Free Hostage by N.S. Moore Page B

around, we’re going to have to move quickly and disappear into the trees before we’re seen.”
    Wren looks down at her shoes. They aren’t the most practical things to be traveling on foot, but there isn’t anything we can do about it.
    “Oh, and here.” Reaching down, I pull out the t-shirt and hat that I took from the pizzeria. "Put these on. Try and tuck your hair under the hat as much as you can.”
    “Why?”
    “Seriously? Do you have to fucking argue everything?”
    She finally does what I ask, and I change into my shirt and hat, and we finally head out down the hall. I can see daylight peeking out from under the door at the end. I’m not a religious person by any stretch of the imagination, but I do pray that the coast will be clear and that we’ll get out of here unnoticed.
    “Is it locked?” Wren asks when we approached the door.
    I test the knob and am mildly relieved that it isn’t. I’m careful to listen, and I honestly can’t tell what’ on the other side. It’s now or never. I look at her. “You ready?” She nods.
    So much for the power of prayer. Not only isn’t the coast not clear, but mall security is standing right fucking there. We walk out and shut the door, and the fucker spots us and yells, “Hey!”
    I don’t bother to wait around to hear what else he has to say. I grab Wren’s hand and take off. She is much slower than I expect, and at times I feel like I’m completely dragging her. We are halfway across the parking lot when I hear the cop slamming his car door and starting the car.
    Seriously? He isn’t going to chase us on foot? For all he knows we’re just a couple of mall employees screwing around in the basement.
    I have no idea what time it is, but it’s late enough in the morning that there’s traffic in the parking lot, and he doesn’t get to us before we hit the bank of trees. I feel Wren try and stop, and I yell at her to keep going. We can’t stop yet.
    I can’t remember the last time I ran like this. All I knew is that I finally understand the phrase “Run as if your life depended on it” because right now, it does. Not that I have a fear of the rent-a-cop, but that’s definitely not the way that I want to be caught.
    “Code!” she cries from behind me. “I need…a break…please!”
    We might have been running for a minute or an hour. I have no idea. My fucking head is spinning. We stop and I look back in the direction we just came from, and I can’t even see the mall so I’m feeling like we’re momentarily okay.
    We’re both breathing heavily, and now I have to try and get my brain to engage and figure out our next step. For so long I didn’t pay attention to jack-shit, and now I need to remember what the hell is around here so I can get us out of the fucking woods.
    Wren steps a couple of feet away. “Is that a motel over there?”
    I turn to where she’s pointing to and almost want to kiss her with gratitude. “Yeah,” I say instead. “It makes the last motel we were at seem like the Ritz, so brace yourself.”
    “At this point, I don’t even care. I just want to take a shower and sit on something other than a box.”
    I hear that. “Okay, here’s the deal. This is the kind of place that rents by the hour. They take cash and no I.D., but I’d still like to avoid being recognized.”
    “Okay,” she says hesitantly.
    “Basically, we need to approach the desk like we’re desperate for a room, so if I cop a feel at the front desk, don’t go getting all prissy on me.” She opens her mouth to say something but clearly changes her mind.
    Within minutes, we’re paying for our room—eight hours’ worth of it—while I have my hand under her skirt and on her ass. It isn’t really necessary, but I just enjoy manhandling Wren. I don’t remove it until we’re in the room. Actually, she removes it for me.
    “No one’s watching,” she snaps as the door closed behind us.
    The room isn’t nearly as bad as I imagined. Wren immediately