I was memorizing it later that day for sure.
I called 911.
I reported my emergency.
I made it through giving the operator my name, the motel, the room number, my location, and the fact I’d just witnessed a double homicide before I dropped my forehead to my knees and dissolved into tears.
In other words, I held it together through the important stuff and fell apart only when no one was watching (even though the 911 operator was listening).
Like any good old lady should.
I was standing outside the motel room on a walkway exposed to the elements, surrounded by uniformed police officers, squad cars glutting the parking lot below, folks everywhere. Out of their rooms and standing outside the police barrier that an officer was now rolling out to span the parking lot.
When the first unit had arrived, they’d thankfully not wasted any time and even more thankfully the brawnier one picked me up and carried me out of the room so I didn’t get anything on my bare feet that would never mentally wash off.
An added plus to this was I got to shove my face in his neck so I didn’t see anything more than I’d already seen even if what I’d seen was burned into my brain.
I didn’t need more.
I’d barely been out there five minutes, only long enough for them to get a blanket to wrap around my shoulders and pull a chair from another room so I could sit on it, I was trembling so badly. I’d just begun to share what happened when I heard the roar.
My head jerked so I could look over my shoulder and I saw them roll in in formation.
And I was not surprised to see that Tack wasn’t leading the crew.
Logan was.
Like he had Millie Radar, he rode in, eyes up and on me.
“Mizz Cross, I know you’re Chaos but I need you to stick with me,” the officer said quickly.
I didn’t stick with him.
I jumped out of my seat and ran, sprinting down the walkway, the blanket falling from my shoulders, my eyes glued to Logan who had parked his bike outside the police tape and he was dismounting.
I was going so fast down the walkway I had to throw out a hand to grab the post holding up the landing by the stairwell. My body went flying to the side, but I held on tight, forcing its momentum toward the steps.
Then I dashed down them watching Logan race my way.
We collided two steps from the bottom and I didn’t know how Logan didn’t fall to his ass when that collision included me throwing myself bodily at him, wrapping my arms around his shoulders, my legs around his waist and shoving my face in his neck.
I drew in deep breaths, audibly sucking in air to hold it together as his strength became real all around me, he held me tight, and I tried to keep my shit together.
But I couldn’t stop the shaking.
“The girls?” I forced out.
His arms held tighter.
“Big Petey got a call. They know you’re good,” he replied, his voice, low and harsh, scratching into my skin.
I nodded, my body bucking painfully as I fought back a sob.
“You’re good, Millie. You’re here. I got you. You’re good, baby,” he whispered, gliding a hand up to tangle in my hair.
“I’m good,” I whispered back. Iit was shaky and uncertain but I said it anyway.
“Hold on,” he ordered.
That I could do.
So I did it and Logan held me back.
That gave me the strength to pull it totally together, and after I absorbed enough of it, I lifted my head to look at him.
His gaze immediately went to the swelling around my eye and a scariness that was exponentially scarier than that day he’d charged into my office and then dragged me around my house to show me the alarm system he’d set up snapped into place over his features.
“I’m okay,” I assured him hurriedly.
He stopped looking at my eye to look into both of them.
“Yeah,” he muttered. It was not shaky but it was skeptical.
I dropped my forehead to his, holding his gaze.
“Chaos has a problem,” I shared quietly.
“Think we know that, babe,” he replied just as quietly.
“No, Snooks,” I went on. “He’s planning something. Something he thinks means a guaranteed win. I don’t know what today meant. I just know he’s convinced he can’t lose.”
Carefully, still holding me close, Logan jiggled me so I knew to drop my legs. He put me on the step in front of him so we were still eye to eye but he didn’t let go.
“He’ll be convinced otherwise,” he announced.
I moved my hand to curl it on the side of his neck, rolling up on my toes to get closer to him.
“You need to be ready for anything,” I warned. “You need to be ready and you need to be smart. He has something, Low, an ace up his sleeve. He’s determined to use it to bring Chaos down and I don’t think he means to harm anyone physically. I think he means to force you to do stupid shit that would end the Club.” I pressed even closer. “And I can see it in your eyes, baby. You’re fired up to do stupid shit and if he brings you down, he takes you away from me. From Cleo. From Zadie. And, Snooks, you gotta be smart because you cannot let that happen.”
He studied me without replying and in the middle of this, we heard, “Sorry, High, but gotta get her statement,” and Logan’s eyes went beyond me.
I looked over my shoulder at the officer who had begun to question me and looked back to Logan when I felt his hold on me loosen. He nodded to the officer as he took a different hold on me, wrapping his arm around my shoulders and moving me around so he could guide me up the steps with him.
We followed the officer, and with Logan guiding, I could look behind me.
Chaos was standing there.
All of them.
I shot a weak smile in their general direction.
I got no smiles back.
Not even a lip curl.
They’d been nudged.
A different kind of fear started slithering through my insides as I looked away to make the turn on the first landing.