Crash and Burn (16 page)

Oh yeah, she had it bad.

Back to business, Beth.
What happened next? She recalled scrolling through the diary on the laptop. She remembered feeling lonely.
Wait,
now she remembered. Her father’s friend hadn’t answered when she’d attempted to call him. But he couldn’t be involved, could he?

A key sounded in the lock and Beth jumped, her heart once again thumping. She moved to the window, not sure what she could do if a stranger accosted her, but there was a small balcony outside where she could escape if she needed to. She grasped the window frame and was poised to force it open if need be when Daniel walked through the door.

“Everything okay?”

Relief flowed through her. “Thank God it’s you! You almost gave me a heart attack. How about we come up with a secret knock or something? I almost jumped out the window, you know. I was this close,” she said, with her thumb and forefinger placed an inch apart in front of his face. She couldn’t stay mad at him and broke into a smile.

Daniel smiled sheepishly as he placed a paper bag down on the small table. “Sorry, I was rushing back to feed you. I know how much you love your food, but you’re right, I should have knocked first.”

“Well, since you’ve brought food, I’ll forgive you this time.” She recognized the aroma of something spicy. Oh yes, just what she needed to banish the thoughts of the last few minutes.

“Is that what I think it is?”

“If you’re thinking sub sandwiches, then you’d be correct. They’re two doors down. I didn’t want to leave you by yourself for too long. I’m glad to see you approve of my choice.”

Daniel handed her a sub and napkin and seated himself on the bed before opening his own sandwich.

Beth watched as he took the first bite. He let out a groan of pleasure. Beth’s breath hitched and she turned away. Her internal thermostat rose another twenty degrees just thinking about those incredible lips as he tasted her sensitive body parts. Her nipples tightened when the flush expanded to cover her whole body.
Down, girl!
Back to business.
She should tell Daniel about what she remembered, and now was as good a time as any. She forced herself to breathe deeper and slower.

“Daniel, I’ve been thinking.”

Daniel polished off the rest of his sandwich in another two bites. “Hang on a sec…”

Beth turned back to him in time to see him place his fingers one by one into his mouth to suck the juices from the sandwich off. She grabbed her bottle of cola and took a large swig, taking in the liquid too quickly and coughing desperately.

Daniel jumped up from the bed and patted her on the back. “You okay?”

Mortified, Beth sucked in a couple of deep breaths and nodded, not trusting her voice at this stage.
Jeepers creepers
, how was she going to get through one night in the same room as him, let alone two? Every movement, every gesture, had her hot, thinking of the things he could do to her body and her to his.

She gradually stopped gagging and she took another sip, carefully this time. “Yeah, I think so. Thanks for the back pat though. I needed that.”

“You said you’d been thinking about something, Beth. What was that all about?”

Grateful to move on, Beth took another small sip of her cola before she walked across to the window to stare at the street below.

“I’ve been trying to piece together everything we’d done and everyone we’ve spoken to since this started. I thought I could figure out where they picked up on our position, and following on from that possibly who.”

“And what did you come up with?”

“I remembered something about what happened in the hotel in Canberra.”

“What else happened?”

“When you were out, and before I went out on my adventure, I called a friend of my father who lives in Canberra.”

“You
what
?” Daniel jumped up and walked over to her, the sparks from his dark eyes almost touching her skin as he came closer to her.

“I thought it was okay. He worked with my father for years and I hadn’t seen him since my parents’ funeral.”

“Beth…you know I asked you not to call anyone. Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I actually forgot about it.”

He placed his hand on her shoulder and spun her around to face him, the heat from his touch burning through her shirt. “How could you forget something as significant as this?”

“I’m sorry. I got distracted with running from the bad guys. He wasn’t there anyway. I didn’t even leave a message. But why would he be after me? He was my father’s workmate.”

Daniel’s hand dropped and he stormed back to the bed, sitting down. “Haven’t you learned anything from this, Beth? We can’t trust anyone.”

“I’m sorry, Daniel. I know better now. I was feeling lonely and wanted to hear a friendly voice. It won’t ever happen again.” Beth tried hard, but it was difficult to keep the tears out of her voice. She gulped back a sob and started for the bathroom.

“Hell…”

She fumbled for the door and Daniel was there in front of her, pulling her into his arms.

“I’ve been such an idiot. I should have known better. It was just that I was so lonely and I thought that if I spoke to someone who knew my parents…” A small tear slid down her cheek.
Damn.
She never cried, but in the last two days the tears had been running like a river in flood.

“It’s okay,” said Daniel as he pulled her even closer and rubbed his hand up and down her back. “Shh…we’re in this together.”

It felt good. Too good. The heat that was generated was stimulating other parts of her body that had no business being stimulated. From the hardness she felt as she brushed against his jeans, the same thing was happening to him. He tilted her chin and she gazed into his eyes. His face inched closer as his lips descended. With a featherlight touch, he kissed her once, twice, but as he moved in for a closer exploration, Beth placed her hand on his chest, pushing gently, forcing some badly needed distance between them before she found herself melting into him. Daniel dropped his arms to his sides and stepped back, his short, sharp breaths letting her know it was just as difficult for him. She turned her head away from him—his smoldering eyes were too much of a temptation.

She cleared her throat to mask her raspy voice. “It couldn’t be Uncle Jack. Someone must have been monitoring his phone. He would never try to hurt me.”

“How good a friend was he? When did you last see him?”

“When I was younger, my parents socialized with him and his wife. He frequently came to our home.” She took a few steps toward the table, picking up her cola and lifting the bottle up to her mouth, taking a long drink before putting it back down. “The last time I saw him was at my parents’ funeral.”

“I wish you’d told me about this before, but there’s nothing we can do about that now. At least we have another point of entry to investigate. Tell me, where does your uncle work?”

“Some government department in Canberra. I don’t think he’s ever told me exactly where, and I probably didn’t think to ask.”

“That doesn’t give us much to go on.”

“I’m sorry…”

“Forget it. I need to think. I’m going to take a walk. I won’t be long. Will you be okay?”

Panic gripped Beth as she sucked in a breath and felt her heart slam in her chest.

“You’re not okay…”

She swayed on her feet as she reached behind her back and steadied herself on the table. “I’ll be fine. I just need some air. If I put on the wig, can I come with you?”

“I don’t think—”

“Please, Daniel… I’ll suffocate in here by myself. I’ll be careful. I promise. I won’t do anything to attract attention. Don’t say no.”

Daniel stood in front of the door and stopped, his back to her. “The short blonde one. And hurry up. We should get some sleep sometime soon.”

Yes!
Without waiting for him to change his mind, Beth grabbed the bag of disguises and headed for the bathroom, closing the door firmly behind her.

* * * *

Five minutes later she emerged, transformed. Daniel stared at her. She’d changed clothes. With the spiky-heeled shoes, her legs seemed to go on forever. The short black skirt fit snugly across her mid-thighs and the fabric of the red tank top stretched taut across her breasts. He hardened instantly.
Shit!
This is a bad idea
. He tried to turn away, but couldn’t. Not until he’d checked out every sexy little inch of her disguise. She’d made up her face and painted her sexy lips with a deep red lipstick. The blonde hair of her wig curled provocatively over her forehead and his hand itched to slip a spiral behind her ear. This was a different Beth to the one he’d come to know. She was more confident somehow. Her eyes were a flash of green light, daring him to challenge her. His gaze traveled from her eyes down her body once more. When he stopped at her breasts, she made a small gasping sound and he saw her nipples outlined through the strained material. They’d better get out of there and fast before he did something stupid, like throw her on the bed and show her exactly how she made his anatomy react. He grabbed her arm and dragged her to the door. “Let’s go!”

She stood her ground and shook off his arm. “Do I look okay?”

“Yeah, fine. Let’s get out of here.”

“Not too much?”

“No. Yes… Maybe. But we’ll wing it. Just stick close to me, okay?”

“Okay,” she rasped as he once again took hold of her and propelled them into the hall. The door slammed shut as they walked down the staircase. He could feel her trembling under the weight of his hand on her. When they got to the street, he let her go and wrapped his arm over her shoulder.

“What are you doing?”

“Making sure no one propositions you. In that get-up, it’s a sure thing.”

“Somehow I don’t think that was a compliment.”

“Take it however you want… Now, let’s get that fresh air you wanted.”

They moved out onto Macleay Street, into a crowd of people laughing and jostling each other along the pavement. Daniel watched the tourists and locals alike bustling along up and down the main drag of the Cross
.
Daniel had been there many times, but never with a woman like Beth on his arm. He could feel every leer from every teenager out with his mates searching for fun and every sleazy club bouncer out drumming up business in the many strip joints along the street. His face hurt from the snarls he gave them all. God, she was so damn sexy in that almost outfit. Another big bruiser of a guy stared at her breasts and he had an urge to punch the bozo’s lights out.
Jesus
, he’d better get her back to their room soon and pray she’d put on those flannel pajamas she’d bought on their shopping trip that morning. Was it only that morning? Ever since he’d found Will dead, he’d felt as if he was on a treadmill that was gaining in speed. He didn’t have the luxury of feeling tired. He’d been living on adrenaline for the last three days and it wasn’t going to slow down for a while yet.

Beth shifted position and slid her arm under his jacket to hold him around his waist, her fingers biting into his flesh. He tightened his grip on her shoulders and scanned the area up ahead. A large group of boisterous youths stampeded toward them.

“We’d better get out of their way,” said Daniel.

“I agree, but where?”

When the marauding crowd was almost upon them, Daniel pushed Beth through a door that led to a staircase down to a basement. Unfortunately, it appeared that this was the intended destination for the group they were trying to escape from. They were propelled forward by muscle and testosterone into a room at the bottom. Inside they were pushed up against a wall as the rest of the group entered and took their places in a row of seats surrounding a catwalk-style stage. The musky smell of sandalwood permeating the walls was strong as Daniel edged toward the exit with Beth’s hand in his. When they neared the door, it was closed by the bouncer they’d seen before on the street. The lights went out and the audience went wild with wolf whistles and cheers.

Daniel leaned over and whispered in Beth’s ear. “I guess this means it’s show time. We’d better wait for a bit.”
God, she smells so good.
He inhaled deeply. Unable to think of one excuse to keep his mouth close to her face, he stood upright again, but not before her gentle shudder.

“Er…show time? Just what kind of ‘show’ is this?”

“Shh…try to be inconspicuous. We may be able to get through the door unnoticed if we’re lucky. Just sit tight through the first act. We’ll make a move during the applause.”

The spotlight went on as the curtain opened and the music started. Ravel’s
Bolero
squeaked and crackled through a sound system that must have predated vinyl records. A young woman with flowing black hair, whose body was draped in magenta gauze veils, swayed to the music as she twirled and stepped her way down the catwalk.

“Oh my God—this is a strip show!”

Daniel’s hand came over her mouth and his lips brushed her ear. She could feel his warm breath as he whispered, sending shivers of sensation all over her scalp. “You’ll have to lower the decibels if we’re going for inconspicuous. If the show’s too hot for you, you can always close your eyes.”

Close my eyes. Yes, close my eyes. That’ll work. I can do this. Bloody hell, I’m watching a sex show with a man who makes me sweat thinking about him!

Closing her eyes wasn’t going to fix the problem. And besides, once she spied the girl moving, she couldn’t take her eyes off the stage. She inhaled deeply as Daniel withdrew his hand from her mouth. “I’m all right, just a little surprised.” She could swear she heard a hint of a chuckle from Daniel as he slid his arm back around her shoulder.

The girl leaned suggestively into the audience. A young patron in the front row took one of her veils between his teeth and drew it off her body.

Beth gasped.

When the crowd caterwauled and several men reached for her, the girl deftly withdrew and blew a kiss to the audience before moving off the catwalk to the stage area where a red velvet lounge chair had appeared. Only a few scraps of material covered her lithe body and what was there left little to the imagination. Her large nipples and areola peeked through the transparent fabric, as did the dark shadow of her pubic hair between her thighs as she swayed to the music. She stopped before the chair, faced the audience, and stood perfectly still. The music stopped and the crowd went wild. Cries of ‘Get it off!’ and ‘Show us the rest!’ filled the room. The girl’s face was expressionless, but her eyes shimmered with passion while she awaited the next part of the performance.