Chapter 6 - The Security Footage
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The grainy, black-and-white video on the manager’s monitor flickered to life. The time stamp in the bottom right corner read 03:10 AM. Daniel leaned over the counter, his face inches from the glass, his eyes refusing to blink.
A dark SUV—almost identical to Daniel’s—pulled into the parking lot and parked directly in front of Room 114. The driver’s side door opened, and a tall man stepped out. He was wearing a heavy winter coat, the hood pulled up to obscure his face.
Then, the passenger door opened. Daniel stopped breathing.
It was Emma. She stepped out of the vehicle slowly, her hands wrapped protectively around her swollen belly. She didn't look like she was being forced. She looked exhausted, terrified, but strangely compliant. The hooded man handed her a room key, and she walked into Room 114 alone.
“Fast forward,” Daniel commanded, his voice barely a whisper.
The manager clicked the mouse, speeding the video up. At 03:45 AM, another vehicle pulled into the lot. It was a sleek, black sedan. Two men got out. They didn't bother with the door handle; they kicked the door open, just as Daniel had done.
Three minutes later, they emerged. One of the men was dragging Emma by her arm. She was fighting now, thrashing wildly, but she was too weak and heavy with the pregnancy to break free. The hooded man from the SUV ran out of the darkness, trying to stop them, but one of the men in the sedan casually raised a hand. There was a flash of muzzle fire.
The hooded man collapsed in the snow.
The two men threw Emma into the back of the sedan, slammed the doors, and sped off into the night.
Daniel backed away from the monitor, his chest heaving. “Who is the guy on the ground? Did the police come?”
“Nobody called the cops,” the manager stammered. “I told you, I was asleep! And... wait, look.”
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On the screen, the hooded man slowly dragged himself up from the snow. He was clutching his shoulder, dark blood staining his coat. He staggered toward his SUV, climbed in, and drove away, leaving behind the bloody snow and the empty motel room.
“Who the hell was trying to protect my wife?” Daniel muttered. He pulled out the burner phone and stared at it. There was a whole life Emma was living that he knew absolutely nothing about.
