SSS 2 - Full Powers

“Anyone here?” you ask briskly, walking a few steps to check down the hallway. No sign of anyone.

“Hey now,” Sal cautions you as you go behind the counter. You find the peg board with the missing keys. Several rooms are occupied. Finding your girls isn’t rocket science. You didn’t even need to come in here; you can just go find the Traverse and knock on every door near it.

But this will make it less sloppy. You take a photo of the peg board with your phone and gesture for Sal to follow as you push back out into the storm, turning on your phone’s light.

You don’t even need any of that information. You find the Traverse all the way down one strut of the H formed by the motel, and around the corner from the front. Conveniently, one room has a light on. You have a feeling that you’ve found the place.

Sal follows you at a jog. These walkways are covered, but they offer no shelter from a storm of this severity. You’re soaked to the bone when you knock on the door.

Seconds go by. You and Sal exchange a worried look. You knock again.

The curtains move and you both look, but you don’t see who it was.

A moment later, the door opens to reveal a tense Taytum.

“Oh, thank god,” she says, opening the door for you.

You step into the room, baffled, only to be hit full **** by Bian, who throws her arms around you and squeezes painfully.

“Jesus!” you say, taking in the scene. The room is in some disarray. There are signs of… drinking and junk food. There’s a distinct smell of sex, and Bian, Kalyna, and Taytum are all nude. You’re aware of their little poly thing, so that’s not strange to you. What’s strange is the energy in the room and the fact that they don’t seem worried about being naked in front of you and Sal. They are obviously worried about something else. “What the hell is going on?” you demand.

Bian is not even two years younger than you, but she’s tiny so you pet her head awkwardly as she sniffles into your chest. Taytum and Kalyna exchange a look. They both appear wild and frightened.

Sal steps in behind you and closes the door behind her. She wrinkles her nose at the overly strong smell of pussy, but says nothing.

“Um,” Kalyna says finally, coming to her senses as Taytum finds her underwear. Kalyna follows suit. As they cover up, she speaks. “Someone broke in here and took the money.”

You blink several times. That’s succinct.

“I’m sorry, what?” You firmly pry Bian off and nudge her back toward Kalyna, who absently takes over hugging her for you.

“So I woke up,” Kalyna explains, sounding truly shaken. “And there was someone in here. And it wasn’t one of us. So I turned on the lamp and I’m about to be like ‘Hey, what the fuck, bro?’ but it’s fucking…” She trails off, swallowing.

“Who? Who was it?”

“They were wearing the fucking Scream outfit,” Taytum mutters bitterly as she pulls on a shirt. “With the peach mask, though.”

You remember the emojis.

“Jesus Christ,” you murmur. “Did they try to hurt you?”

“No. They just took the money and booked it,” Taytum says.

“It was scary,” Bian says, casting you a look over her shoulder. She realizes she’s the only one still naked. And she notices Sal. She yanks a sheet off the bed to cover herself.

You try to take all this in.

“When did this happen?” you ask.

“Like,” Kalyna says, shrugging. “Five minutes ago.”

That recently? You didn’t see any cars moving or pass any cars as you approached the motel and pulled in. You stride to the window and look out at the storm. Even with a big car, it’s dicey out there. And there’s no telling where this thief has to go. Plenty of roads are already underwater.

There’s a decent chance the thief is still nearby, lying low until the weather clears enough to get away.

“Why is she here?” Kalyna asks bluntly, looking at Sal, who bristles.

“CGH is our partner in this,” you reply distractedly. “That’s not a secret. This is business.”

“Sure,” Kalyna replies, looking back and forth between you and Sal. “Business partners.”

“I’m sorry, Meri. We didn’t expect to get robbed by Michael Meyers,” Bian says, looking fragile.

You have a feeling this is not their fault. And you don’t get the sense that they’re taking you for a ride to steal the money for themselves. Although, anything is possible. You can’t take everything that they say at face value.

“Who else knew?” Sal asks you.

“You, me. Them. The Club.” You sigh. Actually, the likeliest suspect in all this would be CGH. They are your partners and your relationship with Sal is good, but the business is divided up in a way that’s more favorable to CCL... or at least that’s how some see it. CCL takes the risks on the road for stuff like tonight. CGH girls are the ones doing deals on campus. “Or anyone who got access to somebody’s device,” you add, glancing at the three pledges. It’s difficult to be sure.

But there’s one way to find out. Is it a good idea, though?

Thunder crashes. Time might be a factor.

Search the motel for the thief?

Or let the money go?