Christmas Confidential (17 page)

Images raced through his mind at her choice of words.
Overnighter
. Long, sensual nights full of her, body and soul, came back as pictures to haunt him. With all the time in the world to explore every sensitive nook and cranny of each other’s body, they’d made the most of the number of nights allotted to them together before his wife had been ripped from his arms. He had a year’s worth of sensual pictures stored up of making love to her.

But those weren’t the images he needed in his head right now. What he most needed to remember was that the woman in front of him was obviously running from something. From him? Maybe. More likely from the person or persons who took shots at them.

Just what kind of people had she been involved with? Were they from her past? And who the heck was this woman, really? Did he want her to be his dead wife? Or would he rather not have to face that much deception from someone he’d been sure had loved him?

“Fine,” he said as he came around the car to stand beside the hatchback’s door.

She could have her overnighter, but he would keep a close eye on her. No telling what that bag held. Could be anything. A sexy nightgown. Or a .38 special.

* * *

With her duffel over her shoulder, Elana led Gage through the lot and into the hotel’s lobby, her mind racing the whole time. There had to be a way to lose him in the busy hotel.

At least now she was positive he hadn’t deliberately led her father or ex-fiancé to her hiding spot. He’d been in the line of fire the same as her. It still seemed too highly coincidental that he’d found her by accident. But she didn’t have time to reason out an answer to that problem.

When they entered the hotel’s main lobby area, she looked around, desperate for some way out.
He
had no idea what kind of menace they were up against. But
she
did. The only way to save him was to run again.

And leave him far behind. That’s why she’d done everything. All of it. And why she would keep on trying to confuse the issue, making him think he’d brought the trouble with him.

Dear God, why hadn’t her disappearance worked the first time? Why wasn’t Gage safe and sound at home in Texas with his family? She wanted to wring his neck. Or kiss him senseless. Either. Both.

Forcing the useless regrets out of her mind so she could concentrate on a plan, Elana narrowed her gaze on every corner of the wide-open lobby. Straight ahead lay the main registration desk and offices, flanked by the concierge and bellman’s desk. To the left was a narrow corridor that led to the elevator bank, the public phones and the back entrance to the lobby. To the right was the wide-open space containing a small news and notion store along with the large, casual-dining restaurant, the only place to eat in the hotel.

As she watched, more and more people arrived at the restaurant desk, waiting to be seated for breakfast. The place began to swarm with people. She made a mental note not to be caught out in the open near those crowds. No, the other, more quiet and isolated way would be a better route for escape.

Think,
she chided herself. How was she going to lose Gage and not be seen by their stalkers? They couldn’t get close enough to identify him. She’d been so careful over the years to keep him out of her past problems. And she intended to keep things that way.

Her best chance for disappearing would be while he retrieved his things from the hotel office’s safe. If she had enough time, she could take an elevator to an upper floor before he knew which direction she’d gone. Then after a good period of time, she’d sneak back down via the stairs and slip outside by the employee entrance. She’d be able to walk home from here. Brendan would help.

Good plan. Or as good as she was likely to get in the next few minutes. She set her mind on the idea.

Her senses went on hyper-alert as Gage dragged her along with him across the lobby toward the main desk. The skin prickled at the back of her neck.

“This may not be such a good idea,” she whispered to him as they approached one of the office managers. “It’s too public here, to my mind.”

“We’re only going to take a few moments. Keep still.”

The office manager asked how he could help. When Gage told him, Elana prepared to make a run for the elevators.

“I’ll wait for you here, then,” she said with a phony smile plastered in place.

“Oh, no, you don’t.” Gage grabbed her hand and pulled her close to his body. Close enough to feel the warmth of him right through his winter clothes. “Stick with me. We’ll be done and on our way soon enough.”

There went her terrific plan of escape. Now what? She decided to wait and stay alert.

They followed the manager to the hotel’s bank of safety deposit boxes. The manager left them alone and she fidgeted while Gage went through the motions of cleaning out his box.

When they came back out into the main lobby, her whole body trembled with the sure knowledge that trouble stalked them—close by. “What now?”

“We’ll head out the back entrance.” Gage turned toward the elevators while she tried to make herself invisible by hiding behind his broad shoulders.

Suddenly, he halted his steps.

“What’s the matter?”

“It’s them. Coming in the same way we did. Stay behind me.”

Elana wholeheartedly agreed with him. She was the one they were after. Maybe the two of them could still get out of the hotel without being overtaken.

“Uh-oh.” Gage swung around, wrapping an arm around her waist as he went. “They spotted us and they’re headed in our direction. We have to find another way.”

“But...” They’d recognized him, too? How?

He didn’t stop to explain but made a direct line toward the busy restaurant, moving so fast his body carried her along with his momentum.

The wrong way. “But all these people,” she tried to say.

“Stick with me.” He barged in front of the long line of customers and met with a lot of grumbled complaints. The hostess tried to stop him from entering the restaurant, but he dashed around her.

“We’re meeting someone,” he called over his shoulder while dancing through the busy tables.

Checking behind them as they ran, she saw a couple of big, dark men in heavy suits trying to follow in their wake through the irritated crowds. Those guys definitely had the look of the Russian mob about them. A chill went up her spine.

“We’re in trouble.” She tried to make him listen but he was heading for the back of the restaurant as fast as he could go. “Gage, wait. We need to call the police. We’re trapped.”

Next thing she knew, he burst through the door to the kitchen and ran right into a waitress carrying two armloads of trays. Plates, food, glasses and water crashed around them with a dreadful clamor. Elana nearly slipped on the mess, but Gage never slowed down, still dragging her with him.

“This way.” He pushed past the cooks working at their stations.

People called after them. Everyone was yelling. But Gage still never slowed. He shoved one guy to the floor who’d tried to stop them.

“Sorry,” he mumbled as he left the poor man in their dust.

All of a sudden they crashed through another door and found themselves in the open air on a loading dock. To the left was a ramp to the ground.

“Let’s go.” Gage found the right door and in moments they were blessedly in the parking lot, running full-out.

He pulled a key fob from his pants pocket and beeped opened the doors to a black SUV on the fly. “Get in!”

Buckling in while he started the engine and hit the gas, she turned to look behind them. Just as they were about to leave the parking lot, the two men who’d been chasing them came out on the dock and pointed in their direction.

Busted
. “They’ve seen us.”

“Just keep your head down. They still have to catch us.”

But she knew these men. Or ones like them. And knew that they would never stop. They would catch up. Sooner or later.

Chapter 4

A
fter doubling back on their tracks several times to be sure no one was following, Gage drove them to one of the picturesque ski resort hotels a few miles north in the mountains. Tired and hungry and in no mood to deal with more of her lies, he figured Elana—or whoever she was—would talk to him, tell him why she had no past and who was chasing her, if only they could spend a few hours in quiet so he could gain her trust.

The first resort he came to seemed new but made to look like one of the Sierras’ oldest lodge hotels. With four multi-levels and a stone facade, the place was too kitschy for his taste, but it would do for what he needed.

He pulled into the hotel’s covered lot and parked. “We’re going in. Bring your duffel.”

She stared over at him. “I’m not staying with you. Let me go. Perhaps if we separate, we’ll have a better chance of escape.”

The fury suddenly erupted inside him like a volcano, leaving him incapable of speech. Silently repeating his vow to keep his anger under control, he ripped the key from the ignition and stepped out of the SUV.

In two seconds he’d flung her door open and had her by the arm. “Get out.” He knew his voice was too low, too full of danger, but he couldn’t help it. “We’ve come this far. You owe me—” he bit off the anger, tried to calm down “—explanations. You will at least tell me why those men are after you.”

She glared at him but swung her feet out of the SUV and slid to the ground. “I don’t know you. And I don’t owe you any explanations.”

“Oh, yes, you do. Those men are after me, too, now.” He jerked her close, made sure he picked up her overnighter and headed to registration.

But as he walked them toward the hotel lobby, the earthy scent coming from her body took his imagination on a trip down memory lane. Pictures of his fingers stroking along the sensitive skin of Alicia’s lush breasts bombarded his mind, leaving him breathless. The echoed feel of her long legs entwined around his waist or his palms cupping her rounded bottom seemed so real that his fingers twitched and his heart pounded.

“Are you okay?” Her voice, and the Irish tinge behind it, woke him up to the idea that he was still confused about who he was saving.

“Fine. Just fine.” Was this the woman he’d spent endless nights making love to?

Not possible. But then who was she?

He marched them through the nearly empty lobby, with its pretentious restaurant, spa and boutique stores, toward the registration desk. She struggled to stay behind when he approached the man on duty behind the fake stone desk.

“Oh, no, you don’t,” he growled in her ear. “We’re in this together.”

“Yes, sir. Do you need a room?” The clerk had a smile plastered on his face that was as phony as the potted plant on the counter.

“My wife and I will only be staying the night.”

Elana’s muffled complaint to his remarks died in her throat. Good thing. He would’ve hated having to explain to the complete stranger behind the desk why he’d all but kidnapped her.

“You’re in luck, sir. We’ve had one cancellation for a king room this evening. There’s a snowboard competition being held on the slopes this week and we’re booked solid. Now, if you wanted to stay over until Christmas Eve...”

“No need. One night will do it.”

It took a few moments for the clerk to sign them in and turn over the card keys. As they left the desk, Elana held out her hand.

“What?”

“A key. The clerk gave you two. One of them is for me.”

“Forget it.” Gage dragged her to the elevator and pushed the up button. “You’re not leaving my sight.”

Folding her arms over her chest, she pouted as they rode the elevator to the third floor. His emotions kept running the gamut from simmering lust to instant fury. He couldn’t find balance.

With her in tow, he stormed the empty upstairs hallway to their room in utter silence. One word from her and he would’ve exploded. Or he would have taken her right here in the hall. But she seemed to know that and stayed quiet.

Once inside their room, he threw her duffel on the enormous bed and locked the door behind them. “Stay put.” He shucked his hat and coat. “I’ll check the bathroom.”

Keeping one eye on her as she paced the large room, he double-checked the space to be sure they were alone. After he was satisfied, he came back and settled into a chair at the small, round table by the window.

“Sit,” he ordered.

Glaring at him, she remained standing.

Forcing her to do as he wished would get him nowhere. He wanted her to trust him so they could talk honestly.

“Are you hungry?”

She pressed her lips together and set her jaw.

“Well, I am. How about I order us some sandwiches? Or maybe a pizza?”

Without uttering a word, she turned and walked across the room to stare out the window.

Shrugging, he kept talking to her while he picked up the house phone to place an order. “I get really hungry for pizza. We don’t have any pizza joints in the small town where I come from. Or maybe you remember that?”

He watched her back stiffen, but she made no comment. It had been worth a shot. Not that he really thought this was Alicia. Not really. It couldn’t be.

Still, any kind of direct assault probably wasn’t the way to go about making her trust him enough for the truth. This situation called for a little finesse.

He got lucky. The hotel’s restaurant had ten-minute pizza delivery on the menu. He ordered a large pepperoni pizza and sodas. He might’ve liked a beer but figured both of them needed to keep their heads today.

“Please sit down.” He wasn’t above pleading. “I really need your help so we can devise a plan to get out of this mess.”

It was easy to visualize her weakening resolve just by the slump of her body. Finally, she removed her coat and placed it on the back of a chair, then sat across from him. But she said not one word the whole time.

Racking his brain for some way to break the tension and begin to develop trust, the start of an idea just popped out of his mouth. “You don’t have a phone with you, do you?”

She shook her head and folded her hands on the table.

“I bet you think cell phones are too easy to hack, right?”