SSS 2 - Get the money back

A thief, huh? Not on your watch.

“What is it?” Sal asks.

“Let me think for a second,” you say, putting your hands on your hips. Someone with knowledge of the drop. The Club. CGH. CCL. These three pledges were not in on it. You glance at Sal, who is watching your face closely.

You can’t pretend that you know Sal so well. You like her. She likes you. You aren’t in love. You believe in the alliance that you helped forge with CGH, and you’ve always dealt in good faith. That doesn’t mean that everyone else is.

What about the Free Gurls? They’re getting a good deal out of all this. They get minimal risk and extra money for work that they had already been doing. They have no motive to disrupt the status quo. CGH, though? CGH is within Gurlberg municipality, unlike CCL House. They are taking on more risk than CCL for similar rewards.

You had thought that Sal had accepted that as the cost of doing business.

Sal had been awfully quick to want to come along tonight.

But what about those emojis? What about that phone call? That hadn’t been Sal on the other end. Some other CGH girl? A stranger? For what purpose? To get you out of CCL House? That doesn’t seem to make any sense.

“What is that look?” Sal asks, seeing the way you’re eying her.

“Something’s not right,” you reply, going to the window and parting the curtains. You can’t see anything out there. “This is starting to look like Antarctica. And I’m starting to feel like Keith David.”

“You know I don’t get your damn nerd references,” Sal replies, annoyed.

“I do!” Bian says excitedly, clapping her hands together. “Pick me! Can I be Kurt Russell?”

“Sure, sweetie,” you reply absently, still watching the storm. Bian squeals delightedly and does a little dance.

“OK,” you announce, turning to face them. Everyone’s eyes get huge when you pull out the Riddick knife.

“Wowzer,” Bian says.

“Jesus fucking Christ,” Taytum says at the same time.

Kalyna just locks up and goes pale.

“What the shit?” Sal demands.

You offer the knife to Taytum, who takes it with a look of bafflement.

“You’re going to lock this door,” you tell her. “Someone sent me peach emojis. I hope they’re playing games, but I don’t know. Do not go to sleep.”

“Where are you going?” Kalyna asks, tearing her eyes away from the knife.

“I’m gonna go get my fucking money back,” you say, closing the curtains.

“You and me?” Sal asks nervously.

You return her gaze. “You and me.” You steer her toward the door.

“Be careful,” Bian says behind you.

You and Sal stand close together on the covered walkway outside as the storm ravages the motel. You can’t hear anything from inside the room, but you hope your pledges are putting their clothes on and getting their guard up.

“Where are we going?” Sal shouts over the storm.

You aren’t sure about that yet. Your brain is racing. You’re smart, but you are not psychic. Nor are you a detective. You have a lot of thoughts and ideas for how to proceed, but no way of knowing if they’re viable. The motel is big, but it’s not huge. You can just search it.

On the other hand, the weather may not hold. If the storm slackens up at all, your thief could jump in a car and take their chances on the road. If that happens while you’re going door to door, it’s all for nothing.

You can see three vehicles from where you’re standing. Sal’s car and the Traverse have Florida plates. The third car does not. This motel isn’t for locals, and the front office will have copies of everyone’s driver’s license who has gotten a room. If you could get that information, you could target in-state guests. Or even just identify the thief.

But that only helps if they’ve booked a room, which is not a sure thing, although it’s what you would have done. You are not the thief. You don’t trust Kalyna or Taytum. Either of them could be a part of this. You succeeded in signaling your suspicions to Bian, who will be watching them closely. If they try anything suspicious, you’ll find out about it.

But if it’s something like that, why the texts?

You shake your head. You’ve already made up your mind on what to do: get that money back. You’ll get your answers when you catch your thief.

Search the motel?

Or look for clues in the office?