The Last Motel (4 page)

CHAPTER EIGHT

9:20 p.m.

They had been driving along the Maroondah Highway for about ten minutes, and were travelling about thirty kilometres over the speed limit.

Al took a long drink from his last can of beer, then threw it to the floor. Eddy had already finished off all his.

“Isn’t this just fucking awesome?” Eddy laughed.

“The best,” Al said. “I’d forgotten how great it feels.”

Eddy nodded.

They had passed few cars. The highway was dark and narrow in parts, but Al thought that it added to the excitement.

“Where exactly are we going?” Al said. “Are we still going to Craig’s party?”

“I don’t know,” Eddy said. “Whatever.”

“How’s the petrol holding up?” Al asked, leaning over to see the gauge.

“Still got close to a full tank. Don’t worry, if we need to fill up, we can do it in Healesville.”

“We could always skip Craig’s party, and drive all night.”

“I suppose,” Eddy said.

There was silence in the car.

All of a sudden the car ran over a large pothole. The two men bounced around in the car. Al almost hit his head on the roof, as did Eddy.

“Jesus, somebody ought to fix that,” Eddy said afterwards.

“What the fuck is that?” Al said. He turned around. “That’s the third time I’ve heard it.”

“What?”

“There’s something banging around in the boot.”

“Probably a suitcase or a spare tyre.”

“Stop the car,” Al told him.

“Fuck off,” Eddy said.

“I mean it, man. It might be something interesting. What if it is a suitcase, and there’s a shit load of money in it?”

That got Eddy’s attention. He slowed the car down and veered off to the side of the road. He put on the handbrake.  “Just one problem – no key.  How are we gonna open up the boot?”

“Can’t you pick the lock?”

Eddy shook his head.  “Got nothing to pick it with.”

“Well, I gotta find out what’s in there.”

“Why?” Eddy said. “It’s probably just a loose tyre.”

Al positioned himself so he was kneeling on the seat, then bent over and started feeling around the back floor.

“What the hell are you doing?” Eddy said.

“Trying to find something that will open the boot.”

“Jesus,” Eddy chuckled. “Give it up.”

The floor behind his seat was scattered with pieces of paper, some clothing, and some hard objects. “Found something,” Al said, picking up one of the hard objects. He brought it up, and saw he was holding a hatchet.

“Look at this,” Al said, showing Eddy the hatchet.

“Whoa, be careful with that thing, man.”

“Why would someone have an axe in their car?” Al said.

“He’s a fucking serial killer, Al. How the hell should I know?”

Al threw the hatchet down to the floor, then bent back over and searched for something else. He felt the clothes again, then his hand touched something cold and hard. He grabbed it and brought it up. Just as he thought, he was holding a crowbar.

“We’re in luck,” Al said. He waved it in Eddy’s face.

“Great,” Eddy said. “Let’s go get your fucking treasure.”

They jumped out and hurried around to the rear of the car. With the crowbar clutched in his hand, Al placed its flat end under the lid of the boot. Using all his drunken force, he cranked the crowbar upwards, while at the same time trying to push it forward.

“This is harder than I thought it would be,” Al choked out.

“Not like in the movies, huh?”

The metal bar scratched and dented the car, but the boot refused to give.

“Fuck,” Al breathed out. “Do you want to give it a go?”

Eddy scratched his head, then shrugged. “You know, if you break into the boot, you won’t be able to close it again. The lock will be broken.” He grinned. “Unless you have some strong rope to tie it down.”

Al sighed. “Well I guess I forgot to bring the goddamn rope!”

Eddy reached into his pocket and pulled out his wallet. He opened the tattered case and brought out a hairpin. “This way’s much easier. And you don’t break the lock.”

Al gaped at Eddy, and thought for a second about smashing the crowbar over his smug face. “You fuck,” he whined. “Why didn’t...”

“I had to have
some
fun tonight. And watching you bust your arse was a riot. It was like watching a drunk trying to read the time.”

“I should’ve known,” Al said. “I should’ve remembered your little key.”

“Step aside,” Eddy said. “Let me work my magic.”

Eddy stood at the boot, and like a skilled craftsman, slowly and carefully worked the thin wire into the lock.

Al watched with nervous anxiety. Anything could be lying in that dark boot.

With a small click, the lock opened, and Eddy stood up, smiling proudly.

“What’d I tell ya?” He stepped back. “Do you want to do the honours?”

Al moved over to the unlocked boot and flung up the lid.

“Fuck!” he cried out, jumping back from the car. He almost tripped over a branch that was lying on the ground. Eddy remained standing over the boot.

The initial shock passing, Al crept forward, his mouth dry, then said softly, “Is he dead?”

“Looks pretty dead to me,” Eddy intoned.

Al gazed over at Eddy. “Shouldn’t we check or something?”

“Go ahead,” Eddy said. “I ain’t touching him.”

Al peered down into the dim boot, at the lifeless body that was curled up. The thought of touching it made him feel ill. “He, ah, looks dead to me,” Al said with a nod.

“Who the fuck is he?” Eddy said. “And who the fuck put him in there?”

Al shook his head. He heard himself say, “I don’t know.”

Although the body was lying on its side, its face was staring straight up at the night sky, as if trying to gasp for fresh air. The body was male, and he looked younger than Al and Eddy; around four or five years. That would’ve made him about nineteen. Al could see bruise marks on his neck, but there didn’t seem to be any cuts or head wounds. He was fully dressed, and from what Al could see, no blood was on his clothes or face. He was, however, sprinkled with leaves and dirt.

“What are we going to do?” Eddy finally said.

A bright light suddenly encased the car and the two men, and at first Al thought it was a police searchlight. He quickly realised that it was an oncoming car.

“Oh shit, they’re going to see us,” Al screamed. “We’re fucked!”

But the light soon washed over them, and the car zoomed past. It didn’t stop, and they watched as it faded into the darkness.

“Close one,” Eddy sighed. “We’d better decide what the hell we’re gonna do, or else the next car that comes along might stop. Or worse, it could be a cop.”

“What do you suggest?” Al said. “There is a dead body in the boot, Eddy!”

“No shit,” he said. “Okay, let me think. First of all, let’s close the boot.” He went over to the open boot, grabbed the lid, and hesitated. “He’s definitely dead, right?”

Al was chewing on his fingernails. “Yeah, I guess so. Well he ain’t sleeping.”

Eddy closed his eyes, then slammed the boot shut. Al winced.

“Sweet dreams, my friend,” Eddy said.

“Let’s get back in the car.”

Eddy nodded. They hurried around to the front of the car and hopped in, slamming their doors respectively. Slouched in the driver’s seat, Eddy lowered his head onto the steering wheel and blew out a long groan. “Oh man,” he said. “Out of all the cars we could’ve stolen, we pinched a car with a dead fucking body in the boot.”

Al started laughing. It seemed insane to be laughing, but this was an insane, surreal time. Eddy joined in.

“Happy Halloween,” Al chuckled.

Eddy sat back up, then released the handbrake. He slammed his foot on the accelerator, and they sped off down the highway, spewing dust into the blustery night.

“We either dump the body or dump the car,” Eddy said after a five-minute silence.

“We can’t dump the car,” Al said, gazing out the window. “Our fingerprints are all over it. We have to get rid of the body, there’s no other way.”

Eddy sighed and banged the steering wheel. “Some sick mother kills a guy, and we’re left with the damn body.”

Al gave a small chuckle. “Yeah, I wonder what the killer’s doing now. He would’ve freaked when he found his car gone.”

“He’s probably really pissed,” Eddy said. “Probably come looking for us.”

“Don’t say that,” Al said.

“Seriously, though. What are we going to do?”

Al ran his fingers through his greasy hair. “What are we worried about? We’ve got mountains and forests all around us. We can just dump the body anywhere.”

“What, do you want to pull over and just heave the body out into the forest?” Eddy asked, looking over at Al.

“No, no good.”

“Why not?”

“This may not be the busiest highway, but cars do go past every now and then. Remember?”

Eddy nodded. “Okay, we’ll just find somewhere that’s secluded. Hell, must be tons of dirt roads that lead to nowhere. We can just drive to a mountain or something.”

Al sat listening, nodding his head. “That’s good. Okay, now we’re getting somewhere. How long till we reach Healesville?”

“About five minutes. After we pass through that, there’s nothing but mountains and deep forests for hours. With the exception of a few little hick towns.”

“Perfect.” Al nodded. “We can get through this.”

“Of course we will,” Eddy said.

CHAPTER NINE

10:20 p.m.

The sign faded from the headlights as quickly as it had been lit. Al had just caught a glimpse of what the sign read.

“What did it say?” Eddy asked.

“There’s a motel coming up. In about five minutes.”

“Motel? Out here?”

“Yeah, strange place to have one, hey?”

Eddy huffed. “Probably run by a bunch of inbred yokels.”

“You know, it might not be a bad idea to stop there.”

“What!” Eddy said, glancing over at him. “Why would we want to do that? In case you’ve forgotten, we have a dead body in the boot.”

“I know it sounds stupid, but think about it. We haven’t seen any roads that lead up into the mountains, have we?”

“Be patient, my boy. We’ll find one.”

“Will we? We’ve been driving for about an hour. We don’t know where the hell we are. We don’t know this area. Now, motels usually have maps to all the bush-walks and mountain tracks and shit.”

Eddy remained unusually quiet. Al knew that he was listening, and liking what he was hearing.

“Not only that, but usually when a motel is situated in the mountains, it has its own hiking tracks which lead into the mountains.”

“You seem to know a lot about motels,” Eddy said with a smile.

“Hell, I practically grew up in motels and caravan parks. Besides, I had nothing better to do, so I used to go walking around the woods and mountains. My mum didn’t care. And it was a hell of a lot better than watching her drink all day.”

Eddy nodded. “So what’s the plan?”

“I say we stop.”

“It will still be a big risk, you know. I say we keep on driving. We’re bound to find a dirt road eventually.”

In the distance, a large sign protruded out of the tall trees.

“That must be it,” Eddy said.

“Pull over,” Al told him. “We have to work this out.”

Eddy slowed the car and pulled off the road. He let the car idle.

“Okay, here are my thoughts. If we stop at the motel, we are going to be seen by the owner. He or she will know our faces and probably see the car. If we dump the body somewhere in this mountain, we might be connected if they find it. Which they most likely will.”

Al shook his head. “You’re being too paranoid. Look at this mountain.” Al peered out the window.

Eddy followed. “So?”

“It’s fucking huge. The chances of finding the body are very slim. And if they do, we’ll be so long gone that the owner, or whoever else sees us, will have completely forgotten us. Hell, motels get hundreds of customers through. Our faces will just blend in. They won’t remember us from Joe Average and his happy little family.”

Eddy grimaced. “I don’t know. It still seems kind of risky.” He ducked his head and looked out the windscreen again.

“And besides, we might not even dump the body in these mountains. As I said, the motel might have a map that shows all the other tracks. Come on, Eddy. It’s a lot better than driving blind down the highway.”

Eddy blew out a deep sigh. He sat in the car, silent. Finally he nodded. “Okay. Let’s go.”

Relieved, Al smiled. “Okay.”

Eddy headed back onto the road, driving at a slower speed. “I can’t believe we’re doing this,” he said.

“I can’t believe we’re in this mess in the first place,” Al said.

They neared the wooden sign.  Large pine trees covered half of the sign, so it read:

The Lodgepo

Mote

Vaca

“Oh good, there’s a vacancy,” Eddy said.

Turning the car left, they found themselves on a narrow dirt road, with towering pine trees surrounding them on all sides. The road started to ascend, so Eddy had to step hard on the accelerator.

As they climbed higher into the forest, the trees became more plentiful. Al noticed how strong the wind had become. It tossed the trees about furiously.

“Now, we gotta stay cool,” Eddy said. “We are just friends who have come up here to do some hiking, right?”

“Right.” Al was starting to regret their decision. Nerves pulled at his insides like hooks.

The steep road levelled out, and they came upon the motel. It wasn’t so much a motel as a group of cabins –  six in all, including the office – and they were arranged in a U shape. The largest building, the office, was the first cabin on the right. To the right of the door, written in large metal letters, was The Lodgepole Pine Motel. A large overhead lamp lit the front area of the office.

“I’ll go in and do the talking, okay?” Eddy said as he drove over to the office.

“Sure,” Al said. He was going to suggest that very thing, anyway.

Eddy pulled up alongside the front door and cranked up the handbrake.

“Be back soon,” Eddy said. He opened the door and stepped out.

Al watched as he entered the office. When he was inside, Al let out a nervous sigh and closed his eyes.

“Fuck,” he muttered. “I don’t believe this.” He rubbed his eyes then opened them. The wind had really blown up; he could hear nothing but the loud thunder of the gale. He gazed around at the small cabins. There didn’t seem to be any other guests staying at the motel.

Then he remembered.

“Oh shit,” he groaned, all of a sudden feeling sick. This was the first time he had been alone with the body. The thought of a dead human lying a couple of metres away in the dark boot made him just a tad unsettled.

“Hurry up,” he muttered, staring at the office door.

He lowered his head and gazed out the windscreen at the enormous mountain, which was just a dark outline against the deep sky. Al knew there had to be plenty of hiking tracks throughout that mountain.

We might get through this after all
, he thought.

He was starting to get a bad feeling about all this, though. He feared somebody would catch them. After all, they were riding in a stolen car. Not to mention whoever was in the boot would soon be reported missing. He began biting his fingernails. “Come on, Eddy. What are you doing in there?”

Just then the office door opened, and Eddy came out. “Finally,” Al sighed.

Eddy strode over to the car and opened the door.

“What took ya so long, Eddy?”

“Calm down, man. I had to pay and everything.”

He hopped back into the car and slammed the door.