Page 69 of Every Last Breath

Cole gripped her, and she realized she was shivering. He pried the helmet from her rigid fingers. “I’ve got you.”

At those tender words, something inside her snapped, and she jerked away. “No. You don’t.” A fierce whisper. “You let me go. You let me grieve. You let me fall.”

“Maddox.” The shock on his face would’ve twisted her soul in knots if the icy anger sweeping through her hadn’t been doing such good work numbing her. “I’m sorry.”

Such feeble words meant nothing, changed nothing between them.

She shrugged. “It doesn’t matter. I’ve got a job to do.”

Squaring her shoulders, she zipped up her steely composure. Head in the game. Zero tolerance for one sloppy drop of maudlin mush.

She met his gaze and didn’t flinch at the grief in his eyes. “We need to find Novak.” Her tone was pure business.

His face strained with messy emotion, but he gave a firm nod. “Do you have a picture of him to show the hotel staff?”

“Harper loaded our phones with one.”

Cole glanced around. “Why do you think he chose this hotel?”

The ten-million-dollar question. A dozen similar hotels would put him in walking distance to the U.S. Capitol, the White House, museums, but he’d chosen this one.

“Let’s go try to find out.”

A few long strides brought him to her side.

Despite how crazy he made her, having a lethal, capable man such as Cole on her team was a definite plus. He’d give his all, which equated to more in one day than some operatives mustered in their careers.

They headed up the steps toward the entrance shaded beneath a crimson awning. As they reached the door, he cupped her elbow, stopping her. “It’s possible he’s already released smallpox-M inside and could be on his way out of the country.”

They could be walking into a hot zone. She’d prefer a bullet if given a choice between the two. After Novak escaped from the yacht, he could’ve gone anywhere, but chose DC. There were other hotels far closer to the television station where the Ghost had landed. And instead of deploying it right away at the station or a nearby hotel, he’d taken a cab thirty minutes across town. Novak had chosen this hotel for another reason.

“I’ve got to take the chance. This is our only solid lead. You’ve risked too much already—you don’t have to come in. I wouldn’t hold it against you if you waited out here. No one would.” Other than Castle.

“Where you go, I go. Whatever is waiting inside, we face it together.”

Cole was doing a number on her, testing her in new ways.

Damn it. One little sloppy drop of warmth slipped through. Just one.

She had to hunt an assassin in possession of a lethal weapon. She needed to stay hard. Be that hunter and stalk her prey.

Cole opened the door, leading the way inside. They strode across the marble floor into the understated grandeur of the quaintly elegant lobby. It left her as awestruck as the first time.

A couple lounged on a crocodile leather sofa in front of a cold stone fireplace. A woman carrying shopping bags strolled toward the elevators beneath opulent, emerald-green crystal chandeliers. Staff chatted as they headed down a walkway along a wall of mirrored glass.

The hotel had almost two hundred rooms. The Ghost could be in any one of them. Or worse, if he wasn’t here, then anywhere in the city.

Maddox approached the front desk, still scanning the lobby. Cole stuck to her side.

A young woman greeted them with a cordial smile. “Hello, how can I help you?”

“Is there anyone available who worked the front desk last night—between eleven and midnight?” Maddox asked.

The woman shook her head. “No, sorry. We did our shift change at six this morning. Is there something I can help you with?”

Unease whispered down Maddox’s spine. She glanced over her shoulder. Two men in suits strode through the lobby, griping about a business merger. The couple on the sofa cuddled, oblivious.

She pulled out her phone and brought up the picture of Novak. “Have you seen this man? He’s the subject of an ongoing investigation. It’s critical we find him.”