Part 7

A few hours later, too few in her opinion, Lilah was roused from her sleep by Lindsey.

"Lilah, we need to trade off. I'm about ready to fall asleep in those chairs, and that's saying something." he gestured with his hand, indicating the decrepit furniture, which was comparable in comfort to those found in an airport.

"Five more minutes." she mumbled.

"No more minutes. C'mon, get up."

Lilah knew that he was completely in the right to be waking her, but she made a sound of annoyance all the same, just to make sure that he knew she wasn't happy about it. Slowly, she rose from the bed, smoothing her slightly tousled hair with one hand, and headed over to the closet to get dressed again.

Almost immediately her former partner sat down on the bed and removed his own shirt, tossing it onto a nearby chair. She glanced at it with disapproval.

"It's just going to get more wrinkled. You could have at least hung it up." Walking over, she picked up the discarded garment and hung it on a hanger, then placed it carefully in the closet. Turning to look for a response from him, she saw that he'd already fallen asleep. One eyebrow crept slowly upward as she looked at his shirtless torso. She hadn't known he liked to work out. Maybe that was new. He should keep doing it, she decided. After another moment, she walked over to the bed and carefully pulled the blanket up over his shoulders. Then, she sat down to wait.

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The slamming of a car door suddenly drew her attention. Making a tiny part in the curtains, she saw the battered blue vehicle in the parking lot, and two men walking purposefully from it to the motel office. She cursed under her breath and got to her feet. If she made a run for it now, she could probably get out before they even saw her. Grabbing her shoes, she started to head for the door. There wasn't any time to wake up Lindsey. If she lingered, they were certain to find her. Besides, dealing with Lindsey might distract them long enough for her to make a get-away. However, she was shocked to find that she hesitated when her hand touched the doorknob.

Lilah turned and looked at the sleeping figure in the bed. He didn't really deserve to be left to those creeps. He wouldn't even have been here if it weren't for her showing up. She frowned at herself for entertaining such silly, sentimental thoughts.

"Come on Lilah," she muttered "just get out. Let him take care of himself."

Yet she couldn't. Whether she liked it or not, she did give a damn about him. It was probably just because they'd spent so much time together recently, she told herself. People tended to get stupidly attached in cases such as these. Then again, they had known each other for a fairly long time. They'd done a lot of work together in the past, and he was probably one of the people who knew her best. He'd been her partner at one point, and they'd been through a lot. Even if they had been out to destroy one another. Sighing, she grabbed his shirt from the closet, then tossed his shoes at him. She smirked at the solid thwap as they hit him, and the confused curse that followed. If she had to be a goody goody, she'd be a bitch while doing so.

Woken so suddenly from blissful slumber, Lindsey glared peevishly at his assailant.

"Lilah, what the hell was that for? I swear to God, there had better be a good reason."

"Oh stop whining. Unless you'd rather I'd have left you for our good buddies out in the parking lot to find."

His brain lifted itself out of the haze of sleep in which it had been encased. "They found us?"

"Yes. Well, they will find us soon. They went into the office, and I'm assuming it wasn't to have tea with the owner. Here." She tossed his shirt to him. "We have to get moving."

As he pulled it on, he looked at her. He knew full well that she could have just taken off. Likely she was even tempted to do so, he thought. It would have been in her best interests to do so, as she would have been saving precious time. Putting his shoes on, he grabbed his wallet and keys off the small table. No time to quiz her on it right now.

"Ok, come on. Maybe we can still get to the truck without them seeing us."

Lilah nodded, then peered out the window once more, to check if the coast was clear. It wasn't. The two men were just exiting the office, headed right for their room.

"Damn! Lindsey, they're coming this way."

He frowned. There was no way for them to make a run for it without being spotted immediately. Thinking quickly, he dashed over to the armoire. His partner quickly picked up on his thoughts and ran over to help him. With effort, they managed to lodge the somewhat heavy piece of furniture up against the door, at such an angle that it would not be able to be opened. Moments later, they heard a loud pounding from the other side.

Keeping silent, they each tried to find some kind of a weapon to use, just in case. Lilah grabbed the cheap table lamp while Lindsey wrangled the clothes bar free from the closet.

"Lindsey," she murmured. "There's a small window in the bathroom, but it has bars on it. Other that that... this is the only way out."

He nodded grimly. "So we're essentially stuck."

"Essentially."

"Well, this ought to be fun."

"At least I'm not going to die alone."

He looked at her, about to reply, when the pounding suddenly stopped. They looked at one another, deeply suspicious of the silence. Suddenly, a rock came hurtling through the window, smashing a hole in the smooth pane, and bringing with it a shower of glass shards.

Lindsey grabbed her shoulder and pulled her back sharply from the window. "Lilah, are you ok?"

"Yeah, but I think they're going to -"

She was cut off as another projectile entered the room, through the hole created by the previous one. A flaming, bottle shaped projectile. It hit the aged carpet, and a horrible whooshing sound followed, as flames began to lick at the ratty surface.

Still holding onto Lilah's shoulder, Lindsey took several rapid steps back, dragging her along with him. The duo retreated all the way into the tiny bathroom. Lilah slammed the door shut and then grabbed the thin cotton towels that were hanging on the rack. Catching her drift, her partner turned on the water in the bathtub. Lilah drenched the towels, and then stuffed them in the crack under the door, in order to block the smoke that had begun to drift in.

Turning, she looked at him. "I'm sorry Lindsey."

He furrowed his brow, trying to process that. Lilah Morgan was apologizing for something, and seemed to mean it. "You're sorry?"

"Didn't I just say that? Anyway, yes, I'm sorry. I didn't intend to get you into this situation."

"Well, we're in it all the same. So why don't we cut the sentimental chit chat and get out of here?"

Sharply, she pointed her finger at the small barred window. "That's the only way out, and I don't happen to have any tools on me."

He bit his lip and sat on the edge of the tub to think, leaning a little on the pole that he still clasped in his hand. Suddenly, he glanced at it and mentally gave himself a good swift kick. Quickly, he made his way to the window and slid the end of the pole in underneath some of the bars.  Lindsey pushed on the opposite end, using the pole as a lever. The bars began to creak and moan, the screws that held them into the wall obviously being strained. Coming to his side, Lilah placed her own hands on the pole, next to his. Shoulder to shoulder, hands brushing against one another, they combined their strength.

All of a sudden, the bar grid came flying off with a crack. The lawyers, taken by surprise, were propelled forward by their momentum. They hit the wall in a tangle of bodies and limbs. For a moment, neither one of them moved. Lilah found herself looking him in the eyes. Inexplicably, her heart began pounding against the wall of her chest. She decided to blame adrenaline.

The duo pulled apart, looking slightly abashedly at one another. Abruptly, Lilah turned and looked at the window. "Give me a boost up, and then I'll help pull you out."

"Alright. But take off the shoes first. Those heels'll hurt." As Lilah removed the offending footwear, Lindsey moved to just below the window. "You ready?"

The brunette nodded in reply, and grabbed onto the window sill. While she began pulling herself upward, Lindsey grabbed her waist and lifted. Soon, she was able to slide aside the pane of glass and get herself situated.. Then, she twisted her upper body and reached for his hand.

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They trudged silently through the woods behind the hotel, the wet ground grasping at their feet. Behind them, the taunting cries of their predators rang through the night. Suddenly, Lilah stopped.

"Lindsey," she murmured, "this is no good. We can't just keep running. They'll just keep coming after us."

"Would you rather stay here and get shot?"

"No. I think that we should fight back."

"Oh, very good Lilah. We'll stay and throw rocks at the gun-carrying hired assassins."

"They're going to find us. They'll just keep searching until they do, no matter where we go."

He sighed then, knowing she was right. "Alright. So what have we got to work with?" The pair of them paused to search whatever possessions they had, in the hopes of finding a useful tool, as the sounds of the killers' steps drew ever nearer.

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Lilah stood alone on the winding trail, shivering a little as a cool wind sifted through the trees and tickled her skin. "Lindsey? Lindsey? Where are you?" Only silence greeted her call. "Lindsey, come on. This isn't funny." There continued to be no reply.

The man who watched her through the dense vegetation smirked. Poor little girlie, all lost and alone. Probably shaking in her nylons. Someone would have to go and take care of her. It would be unchivalrous to let her stay there all by herself after all. With a grin, he holstered his gun and drew his knife instead. Might as well take his time. Reg would find the guy, which meant he could spend all the time he liked with the woman. Grinning ferally, he moved toward his victim.