Ch.31Succubus! (6)

# Chapter 31

As the two entered the motel, a middle-aged woman with a lewd smile was sitting at the reception desk.

“What a handsome couple we have here. Do you have a reservation?”

When a man and woman deliberately visit a motel on the outskirts of Las Vegas during a time when no racing events are scheduled, anyone would make assumptions. She greeted them with her own conclusions without any doubt.

Dexter and Himena simultaneously removed their coats as if they had planned it, revealing that Dexter was wearing a prison guard uniform and Himena was dressed in a black suit.

“Oh, oh?”

The middle-aged employee stumbled over her words when she realized that both of them were wearing uniforms from public institutions, not the ordinary couple she had assumed them to be.

Agent Himena took out her wallet from her pocket, showed her ID, and said, “FBI. Did you happen to see some women leave recently with a heavyset man?”

“Ah, yes, but… w-what’s this about…?”

The middle-aged employee looked back and forth between them with wide eyes.

“Officer, I think we found him!”

Himena looked at Dexter with a bright voice.

Watching Himena perform the same act she had done when they went to the ranch to look for evidence, Dexter had to suppress a laugh that was about to burst out.

Trying to hold back his laughter, Dexter’s voice trembled slightly as he asked, “Is that man in which room, by any chance?”

“Room 208…”

“Thank you for your cooperation. Do you happen to have a master key?”

The middle-aged employee, completely taken in by Dexter’s confident demeanor, handed over the key card. Dexter then turned to Himena and said, “Shall we go?”

“Yes, yes!”

Leaving behind the middle-aged employee who still had no idea what was happening, Dexter and Himena began climbing the emergency stairs.

Dexter looked at Himena following behind him and said with a smile he had been holding back, “Why did you have to act so obviously back there?”

“Oh, was it that obvious?”

“Very. I almost burst out laughing, which would have made them suspicious.”

Dexter gave her a disapproving look.

“When you went ‘Officew! I fink we found him!’ who wouldn’t laugh?”

“I never spoke with a lisp like that!”

“You totally did just now!”

Himena hadn’t done that at all, but Dexter was just teasing her for fun.

After bickering for a while, they arrived at Room 208 where Gomer was supposed to be, and immediately stopped their argument.

Dexter approached the door first, put his ear against it, and carefully assessed the situation inside.

“…”

-Huff… huff…

Apart from faint breathing sounds, he couldn’t hear anything else.

“Seems like he’s alive at least.”

Since there didn’t appear to be any major problems, Dexter spoke in his normal voice.

“Should I cover you?”

“Cover what? You don’t even have a gun. Just wait outside for a moment.”

When Dexter swiped the key card and entered, he was hit by the same pungent smell and stuffy heat he had experienced a few days ago.

“Himena, don’t come in.”

“What? Why? Is the guard dead?”

Hearing the obvious panic in Himena’s voice, Dexter spoke with a hint of laughter to reassure her.

“No, Officer Lawrence is fine, but he’s in a… state.”

Gomer was sprawled naked on the bed, arms and legs stretched out, completely passed out.

Even for another man, it was a grotesque posture that would be difficult to show anyone.

Showing this to Himena would probably make her panic and run out of the motel room.

Dexter covered Gomer’s naked body first with a towel from the bathroom, then with a blanket.

Only after ventilating the room to remove the pungent smell and heat did he let Himena in.

“…He’s sleeping soundly, isn’t he?”

“He seems fine, but there are definitely signs that sexual activity took place in the room.”

“W-what? S-sexual activity?”

“Come on, don’t act like you’ve never heard of such things.”

Dexter laughed it off, but Himena couldn’t say anything.

As if she didn’t want to touch anything, she crossed her arms tightly against her armpits and looked around with an expression of distaste.

In Himena’s place, Dexter searched around the room, looking here and there, but there wasn’t anything particularly noteworthy.

‘No, it’s not just that there’s nothing special…’

There was too little of anything.

‘Looking closely, there’s no tissue or condoms in the trash can.’

Even the area around Gomer was remarkably clean.

Dexter, who had definitely sensed the pungent smell and heat in the room, could tell what had happened here.

The bedsheets, the floor, and even Gomer’s body before Dexter covered him with the blanket were all clean without a trace of moisture.

The only evidence was a damp towel with signs of use in one corner of the bathroom.

“I don’t know why they did it with Gomer, but I guess we’ll have to investigate…?”

Suddenly, something crossed Dexter’s mind.

“Himena.”

“Yes?”

Dexter, sitting in a corner of the bed, spoke while deep in thought.

“The man is sleeping like he’s unconscious, and the two women have disappeared, right?”

“Yes?”

“Haven’t we heard about this somewhere before?”

“What do you mean… Oh!”

Gomer, a single man, was sleeping so deeply he couldn’t even regain consciousness, and the two women had vanished in a car.

“Those women who target only single men.”

“That’s right! It was on the news, wasn’t it?”

According to the news, most of the male victims showed symptoms of anemia.

If that was the case, Gomer might not be sleeping soundly but unable to wake up due to anemia.

Both of them looked at Gomer simultaneously.

“Then he might not be just sleeping?”

Himena pointed at Gomer with a slightly trembling finger.

She was worried about what might happen if he was in a dangerous condition.

“We should wake him up.”

His breathing seemed fine, though, with his protruding belly rising and falling.

He was even starting to snore. Dexter approached and began tapping Gomer’s cheek.

“Officer Lawrence? Officer Lawrence?”

When he didn’t wake up easily, Dexter gradually increased the force of his taps.

The gentle tapping sounds were about to turn into slaps when Gomer, whose cheeks were turning red, flinched in pain and slowly began to open his eyes.

“Ugh… ugh… I’m… dizzy…”

“Officer Lawrence, try to pull yourself together.”

Gomer opened his eyes groggily and remained motionless for a few seconds before suddenly sitting up.

“H-Huze Officer?”

-THWACK!

Startled by Dexter’s sudden appearance, Gomer jerked upright, causing his forehead to collide with Dexter’s, who was leaning in close.

“Ow!”

Normally, Dexter would have anticipated and avoided it, but Gomer hadn’t intended to hit him.

There was no way to avoid it, so he took the full impact.

“Wow, seriously… wow!”

Though Dexter couldn’t shout loudly, he expressed his pain as rawly as possible while keeping his voice down.

The pain transmitted through his forehead was greater than expected, and Dexter almost rolled on the floor.

“H-how did you get here?”

Gomer, who had hit Dexter’s forehead hard, seemed unaffected by the pain and looked at Dexter with unfocused eyes.

“Ugh, my head’s about to crack. What do you mean ‘how’? I followed you because something seemed off.”

Dexter rubbed his forehead with one hand as he spoke.

“Y-you mean you w-watched the whole t-time?”

“What else could I have done?”

There was no need to further help a man who was physically fine and significantly outweighed him.

Seeing that Dexter wasn’t giving any more answers, Gomer spoke in an aggrieved voice.

“I-I lost my v-virginity…”

“Isn’t that a good thing? You did it with such a pretty woman.”

Dexter spoke with a voice that betrayed his envy.

So-called high-class escorts charge more than a thousand dollars.

Dexter was about to say that getting away with just mild anemia symptoms without paying any money was quite a bargain, but he closed his mouth when he felt a gaze from behind.

“Uh, Huze!”

Seeing Himena’s glaring eyes, Dexter took a step back.

“Ahem. Just think of it as something that happened briefly. This is Las Vegas, after all.”

As the saying goes, “What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas.” It’s a city where countless things happen, but they remain only in people’s memories, following an unwritten rule.

“Y-yes, but… s-such things should be with s-someone special…”

As Gomer was about to say something proper, Dexter whispered in his ear.

“See that female agent over there? You need to watch what you say. It could be sexual harassment.”

“N-no way.”

It was obvious what Dexter had said.

Himena cleared her throat once and glared at Dexter again.

Then she turned back to Gomer and said, “Ahem. I’m Joaquina from the FBI.”

Himena showed a fake ID with an FBI mark while giving a fake surname.

“Uh, FBI?”

Gomer had guessed that his situation was more serious than he thought, but he never dreamed it would be connected to the FBI.

To calm down Gomer, who was already frightened, Himena added:

“I might come to investigate soon, but I’ll try to come with Huze here if possible.”

Gomer’s expression brightened a little when he heard that Dexter, his colleague, would also be present.

But he still looked dazed.

With that expression, Gomer nodded at Himena’s words.

“And please put some clothes on.”

Seeing Gomer’s still-naked upper body, Himena blushed and pointed at his torso.

“I’ll contact headquarters for now, so Huze, please take care of Officer Lawrence.”

As Himena went outside, Dexter threw the neatly folded clothes from the corner of the bed toward Gomer.

With just two adult men alone in the motel room, there was nothing to be embarrassed about anymore.

“Take your clothes. Put them on quickly and let’s get out of here. The FBI agent will probably give us a ride.”

“T-thank you. B-but why are you m-moving with an FBI a-agent?”

Dexter hadn’t prepared an excuse for that.

But since he couldn’t let it slip, after a brief moment of thought, Dexter shrugged and said:

“They asked me to help with an investigation. The FBI found a criminal whose methods are similar to an inmate in our prison.”

It was a pretty good excuse for something made up on the spot.

“I-is that so?”

“It’s a secret investigation, so Officer Lawrence, just keep quiet about it. You know what I mean.”

Gomer nodded vigorously to cover up the hastily made excuse.

“A-are you worried about i-information leaks?”

“Of course. Watch what you say, Officer Lawrence. One wrong move and the foundations of America could crumble.”

“E-even the foundations?”

“That’s why you need to be extra careful about what you say. Got it? Behave properly.”

Anyone listening would think they were discussing state secrets.

Gomer, who knew nothing, could only tremble and shake his head.

Dexter then left the motel room with Gomer and headed toward the car.

‘But Gomer seems quite fine?’

Apart from feeling a bit dizzy at first, he seemed to have no other issues.

‘I’ll keep an eye on him for now, and leave anything related to Gomer to the OSA.’

“Shall we go?”

Himena drove away from the motel after picking up the two men.

* * *

After returning Gomer to where he belonged, Himena was heading to where they had parked the pickup truck with Dexter.

“This case seems beyond my authority to handle on my own.”

“I thought you were just going to do whatever you wanted. You actually considered that?”

“Hey! That’s not true! I have my own thought process!”

“Sure, but putting that aside. Are you going to report to headquarters?”

“Yes. I need to report to my superiors and c-clarify… everything that happened.”

Himena, who was holding the steering wheel, was trembling slightly.

“Huze… what should I do… I’m going to get in so much trouble…”

Having apparently learned how to easily get scared from Gomer, Himena was clenching her teeth and glancing at Dexter.

“Why are you scared in advance? You did well, didn’t you? You prevented a civilian from being kidnapped, and although it’s not a case managed by the OSA, you found a clue to an unsolved case.”

If she did well, she did well. There was absolutely no reason to be scared first.

Himena tilted her head, wondering if she really had done well, then hit the steering wheel and said:

“You’re right! You’re right! I did well, didn’t I?”

“Don’t get too excited though. It’s still an overreach of authority.”

“Ah, y-yes, that’s true. Right.”

Himena, who had been about to boast happily, calmed down a bit.

“I’ll report tomorrow morning and let you know right away, Huze.”

“Alright. Make sure to phrase it nicely. Don’t say things like ‘I did what Dexter told me to do and it worked.’ That kind of thing.”

“I’m not a child! I was a good student, you know?”

She was telling him not to treat her like an idiot.

“I could dive off your protruding lip. Put your lip away. You’re worried because you choose to do worrisome things.”

Hit right where it hurt, Himena could only glare at Dexter without making any significant response.

“Would it hurt to compliment me a little?”

“Come on, it’s no fun if I just compliment you.”

“You compliment for fun?”

“Not exactly, but it’s boring if I just give you straight compliments.”

While Dexter was busy teasing Himena without noticing her reaction, he suddenly heard heavy breathing from beside him.

Sensing the unusual atmosphere, Dexter turned his head to look at Himena, who already had fire in her eyes.

“Just! Give! Me! A! Straight! Compliment!! You insensitive human!!”

Finally exploding, Himena began to floor the accelerator like a madwoman.

The scenery outside the window began passing by so quickly it was unrecognizable, and as the car maintained such a high speed that it shook, Dexter surrendered.

“Uh, wait. Okay, okay!”

At Dexter’s cry, Himena shouted back:

“Say it!!”

“Fine, you did really well!! You did so well I want to kiss you!!”

“You want to do what?!”

-SCREEECH-!

With those words, Himena slammed on the brakes, drastically reducing the speed, causing Dexter’s body to nearly lurch forward.

If it weren’t for the seatbelt, his head would have smashed into the dashboard.

“…Himena?”

Knowing full well her mistake, Himena didn’t look to the side even though she could hear Dexter’s voice.

“Himena, I’m calling you?”

“N-no, I’m not looking.”

“Would you like to get out now? Let me drive.”

“N-no. If I get out, you’ll leave me on the road, won’t you?”

Himena turned her eyes very slightly, just a tiny bit, toward Dexter.

“Eek.”

Dexter was making an expression she had never seen before.

He was smiling, but it was definitely not a smile anyone would want to join in with.

Himena swallowed hard without looking to the side.

“O-okay. I’ll drive… carefully…”

“Really?”

“R-really.”

“Alright then. Drive carefully, okay?”

When Himena cautiously looked to the side again, his expression had returned to normal.

“What… is your face a mask or something?”

“Why?”

“It changes all the time.”

“I’ve never met anyone who changes as much as you do.”

Dexter snorted as if he found it absurd.

“Anyway, report it and let me know the results. If you need any help, I’ll be there.”

“Okay. Are you working tomorrow too?”

“No, tomorrow’s my day off. Call me whenever it’s convenient.”

“Yessir!”

Looking at Himena, who was grinning as if nothing had happened, Dexter rested his elbow on the armrest, propped his chin on his hand, looked outside, and thought:

‘What an easygoing personality.’