The Last Motel (24 page)

CHAPTER FIFTY-SIX

4:16 a.m.

Eddy moaned and slowly opened his eyes.

It was still dark, but no rain pelted down on his face. Then he remembered that it had stopped raining a while back.

Did I faint?
he wondered.

He couldn’t recall.

He sat up too quickly. Bright flashes flickered before his eyes and his head spun. He waited until it passed, then, still sitting, looked around.

His eyes immediately fell upon the dim figure of Al. The sight pummelled him hard in the stomach.

“Oh God,” he whimpered.

He could barely comprehend that Al was dead. It didn’t seem right – or real.

Then he remembered.
Wayne!

Scared, Eddy scanned the dark mountain. There was no sign of him. More specifically, there was no sign of the torchlight.

Where the hell is he?
Eddy wondered.

He attempted to stand.

Although his legs felt weak and shaky, and his head a little swimmy, he managed to remain on his feet.

Then, like one of the lightning flashes, everything came back to him –  what had happened and why he had fainted.

Now he even remembered his head spinning and the world going black. Yes, he had definitely fainted.

He heard Wayne talking –
Someone who doesn’t like their car being stolen
.

“Jesus Christ,” he muttered.

“Sorry, it’s only Wayne.”

Eddy jumped. He turned around and saw Wayne come strolling out of the forest. The torch was back on his head and the light beamed through the darkness.

“Thought I had left, huh?”

His heart thumping, Eddy watched as Wayne walked around to where the two bodies lay.

“Only went into the woods for a piss. Sorry.” He chuckled. “I still need my privacy. You understand.”

Eddy could just make out the vague shape of the revolver. He wanted to speak, but his mouth was dry.

“Just in case you’re wondering, you fainted, “Wayne said. “You were only out for a couple of minutes.”

Eddy managed to swallow. He licked his arid lips. “I know,” he said. “You fucking prick.”

Wayne laughed and shook his head. “You’re mighty brave calling me names.” He waved the revolver.

“Why did you have to kill him?”

Wayne walked closer. “He was an annoying, ugly person. I had no use for him.”

“You’re a million times more ugly and annoying,” was all Eddy could say.

Wayne grinned. “You have no idea,” he said coldly.

“I have some,” Eddy said. He could feel his body shivering.

“Come on, I wanna get going.” He motioned for Eddy to start walking down the hiking path.

“What about Al?”

“Fuck him. We’re just going to leave him here.”

“What about the other body...
your
body?”

He saw Wayne grin. “So you know?”

“I sort of caught on when you said about your car being stolen.”

Wayne nodded. “You’ve got me. Now move.” He aimed the gun at Eddy.

“Are we going back to the motel?” Eddy asked, a wavering in his voice.

“You ask a lot of questions, don’t you?” Wayne scratched his head. “Yes. We’re going back to the motel. Now are you going to move your arse?  Or am I going to have to leave you here, beside your buddy?”

Eddy started off. He glanced over at Al as he stumbled past and felt sad and angry. By the closeness of the torchlight, Wayne wasn’t very far behind. With the gun aimed at his back, no doubt.

Eddy didn’t like the idea of going back to the motel. After all, Wayne wouldn’t risk taking him back to a place that had people unless he had things all planned out. The path sloped down and Eddy had trouble maintaining his balance. He felt the need to run down, but knew his legs, or Wayne, wouldn’t allow it.

“Why did you kill that kid?” Eddy called back, once the track had levelled out.

“Why did you steal my car?” Wayne replied.

“Is that what this is all about? Revenge for stealing your car?”

“Mostly,” Wayne said.

“So you never intended to help throw the body off the gorge?”

“I couldn’t have cared less. I liked the idea of leaving him up in the mountains, so he wouldn’t be found for days, but other than that I came with you guys purely for revenge.”

“So you knew we had a gun?” Eddy said.

“No,” Wayne chuckled. “I didn’t expect that. So I had to change my plan a little.”

“What was your original plan?” Eddy asked, not really wanting to hear the answer.

“Do I have to tell you everything?” Wayne snapped.

Eddy remained quiet. The last thing he wanted to do was to piss Wayne off.

They walked down the mountain in silence for about five minutes before Wayne said, “I was going to cut you both with my knife. But when I saw you had a gun, well, I quickly decided to wait for the opportunity to get it off you.” Wayne huffed. “Boy, I was really beginning to get worried that I wouldn’t get my chance. Thank God for that cliff. Now I have you where I want you.”

Eddy felt his bowels tighten. He knew if Al were still alive, he would say something like,
Out of all the cars we could steal, we had to steal one that belonged to a lunatic
.

Eddy stopped suddenly.

He expected Wayne to crash into him, but it never happened.

“Why did you stop?” Wayne said.

Eddy couldn’t quite believe it. But it all made sense. He turned around and faced the torchlight.

“Oh my God,” he muttered.

“What?”

“You’re the killer, aren’t you? The one who has killed all those men?”

Wayne was silent for a bit, then finally spoke. “That’s right.”

Eddy thought for a moment that he might throw up. Here he was, face to face with a real life multiple murderer. “What are you gonna do with me?” He had a hard time asking that question.

“I’m not going to kill you, if that’s what you think. After all, why would you tell the police about me...you are also a criminal, you stole my car, remember?”

Eddy couldn’t speak.

“Besides, you’ve got no evidence. I’ll just say that you must have planted the body in the boot.”

Eddy was too stunned to think straight. He didn’t know whether or not to believe him.

“Get a move on,” Wayne said. He nudged him with the barrel of the revolver.

Eddy turned around and continued walking.

He had to escape. He had to get away from this madman. But he thought that maybe he’d better wait until they were back at the motel. Where there were more people around and he didn’t have a gun aimed at his back.

Eddy was genuinely scared.

Stealing that car had been the biggest mistake of his life.

CHAPTER FIFTY-SEVEN

Morrie’s eyes fluttered open. He had to squint due to the bright light. His head, particularly his left side, ached enormously.

Through the narrow slits of his eyes, he looked around the cabin. He saw Madge sitting at the round table near the door.

“About time,” she said softly.

Madge stood up and wandered over to the bed.

Morrie tried to pull his hands down but realised that he was tied up. “Come on,” he whispered hoarsely. “Untie me. Please?”

She shook her head. “No way.”

He also noticed that his legs were tied. She had done a good, thorough job. She didn’t want him to get loose.

Morrie opened his eyes a little wider. He turned and looked at Judy, who was tied up next to him. She appeared to be still knocked out.

“I can explain.” He winced. Talking made his head split with pain.

“Where are your car keys?” Madge said.

“What?”

“Your car keys, Morrie. I want them.”

Morrie closed his eyes. He felt nauseous from the pain. “I don’t know,” he mumbled. “In my pocket?”

“No,” Madge said. “I’ve checked every one of your pockets.”

He opened his eyes and stared up at her. “Come on Madge. What we did together. What we shared, doesn’t that mean anything?” His head pounded with an ache twice as painful as any migraine.

Madge laughed. “You just don’t understand.” Her voice sounded slightly teary, like she was trying to hold back from crying. “You murdered a young boy, Morrie. And you betrayed me and used me.”

“NO I...” he began, but had to stop. The pain that ripped through his skull was too intense. He tried again, this time talking softer. “No I didn’t. It really did mean something. I’m sorry, I should’ve told you the truth. Can I please explain…?”

“Be quiet,” she growled.

Morrie’s eyes wandered past Madge. He drew in a deep breath. He saw what was lying on the table.

Madge turned and looked at what he was staring at. She chuckled.

“Yeah, I found your rifle. Don’t worry, I’m not going to use it.”

From his right, Judy moaned.

Morrie turned his head and saw her slowly open her eyes.

“W...what happened?” she muttered.

When she realised that she was bound to the bed, she began sobbing.

“Where are your keys?” Madge asked again.

“Morrie! What’s going on?”

Judy’s cries pounded at his head. He was surprised that she was able to yell.

“Untie me,” Judy sobbed. “Please, why are you doing this?”

Morrie could tell by the sound of her voice that her mouth had swollen up.

“Ssshh,” Morrie said, turning his head to face her. “It’s going to be all right, Judy.”

“Bullshit,” she snivelled. “Let me up!” She tugged at the rope.

Madge took a deep breath. “Just tell me where your keys are.”

“Why should I tell you?” Morrie said.

“Because.”

“Don’t tell her,” Judy said. “She’ll go to the police.”

“Will you?” Morrie asked.

“Maybe.”

“I’ll tell you,” he said. “If you untie us.”

Madge shook her head. “Nice try. But if you don’t tell me, I’ll be forced to make you speak.” She turned and looked at the baseball bat, which was next to the rifle.

“Okay,” Morrie sighed. “They’re outside by the car. I dropped them when you startled me.”

Madge turned around and hurried to the door. Without putting on her jacket, she rushed outside, closing the door as she went.

“We’ve got to get out of here,” Judy said.

“I know,” Morrie said. “Listen, don’t mention anything about the boy, okay?”

“I wasn’t going to.”

“I know. But I’m just telling you. If she finds out, she’ll try and rescue him. And also, it’ll look really bad on us. She’ll guess that we were trying to kill him. That would make her even angrier.”

“Morrie, what if we go to jail?” Judy said, looking over at him. Her eyes were watery.

“We won’t. We’ll get out...somehow.”

“But she’ll have our car.”

Morrie hadn’t thought about that. He sighed.

“You shouldn’t have told her where the keys were,” Judy said.

“What, and have her kill us?”

“She wouldn’t have killed us,” Judy moaned. “She was just bluffing.”

“Well it’s too late now.”

The cabin door opened. Madge held the keys in her hand. “Found them,” she said.

“Wonderful,” Judy murmured.

“Now, before I leave, there are a few things I want to say. And also a few things I want to ask.”

“Well we don’t want to hear them,” Judy told her. “Just fuck off.”

Madge looked hard at Judy. Then she turned her eyes back to Morrie. “Where is my gun?” she said.

“What the hell are you talking about?” Morrie said. “I didn’t take your gun.”

“Nonsense. You were the only one in my residence. It was there yesterday morning. I remember seeing it when I put my clothes away. Now, it’s gone.”

He sighed. “I told you the truth about the keys, didn’t I? So why would I lie about this? Besides, we have our own gun.”

Morrie could tell she was thinking it over. She looked at the ground while she thought. Soon, she looked back at Morrie.

“Okay then. I’ve got another question. Why did you cut my phone wire and slash my tyres?”

“You’re crazy,” Judy said.

“I don’t know anything about that,” Morrie told her.

“Liar!” Madge roared. “Somebody deliberately cut the outside phone cord and slashed the tyres of my Jeep. I know it was you.”

“Well it wasn’t,” Morrie said bitterly. “Which means you have an even bigger problem. Somebody else here did those things. Somebody else is here that has something to hide.”

Madge glared at him. “You lied to me once before. Why should I be surprised that you are lying again?” She shook her head. “You’re a despicable person.”

“He didn’t cut your fucking wires,” Judy snapped. “Or slash your stupid tyres.”

Morrie winced. He didn’t like Judy yelling and swearing at Madge. The only way to get out of this was to try and calm Madge down. Talk pleasantly to her and maybe she would reconsider going to the police.

“Please, Madge. Don’t go to the cops. I didn’t mean to shoot that boy. I thought he was going for a gun, you see. It was dark, they were dressed like gangsters. We were so scared…”

“Morrie.” Madge shook her head, slowly. Tears fell down her cheeks. “I don’t want to hear your excuses. I’m going to the police.” Her body shook gently from the crying. She wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. “I’m sorry, Judy. But Morrie is a lying, no-good cheating bastard.”

Morrie felt a hot flush sweep over his body. “Madge,” he growled.

“What are you talking about?” Judy asked, a hint of fear in her voice.

Madge looked down at Morrie. He shook his head and mouthed the word,
no
.

She sneered at him, then turned and looked at Judy.

She wouldn’t do that to me. Not Madge
.

But she did.

“We had sex,” Madge said. “Earlier, when he came over to pay the bill.”

Judy remained silent.

“It’s the truth,” Madge said.

“SHE’S...” Morrie huffed in pain. “She’s lying, Judy. Don’t believe her. Would you trust a woman who has just tied you up and beaten you with a baseball bat?” He stopped to catch his breath. “Or would you believe your husband?”

Judy began crying.

“Come on, Hon, you think I would do that?” He attempted a laugh. It came out strained and airy. “You think I would have sex with a woman as old as her?”

Madge’s eyes widened with anger.

She grabbed the baseball bat off the table and slammed it down on Morrie’s knees. He let out a high-pitched wail. He screamed and thrashed around as much as the restraints would allow.

“You bitch!” Judy cried.

“OOWW,” Morrie roared.

He was no doctor, but it felt like his right kneecap was broken.

“TOO OLD AM I!” Madge bellowed. “YOU DIDN’T THINK SO WHEN YOU LICKED MY PUSSY!”

Morrie was in too much pain to even notice what Madge had screamed. His legs had gone numb and he felt light in his head.

He opened his eyes and stared up at Madge.

She turned away and looked at Judy. “I’m telling the truth,” she said. “Didn’t you think he took a long time paying the bill?”

“He...wouldn’t,” Judy sobbed. “Not Morrie.”

Morrie turned to his wife. He saw the look in her eyes. She knew Madge was telling the truth.

He had really fucked everything up.