“You wereneverthat,” she snaps. “How could you think any of us felt that way?”
“Shit. How did I never see it?” My voice isn’t much above a whisper as the realization takes hold and I stop, my back to her, every single interaction I had with Gil after he joined the CIA now suspect.
“See what?” Dani’s close enough for me to feel her warmth in the chill of the room’s air conditioning, but she doesn’t touch me. Just waits for me to make the next move.
“Gil. He…” I shake my head. I don’t want to do this to her, but it’s either this or let her think she did something—anything—wrong all those years ago to make me not want her.
I turn to face her, my hands on her waist. I don’t know if I’m holding her for my benefit or hers. “I didn’t show up that night because Gil called me. He said he’d talked to you and you were sorry you ever got me involved. That you should have kept your problems ‘in the family.’”
Dani’s brows shoot up, then she sucks her lower lip between her teeth and closes her eyes. “I never said that. I never even talked to him.” Her body shudders, and the sound that escapes is almost a sob. “I wanted you. Needed you. And when you didn’t show up, I thought you didn’t want me.”
“I know, baby. I knownow. And I’m…fuck. I was an idiot.” Wrapping my arms around her, I hold her close and breathe in the scent of her hair. “I loved you, Dani. That night…walking away from you…that was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do, and the biggest regret of my life. And if I had it to do all over again, I never would have let you go.”
Dani’s voice is muffled against my shirt, but every one of her words hits me right in the heart. “So fix it.”
“What?” Drawing back, I smooth my hand over her hair, relishing the way the silky strands feel between my fingers. We shouldn’t be doing this now.
“Fix. It.” Dani offers me a weak smile. “We’re both here. Now.”
I cup her cheek. “Dani, when we fix this—and it will be when, not if—we’re going to be safe. Every moment we spend this close is a moment I’m not at the top of my game. A moment I could be distracted. A moment that could get one of us killed. I’d never forgive myself if I couldn’t protect you.”
Dani swallows hard and takes one step away. Then another, and crosses her arms over her chest. “Promise me you won’t pull another disappearing act when we’re back in the States.”
“I won’t. I promise.”
* * *
One thingyou master both in the army and the CIA? How to fall asleep in seconds. Wherever you are. Because even a few minutes of sleep can save your life. What I wouldn’t give for all the tricks I learned back then to work now.
Two hours of staring at the ceiling is enough, and I head to my mini-fridge for a bottle of water. After I crack the seal, I check on Dani through the crack in the adjoining doors. I want to be next to her. Sleeping soundly after long hours spent making up for lost time.
But when she got into bed and patted the mattress next to her, I had to turn her down. “When we spend the night together, Danisaur, it’s going to be just the two of us. Safe. Alone. For as long as we need for…everything.”
And now, she’s curled on her side, holding a pillow to her chest. Her skimpy tank leaves little to the imagination, and those tiny pink shorts? Fuck. They were almost enough to make me lose my resolve right then and there.
I can’t keep watching her sleep like a creepy stalker. And the stress of the day—and of the phone call I had with Ford a few hours ago—are starting to take their toll. Setting the bottle down on the nightstand next to my gun, I climb into bed and stretch out on my back.
Just five more hours. At 7:00 a.m., we can find a clean car and start driving. Two hours later, we’ll be at the General Bartolomé Salom airport, where Dax managed to wrangle us a flight to Belize. Once we’re there, we should be safe enough to take a commercial flight back to Boston.
My lids are too heavy to keep open, and as I fade into sleep, my sluggish mind sets off warning bells I can’t ignore, but also can’t seem to muster enough energy to care about.
* * *
A high-pitched sound rouses me,and I struggle to open my eyes. Something’s wrong. I roll over, my muscles sluggish. The clock on the nightstand reads 3:04 a.m. I’ve only been asleep for forty-five minutes, and I can’t fully wake up. Another sound—this one I recognize as Dani whimpering—and I try to stand, but my legs catch in the sheets. I hit the ground and yank open the nightstand drawer to reach for my emergency medical kit.
My fingers are slow and unwieldy, but I manage to extract the syringe of adrenaline and fumble for the cap. It lands silently on the carpet, and I jab the needle deep into my outer thigh.
Within seconds, my heart rate spikes, and sweat prickles the back of my neck. But my thoughts start to clear, then ping wildly.
The water. Dani and I both had a bottle earlier, but those came from the store. Not the fridge. When we got back…I checked the doors. I didn’t check the windows. Fuck. There’s only one reason to drug me. To get to her.
Pulling my gun from the holster, I lurch to my feet. The room tilts on its axis, but I will it to stop and head for Dani. A thud from beyond the adjoining door is followed by a muffled cry, then a muttered oath—in a male voice.
The part of me that’s falling in love with her wants to tell her I’m coming. The trained assassin? He doesn’t make a sound. Creeping forward, I let out a controlled breath, trying to slow my heartbeat. Adrenaline doesn’t make for steady hands, but it’s better than being too drug-addled to see straight. My bare foot touches the cracked door, and I nudge it open another inch.
Fuck. In the slight glow from the desk lamp, two men flank Dani’s bed, one of them holding a rag over her mouth as she struggles not to breathe. Her lids are heavy, despite the panic flooding her eyes.
Training takes over. I brace my shoulder against the wall and fire. Four shots. Head, center mass, head, center mass, and both of the men collapse without a sound. Dani manages to shove the rag away, but when she tries to push the sheet off of her body, her eyes roll back in her head and she moans quietly.
