Escape From Dinosauria (Dinopocalypse Book 1) (9 page)

Instead of crouching down to grab the towel, she let annoyance creep into her voice. “Why not talk to him yourself?”

“My interests would be better served if you spoke to him. I was the former chief of security for Boss…” he stopped and corrected himself awkwardly, “…Mr. Tanaka. I know who Jordan is, and I know who you are. I also know why Jordan is here.”

Jamie sighed and ran her fingers through her damp hair. The man spoke carefully, and she appraised him in the room’s half-darkness. He was of Asian descent, and he wore a long gray robe—no, it wasn’t gray at all but a white robe that had become stained by dirt and dust. A slender object belted to his waist was just another reason for Jamie to think she had gone insane and this whole day was nothing more than a nightmare.

The guy was wearing a katana sword in a sheath.

She had paused for too long, and she suddenly became aware of her wet body and the towel lying at her feet.

“Please,” Kenshin said.

Jamie crouched and recovered the towel. She kept her eyes on him, and he had bowed his head and kept his eyes lowered, and it did not seem like a show of false modesty, but rather, a gesture that betrayed the kind of man he was. She wanted to trust him; there was a warm quality to his voice and a kindness in the way his lips quivered when he spoke.

“Get on with it,” Jamie said.

“My story is long and complex, and I know that you are clearly a person who does not wish to waste time, and I can respect that. Dmitri Kresevich is planning a coup. The terrorist attack at the airport was a staged event. He planned it himself. Those terrorists were made to believe that Kresevich was on their side, and he was going to betray Mr. Tanaka. Those terrorists are part of a united fundamentalist group that wishes to prevent the dinosaur cloning. But they are not terrorists. They are informed. They know the real game.”

“Real game? Let’s be serious. I’m not involved in any of this. I’m flying out of here first thing in the morning.”

It wasn’t a decision she had consciously made until this very moment. Money could buy you a trip anywhere, anytime, and it would just take one phone call. She was going to make that call. Whatever Jordan was working on, she couldn’t be part of it. Her life didn’t involve any complex political battles or dinosaur experiments. She needed time to think. She was trapped here.

Jamie felt her chest tighten, and it was difficult to breathe. She felt like someone had hit her directly in the solar plexus. The decision to leave had come to her suddenly and she knew it was the right call. She needed out. She needed out now.

“You can speak with Jordan,” Kenshin said. “He will listen to you. More people are going to die. Many people.”

She sighed again. “Listen, I think you have good intentions. You’re weird as fuck. Sneaking in here and talking like this. Is that even a real sword? Never mind. It doesn’t matter. Just get out.”

Kenshin bowed his head. “I know that today has been difficult—”

“You said that already. If you know anything about me, like you said, then you know I’m not a talker. I don’t play games. I’m a really simple person, buddy. Whatever crazy shit’s going on here is none of my business. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I would like to get dressed.”

The gentle smile touched Kenshin’s mouth again. He bowed. Manners were important to this guy, but he didn’t blink often. Jamie had made a habit of observing physical mannerisms to understand what she was up against; she didn’t quite understand why, but the weird and super-polite man hid an element of power. Despite how nice he was, he could probably take care of himself. He had once been the chief of security, and wasn’t that Kresevich’s job now? Kenshin had been fired, or maybe he had just gone completely nuts and decided to buy into conspiracy theories against his boss. Whatever. Jamie couldn’t waste anymore time or energy thinking about it.

“I can respect that,” Kenshin said. “If I may, I would ask you one question, one that I have been curious about since I began to learn about you. Your parents sent you to dance classes when you were a little girl, and you didn’t care for it, and then later you turned to capoeira. Is that correct?”

Jamie had enough. Now the guy was showing off. “Out.”

“I have never had the pleasure of meeting someone who could use that technique effectively.”

“Stick around, and you’ll have all the pleasure you could want.”

A door closed somewhere in the suite, and Jordan’s voice called out. “Jamie?”

“In here,” she announced.

Kenshin moved toward the window and slowly opened it. “I thank you for the opportunity, Ms. Rock. If fortune is on our side, we should meet again.”

He leapt out the window.

There was nothing out there but trees. With the window cracked, she could hear the terrible roar again. Were the windows soundproof?

Jamie walked to the window and stared out at the swaying treetops. A moment ago, she had thought Kenshin was like Spock. Now, he was more like Batman. Just like that, he was gone. Poof.

She heard the door open behind her but didn’t turn around. Jordan cleared his throat, unsure whether or not he should be modest and walk out or play the role of aggressor and pretend that it was perfectly natural for her to stand in front of an open window with nothing but a towel over her and her blonde hair a wet, frazzled mess. Jordan was an experienced man, and in his world, nice guys finished last unless nice guys were pretending to be nice guys.

“The whole resort’s locked down,” he said. “Nobody in or out of the hotel. I guess it has something to do with what happened at the airport. I tried to figure out what’s going on, but I’ve been stonewalled.”

“That’s nice.”

“Something wrong?”

“No.”

“Come to dinner with me. Get a nice meal out of this, at least.”

Should she tell him about Kenshin? There wasn’t anything Jordan could do about it. Whatever nonsense that katana-wielding maniac had spouted was none of her business. She wanted nothing to do with it. Whatever fight was about to happen wasn’t her fight.

Besides, she didn’t owe Jordan a damn thing.

“I’m leaving in the morning,” she said.

“Sure. And you want me to leave and chase you across the world? Make me choose between you and my work?”

“You already chose.”

“Right. Fair enough. I want you to come to dinner with me because I want one more night…just to be with you. I know how that sounds. I’m not going to try and pull any moves. I respect you more than that.”

“Well shit, thanks a lot.”

“I’m not standing here thinking you owe me anything, and I’m not going to beg for your forgiveness. But I want it. I don’t want to let you go. We could talk about all the reasons why you mean so much to me, but that’s not what you want to hear. You want and deserve truth. If you want me to beg you, I will. There’s no pride when it comes to how I feel about you. Come to dinner and meet Mr. Tanaka. Let me have a chance to win your trust back.”

“You mean
Boss
Tanaka?”

“It’s a Triad thing. Some kind of honorific. He’s got a reputation for being ruthless, with money and women. But he’s not actually connected to the Triads, or at least, there was nothing I could find.”

She thought for a moment. “You know what I want to hear, and you know what I deserve. You know what I need. For a man without any pride, you sure know a lot of bullshit. I’m getting dressed.”

He did know one thing: he knew when to get the hell out of her way. She heard the door close, and she already knew that she was going to dinner with him. He knew it too.

For some reason, she was curious. And hungry. If a good steak and a Budweiser were on the menu, the day wouldn’t be a total waste.

11

Wearing a dress was on her list of things she dreaded, but she made an exception tonight. She had worn a dress for many photo ops with Jordan, and tonight it felt right. Even though she had made up her mind to leave in the morning, a part of her hoped that she would find a way to just let it all go and forgive Jordan. Her mother always used to point out how stubborn she was, and things hadn’t changed much over the years.

Right. Like she would overcome all of her bad habits in one evening.

Maybe a beer or two would loosen her up?

No way.

She was leaving in the morning without Jordan.

Tonight, she wore a dress.

Jordan wore a gray suit with a red tie; expensive, name-brand attire with a hint of conservatism. Her dress was black and sleek, curve-hugging and split vertically down from her neckline to above her navel. She surprised herself by wearing something that was so revealing, but with her current mood, nothing should really surprise her. Maybe there was a chance she could forgive Jordan, after all. She even left her medal back at the hotel room, and she almost never went anywhere without it. But, given the generous cleavage the dress offered, her chest looked ridiculously shiny with the medal around her neck. So she hid it in the room, out of sight, in case any other strange men decided to sneak in through the window.

They gave each other the obligatory compliments and met with the big Russian, Dmitri Kresevich. At least his presence would help ease the awkward silence in an elevator with Jordan. But she couldn’t stop thinking about what Kenshin had said in her room.

“Ah, don’t we look lovely this evening,” the Russian said. Once again, she thought of Sean Connery, or maybe he had tried out for the role of a James Bond villain once upon a time and decided to remain in character for the rest of his life. “While I am escorting you to dinner with Mr. Tanaka, I wanted to take a moment to apologize to you again. I wanted to see how both of you are doing. I see Mr. Vance has a black eye, which is not so bad.”

“We’re fine, thank you,” Jordan said. “It was quite a harrowing experience. I’m surprised there hasn’t been mention of it in any press…anywhere.”

“Nothing on the internet?” Kresevich stroked his beard thoughtfully. “Well then, perhaps the information superhighway has a traffic jam.”

“I’ve sent emails, tweets, private messages, and no responses.”

“That is unfortunate. I see you have been inconvenienced, but I do not know who I would speak to. I am an old man with little experience in such things. Technology is my weakness.” The Russian laughed. “But that is okay. We have professionals on our staff, and I will make inquiries for you. It is my wish that you are comfortable.”

“Thank you. We’re actually going to head up to dinner without an escort. We appreciate the gesture. We feel safe.”

“I would insist, Mr. Vance, but I have been assured by Mr. Tanaka that you are important guests, and I should accommodate your wishes the best I can. I do have one request of Ms. Rock.” Like the gentleman he was, he turned toward her and bowed his head slightly. “This may sound rather presumptuous, but I have admired your work for a long time. Would you be so kind as to autograph a photo?”

She blushed. The moment had become awkward. “Yeah. Sure.”

One of Kresevich’s men came forward with a picture frame and slid out a photo. He handed the picture to her with a sharpie. In black and white, Jamie Rock was looking down at the championship belt that was being wrapped around her waist for the first time. A moment she could never forget.

Maybe it was all the emotional weight from the exhausting day crashing down upon her shoulders at once, but she looked away and choked back tears. Jordan rubbed her back reassuringly. She wanted to write something meaningful on the photo. Jamie had never been good at writing profound or emotional words. When it came to autographs, the best she could do was provide her scribble. A lot of pictures and napkins had been shoved in front of her face, but never this one.

“I was there,” Kresevich said.

Jamie scratched her signature into the photo with the sharpie and handed it back.

“Enjoy your evening,” Kresevich said.

Jamie looked into the big man’s face and found eyes that seemed able to remain filled with good humor no matter what tragedy fell upon him. He was a grizzly bear of a man who probably loved spending time with his grandchildren when he wasn’t killing assassins with his knives. For a chief of security, he gave in a little too easily to Jordan’s request to go alone, especially since they had been attacked earlier.

Kenshin had mentioned Kresevich had another agenda.

It wasn’t any of her concern. She just wanted to get off this island. If someone thought she had other responsibilities here, then that was their problem.

She endured the awkward elevator conversation. Jordan wanted to talk about the dinosaurs, and she half-listened, nodding her head when appropriate.

When the elevator doors dinged, Jamie felt a weight lift from her shoulders. Jordan had become oppressive by his very presence because she needed to be away from him. She needed to clear her head and she felt like a selfish asshole for going through with the dinner just to give him the silent treatment.

A massive restaurant with dark floors that reflected candlelight from candelabra neatly planted upon a long, rectangular table made of glass that had been assembled out of individual panes. On closer inspection, Jamie could see that the glass was in fact mirrored, and the walls of the huge room seemed to glisten with the dancing candlelight as if the flames were liquid. The table was decorated with heaps of fruit and vegetables on numerous plates. A vast window overlooked Dinosauria resort’s sprawl of attractions.