to get them.
There were less than a dozen cars parked outside the motel as Aiden walked briskly towards the modest reception, his duffel bag slung over his shoulder. A quick Internet search had told Aiden that this was the only motel anywhere near San Migeno, it was a town which wasn’t set up to accommodate guests. He wondered if Justin had ever been there, if he had, would he too have stopped at this same motel? The thought made Aiden’s heart seize in his chest. He imagined Justin confidently striding around, his motorbike idling in the parking lot waiting patiently for his return.
“How many nights?” the man behind the counter asked without looking up at Aiden. He had a thick black mustache which concealed his lips as he spoke.
“One,” Aiden replied simply. He didn’t want to risk being there too long and outstaying his welcome.
*
Wearing just cargo pants and a plain T-shirt, Aiden could feel himself wilting in the heat. The hour was still early; he’d been up since the first shards of sunlight had crept beneath his thin motel curtains upon dawn’s arrival. Aiden had barely slept. He tossed and turned on the hard mattress wondering what he might find in San Migeno. Might he even come face to face with Justin’s killer? What would he do if that happened? It was a prospect he hadn’t prepared for.
It was too hot for coffee. Aiden instead had a cool bottle of water from the vending machine outside the motel. Then he came back to his room and stretched out the map he’d purchased at the airport.
San Migeno was now less than two miles away and appeared to be not much larger than Avalon. To most people it would appear on the map as an insignificant speck. But it was towns like those which were far away from prying eyes out of which the cartels liked to operate. A stranger’s arrival would be noticed; they controlled the town and its inhabitants.
Despite the stifling heat, Aiden felt a sharp slice of frozen fear scratch down his back. What exactly was he about to walk into? If the people of San Migeno were anything like those back in Avalon he wouldn’t be getting a warm reception. Quite the opposite; he risked being interrogated or worse by the ruling cartel, the Caulerone brothers.
“What am I doing?” Aiden sighed as he lifted his gaze from the map to drink deeply from his bottle of water.
Everyone else back in Greensburg had managed to lay Justin to rest. They didn’t drive into the desert searching for his killer because Aiden hadn’t let them. He’d kept the truth from Alex and John, even from Justin’s mother. He was protecting them.
Aiden looked back at the map. He was protecting them from whatever evil presumably dwelled in San Migeno. But then why was he so willing to put himself in danger? Aiden let his head fall into his hands and he sat like that until his arms began to ache. The sound of his cell phone ringing forced him to sit up. Reluctantly he grabbed the device and placed it against his ear without checking who was calling.
“Aiden, it’s me, are you alright?” Brandy’s sweet voice crackled slightly on the line. Aiden smiled with relief and clung tightly to the phone.
“Hey, sweetheart, I’m okay. I’m in Mexico now.”
“I figured because when I rang it was real slow, almost like the phone was broken.”
Aiden’s smile widened at the comment but his heart began to burn in his chest. He was already missing Brandy terribly. He could feel each mile he’d placed between them as if they were weighing down on his chest, slowly crushing him.
“Is it nice there?” Brandy asked innocently.
“I’ve not seen much of it,” Aiden admitted. “I’ve mostly been driving.”
“But you’re there now?”
“Yeah, I’m here. When I arrived it was late else I would have called.” Aiden pressed his fingertips against his forehead which was damp with sweat despite the ceiling fan which continually pivoted above him with as much stealth as a jumbo jet.
“Actually…” Aiden sighed and reminded himself how he wanted to always be completely honest with Brandy.
“I’m starting to wonder why I came,” he admitted. He’d acted in haste, not taking a moment to question if he was doing the right thing. Perhaps he’d done so to prevent himself from backing out. But now he was there, almost at San Migeno, and he was afraid of what he might find there.
“You’re there for your friend,” Brandy told him, her voice gentle but strong in its conviction. Aiden nodded. She was right.
“Yeah,” Aiden stood up and glanced out of the window where his rental car was parked just a few feet away, ready and waiting.
Justin’s death deserved answers. Aiden knew that if their roles had been reversed that Justin would have stopped at nothing to learn what had happened to Aiden. Even in death, Aiden owed Justin his allegiance. They had been best friends, a bond which would endure to the end of both of their days.
“Just be careful,” Brandy requested. “And come home soon. I miss you.”
Her words caused Aiden’s focus to stumble from his current investigation.
“Come home?” he repeated, his lips curving.
“Yes, come home,” Brandy repeated.
“So, you feel like Avalon is home?”
He heard Brandy give a light laugh from all the miles away where she stood clutching the receiver in the hallway.
“I guess it does feel like home now,” she admitted brightly.
“I’m glad.” Aiden was locking his motel door behind him, tucking the key into his pocket and moving towards his car. In the unflatteringly bright sunlight he could see just how filthy his car was; covered in few layers of dust and grime. It was difficult to discern what color the vehicle actually was.
“Aiden, I love you.”
Aiden mentally grabbed the words like they were a life preserver in a torrid sea. He was still holding them tightly as he slid in behind the steering wheel and placed the key in the ignition.
“I love you too,” he replied affectionately. They said their goodbyes and Aiden zipped his cell phone into his pocket. He looked through the windscreen at the dusty road ahead which lead out to San Migeno. He couldn’t shake his feelings of apprehension but he knew he had to go down that road.
Pausing for only a second to take a deep breath, Aiden gunned the engine which spluttered before starting and then pulled away from the motel and headed west towards the small Mexican town of San Migeno.
*
“What do you mean he’s out of town?” Buck Fern briefly removed his stetson to run a hand through his thinning grey hair.
“He’s out of town,” Betty informed him stiffly. “On business.”
“What sort of business?” Buck demanded tersely.
“Any business of his is no business of yours,” Betty told him coldly. Then she had the audacity to look back at her computer screen and commence typing.
“He’s
