Ten minutes later, I was standing outside of my target building. It was a small motel that obviously didn't see too much business. But looking at it from across the street, I realized that there were enough people there to potentially cause a problem, should any situations arise.
"That's it?" I turned to Dixon and sighed.
"Yeah. That's it."
"Good luck," he said, patting my shoulder before he continued down the street. The market he had to investigate was only a few blocks away, we had realized while looking at Irina's map. We'd mutually agreed that if one of us finished before the other, we would meet and work together.
I watched until Dixon turned the corner, and then I faced the motel once again. Taking a breath, I quickly crossed the street. I decided that the first thing I needed to find out was how many rooms the place had. As I approached the clerk at the desk, he began speaking in a language I didn't understand. I quickly realized that it had to be Lithuanian- a very obvious conclusion, I thought to myself- and then I interrupted him.
"English… do you speak English?" I asked. He stared at me for a moment before saying something else. I shook my head, baffled, and he held his hands apart in a gesture that I took to mean 'a little.'
"Ok, um… how many rooms do you have?"
"Rooms?" he repeated. I nodded.
"Yes, rooms. How many?" He turned to look back at a shelf with a row of keys. He counted them quickly.
"Four open," he said. I shook my head.
"No, how many total?"
"Four." I sighed and looked beyond him to count the number of pegs. Four of them held keys to the four open rooms he mentioned, and there were sixteen open.
"Ok… twenty." I sighed, knowing that might take a while. But then I decided to be optimistic, and reminded myself that it could be worse; there could be fifty. I turned away from him and headed for the hallway.
"Room?" he called.
"Uh… no. I'm meeting a friend," I said lamely. He stared at me blankly. I racked my brain, trying to figure out how to get it across to him. I was coming up blank. I had finally decided to just hit him and start looking through rooms when the door opened. Dixon walked up to me, shaking his head.
"Nothing. What's happening here?"
"I'm trying to tell him that I'm here to meet a friend. He doesn't speak English, and I have no idea how to say it in Lithuanian." Dixon nodded briefly and turned to the clerk. He started speaking rapidly in a different language, and the man at the desk responded. Dixon turned to me, a small smile on his face.
"Lead the way." I turned and started down the hallway.
"How'd you do it?" I asked.
"I told him in Polish," he replied simply.
"Polish?"
"Yes. That and Russian are both prominently spoken here."
"Really? I didn't know that."
"The USSR annexed Lithuania in 1940, I believe it was. 50 years later, Lithuania was the first Soviet republic to declare independence. The last of the Russian troops withdrew in 1993."
"Thanks for the history lesson." He smiled wryly.
"It's one of my strong suits."
"Well, it was pretty useful in this case."
"It can be. Do we know what we're looking for, exactly?" I pulled a piece of paper out of my pocket.
"We need to find the phone that matches this number." He looked it over briefly, and I knew he'd committed it to memory.
"Ok. And how are we supposed to get into the rooms with people in them?"
"Be creative." Dixon rolled his eyes. He began on one side of the hallway; I worked down the other. The first seven rooms I came to were all empty at the moment, though none of the phones proved to match the number. As Dixon came out of his fourth room, I heard him speaking Polish again. He shook his head at me.
"There are six more rooms on the second floor. They're a bit bigger than these ones, but it shouldn't be a problem. I'll get started on those." He nodded to me and knocked on the next door. Hearing no response, he picked the shabby lock and went in. I headed up the stairs, smiling politely at the clerk as I passed. He gave me a somewhat suspicious look, but turned back to his magazine.
A few minutes later, Dixon was waiting for me as I exited the third room on the top floor, which was at the end of the hall.
"Nothing?" I asked.
"Nothing. I take it those are the last three rooms to check?" he asked, pointing at the ones across the hall. I nodded, quietly closing the door behind me. He went into the first room, and I took the one in the middle. We both came out at the same time. Dixon shrugged; I sighed.
"Last one," I breathed, suddenly feeling nervous.
"Let's go," he said. I knocked on the door; an annoyed voice called from the other side. Dixon and I exchanged glances, and he replied in Polish again. After going back and forth for a few minutes, the door finally opened. We moved across the room, seemingly the biggest in the motel- which really wasn't saying much. I picked up the receiver and dialed a few buttons to check the phone number. As I waited, I heard a slight commotion at the door. I was about to check when I heard the number. I looked up at Dixon.
"It's a match," I said softly. I quickly hung the phone up and turned to see the man who had allowed us into the room shutting the door behind him.
"Come on!" I barked. We ran after him. Opening the door, I saw him already down the stairs, running for the door. But I stopped cold. Someone was trailing behind him… someone I'd recognize anywhere.
"Sydney!" She stopped and turned to look up at me. It was her, there was no doubt about it. My heart stopped, and I moved to go after her, overtaking Dixon in the process. As I got closer, I could see tears gathering in her eyes. A moment later, they began to trail down her bruised face, and I could hear her sobs from halfway up the stairs.
Suddenly, she turned and ran. I put on some speed, trying to catch her. She disappeared out the door, and as I burst out after her, I saw her climb into a car and slam the door. She turned to look at me from the window, and I could still see the tears and the bruises. And I could still feel my heart being ripped in two.
Just then, gunfire erupted, tearing up the sidewalk at my feet. Dixon and I ducked back into the motel. The bullets stopped a moment later. By then, it was too late. Sydney and the mysterious man were long gone.
I'd never felt so lost in all my life.
Ok, so I'm told that was eeevil. And yes, I know it was probably confusing. It'll all be explained…
Jade: Hehe true. Bald guys suddenly having hair is disconcerting. Hmm… don't suppose this update qualifies as shipperness, does it? :D
Secret Agent Girl: Wicked happy, you say? Ok… so I gather that you want NotDeadSyd, HappyHugs, and SpySex? Hmm… we'll see what I can do for you…
HoneyB: Did I have to make it so short? No, I don't suppose I had to… but I did anyway. This update was longer… be happy!
carrie: Hmm, you're not the first person to suggest having this be a never ending fic…
Ryanne: Doesn't look like Vaughn saved her NOW… maybe soon… or maybe not…
mary_d: Hehe, yup. Still alive, she is. So, would it be bad if I told you I'm not sure how it's going to end either? Hee…
Lara: Wow, S/V in popular demand… perhaps I should take note of that for future updates…
Disturbed stalker: Dude. Slacker! What's wrong with you? Oh, so many things I could say… I'm eeevil. You're hyper. Got it.
Master Spork: Well you, my lovely dead sister, are just plain awesome! (But me and Nic-sis are still plotting… hee…)
Ok, just to let everyone know, it's taking so long for updates now because I'm sorta not technically supposed to be online. Not sure how long it's going to last, but I'll definitely try to be here as much as possible. Thanks for the reviews!