Chapter Sixty
Vacancy
We ride the train through four station stops until Texas plains give way to the flatlands of Carlsbad, New Mexico. This time when the train stops, we disembark and jog along the tracks. Then we walk for several miles, my mouth dry and sticky, until we spot a red-and-white motel with a buzzing vacancy sign. Three tin horses sit on springs out front for children to play on, but the paint has long faded, and the horses’ grins seem sinister in the fading light.
I pay the desk guy half our money for a room while Cain and Poppet wait outside. If Eric and his guys find out we landed in Carlsbad, I don’t want this employee saying he saw three travelers come through together.
The hotel room has two queen beds with a white rose pattern, and a television that picks up six stations. Although for an additional twelve dollars we can have all the adult movies we want. Tempting.
Poppet scrunches her nose. “This place is glamorous.”
I plop down on the bed. “Don’t act like you’ve stayed in better.”
“A girl can pretend, can’t she?” Poppet climbs beneath the covers and tucks that pink elephant beneath her arm. “I’m so tired I feel sick, but I’m afraid I’ll never be able to sleep.”
I exchange a glance with Cain before approaching the other side of her bed. It couldn’t be later than eight o’clock, not even twenty-four hours since we left Pox, but I’m exhausted enough to sleep for three days.
Poppet snatches away the covers when she sees I’m climbing in. “No way. Get your own bed.” She lowers her voice so Cain can’t hear, and winks. “I’m doing you a favor.”
Then she smashes her face into the pillow and tries to hide her grin.
I turn to Cain, heat creeping into my cheeks.
“I’ll sleep on the floor.” Cain grabs a pillow from the opposite bed.
“Don’t be ridiculous,” Poppet complains. “You’re both adults, sort of. Besides, I know you’ve slept in the same bed before.”
Cain shoots a look at me and, even after everything, I smile.
He smiles, too.
I roll my eyes and climb in, and Cain climbs in after me. The sheets against my skin, Cain’s body heat warm under the covers, Poppet giggling from her bed—it’s almost too much happiness for one room. The terror that last night brought feels distant when the three of us are here, safe. In a room we paid for with Angie’s money.
“It was a nice thing Angie did,” I whisper to Cain.
He scoots a fraction closer and finds my hand beneath the comforter. “She’s a good person. But I’m worried Madam Karina’s going to find out she helped us.”
“She won’t.” I say this, but anxiety still twists my belly. It would destroy me if something bad happened to Angie. Angie isn’t perfect, by any means, but she’s true. When you look at her, you know what you’re getting. And that’s no small thing. Not when you’ve lived with a mother with two faces, or a madam with three.
Poppet flips off the lamp, and before long her breathing deepens.
Cain holds my hand until I can’t keep my eyes open a second longer.