Twice as Hot (32 page)

“Damn
it, this entire night was a waste.”

“No,
it wasn’t. While you were striking out with Blondie, I found out Cody is
supposedly dating Desert Gal. But using his real name. Why would he do that?
Anyway, she noticed him at work and decided she liked what she saw. Oh, and
Candace Bright claims Desert Gal is her sister.”

Rome’s
attention whipped back to me. “How do you know all that? From the men you were
talking to? The men you should have sent packing?”

I
almost smiled. He wore jealousy so beautifully. “That’s right. Those men.
You’re not the only one who can flirt for information.”

His
eyes narrowed but he ignored the gibe. “When an agent goes undercover as
himself, he
wants
his targets to know who he is so he can pretend to
switch sides.”

Ah.
Excellent strategy. As commander, I’d take full credit.

“Learn
anything else?” he asked.

“Just
that I’m better at extracting information than you are.”

Gradually,
his hard features softened. “Funny.”

“And
yet true. Those guys want to meet with me. Alone. They say they can help me.”

“You’re
not meeting them alone.”

“Duh.”

A
sigh. “What am I going to do with you?”

Maybe
it was the alcohol, but I heard myself say, “I can think of one thing.”

Rome’s
nostrils flared, his pupils dilated. But rather than lean over and kiss me, he
pushed to his feet, dragging me with him. “Trying to seduce me? Well, your
timing sucks, you know that? I’m going to have you. I’ve warned you already.
But once I’ve got you, neither of us will be getting out of bed for a long,
long time. Which means we have to wait until this case is closed. So let’s
mingle like we came here to do and see if we can learn anything else.”

“Something’s
wrong ,”
 Rome
said a few hours later as he parked at the convenience store across the street
from our hotel. He stared over at the bustling parking lot, expression
absorbed, body tense.

My
gaze roved the cars, the people walking about, but I saw nothing out of the
ordinary. “What?”

“Don’t
know. Stay here and guard the car. I’ve got equipment in here that I don’t want
in the wrong hands.”

I
wasn’t given a chance to reply. He was out of the car and a shadow of the night
before I could get out a single word. Damn it! I could help him. I could
(possibly) save him—if necessary. Instead, he’d left me here. Alone. Again.

Damn
him,
actually. I was the only one who’d learned anything at the club.
Mingling after the Bible brothers left had done us no good. We hadn’t been
ignored, but we hadn’t met anyone who’d told us anything relevant, either.

So
badly I wanted to get out of the car and stomp after him. But I didn’t know
what was going on, what I’d walk into or if I’d just place myself in the line
of fire and hinder Rome. Besides, the car apparently needed guarding. I
couldn’t see any of the equipment Rome had mentioned, but I stayed put. If he
ever pulled this shit again, though…I banged a fist into the dash, watching the
night, waiting.

Half
an hour later, I was on edge, pissed and looking to destroy someone. How many
times in one night did Rome think he could abandon me without repercussion? I
had a feeling the tequila still flowing through my blood was the only thing
that kept me from shooting actual flames.

Finally,
Rome reentered the car. He had a new cut on his cheek, the blood already
drying. My anger instantly died, concern taking its place.

“Are
you okay?”

As
usual, he ignored my question. “There were armed men all over the hotel, but I
took care of them. They belonged to Desert Gal. She knows we’re here, and that
we’re on her trail. Let’s go. We don’t have much time before reinforcements
arrive.” He got out of the car without another word.

My
bones creaked as I emerged. The night air was cool against my exposed skin, and
I breathed deeply. “Don’t we need to take your precious equipment with us? And
are. You. Okay?”

His
gaze met mine for the briefest of seconds. “I’m fine. When we reach the room,
stay out of the bathroom.”

He’d
already gone to the room? Of course he had, I thought a moment later. Mr.
Protective wouldn’t want me even to peek inside without knowing it was safe.
Apparently some things never changed. “Lexis and Sherridan are all right, yes?”
They would have seen the bad guys coming and hidden.

Silent,
Rome leaped into motion and I raced behind him, staying close.

“Well?”
I insisted, my heart drumming loudly. “Don’t make me ask again. Already I feel
like I’m using tweezers to pull information from you that you should be
offering freely.”

Rome’s
movements didn’t falter. “I didn’t want to tell you until we were inside, so
you wouldn’t break down and draw attention to us.”

“Thanks
for the vote of confidence.” Hopefully the sarcastically growled statement hid
my growing fear and anger.

“Fine.
You want information? I’ll give you information. They’ve been taken.” Ominous
words said in a flat tone.

I
stumbled as the knowledge seeped into my brain, righted myself and grabbed on
to Rome’s belt buckle to keep him within reach. His pace never slowed, and I
had to run to keep up. “Are they…are they—” I couldn’t force myself to say it.

“They’re
valuable.” He ushered me out of the night and over to a side door of the
building. Hinges creaked as he opened it. “Too valuable to dispose of. They’ll
be fine. Cody wouldn’t have let it happen otherwise.”

“Cody?
Cody! I’m starting to lose faith in him, Rome.” The words lashed from me,
blending with my pounding steps as we raced down a narrow, empty hallway.

“He
had to prove himself, Belle. How else was he going to gain Desert Gal’s trust?
But the thing is, Lexis and Sherridan didn’t know the angle he was working.
They wouldn’t have willingly gone with him. Which means they would have fought
him.”

“During
that fight, he should have found a way to let them escape yet still seem
trustworthy.” Right?

But
he hadn’t. Why?

First
time I’d met Cody, he’d been holding a gun on Rome and me. He hadn’t shot us,
had only been trying to take us in, but I’d sensed his determination to do whatever
was necessary to get what he wanted.

What
if what he now wanted wasn’t good for my team?

We
reached another doorway. Rome sprang through it, weapon raised, ready, but
there was no one inside the stairwell. “Keep an eye trained behind me.”

Another
order, but again I obeyed, wanting to reach the room as quickly as possible.
Up, up we climbed. Only one person passed us, a drunk male who nearly peed his
pants when Rome pushed him against the wall and frisked him.

By
the time we reached our room, I had a good ice-sweat worked up, making my
motions slow and sluggish. I was scared, so scared for my friend and even for
Lexis—and only growing more so as I surveyed the damage. Clearly, there’d been
a struggle. The sheets were torn from the bed, there was a blood smear on the
phone, which hung useless from its receiver, and the lamps were overturned.

Rome
wore a mask of fury as he stalked through the room. He stopped in front of the
desk, his body as tense as a rubber band, ready to snap. “Look around. See what’s
missing. Make me a list.” Unlike his face, his voice was calm, unemotional.
“And like I said, stay out of the bathroom.”

Okay,
so what was in the bathroom? Gulping, afraid to look, I bent down and began
sorting through the multihued sea of clothing scattered across the floor. My
hands were shaking, my chest constricting. “Just so you know, we left the club.
You can stop with the commando bullshit.”

He
uttered a weary sigh. “Sorry. I’ve never really worked for you. That I
remember,” he quickly added. “I don’t know what you can do, what you can’t, how
you operate.”

“All
you need to know is that I can help. Anyway, apology accepted,” I added with
barely a pause. I would have liked to hear a little more groveling, but now was
hardly the time.

There
was a slight twitching of his lips. “You hold your own pretty well. I can see
why John likes you.”

A
compliment? For me?
Do not act like a gooey lovebird. Get back to work.
“Maybe we’re wrong. Maybe the girls did escape. Maybe, like I first thought,
they’re hiding, waiting for us. A messy room doesn’t equate with kidnapping.”

“You’re
right.” Rome kept his back to me as he tossed a photo in my direction. “But
this does.”

The
small square landed with a whoosh in front of me, and I had to flip it over to
see the actual snapshot. A gasp escaped me. There they were, Sherridan and
Lexis lying on the bed, bound and gagged. “Are they—”

“Like
I told you, they’ll be fine.”
For now
echoed unsaid between us. “Cody
took the picture. I’m sure of it. The man loves his Polaroids.”

That,
I knew firsthand. “A Polaroid doesn’t prove anything. And why didn’t you show
this to me sooner?”

“Just
found it. And look at the marks on the wall.”

My
eyes zeroed in on the wall in question and sure enough, there were tiny white
circles gleaming from the shadows. Circles that could be sparks. Sparks an
electrophile might emit. “So Cody is indeed dating Desert Gal and gave our team
to her to prove his affection,” I whispered. “What if he forgets this is a
mission and really starts to fall for her? Sometimes playing pretend leads to
real feelings. What if—”

“That’s
not going to happen. Like I said, he’ll make sure they’re safe. He clearly
thought this was the best and fastest course of action.” Every word Rome
uttered was laced with more fury. “But damn it, I would have liked to warn the
girls. They were probably scared, confused. I should have checked my fucking
phone!” He slammed his fist into the wall, leaving a hole. Plumes of plaster
dusted the area, forming a white cloud around him.

I
must have aspirated some of that plaster into my lungs, because there was a
tickle in the back of my throat. I coughed as I stuffed the photograph in my
bra for safekeeping.

Finally
Rome turned to me. Shame coated his beautiful features, all the more potent
because it was mixed with fury and helplessness, the latter of which I’d never
seen from him before.

“Sorry
for the outburst,” he muttered.

“Don’t
worry about it.” I lifted one of the shirts from the floor and clutched it to
my chest. The material was white, cotton and baggy. Sherridan’s pj’s. Tears
filled my eyes. “And don’t blame yourself. You’re only one man. You can’t do
everything.”

“Do
you blame me?”

“No!
You know better.”

“Do
I?” He sounded sad now, lost. But he scrubbed a hand down his face, seemingly
washing away the vulnerability. “I should have told them what to do if this
sort of situation arose.”

I
hated seeing Rome like this, so torn up inside. It compounded
my
emotions, made them all the more volatile. “Lexis has worked in the field
before. Besides, she’s a powerful psychic,” I reminded him. “She had that
earlier sense of foreboding. She would have planned for something. And
Sherridan may not be a trained agent, but she’s a fighter. No one can keep her
down.”

“You’re
right. I know you’re right. That doesn’t make it any less frustrating, though.”

We
finished our search of the room in silence. And yes, I admit it. I finally
worked up the courage to peek in the bathroom—and promptly wished to God I
hadn’t.

There
was a man in our bathtub. A man I didn’t recognize, but nonetheless felt sick
about seeing so still. So…dead. He’d been completely drained of water. His
cheekbones were sunken, his skin papery thin, yellowish and flaking.

What
a sad, terrible way to die. And completely unnecessary since I could only surmise
Desert Bitch had left him for us to find as a warning.
Cross me, and this is
what will happen to your friends, to you.

My
hands clenched at my sides. “Did you tell Cody where we were staying?” I asked
Rome. Knowing Rome, he’d feel responsible for this death, as well, if he had.

“No.
I didn’t tell him.”

Good.
But did that mean Cody had had to dig for the information or…A terrifying
prospect hit me. What if there was a leak at PSI? What if that’s how he’d found
out?

“Anything
missing?” Rome asked, jerking me from my musings.

Ponder
it later. “Just their purses, which have their IDs, makeup most likely, and
business cards for Sherridan.” She was a Realtor. Not that she’d sold any
houses lately. She’d been spending too much time in her Happy Place, dreaming
of superpowers. Dreams that had brought her here.
Who are you kidding?
You
brought her here. You should have protected her, not enabled her
misguided fantasy.
“I don’t know exactly what clothing they brought, so I’m
not sure if any of it was taken. Their toiletries are here, though.”