Twice as Hot (27 page)

Parton
shrugged. “Gunshots? Yelling? Cars crashing together?”

“There
was a shootout? In this neighborhood? Oh, man. What’s the world coming to? I
mean, nowhere is safe nowadays. I wish I could help you, Detective, but I
didn’t see anything.”

“It’s
officer.”

Rome
glanced at me. “Did you see anything, honey?”

“No.”

“Me,
either,” Sherridan said, shifting in her seat.

Parton
frowned and eyed our car. “How’d your car get so beat up in the back, the
windshield shattered? Why is half your steering wheel missing?”

“Fender-bender,”
Rome said, glancing irritably at his wristwatch. I wasn’t sure if he was
pretending now or if he had unintentionally unleashed a bit of his anger. “We
were rammed from behind and the impact caused all kinds of damage. Cars aren’t
as durable as they used to be.”

“Do
you have a case number?” he said easily, but he started writing in his notepad.
Taking our names? Making us suspects? Pretty soon, he’d probably be radioing
for backup.

“Don’t
remember it.”

“That’s
all right. Your name will be enough to find the report.”

I
nearly groaned. Should I freeze him? Most likely he’d thaw and go on to live a
long life—unfortunately. Or would dousing him in ice bring too much attention
to us? Were people watching us from inside their homes, peeking out through the
windows?

Either
way, I couldn’t allow him to detain us longer than he already had. We had a
flight to catch. An agent to…save? No telling with Cody.

“Were
you the one driving?” Parton continued. “Or was your girlfriend? I seem to
recall cuffing her and taking her in for some sort of vehicular violation. Your
name, though…We called you Foul Mouth James, or something like that.”

“Enough
of this.” In a motion so swift I saw only a blur, Rome reached out and grabbed
the officer by the neck, squeezing his carotid tight. First Parton turned red,
then blue, and then his knees gave out and he collapsed. He never once fought.

“A
quick lesson for you girls. Block the blood to your opponent’s brain, not their
airway. They go down faster and won’t struggle.” Rome let the man fall, not
even trying to catch him as he emerged from the car. “Stay here,” he said,
scooping Parton into his arms.

I
unbuckled, leaning out the window to watch him place Parton in the backseat of
his squad car. Moments passed, the job done, but Rome remained bent over in the
car. What was he doing?

Finally
he strode back to our car, settled inside and threw it into gear. He tossed the
notes Parton had written into a heap on the floorboard.

“What’d
you do to him?” I asked.

“Left
him naked for his buddies to find. You’re welcome. I also radioed that one of
the men from the shootout was found about a mile from here. Hopefully, all
available officers will head that way, allowing us an easy escape. Now let’s
get the hell out of here.”

His
plan worked. We made it out of the neighborhood with no other incidents. We
even reached the airstrip unimpeded.

Rome
parked and killed the engine, and everyone released a sigh of relief.

“Thank
you,” I told him. “For everything.”

Sherridan
emerged to get her bags from the trunk, and I attempted to do the same. But
Rome reached out and grabbed my arm, stopping me. His expression gave nothing
away.

“I
thought I’d lost you back there,” he said, and even his voice was devoid of
emotion.

I
couldn’t help but wonder how my loss would have affected him. “But you didn’t.”

“I’m
glad.” He released my arm only to reach up and caress my cheek. “And I’m sorry
about this.”

Tingling,
heating up, I gulped. “About what?” The question emerged breathless, needy.

“I
can’t let you fly. You nearly froze the car before I reached you and then again
while I was driving. If that were to happen in the plane…”

My
growing desire morphed into anger. “I’m not afraid of planes, so there won’t be
any chance of sudden sky-frost.”

“What
about turbulence? What if one of the engines blows?”

“What
if I grow bunny ears and a tail?”

His
eyes narrowed. “You’re not flying like this, and that’s that.”

Oh,
really? “You can’t leave me behind. I’m the agent in charge.” On paper, at
least. “I’m on this case whether you like it or not.”

“No,
I mean, I can’t let you fly awake. Your emotions are too volatile, which means
your powers are too volatile. So once again, I’m sorry.”

A
second later, something sharp dug into my shoulder. Having distracted me
successfully, he’d reached over with his free hand and injected me with
something. His night-night cocktail, I suspected. That was why he’d wanted me
and Sherridan to switch places, the diabolical bastard. He’d been planning it
all along.

“Sweet
dreams, Belle.”

“I
can’t…believe…” Lethargy beat through me, spreading and consuming me. Black
winked over my eyes and rocks settled over my lids, pressing them down.
“Payback will be hell,” I managed to gasp out before sinking into oblivion.

My
eyelids fluttered open ,
 my brain thrusting into gear as a haze of
voices filled my ears.
We’re lucky, folks. It’s gonna be cool and misty
today, with a high of sixty-one.

Perfect
weather for shopping. Right, Helen?

Laughter.

Any
weather’s perfect for shopping, Jane.

Weights
seemed to pin me into the—bed, I realized, the mattress soft and smooth against
my back. At least I wasn’t on cold, hard ground, chained and forgotten.

I
scanned myself through sleep-rimmed eyes. I was still wearing the same clothes
I’d left Georgia in: plain black shirt, jeans. My gaze lifted, taking in my
surroundings. The room was small but clean. The twin-size beds were pushed
against the wall and draped by soft, thick comforters of dusky rose. There were
a nightstand, desk, TV—ah, the conversation about the weather made sense
now—and a closet, but not much else. Hotel room, I realized.

With
the sun streaming in through a crack in the curtains, it was clearly a new day.
Which meant the plane ride had started and ended without my ever being aware.
Which meant someone had had to carry me in and out of the plane, then into this
room. My jaw clenched tightly. Rome, of course. The very person responsible for
my impromptu snooze. Where was that bastard? I was going to kill him.

As
if my thoughts had conjured him, he strode from the bathroom, Lexis and
Sherridan trailing at his heels. What had they been doing in there? And where
had everyone slept last night? None of them looked in my direction; they were
too busy, the women trying to get Rome’s attention, Rome ignoring them. They
stopped in front of the room’s only window. The drapes were drawn.

“So
what’s the long black tube thingy do?” Sherridan asked.

Rome
threw her an irritated scowl, then shifted his attention to a black duffel bag.
He dug inside, saying, “We’re across from Big Rocky’s corporate offices, and
this is going to help me keep an eye on everything. Now listen. We got here, we
were supposed to rest before kicking things off this morning, yet you talked
all damn night.”

That
answered one question. We’d all slept in this room. Maybe I wouldn’t kill him,
after all.

“You
promised you’d give me peace and quiet while I worked,” he continued.

“I
lied. So what are you looking for?”

He
sighed, defeated. “I want to know when Candace Bright arrives, how long she
stays and what direction she heads when she leaves. I want to know what she
drives, if she has guards and who they are. I want to know if Cody is now
supposedly working for her and if so, what he’s doing. I want to know why he
thought it was so important to get in there, rather than simply take Desert Gal
down.”

“And
before you ask how he can watch for all of this if he’s not here 24/7, he can
plug into the camera’s feed from his phone. Now give him some space to work,”
Lexis said, her irritation showing, as well.

“I
will if you will,” Sherridan retorted.

God,
I loved my friend.

The
two women shared a scowl before backing away from Rome and plopping onto the
bed I did not occupy to watch TV. Rome continued to work, hooking cords into
outlets, pounding on the keyboards and adjusting lenses. Every so often, he
inched the drapes farther apart and looked through an eyepiece. He would grunt
in satisfaction, utterly absorbed with his task.

I
couldn’t deny such concentration was sexy as hell. Once, not so long ago, all
of that focus had been directed on me. I knew how amazingly intense and erotic
it could be. The man hadn’t let me out of bed until I’d climaxed (no less than)
three times.

I
wanted to sigh dreamily, but didn’t. I wasn’t ready to announce my wakefulness.
Yet. What if Rome decided I couldn’t handle the situation and needed more rest?
My hands curled into fists as anger sparked through me.
Uh,
can
you
handle the situation? Continue down this anger-path and you’ll set the room on
fire.

True.
I forced my thoughts away from Rome and his actions. My crack team had already
erected a tripod and had several computer monitors set up at the desk. How
could I have missed all of that, drugged or not? How embarrassing, that I was
such a liability. Worse—depending on how you looked at it—pretty Lexis was an
asset.

Jealousy
summoned the earth, and I didn’t want to find myself buried in a mound of dirt,
so I forced my thoughts away from Lexis, too. Had there been any sign of Desert
Gal? Cody?

“When
are we going to see some action?” Sherridan grumbled, reminding me of Tanner.

Tanner.
My heart lurched in my chest. How was he? Hopefully awake and raising hell. Had
his doctor called me? Maybe there was a voice mail waiting for me.

“Soon,”
Lexis said. “I feel it. There’s something…menacing in the air.”

Rome
stopped and eyed her. “You don’t know what?”

She
shook her head, dark hair swinging over her lovely face. Her emerald eyes were
slightly dulled.

“Means
it’s going to happen to you,” Rome said. He pinched the bridge of his nose, a
sure sign of his exasperation. Good. I wasn’t the only one who antagonized him.
“Fucking great. One more worry is just fucking great.”

Yep,
was he in a mood.

“Maybe
not.” Lexis brushed a piece of lint from her shoulder. “The fact that I know
something bad is going to happen suggests that it can’t be me who’s the
target.”

More
danger. Wonderful. I wanted to curse as Rome had done.

“Belle,
do you think?” Sherridan’s hand fluttered over her heart.

“Belle
will be fine. I’ll make sure of it.” Rome straightened, features blank. “I’m
going to check the perimeter, place some cameras in the hall, lobby. That way,
if we’re found out, we’ll know someone’s coming for us before they reach us. I
want you to stay here, keep an eye on things.”

“I
will,” both women said in unison.

Rome
rolled his eyes. “You, too, Belle.”

So
much for my career as a spy. Gingerly I sat up and frowned over at him. My hair
fell around my shoulders in complete disarray. “You take the fun out of
everything.”

“Not
everything.” He crossed his arms over his chest and stared down at me. “You
gonna stay here and be a good girl like the others, Wrinkles?”

Wrinkles?
I gave myself another inspection. Sure enough, my clothing was a mass of
creases, and still stained from the car chase. No telling what kind of grass
and dirt smudges I had on my face.

All
three of them were staring at me. Lexis through narrowed eyes. Sherridan with a
relieved grin. Rome expectantly.

“Yeah,”
I grumbled. “I’ll be a good girl.”

He
nodded. “Good. Then you can remain awake.”

“Come
at me with another syringe, and I’ll add your balls to my trophy case,” I told
him with a sugar-sweet smile. Hey, being a good girl wasn’t the same as being a
doormat.

His
lips twitched. “I won’t be gone more than a few hours.”

He
made it sound like a few hours equaled a few minutes and nothing bad could
possibly happen, yet I had a vision of me, Lexis and Sherridan trying to kill
one another amid the endless ticking of the clock. We needed Rome to act as
referee.

“Shower
and change into the outfit I brought you,” he added.

One
of my brows lifted. “Outfit?”

“Outfit?”
Lexis parroted, paling.

He
nodded. “When I’m done with surveillance, the two of us will be attending a
party.”

Oh,
a party! What kind of party? And why? “Who put you in charge?” I said, barely
stopping myself from clapping with excitement.