Harlequin Intrigue, Box Set 2 of 2 (25 page)

It made sense but without heat pouring through the vents, the SUV quickly chilled and she was grateful for Cal's warm coat. Even though she'd protested, Cal had given it to her before they'd left the hotel. “No way to avoid your feet getting wet,” he'd said. “I'd carry you but somebody might see it and think it looked odd. We don't want to draw any unnecessary attention.”

Her feet had gotten wet on the way to the car and now they were cold. But she didn't complain.

It took another fifteen minutes before they saw the plow driver exit the parking lot, turn right and head away from them. They waited until they saw his truck merge back onto the Interstate. Then Cal started the SUV again. He put the vehicle in Drive and took off.

When they got close, she could see that the plow driver had done a pretty good job pushing the snow to the sides, although the people who owned the cars weren't going to be happy. He hadn't been as careful to go around the cars as he'd been in the hotel lot. Instead, there were big piles behind each car, effectively pinning them in.

Close-up, she realized that the two buildings were attached, similarly to how some houses were connected to garages. There was a small wooden breezeway between the two cement buildings. “That looks new,” she said.

“Probably has more to do with summer than winter. Missouri gets hot and the people who work here probably want to be able to move from building to building without ever having to go outside when it's ninety-five degrees.”

Just that quick, she could see herself in a sleeveless linen dress, briefcase strap over one shoulder, walking down stone steps, relishing the hot, humid air.
Don't get me wrong
, she was saying.
I'm grateful for the air-conditioning but do they have to keep it at sixty?

Who was she talking to? Where was she?

“Stormy?” Cal asked.

She shook her head. “It's nothing,” she said. She wasn't really lying. It was worth nothing.

Cal shrugged and pulled close to the building that had the second story. In addition to the three big garage doors, there was a regular door at the end closest to them. “That's our best bet,” he said. “Wait here while I check it.”

He got out of the SUV, moving fast. He tried the door but it didn't open. He reached into his pocket, pulled something out and went to work on the lock. Within seconds he had the door open. She was impressed. She'd jimmied open a few locked doors in her time but not that quickly.

She put her hand to her mouth. How did she know that?

The knowledge had literally just popped into her head when she'd seen the door swing open. She wanted to launch herself out of the vehicle and tell Cal that she'd remembered something that might be important. At least it seemed more important than some vague recollection of walking down steps, conversing about the weather. However, she immediately dismissed the idea. She wouldn't offer up the information until she knew for sure what it meant.

Maybe she was a thief?

The idea sat heavy on her heart. She didn't want to wake up from this nightmare and find out that she was a bad person.

Cal stuck his head inside the building. In just seconds, he pulled back, turned, locked eyes with her and motioned for her to wait. Then he went inside, closing the door behind him.

It dawned on her that this was her chance. The keys were in the ignition, the SUV was running.

It would be easy to be on the road before he knew what was happening.

She put her hand on her door. Opened it. Drew in a breath. A mad dash around the rear of the vehicle would do it. She could slip into his seat, put the car in Drive and be on her way.

She pushed the door open enough to get one foot out. His socks were dull against the much whiter snow.

Mother Nature. Purity. In the rawest sense.

Yet it would have killed her.

If this man had not saved her.

Not once but probably twice when he'd come back to the hotel to warn her.

But if she didn't go now, it might be too late.

CHAPTER SIX

She pulled her foot back in, closed her door and let out the breath she'd been holding. She wasn't going to steal his vehicle and leave him stranded. He didn't even have his coat.

A bad person would do that. And if she'd been bad in the past, she was turning over a new leaf, beginning immediately.

She waited another five minutes before she saw anything. Then all three of the three big garage doors that lined the front of the first building started to open. Her heart beat fast in her chest and didn't slow down until she saw Cal poke his head out of the closest opening.

He walked back to the SUV and swung into the seat. “Place is clear. I'm going to pull my SUV inside. The Mercedes Men are likely to see this building as well and may want to come take a look. I don't want to make it easy for them by leaving my vehicle in the parking lot. They've already seen it once. Unless they're really a bunch of goons, somebody is going to remember that.”

He put the SUV in Reverse, not Drive. It took her just a minute to realize that he planned to back into the empty space. That was smart. Easier to get away quickly if all one had to do was pull out.

She could see that there was enough room for his SUV but that was about it. There were similar empty spaces in front of the other two garage doors. Once they got the vehicle inside and she stepped out of it, she saw that the rest of the building, which was probably the size of a football field, was filled with big boxes. “What's in all these?”

“High-end sleds. Wood toboggans. They produce in the other building and warehouse in this space. I opened one of the boxes. Quality stuff.”

She started to laugh. Couldn't help it.

“What's so funny?” He pushed a button on the wall and all three garage doors closed. The space was suddenly darker, colder.

“It's like we found the Missouri branch of Santa's workshop. I'm waiting for the elves to jump out, to tell us to skedaddle, that time is a wasting and the big guy in the red suit can be a real taskmaster.”

“Abominable Snowman? Elves? Santa? I'm seeing a theme here.”

She nodded. Would she have her memory back by Christmas? Would she be alive at Christmas? If the Mercedes Men meant to do her harm, could she evade them for that length of time?

“Are you still going to be in Missouri at Christmas?” she asked.

“I have no idea,” he said. “I'm not thinking that far out.”

That was undoubtedly a good approach. She would try not to worry about anything beyond her immediate control. “What's upstairs?” she asked.

“Offices.”

“Is there a good view of the hotel parking lot?”

“Yes. We won't miss them.”

The stairs to the second floor were at the far right side of the building. When they got there, she realized he was right. Even without the binoculars, they could probably see what was going on. With the binoculars, they could pick out fine detail.

Good. She wanted a close-up look at the men. If life was fair, she'd have an epiphany of sorts and know exactly who she was. A couple things had already popped into her head. Perhaps...she looked around...perhaps a visual would be the push that got the sled going down the hill at warp speed.

“Don't touch anything,” he said. “We don't want to leave any fingerprints behind, just in case.”

She sat in one of the chairs, with her hands folded together, resting on her lap. The office was warm and soon she was nodding off. She got up, took off Cal's big coat and started walking around the room to stay awake. “I need something to do. I'm going crazy.”

He was slouched in the chair, arms behind his head, feet crossed at the ankles. “How about sports trivia? What year did Tiger Woods begin golfing professionally?”

“That's easy—1996.”

“Your turn,” he said.

She studied him. “The first World Cup was held in what country in 1930?”

“Uruguay,” he said. “How many wins did Muhammad Ali have?”

“Fifty-six wins. Five defeats,” she added.

“There's no extra credit,” he teased. “Who did Wayne Gretzky play for in the 1980s?”

“Edmonton Oilers. Who is the only pitcher to lead both the National and the American League in shut-outs, in the same season?”

He scratched his chin. “CC Sabathia. Played for the Indians, then the Brewers.” He smiled at her.

“You're really good,” she said.

“You're not so bad yourself,” he said. He was quiet for a few minutes. “There are a lot of women broadcasting professional sports these days. Do you think that might be your job? Or maybe you're a sportswriter.”

“Just the idea of standing up in front of a camera and talking to thousands of people makes my knees shake. I don't think that's my job. I suppose I could be a writer. I feel like that's more realistic but it still doesn't seem right.”

“Okay. Maybe you're just a sports geek. We're trying to make lemonade out of grapefruit.”

She sat back down. “We could have slept longer,” she said.

“Yep. But I didn't like the idea of being surprised by your cousins.”

“I don't think we're family.”

“I hope not,” he said. “It's going to be a real buzz killer if you see them and the first thought that comes to your head is what you're supposed to bring to Thanksgiving dinner.”

She stared out the window. “Thanksgiving. Is that why you're headed home?”

“Yep. A few months ago, I decided that this was going to be the year...the year I joined my brothers for Thanksgiving dinner.”

“You told me about your brother Chase. How many others?”

“Just one. Brayden. Everybody calls him Bray. He's four years older than Chase, seven years older than me. He left for the marines when I was in middle school. Now he's a DEA agent and lives in New York.” He was silent for a minute. “It will be good to see them,” he added.

It wasn't all that unusual for family to get together on holidays but the way he said it, she had the distinct feeling that there was more to the story. She wanted to ask but decided not to. She settled for something less personal. “Do you cook?”

“Uh, no. Not really. You?”

She tried to remember if she liked to cook. Had no idea. “I will definitely be out of your hair by Thanksgiving,” she said instead.

He shrugged. “Thanks for not driving off earlier.”

She stared at him. “You left the keys on purpose. It was a test, wasn't it?” she challenged.

“I figured it was better for both of us if we knew the answer to the question early on.”

“The question being, will she run if she gets the chance?”

“Exactly. At least here, I had access to heat and there's more snacks in the vending machines. There are lots worse places to be stranded.”

She wanted to be angry, to be outraged that he'd baited her. But something told her that she would have done the very same thing. She stood silently, watching out the window. Finally, she turned to him. “Where exactly were those vending machines?”

He laughed but quickly silenced it when they saw two Mercedes sedans drive into the hotel parking lot. He put the binoculars up to his eyes.

With her naked eye, she could see that no one got out of the one car. They parked in the back row, facing out, so that they had a good view of the office. Two men got out of the other car that had taken a front-row parking space.

“Do you think the clerk is in danger?” she whispered, before realizing how foolish that was. The men couldn't hear them. Now that it was happening, now that the men were actually back, it made her chest feel tight. What the hell did they want with her? If they had bad intent, was it possible that innocent bystanders would be caught in the fray? That was unacceptable.

“I thought of that,” he said. “I don't think so. A dead hotel desk clerk in the middle of Missouri will get some attention. Every hotel in the state will be on hyperalert. It would seriously hamper their abilities to inquire about you at other places. I think they'll use other means of persuasion to get his attention.”

“A new cell phone?” she asked drily. “Unlimited downloads?”

He smiled and handed her the binoculars. “My guess is old-fashioned cash. Take a good look at the two men when they come out of the office.”

“You're awfully confident that the clerk will show them the rooms?”

“He's barely voting age and certainly no match for these guys. He'll take the cash and when they tell him to keep his mouth shut about it, he probably will because not only would he lose his job, he'll have to worry about these guys finding him and that their weapon of choice will no longer be Ben Franklins.”

“Is that what you'd do?” she asked.

He shook his head. “Hell, no. I'd lead them both into an empty room and take them out. Then I'd wait for the two goons in the car to get impatient and come check on why their friends are no longer visible. Then I'd take those two down.”

If another man had made that boast, she'd consider it false bravado. But Cal said it factually, without emotion, as if it was all in a day's work.

Navy SEALs were well trained. That was a given. And, she suspected, very confident of their abilities. Otherwise, they wouldn't have the guts to do what routinely needed to be done.

The door of the hotel office opened. She stared through the binoculars. The Mercedes Men walked on each side of the front desk clerk, who hadn't even thought to put on a coat. He would be freezing by the time they looked at every room.

Cold but hopefully alive. She stared at the faces of the men, waiting for some memory to return. But there was nothing. She could see the scar that Cal had described. It was very noticeable and seemed familiar. Why, however, was beyond her grasp. She studied the shorter man. The way he walked, how he swung his leg from the hip, was eerily familiar.

“Know them?” Cal asked.

“Both the scar and the way the other one is walking seem familiar. But I'm wondering if it's because you mentioned both things last night when you described them. Maybe I pictured that and now I think I've seen it before.” She looked at him. “I think I've lost my confidence to sort out what is real and what isn't.”

“Okay,” he said.

“You say it like it's no big deal,” she said, angry at herself. “I don't know any more than I knew ten minutes ago. We wasted all this time.”

“It was a long shot,” he said, “that simply seeing them would jump-start your memory. One we probably needed to take but not the basket to put all our eggs into. I got what I needed.”

“And what was that?”

“I wanted to verify that the two cars were still traveling together and that they hadn't split up. I think we can assume that this is going to be their pattern. One car and two men are always backup. I also wanted to see how long it took them to come back. It was about six o'clock when they were here last night. It's almost noon. That's eighteen hours. I think we have to assume that they probably took turns sleeping so that they didn't lose any time looking. It gives me a feel for how they've identified their search area.”

“They're looking for a needle in a haystack. Even if I had been out there somewhere, in the dark, in the snow, it would have been virtually impossible to find me.”

“I know. But they kept looking. That gives me some idea of how determined they are.”

“This is absolutely crazy,” she said, watching the desk clerk knock on doors. If no one came to the door, the clerk would unlock the door, the men would step inside, only to reemerge a minute later. Some of the rooms were occupied. When the knock was answered, there was a brief conversation before the two men stepped inside, out of view. Like before, in less than a minute, they'd be back. “What do you think they're saying to the guests?”

“I suspect it's some line about the men being inspectors of some sort and they have to make a quick visual inspection of the room. The guests are probably irritated but as long as the men get in and out quickly, will probably not make too big a fuss.”

“Good. If they do, this could turn ugly.” And that would be on her conscience forever.

The men looked at all eight rooms on the first floor and started upstairs. “Are we going to stay until they finish?” she asked.

“We have to. We can't risk the men in the second car seeing us leave.”

But that would make them sitting ducks if the men decided to search the warehouse next.

She watched as the trio made progress. The hotel clerk had his arms wrapped around himself and he looked miserably cold. The other two men, in their big black coats and dark pants, simply looked miserable. They both had square faces and flat noses.

“Do you think they might be brothers?” she asked, handing him back the binoculars.

He watched for a few minutes. “I think you're probably right,” he said. “I didn't see that right away because I was focused on the one guy's stride.”

They watched in silence for a few minutes. The trio got to the door of the room where she and Cal had spent the night. They knocked. Waited. Opened the door.

If Cal had not come back to warn her, she might still be in the room, oblivious to the fact that danger was on her heels. “Thank you,” she said. “I probably can't say it enough.”

“You'd have done the same for me,” he said.

She liked to think so. The men came out. Checked the final two rooms. Their mouths were set and their posture tense. The trio walked back toward the office.

Please, just go
, she thought. She did not want the young hotel clerk harmed.

She let out her breath when the men returned to their car and the young man went back inside the office. They were leaving. She was grateful.

Until she realized that the Mercedes Men were headed toward the warehouse. She and Cal had nowhere to go.