Good morning and Happy Hump Day ! If it's Wednesday, then it must be time for more flash fiction from the Wednesday Briefers! We're a group of authors who bring you our finest flash fiction every week, 500 to 1000 words, inspired by one of our prompts.
It was bad enough to be dragged out of the hotel in the middle of the night, in the rain, but now someone is shooting at them? What is going on? See what's happening in this week's chapter of Rose and Thorne 6. Don't forget to visit the other Briefers and see what's up with them. Their links follow my tale! Enjoy!
What
the hell’s going on?
If the first shot had given cause for concern, the
second one induced a full-blown panic attack on the part of the hotel guests.
Probably the staff too. Screams punctuated by assorted expletives filled the
air. I glanced up cautiously from my position shielding Benny. The fire
department had their hands full preventing a stampede back into the hotel,
aided in their efforts by Roanoke’s finest. Good thing they’d already been on
the scene. No need to call 9-1-1.
Ethan had abandoned his quest to speak to the
manager and beelined back to us, his weapon drawn, his eyes darting about the
crowd, no doubt searching for the shooter. “Got him! Stay with Benny!” he
yelled at me before taking off like a bat out of hell. Although I wanted to follow
my lover, I remained where I was, protecting Benny. I knew Ethan could handle
himself. Didn’t mean I wasn’t concerned for his welfare.
I waited anxiously for the sound of more gun shots
over the cries of the panicked guests but, to my relief, none were forthcoming.
Within mere minutes, a disappointed Ethan had returned to us, holstering his
weapon. “Someone must have been waiting for him. He jumped into a car and
disappeared before I could catch up or even get a good look at him. There was
nothing I could do. Couldn’t even make out the license, damn the luck.”
I was carefully picking myself off the wet sidewalk
as Ethan approached, Benny doing the same.
“Are you guys all right?” Ethan’s worried glanced
scanned each of us in turn. We assured him we were fine.
“You have quick reflexes,” Benny complimented me. He
patted my arm approvingly. I was amazed at how calm he was under the
circumstances. Another way in which uncle and nephew were alike.
“Vinnie’s the best,” Ethan said warmly. I couldn’t
help but glow at his words, whether I entirely believed them or not. He was
more than a little biased when it came to me. Time to change the subject.
“So there’s at least two of them,” I speculated.
“But what were they trying to accomplish?” We both glanced at Benny. A small
frown now creased his forehead.
“Your ex is in custody, isn’t he?” Ethan asked. “No,
scratch that, I know he is. If something had changed in that regard, Anderson
would have let us know. I know better than that.”
I did too. Didn’t mean he didn’t know people on the
outside who would be willing to help him get rid of Benny, though. Money talks.
As we stood there contemplating our next move, the
hotel staff began to wave everybody back inside, as apparently the fire
department had verified that it was safe to do so. I heard disgruntled comments
of “It’s about time” and “Took them long enough” as the various groups turned
toward the hotel. But the police department took control at this point. A
couple of policemen were going around, collecting names and room numbers,
asking what they’d seen and heard, before allowing anyone to re-enter the
hotel.
I briefly considered requesting the department send
us any information they collected, but I suspected no one really saw anything
that would be of any use to us. Not like we didn’t have a good idea who was
behind this. But the big question in my mind was how did someone find us here
at the hotel?
Ethan and I exchanged uneasy glances. What if the
fire had been a diversion to drive us outside? Maybe someone knew we were at
the hotel, but not which room? What better way to smoke us out than by a false
fire alarm?
“Maybe we shouldn’t stay here tonight after all,”
Ethan suggested.
“Good thinking, but where should we go?”
As we were debating our options, we were approached
by a young policeman. He gave us a warm smile as he opened his phone. “Good
evening, detectives,” he greeted us. “Nasty night, eh?”
Momentarily baffled, I quickly realized we’d seen
him at the station before. One of the newer recruits, he might have been just a
little younger than we were. I could tell Ethan recognized him too.
“Officer Wainwright, isn’t it?” Ethan asked. I could
tell the young man was pleased at having been remembered.
“Yes it is.” He nodded at Benny, who returned the
gesture.
“So, was there actually a fire?” I asked. “Or was
this someone’s idea of a joke?”
“Not really much of a fire,” Wainwright admitted.
“More like a malfunctioning microwave. But better safe than sorry. That’s why
we’re taking everyone’s information. Just to be safe.”
“Understandable,” Ethan said. He gave the young
officer our names and phone numbers but deliberately made no reference to Benny
and he didn’t ask.
“Thank you for your cooperation.” He slid his phone
into his pocket. “See you at the station sometime.” He briefly touched his hand
to his hat before moving on. Obviously we were free to go. But where?
Before we’d had a chance to debate the question,
Ethan’s phone began to ring. That was concerning. Who would be calling him at
this time of night?
Ethan glanced at the caller ID before answering.
“Hello?” He listened intently while I fretted beside him. This could only be
bad news, right?
“Thanks for calling, Laverne. We’ll head straight
there.” He hung up and turned to me. “We’ve got to go home right now, Vin. One
of our neighbors called in a report on a prowler outside our house. They’re
responding now, but we should go too.”
Oh damn. Sarah and Alex were there alone. There was
no time to waste.
to be continued
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