Page 19 of My Crazy Killers
He nods, a small smile tugging at his lips as he tells me, “Yeah. I guess we have a lot to catch up on.”
“First, we need to see to their backs,” Sly says as he grips my shoulders from behind. I can tell he’s staring at the wounds and not wanting him to worry, I reach up and place one of my hands over his.
“I’m okay, Sly.”
“You are most definitely not okay,” he replies sternly, and I just purse my lips, knowing I can’t say anything else to him right now.
“Okay, the Feds gave me a list of hotels that they don’t believe have surveillance, so it should be safer for us to stay,” Elias says as he pulls out his phone. “Let me find one that we can walk to.”
Dex steps up to me, pulls off his jacket, and holds it open. “I know it might hurt your back, but you must be freezing, plus you can’t walk in there with a bloody back.”
“What about Jagger?”
“He can have mine,” Pete says, shrugging off his own jacket.
Dex snorts at that. “His shoulders won’t fit in yours. He can have mine, you give yours to Wren,” he tells himas he turns to Jagger and holds it open for him, the same way he would for me.
It makes me smile to see him being so kind to him, and I think Jagger appreciates it too because he turns around and slips his arms in as Dex gently pulls it up and sets it on his shoulders.
Pete shakes his open jacket at me, and I do the same, giving him my back so he can help me put it on. Both of them are wearing hoodies, so hopefully they don’t get too cold without their jackets.
Jagger snaps his fingers to get attention, then signs,“Wren needs pants as soon as possible, too. She’s just wearing tights.”
“My legs are actually the warmest part of me right now. They are lined with fleece, see,” I say, flipping down the front edge to show them the fuzzy interior.
“We’ll get both of you clothes after we get settled in a hotel room and have tended to everyone's injuries,” Elias tells us.
My eyes fly to Pete, remembering he said he was shot, and find blood along the outside of his left arm. “You’ve been shot!” I cry out as I grip his wrist so I can get a better look.
“It’s not bad,” Pete says with an amused smile.
“We need to wrap it with something. Anyone have any spare cloth?” I ask, my eyes dancing around the empty space.
“Angel,” Pete says, gripping my face as he tries to get my attention. “It’s not bleeding anymore. I can feel it’s stopped. I will be okay until we get to the hotel.”
“Just make sure you keep that arm angled away from anyone so they don’t see the blood,” Sly warns.
“Okay, it’s only a ten-minute walk,” Elias says, pocketinghis phone, his eyes connecting with mine. “Think you can make it?”
“Of course she can,” Pete says, wrapping his arm around my shoulders. “Our girl is made of tough stuff.”
I smile up at him as Elias leads the way out of the building and into the cold night air. The streets are pretty quiet, at least in this area of town, and I cling to Pete’s side as we walk in silence to the hotel. This part of the town doesn’t look as foreign as I expected. If it wasn’t for the Russian writing on the signs, I would have thought we were still in the States.
The light dusting of snow has turned to a murky slush with the traffic of people and cars, with only a few white spots remaining. It’s not the pretty white scenic picture I had imagined.
Eventually, Elias leads us into a hotel, and I’m pleasantly surprised when I recognize the chain, the Radisson. He has us wait back as he approaches the counter. “I guess he’s gotten pretty good at Russian?”
“He learned it when he worked for the FBI. It was apparently required for agents working Ivan’s case,” Pete tells me. After that, I watch silently as Elias passes them some form of ID and is eventually given a card key.
He waves it at us, then gestures to the elevator. The hotel is nicer than I expected, and I’m pleased it feels somewhat familiar. We stay silent as the elevator takes us to the fifth floor and down the hall until we reach our room at the end of the hall.
When Elias pushes the door open, I realize this is not a room.It’s a suite.
“This is the Presidential Suite,” Elias tells us as I look around in awe. It has a sitting area with a love seat and twolarge armchairs, a dining table that seats six, a full kitchen, and I can see several bathrooms and bedrooms off to the sides.
Dex grabs my hand and leads me into the bedroom to the left, letting out a long whistle when we step inside. “It’s massive!” I whisper.
“That’s what she said,” Dex says, grinning down at me. I roll my eyes but quickly turn back to take in the room. It has a king-sized bed and a sitting area that’s bigger than any room I’ve ever had. We peek into the bathroom and find it has a shower and a sunken bathtub that looks big enough for several people.
