Moving Target (8 page)

He raked his fingers through his wet hair. What the hell was he going to do? Ani was like a drug. He was addicted to her, and he didn't want to let her out of his sight. Didn't trust anyone else with her life even though he knew there were damn fine agents in the service.

It occurred to him that Ani didn't have any personal items with her and they hadn't had a second to take a breath and get anything. He called down to the hotel gift shop and they sent up a toothbrush, toothpaste, and deodorant within a few minutes. He'd answered the door with his gun in his hand, behind his back, ready for anything.

After a good half hour, Ani reappeared from the bathroom at the same time another knock came at the door. No doubt room service. Again, unwilling to take a chance with her life, he drew his Glock and held it behind his back with his right hand as he checked the peephole. "Get in the bathroom just to be safe," he said, and she obeyed immediately.

A man with a round tray stacked with silver-domed items stood in the hallway. Daniel kept his gun behind his back as he unlocked the door.

The waiter started to come into the room, but Daniel stopped him by stepping in front of him. "Just set it on the floor," he said, still holding his Glock behind him.

After the waiter left with a puzzled expression Daniel shut the door. The delicious smells of hamburgers and fries made his stomach growl as he set his gun where he could easily reach it.

Daniel didn't expect anything to happen at this hotel, but the bastards had caught him by surprise in Tucson. He and Ani must have been followed from Bisbee. No other explanation made sense.

He picked up the tray and carried it to a table on the far side of the room. "It's clear, honey," he said, and immediately tensed. He had to stop calling her that. It was too intimate.

Ani slipped out of the bathroom and took the chair opposite him. They were quiet at first as they dug into their food.

"This is so good." Ani closed her eyes. "Orgasmic." Her eyes flew open and her face turned several shades of red when her gaze met his.

He couldn't stop the grin that crept across his face. She was so cute when she was embarrassed.

The tension between them seemed to evaporate and she smiled, too. They started talking again like they always had over the telephone. Comfortable, easy camaraderie. Only this time he got to watch her instead of just hearing her over the phone. She talked with her hands and had to keep putting her cheeseburger down when she spoke.

"How are your brothers doing?" Ani asked as she toyed with a French fry on her plate, rolling the end in ketchup.

Daniel shrugged. "Jacob's on leave for a couple of weeks, staying with Dad up in Montana, and I don't know where the hell Aaron is." Jacob was a Navy SEAL while Aaron served in Special Forces, and most of the time Daniel didn't know where either of them were.

Ani propped her elbow on the table, her chin in her palm. "Did the three of you get along very well when you were growing up?"

Daniel bit into his hamburger and chewed as he thought a moment, then answered. "We're so close in age that all we did was fight most of the time. We about drove Mom insane." A familiar pang twinged his heart as it always did when he thought about their mom. "She put up with a lot when we were kids. And with Dad out in the field so much, she had her hands full with us."

Ani's voice softened. "You told me once—you were twelve when she passed away?"

"Yeah." Daniel ate a fry then took a drink of his soda. "I'm the oldest, so I ended up having to grow up pretty fast to help out with my brothers who were eleven and ten."

"What happened to her?" Ani asked, her pretty blue eyes meeting his.

"An aneurism." It had been damn near twenty years ago, but it still sent a sharp ache through his chest. "We were outside and she was watching my brothers and me race our bikes around the ranch. One moment she was standing. The next, she was on the ground."

Ani's expression held sadness for his loss. "I miss my mom so much, too. But at least I got to know her a while longer."

Daniel wiped his mouth with his napkin. "It was a long time ago."

"I'm sorry." Ani reached over and squeezed his hand. "She must have been in her thirties at most."

Having Ani ask him such personal questions didn't bother him. She'd told him a lot about her childhood over the past year, but he'd been pretty vague about his own. Now, though . . . Now their relationship went a little more beyond professional, even if they had to rein in their attraction to one another.

She seemed to catch herself and removed her hand from his, her cheeks a little pink. "One time you said your mother got you started on your hobby of collecting and building model airplanes."

He couldn't help a smile. "She said when she was young that it was the tomboy in her—that she had always loved the hobby, and Granddad encouraged her. I still have most of her collection."

"Tell me about it," she said as she toyed with another fry.

"You need to eat." He pointed to her partially eaten cheeseburger. "Instead of talking so much."

Ani smiled and picked up her cheeseburger. As he spoke, she appeared fascinated as he told her a little about his hobby, and he enjoyed talking with her about it.

When he'd finished his food, she said she was done. She'd only eaten half of her cheeseburger, so he finished that half as well as some of her fries.

The smell of the apple pie called to him, and when they ate it, he practically inhaled his piece. Apples, cinnamon, soft crust. "My mom made the best apple pies," Daniel said after he took his last bite. "This is good, but nothing compares to hers."

Ani smiled back but he could see exhaustion catching up with her from the droopiness in her eyelids to her slack posture.

He stood and automatically held his hand out. "Let's get you to bed."

They both went still, but after a pause Ani took his hand and he helped her up from the chair. The warmth of her touch went straight to his cock and he hoped she didn't notice the tent in his jogging shorts from his instant hard-on.

"I got you some toothpaste and a toothbrush." He gestured to an end table. "Over there."

She looked up at him with an expression of relief. "Thank you."

He smiled and waited for her to brush her teeth and return to the bedroom.

When she was finished, Daniel followed her to one of the beds and she turned to look up at him with her crystalline blue eyes.

"Thank you for watching over me, Daniel," she said softly.

He brushed his knuckles across her cheek and she closed her eyes. Those lips. Just one kiss—

And he'd never be able to stop.

Instead he placed a light kiss on her forehead and drew away. The scent of mint from the hotel's shampoo and the warm smell of her skin flooded his system.

Ani opened her eyes and tilted her head back.

He swallowed and took a step back. "Good night."

"'Night," she said, then drew back the covers on her bed and crawled under them. She faced away from his bed as if knowing they needed to keep every bit of distance they could.

Daniel turned to his own bed and wondered how he was going to make it through the next few days.

Her clothes were still damp from washing them last night. With a groan, Ani stood in the bathroom and dried her silk blouse the best she could with the hotel blow-dryer. Her slacks would just have to stay damp.

When she was done with her blouse she slipped into it, then the body armor. Over it she pulled one of Daniel's plain black T-shirts and tied it off to the side. She needed to cover her armor to make sure she didn't stand out in public. This time she made sure she was out of his sight when she put on her clothing. They needed to fight this incredible attraction before they took it too far.

Maybe after the trial was over . . . would he be interested in pursuing a relationship with her then? Could he? She bit her lower lip. She'd likely have to stay in WITSEC and there would be no way she and Daniel could manage any kind of personal ties. She'd likely have to move to another state, which would probably mean a new Inspector Marshal.

She needed to put things in perspective and acknowledge the fact that she had to stop this infatuation and keep her distance.

It didn't take them long to get ready. After she slipped on her high heels, they headed down in the elevator to the lobby. It was a busy day in the hotel—looked like a whole crowd had come in for a convention. The lines in front of the registration desk were long enough to reach across the lobby.

To avoid the throng, Daniel and Ani walked around the crowd to the sports lounge. They had to go down three or four steps into the sunken lounge. She waved cigarette and cigar smoke out of her face and wrinkled her nose.

She glanced around the lounge, which was full of big, beefy men—some muscular and some who could stand to lose a few pounds—or fifty. Maybe some kind of professional wrestling competition was in town. The heavy smell of testosterone from that many men in one crowded place was nearly as bad as the lounge's cigarette and beer stench.

Maybe worse.

Ani came to a complete halt.

Her mouth fell open.

A picture. On one of the lounge's big-screen TVs.

Of her. And Daniel.

Fire raced across her skin and she thought she was going to throw up. A quick glance and she saw that on every TV in the sports lounge was a clear photograph of her and Daniel walking out of the Tucson hotel just yesterday morning.

"According to police reports," the newscaster was saying, "the missing heiress is suspected to have been taken right here in El Paso. A million-dollar reward has been offered for information leading to the return of the heiress to her family." The newscaster went on to add that the man in the photograph may have abducted her and gave out the number of a hotline to call if she was spotted.

Ani hugged her belly with both arms. Chills racked her body.

"Christ." Daniel grabbed her hand and said in a low voice, "Let's go."

She kept her head down as she and Daniel rushed through the bar.

Someone shouted behind them, "That's her! The missing woman!"

Ani's heart raced faster as she and Daniel picked up their pace.

A man moved in front of them, directly below the steps they needed to climb out of the sunken lounge.

A big man who smelled of beer and sweat, who wore a T-shirt too small for him that exposed a couple of inches of his flabby belly.

Daniel and Ani came to an abrupt halt, inches from him.

"Move the hell out of the way," Daniel said, in a low, controlled voice.

"The broad." The man jerked his head toward Ani. He grinned and her heart pounded in her throat. "She stays while I make a little phone call. A cool million sounds good to me."

Daniel didn't hesitate. He drew back his arm, fisted his hand, and clocked the man, hitting him at just the right location on his jaw to take him down and out.

Another man grabbed Ani's arm from behind. Heart racing, she whirled around and jammed her high heel onto the large man's foot as hard as she could. He shouted in obvious pain, and loosened his grip on her arm. She jerked away and grabbed Daniel's hand. He'd been right there ready to deck the man who'd grasped her arm, but she'd taken care of him first.

Ani stumbled over the big man Daniel had taken out, and lost one of her heels. She kicked the other one off and they bolted up the short flight of steps and rushed hand in hand through the hotel at a dead run.

Fury roared through Daniel like wildfire as they had to push past people in the long lines in front of the reservations desk.

Sonofabitch
. He and Ani both bumped into several hotel guests, hard, as they tried to put distance between themselves and the men following.

Behind them came shouts and he could almost feel the hot breath of the men chasing them.

Daniel shoved past the bellhop. He kept one hand near his Glock and searched the parking lot with his gaze for any sign of Borenko's men as they burst out into a rainy El Paso morning. It would have been impossible for any number of hit men to stake out every hotel, but he wasn't taking any chances.

Ani's face flushed with heat as she forced herself to run faster as rain poured down on them. Daniel practically dragged her through the parking lot. Gravel and small stones bit into her bare feet and she splashed through water puddles as her clothing stuck to her body from the rain.

At the same time he brought her to the driver's side of the Explorer he unlocked the door with the remote. He yanked open the door and shoved her inside. He landed in the seat, almost on top of her feet as she scrambled over the console and jammed her knee.

A man reached in to grab at Daniel. He slammed the door, catching the man's arm and causing him to shriek. Daniel opened the door just enough to release him, then pulled it shut and locked the doors.

Blood roared in Ani's ears as she sat up in time to see several of the huge men from the bar rush the SUV while Daniel turned the ignition. He threw the vehicle into reverse, barely missing one of the men as he backed up. With a squeal of his tires on the wet asphalt, he thrust the SUV into first and charged forward. Three men had to jump aside or Daniel might have flattened them.

Head pounding with fury, Daniel growled and hit the heel of his palm against the steering wheel's grip as they drove away from the hotel. "This means the Russians figured out what we did and have a good idea exactly where we're heading. The airport or Fort Bliss. The road to the military base won't be safe. They're likely waiting to ambush us."

Think
, he told himself.
Think!
He thumped the steering wheel again.

Rain continued to fall steadily and he had to use the wipers to see clearly. They made a thump and squeaking sound as they traveled back and forth across the window. Both he and Ani had gotten drenched when they'd run through the hotel's parking lot. He glanced at her and she pushed a strand of her damp hair behind her ear. A few droplets were on her face and she wiped them away with her fingers.

With one hand on the wheel, he guided the Explorer through traffic, dodging the slower vehicles and gunning it in the open areas. He checked his rearview mirror to see if one of the local yokels had managed to tail him. Looked clear.