Page 141 of Help Me Remember
He’s right. I should wait. God, what am I doing? I am risking destroying that man’s world when he and Quinn are trained to do this. They can help me.
I tuck back behind the wall, my chest heaving, and I swipe his number.
“Brielle?” His voice is full of panic.
“It’s me.”
“Are you safe?”
My hand is on my pounding heart, and guilt and regret are souring my stomach. “Yes. I’m so sorry. I thought there was no other way. I had to help him.”
“You—I am not going to lecture you right now. I just need to know where you are.”
“I’m at the Superior Eights motel. I am on the second floor.”
“Stay. Hidden.” Spencer sounds as if he’s on the fringe of losing his mind. “Please. I am on my way, but—move!” he yells, and I hear a slamming noise. “Quinn is close, and I will be there in five minutes. Just stay there and wait for us.”
“Okay,” I promise. “I’m sorry.” And I am because I know I screwed up and he’s worried and I should’ve trusted him. “I never should’ve come here alone.”
Then I hear a voice, chilling and familiar. “No, you shouldn’t have.”
I look up and see Bill standing there, holding a bag of food and pointing a gun at me.
ChapterThirty-Six
SPENCER
Iget to the motel exactly seven minutes after the phone goes dead. I am running on pure adrenaline. Quinn is already situated in the parking lot, keeping an eye on Bill, who keeps peeking out the window every few minutes.
When I meet up with him, my hands are shaking uncontrollably.
Quinn looks at me. “Get a grip right now or I’m doing this alone.”
The hell he is. “She’s my world.”
“And she’s my responsibility. So, get yourself under control. This is a mission, and you need to treat it as such.”
He’s right, but how do I tell my heart that? I close my eyes for a few seconds and calm my heart rate. I use every ounce of training I have to separate myself from Brielle. She is a hostage, and we need to handle it as such.
I force my voice to remain steady. “Did we get the police involved?”
“I informed them of what was going on. Jackson called a few friends on the force, and we will have backup soon.”
“And your plan?”
He nods once. “We get her before that.”
“Good.”
Quinn explains the layout and what his plan is. “The manager says he’s been here about a month, he’s paranoid, and they are on their last week that they paid in full. The guy knows he’s about to go up on first-degree murder charges, which means he’s desperate, and desperate people do stupid shit.”
“And Brielle just gave him another hostage.”
“She did, but we are trained to handle this. There’s a small bathroom window. I want to smash it, create the illusion that we’re coming in that way, and then we’ll blow the door off the hinges. Straightforward and single-minded. We get Brielle, the kid, and the mother.”
“And if he hurts them?”
“Don’t go there. Let’s handle the situation we’re dealt,” Quinn says and then stands. “The manager is willing to break the glass for us. That will give us the opportunity to go in at the same time.” Quinn hands me one of the guns he had stashed. “Try not to shoot him. Remember we also need to preserve the case. No matter your personal feelings, you are no good to Brielle behind bars.”
