Crash and Burn (15 page)

“Why are we stopping here? This is a rubbish tip.”

“Get your bags. We’re dumping them.”

“Dumping them? Whatever for?”

“Someone knew I was meeting Will. I can’t take a chance that there’s some sort of tracking or listening device hidden in any of our gear. We’ll dump it all here, including the phones. I’ll keep the money and we can replace anything we need.”

“So you think that’s how they keep finding us,” said Beth, as she handed Daniel the bags to throw over the wall.

“I don’t know, but I can’t afford to take the chance.”

“So where to now?”

Daniel opened Beth’s door for her. “Let’s go shopping.”

* * * *

The shopping mall was crowded, making it easy for them to blend in with the masses. Loaded up with purchases, they’d changed clothes, including their underwear and shoes, discarding what they’d been wearing. Daniel led them to an electronics shop where they replaced the laptop and bought a couple of prepaid mobile phones. Beth followed Daniel in a daze, still not quite able to take in the fact that Will had been killed. With that public servant on the train and the train driver, that made three people dead. The whole thing was so surreal. This couldn’t be happening to her—ordinary Beth Hamilton, receptionist and computer student. It was inconceivable that someone wished her dead. The worst part was not knowing who—never knowing if the person behind her was one of those trying to kill her. Never knowing when they would strike.

Daniel walked beside her with such confidence. He appeared relaxed as he pushed the supermarket trolley he’d commandeered to carry the load of articles they’d bought. They could be any other couple out enjoying shopping together.
How does he do it? How does he live with the constant danger that comes with his choice of job? Oh yes, he doesn’t do it anymore. He has a desk job now.

Now Beth understood a little of why he’d left the field. It must’ve been so tough living with all that stress on a daily basis. She’d only experienced it for a few days. She couldn’t imagine living with it day in and day out.

Daniel’s eyes lit up as he stopped and stared at something in the distance.

“Cool. I think it’s time for a little indulgence, don’t you?”

“Indulgence?”

He laughed as they pulled up to an ice cream vendor.

“Chocolate chip? Or are you a pistachio fan like me?”

“Pistachio? Oh, ice cream. Yes, I love pistachio. Double scoop, waffle cone, thanks.”

Daniel chuckled again. “Coming right up. Take a seat. Watch the trolley and I’ll be right back.”

“So where to now?” asked Beth, when Daniel returned a few minutes later with their ice cream. “I thought we were heading to the Conference? At least, that’s what you’d told Kevin.”

Beth watched as Daniel licked a small drizzle of ice cream from his fingers. Sudden heat surged through her as she zeroed in on his lips, remembering the feel of them on her own. His eyes met hers as he stopped mid-lick then brought his mouth down and sucked on his fingertips one by one, his eyes never leaving hers. She felt a tingle between her legs and moisture in her panties as she imagined him doing things to her in the same slow rhythm as his finger, moving in and out of his mouth.
Oh God!

Not now, don’t think about it now
. She bowed her flushed face, staring at her own fingers and wiped them roughly with a napkin.

Daniel hesitated, winking at her before swallowing the last of the cone. He reached behind him and threw his crumpled napkin in the rubbish bin. When he turned back, he was all business again. “For the time being, we need a place to crash and get on with my computer search. There has to be something we’re missing. Someone knew where we were in Canberra and I’m not sure how, but at least now we’re clean of possible bugs and if I’m right, we’re safe for the time being.”

How does he do that? He can turn the heat on and off like a light switch
. She needed a minute to cool down so she screwed up her paper towel into a tight ball and stood to walk over to the bin and throw it in.

“You ready then?”

She swallowed, desperately trying to cool her emotions and praying Daniel wouldn’t notice anything amiss.
“Yeah, I guess. Where are we going again?”

“We’ll know when we get there.”

“That’s comforting to know.”

“I haven’t decided yet. We’ll work it out when we’re driving. If we don’t know until we get there, at least whoever is following us will have no chance of knowing either.”

“You know, in a scary sort of way that actually makes sense to me. I must be catching on to this spy business.”

“Don’t get too comfortable. It’s not the life for someone like you.”

“What do you mean ‘someone like me’? Didn’t I get myself out of trouble in Canberra? I can hack it if you can’t.”

“Hey, don’t jump down my throat and get all defensive. I didn’t mean I thought you couldn’t hack it, just that a woman like you deserves a normal life with a family and all that goes with it—not a life in the shadows and having to keep secrets from those you care about.”

“Don’t you deserve that, too?”

Daniel shrugged and stood up. “It’s not a priority for me. I have other plans for my life.”

Beth followed him as he wheeled the trolley toward the car park. “And that includes being by yourself for the rest of your life?”

“Works for me. Let’s get this gear to the car and take off.”

Well, that confirmed what she’d originally thought. He was the love ’em and leave ’em type. He did warn her after that spontaneous combustion kiss. Good thing she’d stopped herself from caring too much.
Yeah, good thing all round.

* * * *

The sleazy hotel they checked into in Kings Cross was a far cry from the five-star luxury of the previous night. The stench of cigarettes and stale beer had Daniel coughing to cover the gag threatening to close over his throat. He didn’t want to think how bad this place was and how Beth didn’t belong here. If
he
was gagging, what the heck was
she
feeling? After he handed over the cash to the long-haired, scruffy guy who passed as the receptionist, he turned to find her staring out at the street outside. A couple of kids were passing. They couldn’t have been more than fifteen or sixteen, but they were dressed to kill in short skirts, high heels and tight tank tops. Heavy eye makeup and lipstick marred their adolescent faces. Such was life in Sydney’s notorious Kings Cross, but from the shocked expression on Beth’s face, it was something she’d hadn’t seen much of in her past, which was amazing since she’d grown up in Sydney.

She turned to face him as he approached. A small tear escaped and trickled down her left cheek before she managed to swipe it with the back of her hand. “They’re so young. They should be giggling in the back row of the movies with their boyfriends or having sleepovers with their girlfriends, not walking the streets soliciting paying customers.”

Daniel hustled her toward the dingy stairs. “Yeah, well, sometimes life sucks and people are forced to do some crap things to survive. Not our problem at the moment. Let’s get to our room so we can get out of sight.”

“Don’t you care?”

Daniel stopped after he turned the lock in the door to their room. “Once, a long time ago, I thought about how it’d be great to right all the wrongs of the world, but guess what, sweetheart? No matter what we do, there’ll always be another street kid turning tricks. It never goes away.”

“That’s a cynical attitude.”

“Yeah, well, I’m a realist. Life seldom turns out the way we’d like it to.” He placed his hand in the small of her back and urged her into the room. “Okay, let’s get the door closed. The walls have eyes and ears.”

* * * *

“Where the hell are they?” the silver-haired man demanded.

“Still in Sydney. I’m closing in on them now. It won’t be long and the problem will be eliminated,” the man at the end of the phone replied.

“It had better be. You owe me this and you’re being paid very well for your trouble. Don’t even think of failing.”

“Don’t worry. This is one assignment I’m going to enjoy.”

The silver-haired man grimaced. “You’re one sick bastard, you know that.”

The other man chuckled. “I’m not the one giving the orders here.”

“But I get no pleasure out of this business. If there was any other solution…but there isn’t, so get on with it, and don’t tell me any of your sick fantasies.”

The other man snorted. “Whatever. I’ll be in touch.” He shut off his phone and whistled as he started up his car and headed into the city.

It won’t be long now
, he congratulated himself. It was all coming together. Finally.

* * * *

The room was better than Daniel had expected, considering the hygiene level of the lobby. At least the bed appeared to have clean sheets and the small sink on the wall was clean. He couldn’t say the same for the moth-eaten carpet though. Beside the bed, there was a large rusty stain that could only be an old blood. He hoped it was from someone’s sinus condition and not something more ominous. He dumped the bag over it, hoping to cover it before it got Beth’s attention. She was uptight enough just from being in the ‘Cross’. She didn’t need any more reminders of the seedier side of life. He scanned the room for any more surprises but, finding none, he sat down on the bed and began unlacing his shoes.

“How long do you think we need to stay here, Daniel?”

The first shoe plunked on the floor and Daniel let out a breath. “I’m hoping I’ll be able to access more files tonight, and if we’re lucky, by tomorrow we might have a better idea who we can trust on this thing. Maybe just one night, two at the most.”

Daniel watched Beth as she sat down on the only chair in the room. A throwback from the sixties, the seat was a murky mixture of olive green and orange stripes. Well, it might have been those colors once. Years of sweat and dirt now made the colors merge into one. It didn’t seem too sturdy either.

“You sure you want to sit there? There’s plenty of room over here.”

Beth flushed to the roots of her magnificent red hair and sat down quickly.

“It’s okay. I’m sure it’ll take my weight.” She crossed her shapely legs and placed her hands on either side of her on the seat of the chair, gripping the edges. “I suppose I can handle a couple of nights here. If you think this is safe, I’d stay anywhere.”

Daniel smiled. “Even camping?”

Beth laughed, her stiff demeanor relaxing a little. “Well, probably not camping again. You know how well that turned out last time. My dad was right. Camping is bad news.”

Daniel watched as she uncrossed and crossed her legs, bringing instantly to mind a scene out of
Basic Instinct
. He shook his head to purge the image of those long, gorgeous pins wrapped around his hips. “We should get some rest. We have a busy day ahead of us. I’ll go and get us some takeout then we should try to get some sleep.”

Beth stiffened in her chair again although she stayed glued to the seat. The idea of being left alone in this room obviously didn’t sit well with her. “Okay, I promise not to open the door for anyone and I won’t make any phone calls either.”

She looked away as Daniel approached her. He touched the soft skin of her cheek, turning her face to meet his gaze. “Beth, you know it’s for your own safety…these precautions?”

Her eyes shimmered with unshed tears. “Yes, I know. I just wish it was over. I want my life back, but whining about it won’t help, so you get going and I’ll be here waiting.”

Shit!
He hated to leave her while she was upset, but they had to eat and he would be back in a flash. “You’ll be all right?”

“Go!” she said, breaking the contact and pushing him away.

“Okay, I’ll be back as soon as I can.” Flashing her an encouraging smile, he headed for the door.

“Daniel…?”

He turned back. “Yes?”

“Don’t you think you’d be more comfortable with your shoes on?”

Daniel stared at his bare feet and laughed. “I suppose I’d better put them back on. Although bare feet are common in these parts, you never know what might be on the ground.”

Minutes later, he was out of the door and Beth found herself alone. She thought back to the other time she’d been alone in a hotel waiting for Daniel to return. She’d been pretty annoyed with him for keeping her out of the loop, and had decided to take matters into her own hands. Fat lot of good that had done. It’d almost gotten them both killed. No way was she moving out of the room this time. She’d learned that lesson the hard way.

She looked around the dingy surroundings and wrinkled her nose. If only they could have stayed five star again. She was in her hometown but she’d never stayed in this part of town before. Sure, she’d driven down Darlinghurst Road with a group of people to check out the scenery, but she’d never really thought about the people who lived there. It was different when she thought of the place as a tourist trap. What she’d seen in the last hour was enough for her to change her opinion completely.

Her mind went back a couple of days to when they’d been in Canberra. Maybe if she went through everything that had happened step by step, she could work out how they’d been discovered, and maybe even who was following them. Images of their arrival in the hotel flashed in front of her eyes. The dinner and what had happened after when she fell in the shower came to mind.
How embarrassing
. Her skin warmed several degrees, her heart pounded and her breathing came in and out in short spurts. Memories of Daniel’s firm, demanding lips on hers came back in a rush and she gasped. His unique scent lingered in the room and teased her nostrils and the path his hands had followed now burned with intense heat. Unable to sit still, she stood and paced restlessly around the room.

This was stupid. It was getting her nowhere. She spied the jacket Daniel had left strewn over the bed. She picked it up, pressing it to her face and inhaling, groaning as she breathed in his unique masculine scent.