NALEDI’S POV
Caellum saw to his words.
I have been around my business for the past two days with two human towers following me like some hired bodyguard.
As much as I appreciated their company, their presence hindered me from making sustainable progress on the case at hand. I had yet to visit the woman who I believed to be Donna’s mother.
I had yet to get an audience with her and find out more details about what Arturo had up his sleeves. I was going crazy as time passed without having an idea of what they had planned.
If I was going to save Caellum from the hands of his father, then I needed to rid myself of the people who were currently behind me. I was determined not to let the day go to waste and that sponsored my next line of action.
Today, I went out with only Marcel and Korah. I figured since they were strong enough and could hold their own, it wouldn’t be a hassle to rid of the extra baggage as I went on this drop-off.
I couldn’t ignore the added benefit of the fact I would have fewer people to elude when the time came for action. Believe it or not, I stood an opportunity to elude two people than a dozen of them.
I just needed to outsmart them. Which proved to be hard – seeing I’d tried a total number of two times to leave without them in the past two days since they began their job. All to no avail.
Marcel played the role of the designated driver. We just got to the next location where we were supposed to drop off quite an amount of goods to one of our customers.
I didn’t feel like getting out of the car. And I told them just that.
“I’ll go drop off the goods while you stay in the car,” Marcel said to Korah like it was the most normal thing to do – which it was – but taking into account I wanted to be alone, I spoke against it.
“The client would be expecting a female to bring in the goods,” I said, eyes on the papers I’d picked up while coming here. “Korah should escort you in.”
Silence.
I refused to meet their eyes because I knew exactly what I’d see. I could feel it in their gaze alright. I didn’t need to see it too.
“You’ll be left alone.” Marcel finally said, and I met his eyes with a bored look.
“For a total two minutes.” I deadpanned, “There is only so much I could do with the two minutes you would need to hand off the goods.”
They gave me the look, and I was close to combustion.
“What’s the use of having you both around if I still have to do every single thing every darned time.” I ranted, using the next best weapon, murmuring.
That worked wonders, because the next second, Marcel released a breath and said the magic words. “We’ll be right back.”
Korah stepped out of the car, leaving me alone and then took the goods out of the booth, ready to get into the building.
I kept my gaze on the papers, putting on the best poker face known to man while they did the work, walking into the building and turning around to check if I was still there, hoping they had not made a mistake.
I felt their gaze every single time they turned around without looking at them. What can I say? I had eyes everywhere and the moment they went through those doors, I looked up and without a moment’s thought, stepped out of the car.
It was only a matter of time before they realized they were in the wrong location and came back to report the situation. However, by that time, I’d be long gone.
Covering myself with a hoodie, I walked straight into another compound, jumped the picket fence and made my way down the road. More like sprinted my way down the road.
I knew when they returned. My non-stop ringing phone delivered that message alright. I needed just a few hours and texted them asking for just that. My text held a subtext that hoped they could bear with me while I made my way to my destination.
I arrived at the beat-up hotel much earlier than expected. Before getting here, I made a pit stop at some thrift store, getting some wigs, clothes, bags and glasses. Everything I needed to blend into the place.
By the time I was dressed up, I looked like I belonged here. I looked like some broke-ass traveller looking for a place to place her head until she found out what to do with her life. Exactly the look I was gunning for.
I also put on some cheap makeup, hid the tattoo on my wrist, my mark, and every other thing that could make me easily identified by anyone who could be watching out for the said woman, before dousing myself in cheap perfume that smelt expired.
The one thing I hated about my mission was to look as regular as possible. The only upside of the brutal odour that emanated from me was the fact it hid some of Caellum’s scent.
Seeing I was imprinted by the ooze of my mate, I knew that would be the first thing to give me away. And honestly, if someone took a closer smell at me, they’d still perceive the faint scent of Caellum.
But no one had such patience to go through all that hurdle. Which made me invincible as I entered the hotel that held the woman I was looking for.
I went to the lobby, which had to be the worst one I’d seen yet, and made my enquiries. “I need a room for a night.” I said, and the woman who looked like she’d rather be anywhere but here scrunched up her face, taking me in from head to toe.
“No. You need a shower.” She held her hand on her nose, and I couldn’t resist the side of me that thought how poorly their customer service would be if she was basically telling me to go get a shower, even as a prospective customer.
“One room left on the second floor. That will be five dollars.” She said, her face still in a state of crisis. “And we only accept cash.”
“Five dollars?” I spotted a ghastly expression, hoping I sold the whole poor woman persona.
“We might be a beat-down hotel but we don’t run a charity. If you don’t have money then get the hell out.”
Like I said, customer service in it’s finest.