Playing with Fire (3 page)

“Lucky bastard.”

Trent looked over his shoulder at
Mitch and could see that same want in his eyes. Seemed he wasn’t
the only one ready to settle down after all. But even if that was
the case, he still wasn’t going to say it out loud.

“Come on, let’s get this cleaned up
and then I’ll buy you a beer down at The Spot.”

“Deal, just don’t talk about my dog
again.”

Trent slapped Mitch on the back and
laughed. “For such a big bad ass looking guy, you really are a
sissy.”

“I prefer softy,” Mitch said in his
best “softy” voice. “Now don’t make me kick your ass.”

Trent held up his hands in surrender
and they finished taking care of the trash.

An hour later, Trent climbed into bed.
Alone. It was the first Saturday night that he could remember that
there wasn’t someone lying next to him.

CHAPTER
TWO

Noelle drove around for
over an hour looking for a hotel that had decent weekly rates. She
realized very quickly how much more expensive everything was here
compared to home. That word –
home
- sounded sour to her and she reminded herself
this was her new home.

Finally throwing in the towel, she
drove back toward the beach and stopped at a small motel. It didn’t
look like it was in the best shape, but she didn’t see any shady
people hanging around and figured it was safe enough.

She rang the bell on the counter and a
busty bleach-blonde stepped out of the office. Her bra strap hung
off her shoulder and the woman had major bedhead, but she didn’t
seem to care. “How can I help you?”

“Hi. I was wondering if ya’ll have a
room available and if I can rent it for the whole week?”

The woman lit a cigarette and eyed
her. “You’re not a hooker are you? Because I don’t want any of that
shit here.”

Noelle was taken back and shook her
head. “No Ma’am. I just arrived in town. I just need a bed until I
can find work and get my own place. I mean no trouble.”

The woman did another once over. “My
name’s Delphine. This is my place. If you are looking for work I
could use a housekeeper. My daughter took off last week with some
trucker and left me short-handed.”

“I’ll take it!”

Delphine laughed. “Don’t you want to
know what the pay is?”

Noelle felt herself blush with
embarrassment. “Sorry. I just really need to work, and as long as
it’s minimum wage I don’t care.”

Delphine took a puff from her
cigarette and squinted through the smoke. “You really need to work
on negotiating, you know that? You won’t last a week here
otherwise.”

That wasn’t an option for Noelle. She
stood a little taller and squared her shoulders. “I’m sorry. Can we
negotiate a room and wages in exchange for work?”

Delphine nodded. “I suppose so. Just
stop saying you‘re sorry. There’s nothing to be sorry for. Give me
a minute to get the paperwork and a master room key.”

Noelle stopped the woman before she
had moved two feet. “Do I need to do all that? I mean, can’t we
negotiate something under the table?”

The older woman eyed her again. “I
said I didn’t want no trouble. If you are running from the law and
think you ‘re gonna hide out under my roof, you’re sadly
mistaken.”

Noelle held up her hands. “No Ma’am,
I’m not running from the law. I’m running from my ex-boyfriend. I
left Arkansas three days ago. He don’t know where I am or how to
find me. That’s why I asked if we can do things under the table,
that keeps my trail cold.”

Delphine snorted. “Oh, an asshole
then? That would be my second and third husbands. In that case,
yeah, I’ll pay you under the table. But the first sign of trouble
and you’re out.”

Noelle wanted to cry in happiness.
“Thank you, Ma’am.”

Delphine took another drag on her
cigarette before stubbing it out in the ashtray on the desk.
“You’re welcome, just stop calling me Ma’am.”

She nodded. “Yes Ma’am …err … I mean
Delphine. I’m Noelle.”

“Is that your real name?”

Noelle nodded again.

“Alright. Don’t tell me your last
name. That way if anyone shows up asking questions I can play dumb.
I’ve been told I do that well.”

Noelle smiled and decided Delphine
wasn’t as gruff as she seemed.

Delphine turned toward a wooden rack
on the wall and pulled out a key from the top cubby, then handed it
to Noelle. The tarnished metal was dwarfed by a large green
diamond-shaped tag that had the resort name etched in
gold.

“
This here will get you
into all the rooms. I’m going to put you in room 6. Go up the
stairs on the left and it’s the second door.”

Noelle took the key and put it in her
pocket. “Thanks so much.”

Delphine nodded. “Don’t mention it.
Just be down here at eight in the morning. I’ll show you where the
supplies are and get you familiar with stuff before people start
checking out at eleven.

“I’ll see you in the morning. Thanks
again.”

Noelle headed outside and pulled the
U-Haul around to the end closest to her room. After work tomorrow
she would get a storage unit and turn the truck back in, but
tonight she wanted a bath and a warm bed.

She grabbed her duffle bag off the
front seat and headed up toward the second floor rooms. She took
the stairs to the right and easily found her room. After slipping
the key into the wobbly doorknob slot, she walked inside and
dropped her bag.

The room smelled of stale cigarette
smoke and bleach. The bed looked neat and though the furniture was
dated at least two decades, it was home for now.

Ten minutes later, Noelle sunk into
the bubble bath and let out a loud sigh. The warm water soothed her
travel weary muscles. She closed her eyes and leaned her head back
against the cream colored tile. Noelle could hear people walking
along the outside corridor on the other side of the wall, but she
didn’t care. She had a place to lay her head and stretch out, that
was all that mattered at the moment.

A long while later, shriveled as a
prune, she got out of the tub and wrapped herself in the plush
white motel robe hanging on the back of the bathroom door. She
wiped the mist off the large mirror and studied herself for a
moment.

Her skin held just a hint of yellow
where the bruises around her eye were finally disappearing. After
tonight she shouldn’t have to wear the ball cap and sunglasses to
hide them anymore.

Noelle walked to the bed and turned
down the covers. The clock on the nightstand showed it was just
before midnight. No wonder she felt exhausted, she was still not
used to the time difference. She let out a yawn and climbed into
bed.

Tonight she fell asleep much easier,
feeling far enough away from the life she’d left that she could
finally breathe.

Sometime before dawn, Noelle was
awakened by someone yelling. “What the fuck are you doing in my
bed?”

She jumped up to see a balding
businessman in a wrinkled suit standing at the foot of the bed. Her
instinct was to shrink against the headboard and pull the blanket
up to her chin, but she stayed put and stared at him with wide
eyes.

“I said…”

His words slurred and she let out a
shriek. He was obviously drunk. “This is my room. What are you
doing here?”

The man held up his key and
waved it at her. The number
9
on it was obvious. “This thingy here let me in
because this is
my
room. Now I’m calling the cops.”

Noelle scurried over to the nightstand
and tried to bat the phone from his hands. “No, please don’t. I
thought this was my room, Room 6.”

The man pointed to the open door and
it was only then, in the glow of the outside security light, that
she saw where faded paint on the door actually read Room 9. The
metal number swung back and forth where the top screw had come
off.

She buried her head in her hands.
“Shit.”

“Shit’s right sweetie. If you stole
anything I’ll have your ass.”

Noelle threw the covers off and
grabbed her duffle bag, making a run for the door. The man blocked
her path as he spoke into the phone, telling police where to find
them.

She wanted to cry, this wasn’t going
to end well, and she already knew it. She pleaded with the man to
let her go, but he closed the door and leaned against
it.

“Sit tight because the cops are on
their way for you.”

“Sir, it was an honest mistake, I
swear.”

He scoffed. “That sweet accent may
work on other people honey, but I’m a salesman and can smell a
bull-shitter from a mile away. We know our own kind.”

Noelle took a seat at the small
dinette table near the window and hung her head in her hands as she
waited to see the familiar glow of flashing lights.

The man coughed and hacked before
spitting into the trash bin. He eyed her from his post at the door
and scratched himself. His glare gave her the creeps.

“What the hell are you staring
at?”

He grinned and winked. “You are a
pretty little thing aren’t you?”

She rolled her eyes and turned more
toward the window. She watched his reflection approach across the
wall and held her breath as he ran a finger just below the sleeve
of her t-shirt.

The fight part of ‘fight or flight’
kicked in and she jerked her arm back in one second and in the next
was swinging at him with a right hook.

She made contact with his left eye and
he tumbled back onto the bed. “What the …”

The door burst open and two officers
rushed in with guns drawn. “Freeze lady.”

Noelle did just that, with her fist
still cocked in the air. After a second she raised her hands over
her head. “Look officers, this is a huge
misunderstanding.”

The man on the bed held his eye and
pointed at her. “She broke into my room and then attacked me.
Arrest her!”

Noelle dropped her hands, “Whatever,
you big drunk bastard. I got my room mixed up and then this pervert
tried to touch me. I was defending myself.”

She didn’t expect the police to listen
to her, they never had before. The bald officer kept his gun
pointed at her, but she could see the safety was still on. If she’d
learned anything from Lenny it was guns - or rather, how to make
sure they weren’t ready to shoot in case he pulled one on her. It
had happened before.

The other officer lowered his gun and
raised his hand toward her. He was Latino and kinda cute, if she
were checking him out, which she wasn’t, but her eyes couldn’t miss
that he was appealing.

She was mildly horrified with herself
that her brain would go there in the middle of a situation like
this, but she did a double take and confirmed he was definitely
kinda cute – in a ‘possible arresting officer’ kinda
way.

He gently touched her arm and guided
her back to a seat at the table. “Come over and have a
seat.”

His partner scoffed at him. “Torres,
what the hell are you doing?”

The officer, Torres, looked over his
shoulder at him. “Put down your gun for a minute there.”

“She broke into this guy’s room and
it’s obvious she got physical with him. I’ll put down the gun once
you cuff her.”

The officer, Torres, let out a sigh
and rolled his eyes as he turned toward Noelle. “Sorry Ma’am, I
need you to turn around. This is just a safety precaution. You are
not under arrest yet.”

“She better be! That bitch is crazy!”
said the businessman.

Officer Torres looked her up and down
and then looked at the other man. “She looks pretty sane to me. You
on the other hand look intoxicated and I’m willing to guess that
the Cadillac out there that’s double parked with the lights still
on is your doing.”

Noelle had to hide a smirk as the
drunken man’s face fell a little. Served him right. The officer
turned back to her and asked, “You aren’t crazy, right?”

In spite of the tension in the room,
she laughed. “No Sir. I mean there are some who think I am, but
nuthin’ medically proven.”

The officer smirked at her and
motioned for her to turn around. She understood that he had to
handcuff her, but she still had to protest some. “This really isn’t
necessary, ya know.”

He leaned toward her and she could
feel his breath against her ear. She got shivers again, but this
time the tingles seemed to rush to her heart and femininity. She
clinched her teeth to fight off the feeling. That was the last
thing she needed.

His voice was low as he whispered.
“Yeah, I know. But my partner, Kindergarten Cop over there, does
everything by the book. Personally I wouldn’t handcuff you, at
least not like this.”

Noelle jerked her head around to look
at him. She stared, open-mouthed, “You didn’t just hit on me, did
you?”