As Sean made it over, Pete looked down and saw the escort running to a black car in the parking lot below. “C’mon, Laquan!” she shouted, pacing back and forth.
The one that must’ve been Kyra sat in the passenger seat. She lowered the window. “What’s going on?”
“Some crazy old lady’s going crazy on Laquan.”
“The pimp,” explained Pete in a whisper as he and Sean looked down on the parking lot.
Kyra got out of the car. “We gotta get out of here.” Her pimp was nowhere to be found.
The other escort pulled out a cigarette. Her hand trembled, and she struggled with the lighter because she shook so hard. She finally lit the cigarette and took a drag, looking nervously around the parking lot.
“Do you think that lady got him?” asked Sean.
They heard a crash two doors over that shook their balcony. Pete grabbed Sean and pulled him down behind the towels as the pimp burst out onto their balcony.
Pete clamped a hand over Sean’s mouth, stifling a scream. Fortunately, they were encased in towels on all sides, so neither the pimp nor Kyra would be able to see them.
“Where the fuck did they go?” shouted the pimp down to Kyra. He clutched a bleeding wound on his arm.
“How the fuck should I know?” she called back. Let’s get out of here before the cops come!”
There was a pause, and Pete silently prayed that the pimp would be in too much of a hurry to get out of there to figure out where they were.
Sean peeked along the side of the beach towel facing their old balcony, and he saw the pimp disappear back into the room. “He left,” he whispered to Pete.
Pete put a finger up to his lips, hushing his friend.
They heard cursing down below in the parking lot. Two car doors slammed, and they heard a car peel out. Slowly, Pete and Sean peeked around the edges of the towel.
The parking lot was empty.
“Nat,” said Pete. “We have to check on Nat.”
“What about the police?” asked Sean.
“We check on Nat, first.”
They crossed back over to their balcony, ran into their room, and saw that the front door had been pushed open, the chain broken, and the flimsy doorknob ripped off.
“Jesus,” said Sean.
They listened for any sound outside the room, but it was silent. “Let’s go,” said Pete, deciding it was safe. He peeked out the front door. The floor was empty. “All clear.”
Sean popped his head out. “Where’d that old lady go?”
“I don’t know, but she ain’t here.”
Sean followed Pete to the staircase, and they climbed down two steps at a time. They dashed to Nat’s room and found the door ajar. The room was dark.
Pete and Sean looked at each other. Sean swallowed hard.
“Nat,” called Pete into the room. They waited. No response.
Pete grabbed Sean by the sleeve of his clown outfit and pulled him into the room. He flicked on the light switch. “Holy shit.”
The room was covered in vomit, and there was blood spatter on the walls. The room reeked of bodily fluids.
“Do you think…you know…the old lady?”
“Fuck if I know,” gasped Pete. “Where’s Nat?”
“Now we call the police?”
“Yeah, now we call the police.”
Chapter 14
Alice Krueger walked Chief Holbrook and Officer Pike up to the second floor, where they found Pete and Sean standing outside their missing friend’s room. Pete had his hands on the railing and was looking past the glow of the hotel’s sign out onto the street. Sean had his arms folded and paced back and forth. Both were dressed in bloodstained clown getups.
“Are these the men?” Holbrook asked Alice.
“Those are the ones who made a royal mess out of my rooms. There’s a third one, but he’s gone.”
Pete overheard Alice’s remark. “He’s missing.”
“He probably didn’t want to pay for all the damage you damned clowns caused,” she countered.
Holbrook put his right hand up to quiet Alice while rubbing the sleep out of his eye with the thumb forefinger of his left. “Let’s see what we’re dealing with.”
“We were attacked,” said Sean defensively.
Holbrook signaled to Pike to watch the two clowns as he pulled his flashlight from his hip. He pushed the door open and entered the room.
He shook his head as he saw red and brown stains all over the bedding, walls, and carpet. There was even spatter on the drop ceiling.
“This crazy old lady tried to bite us upstairs,” said Sean to Holbrook’s back. “She was throwing up blood all over the place.”
“An old lady? Did you know her?” asked Holbrook over his shoulder, still drinking in the condition of the room. He looked down and saw drag marks in the spatter on the carpet.
“No, she just knocked on our door. But we were upstairs.”
Holbrook turned around. “So you were attacked by this old woman upstairs?”
“Yes.”
“So what happened in this room?”
Pete turned around. “We don’t know. Our friend, Nat, left our room upstairs to come down to his room…this room…to get more refreshments.”
Pike leaned in and sniffed Pete. “Been drinking tonight?”
“Yeah,” said Pete, weary and resigned, “we were doing shots.”
“So your friend went down to get more alcohol,” said Holbrook. “Then what?”
“We heard some weird sounds coming from down here,” said Sean. “Like screaming.”
“And then what?”
“We were joking about Nat taking a good dump down here,” said Pete, “because he didn’t come right back up.”
“Did either of you go to check on him?” asked Holbrook.
“We never got the chance,” said Pete. “There was a knock at the door. When I answered it, this crazy old lady rushed me, trying to grab me and bite me. She was vomiting blood everywhere. And brown stuff.”
“So, what happened next?” prompted Holbrook.
“We got her out of the room, and—”
“How did you get her out?” asked Holbrook. “The details are important.”
“We…we pushed her out,” said Pete. “We didn’t want to hurt her. Obviously there was something wrong with her. We just wanted to get her out.”
“And then what?”
“Then we closed the front door and locked it.”
“And then what?”
“We waited, hoping she’d go away. Then we heard a tussle outside.”
“A tussle?”
“Yeah,” said Sean, “like a fight.”
“How did you know it was a fight?” asked Holbrook.
“We heard raised voices,” said Pete. “Then grunting and feet shuffling.”
“Who was fighting outside your room?”
“I don’t know,” said Pete. “Probably the old lady attacked someone else.”
“What did the other voices sound like?”
Holbrook saw Pete and Sean trade nervous glances.
“A male and a female, I think,” said Pete.
“Officer Pike,” said Holbrook, looking at his watch. It was almost four in the morning. Pike nodded. “Start knocking on doors, starting upstairs. See if all of the other guests are accounted for. Get some statements from anyone who might’ve seen or heard anything. Get Joann and Breslin down here to come help. Tell Joann we’ll need a kit and some tape.”
“What about these clowns?” asked Pike.
Holbrook grinned. “Don’t worry. I don’t think Alice is letting them out of her sight.”
Alice crossed her arms adamantly and stood next to the two men as Pike disappeared upstairs.
“Okay,” continued Holbrook, “so there was a fight upstairs. Then what?”
“Well, it got quiet,” said Pete. Holbrook noticed how this man was taking charge of the story, the other following his lead. Holbrook looked forward to interrogating them separately at the station to see what the other one would say. The devil was in the details, and Holbrook had a feeling there was going to be some telling contradictions. “So, I opened the door to take a peek, and everyone was gone.”
“Just like that?”
“Just like that.”
“Any blood on the floor upstairs, or any sign of a struggle?”
“Not that I could see.”
“Well, why don’t we have a look upstairs,” said Holbrook. “Alice, lead the way.”
Alice stomped off to the staircase. Holbrook gestured for them to follow, so the two clowns followed close behind her. Holbrook brought up the rear, keeping his eyes on both clowns.
Alice stopped just outside of their room. “Here it is, Chief.”
Holbrook pushed the door open with his flashlight again, noticing the large footprint on the outside of the door, the missing doorknob, and the damage to the door frame. He reached inside and flicked on the lights, peering into the room. “Okay, so then what?”
“Then we decided to check on Nat to see if he was okay. Then we called you guys.”
Holbrook rubbed his temples. “So, at what point was the door kicked in?”
He saw Sean and Pete exchange nervous glances again. “It was the man outside involved in the fight. He must’ve been pissed off and kicked down the door,” said Pete.
“Was this before, after, or during your trip downstairs to check on your friend?”
“It must’ve been after we left,” said Pete, looking at Sean.
“Yeah,” said Sean, “because when we came back the door was already kicked in.”
Holbrook frowned. “Alice, at what point did you find out about all of this?”
“There were a few complaints about the noise coming from the back building,” said Alice. “I threw on my robe and found these two outside of the room downstairs, waiting for you.”
Holbrook cocked his head sideways. “So, you never left that room once you called 9-1-1?”
“That’s right,” said Pete.
Holbrook cleared his throat. “Your friend, here, said that when you two came back to the room, you saw that the door had been broken down.”
“I…well…I don’t remember the exact order of how everything happened,” said Pete rubbing his eyes. It was a nervous gesture more than a weary one. “The manager, here—”
“Owner,” corrected Alice.
“Owner,” continued Pete, “was yelling at us, accusing us of breaking down the door upstairs. That must’ve been how we knew.”
“I see.” Holbrook was sizing the two men up. He knew they were omitting something, which means that something had to be something illegal. “Why would the man kick down your door?”
“I dunno,” said Pete nervously. “Maybe he thought she belonged to us. Maybe he saw us shove her out of our room.”
“Maybe he was drunk and pissed off,” added Sean.
Holbrook walked into the room and saw liquor bottles littering the small table and dresser. There were souvenir shot glasses on the nightstand between the two beds. There was some more red and brown spatter, especially on the back door to the balcony, which was ajar at the moment.
“You got the old woman out of the room quickly?”
“Yes. As quickly as we could without hurting her,” said Pete.
“What happened with this back door?” asked Holbrook, looking through the doorway and stepping out onto the balcony. He turned on his flashlight and shined it around the little balcony. He directed the beam on the resin chairs and little table, and then all along the railing. He noticed blood on the railing to the left.
“Before we pushed her out of the room, we tried to go on the balcony to get away from her,” answered Pete.
Holbrook saw more bloody fingerprints on the railing of the next balcony on the left. “And you said you pushed her out the front door?”
“That’s right.”
“Show me your hands.”
Pete and Sean looked at each other perplexed. “Excuse me?” asked Pete.
“I said, ‘Show me your hands,’” insisted Holbrook coolly.
The two clowns held out their hands.
Holbrook shined the flashlight on them. “Now palms up, please.”
They flipped their hands over, palms up. Sean had blood on his fingers.
“So, if you pushed this old woman out the front door, why are their bloody fingerprints on this railing, and then on the railing on the balcony next door?” asked Holbrook.
“I-I don’t know,” said Pete.
“How about you?” Holbrook asked Sean. “You have blood on your fingers.”
“I don’t know,” said Sean. “I think I might’ve tried to jump to the next balcony when we ran back here, before we pushed her out of the room.
Holbrook gestured for them to go back into the room. He followed them, touching nothing and leaving the back door ajar.
“Officer Pike is going to be taking statements. In cases like this, in a crowded motel, there’s usually someone who heard something, maybe even someone who even saw something. Are you two sure there isn’t anything you’re not telling me? Anything you’re leaving out? Maybe something you forgot?”
Pete and Sean looked at each other.
“No,” said Sean.
“No, nothing I can think of,” added Pete.
Holbrook got on his radio. “Pike, I need you in four seventeen.”
The radio crackled. “Okay, Boss.”
“So, are you going to look for our friend?” asked Pete.
Holbrook took off his hat, scratched his head, and replaced his hat. “Thank you, Alice. That’ll be all.”
Alice nodded and left the room.
Holbrook gestured for the two clowns to sit on the beds, and they did. He took out his pad and pen. “Names.”
“Pete McCarthy.”
“Sean Molina.”
“And your friend’s name?”
“Nathan Moran.”
“Can I see some identification?”
Pete and Sean fished out their driver’s licenses and handed them to Holbrook, who looked over each one carefully.
Officer Pike entered the room and blocked the doorway. “Joann couldn’t make it, because she’s at Mario Russo’s house. His mother was reported missing.”
Christ. Two missing persons in one night?
“She eloped?”
“Looks like it,” said Pike. “Mario and Marie said she was sick. Threw up all over the place and was acting out in front of the children. Joann’s talking to them right now. She sent Breslin.”
Holbrook wondered if Mario’s mother could’ve been the crazy old lady who threw up all over these rooms. That would’ve been some hell of a coincidence.
Holbrook turned back to the two clowns. “We’re going to need you two to come down to the station to give written statements.”
“But, what about Nat?” asked Sean.
“We’ll look out for your friend. We’ll need a full physical description and a photo, if possible.”
“I have some photos on my phone,” said Sean.
“Me, too, I think,” added Pete.
“Was he all dressed up like you two?” asked Holbrook?”
“Yeah.”
“Well, I’ll need pics of him both in and out of clown makeup to disseminate to my officers. We can print out the pics down at the station.”
“Sure, Chief,” said Pete. “We wanna help.”
“Jesus,” said Sean, “I hope Nat’s okay.”
“Why don’t you gentlemen come with me?” said Holbrook. They stood and nodded.
Holbrook turned to Pike. “Everyone accounted for?”
“So far,” but I only canvassed this floor.”
Get some statements from the buildings in the front, particularly the rooms facing this back building. Something happened on that balcony in the back, and I want to know if anyone saw anything.”
“I’ll get Breslin right on it,” said Pike. “I’ll finish checking out this building.”
“Great. I’m gonna swing by the Russo’s on the way back to the station.” Holbrook waved a hand. “After you, gentlemen.”
Pete and Sean took the lead out of the room, and Holbrook followed closely behind. As they stepped outside, the air felt warmer and there was a hint of burnt orange peeking over the horizon, chasing away the darkness.
He had two missing persons in Smuggler’s Bay, and with reports of a struggle and blood all over these rooms, Chief Holbrook wondered if he also had a homicide on his hands.
* * *
Holbrook pulled up to the Russo residence and parked next to Marie Russo’s car on the street, behind Joann’s squad car. Joann stood there with her pad and pen taking down information, and Mario Russo sat on his front step, wearing blue boxer shorts and one of the tee-shirts from his shop, reading ‘Smuggler’s Bay, The Home of Family Fun.’ His face was beet red.