Walker looked ahead and there was the seedy motel where Jesse always stayed when he was in town. “On the right,” he told Matt.
His friend glanced at him with a raised eyebrow. It wasn’t much but it was on the outskirts of Severe, twenty minutes from Sherwood. It kept Jesse out of trouble and out of Walker’s way.
They drove through the parking lot looking for Jesse’s car. “Over there,” he told Matt. “On the left in front of room 200.”
“I see it.” Matt parked next to Jesse’s older, Sedan. A black, four door, that he had owned for a long time. Walker was surprised the heap was still running. The one thing his brother took care of was his car. Nothing else mattered because the car, was his escape. It was his home at times too. It got him where ever trouble was and out of it too.
They both got out and Walker looked over the hood of Matt’s truck at him. “You can just forget going in there alone,” his friend informed him.
He walked up to the door, hoping this one was it when he knocked. A pretty, blonde in her underwear and bra answered. “Jesse in?” Walker asked looking directly at the girl’s face to avoid the obvious cleavage spilling out of the top of her black, lace bra.
“Who’s asking?” She twirled a blond curl around her finger while she chewed her gum with vigor. His brother was twenty-nine. If he was right about this girl, she wasn’t even twenty-one. He just hoped that she was legal for Jesse’s sake. He had enough shit chasing him right now. He didn’t need an angry father after him.
“His brother, Walker.”
She glanced over her shoulder at the interior of the room. “Jesse, your brother is here.”
Another girl appeared in the doorway standing behind the blonde. She wrapped her arms around the pretty, blonde’s neck and grinned at him and Matt. The two men exchanged glances. Then Walker rolled his eyes.
“He’s talked about you,” the dark, haired beauty informed them. “He said you were prettier than him, but he got all the brains.”
“Yeah, he got all the brains.” Walker shook his head. “Is he here?”
“Yeah, Walker,” his brother replied from within the shadows of the room. “Keep your shorts on.”
Within seconds, Jesse appeared at the door. His jeans were low on his hips. He moved the dark, haired woman out of the way first. She ran her hand down his bare chest as she slipped by him. He slapped her butt before she disappeared into the darkened room.
Walker could see her crawl back across the bed only because her underwear was snow white. His eyes traveled back to his brother waiting on the blonde to go inside too.
“Inside, Laura,” Jesse told the blonde.
She circled around him, touching him as the other girl had. Then she joined the dark, haired lovely on the bed. Jesse leaned in the frame of the door. “Want a shot at one of them?” He nodded his head towards the bed, speaking to Walker. “They aren’t real particular or did Danni Rose give it up to you?”
Walker shot a look at Matt who cleared his throat. He knew his friend. He would have preferred to punch Jesse in the face, but he refrained from doing anything for Walker and Danni’s sake.
“Danni was attacked by a man,” Walker told him. He watched his brother cross his arms over his chest, making his hands visible to his brother.
“I didn’t touch her.”
“I know but did one of the men who want your ass do it?” Walker asked.
Jesse let his hands fall to his sides. He straightened so he was his full height. “Walker, if they wanted to send a message to me…they would have gone after Mom or you, not your girlfriend.”
Walker would feel better if his brother wasn’t in Sherwood or the vicinity of their hometown. “What would it take to get you to leave?” He asked.
Matt snorted. Walker knew he didn’t like this c
onversation. You couldn’t pay a desperate man. They would always return for more.
“One hundred thousand,” Jesse informed him.
Walker snorted this time. “You smokin’ something funny in there. Be reasonable Jesse. I haven’t got that kind of money. I took several hits on the market and lost nearly everything just like you,” he lied.
His eyes never left Jesse’s. He prayed he would believe him. It was only money not comparable to Danni or her life but if they did get together, Walker didn’t want everything he had to be gone because of Jesse’s foolish head.
“Thirty-five thousand,” Jesse offered another number that was more reasonable but still left a bitter taste in Walker’s mouth.
Walker licked his lips. He wanted to tell him to go screw himself, but he wanted Jesse out of town. “Meet me at the bank tomorrow at ten. I’ll give you the thirty-five thousand.”