Dragon Hunts

I checked my bank account and withdrew all my savings. I had about three thousand dollars. I had always been frugal and I’d carefully saved every penny I’d made. It would be enough to hold me over until I got a new job, in a new place. I was thinking about Los Angeles this time. The city was big and crowded with all kinds of people looking for a slice of the Hollywood dream. It would be easy to disappear into the general population.

Two days after arriving in Alpine, I packed my bag and sneaked out with my son from the Cairne’s summer house. Bobby didn’t ask me anything as I told him to get quietly into the taxi. The driver drove us to the nearest Greyhound terminal. Only when we were on the bus did my son look me into the eyes and ask quietly, “We’re going away because of Dad?”

I nodded. My chest felt constricted.

“I like Declan,” he said. “I like Braden and Curran, too. They’re super nice.”

I bit my tongue and tried hard not to cry.

As Alpine faded into the night, I slept restlessly through a nightmare about Lorenzo and his knife.

We settled in a small motel in the outskirts of Los Angeles. The room cost me two hundred dollars per week. It was dingy and gloomy and totally awful. This was the second time I had subjected my son to a crummy environment like this. I had no choice. I had to watch every penny I spent until I got a new source of income.

I left Bobby in the room, entertained with a bunch of comics, while I went job hunting. The room came with TV and microwave. Bobby was self-sufficient. And the Nintendo DS he’d got from Declan helped him to pass the time until I got back.

There were quite a few places in Los Angeles who would hire someone without papers like me. They, of course, paid me under the

table and asked me no questions. On the fifth day after our arrival in Los Angeles, I got hired to work in a Mexican restaurant. I tended tables and took orders. I helped out in the kitchen when needed and cleaned up the bathrooms and the floors. The pay barely sustained us, but I thought I was only going to do this temporarily, until I knew someone who could get me new papers so I could hunt for a better job.

My feet were killing me as I left the restaurant for the night. The weekend had been particularly busy. My mood was slightly elevated because of the tips I’d received. It could buy us groceries for a week. I walked to the motel, which was only a few blocks away from the restaurant. I stopped by at a convenience store to buy Bobby the Lunchables he was so fond of.

When I entered the motel’s courtyard, I felt like I had been punched in the guts.

I saw Braden leaning by our door, smoking a cigarette.

I felt numb as my feet carried me to my room. Braden saw me. He nodded.

“Evening, Jessica.”

I looked towards my door and back to him again. The invisible lump in my throat became harder to swallow. “Does Declan know you’re here?” My voice was shaky.

“He’s inside with Bobby.”

“How did you find us?”

Braden lifted an eyebrow. “I have my ways.”

“Seriously?”

“Relax, Jessica. I wouldn’t be the head of security if I couldn’t take care of simple things like this, would I?”

Oh God.

For a moment, I didn’t know what to do.

“Go on. My brother is waiting for you,” Braden urged.

Taking a deep breath, I turned the doorknob sideways and opened up the door. Declan was sitting on the bed, reading a book with Bobby.

“Hey, Mom, look who’s here,” Bobby greeted me cheerily.

“Bobby. Didn’t I tell you not to open the door to anybody but me?”

“I know, but it’s Declan!”

Goodness. My son was fond of my former boss.

Declan got up from the bed. “Bobby, why don’t you go outside with Braden? Your mommy and I need to talk.”