

"Yes!" Maxie dug into her purse and pulled out her wallet. She took out her wallet and opened it, wishing she had thought to stop at an ATM before coming here. A bribe always worked. "I can give you $50 now and if your info is good, I'll add another $100."

"I think you can spare more than that. That handbag of yours looks like it cost more than $150. Try again."

"Hey! This handbag is at least five years old. And it's a knock off! There's no way it cost that much!" She snapped her wallet closed. "For your information, I didn't have a job when I got this. Do you know how hard it is to look fashionable on a budget?"

The old man laughed, a brittle cackle that shook his entire frame. "Oh, man," he said wiping his eyes. "That's a pretty story. Made my day! All right, you got a deal."

Maxie laid the fifty on the counter. He snaked the bill and shoved it into his shirt pocket. "Do you need the license plate number?"

"I told ya, I don't ask for that stuff. But I know who you're talking about. Those dudes that drive the SUV? Foreigners. Russian, I'll bet. You should be careful. Room 219. You can bring the rest of the money when you're done."

Maxie laid the hundred dollar bill on the counter. "I won't be back. Thank you." She turned away, walking towards the elevator. She should call Nathan and tell him what she knew but she was still angry with him. She would call Dante as soon as she knew the men were in the room and Jamie was with them. She stepped on the elevator and took a deep breath. No turning back now.

On the second floor, she stepped out, looking both ways. The hall was dead quiet. She turned to her left following the door numbers. Room 219 was at the end of the hall and the door stood slightly ajar. No noises came from the room. Maybe they had left while she had been talking to the desk clerk. She pressed the door open a little bit more and peered into the room, letting out a gasp at the sight before her. Two men lay face down on the floor, puddles of blood pooling around them. She started to back away, wishing she had called Nathan first, when a hand clamped down over her mouth, yanking her backwards off her feet.