Reckless Abandon (Phantom Protector Book 1) (8 page)

He sat next to Jamie on the bed. “Do you have
any idea who those guys were?”

She nodded. “I recognized one.”

Briggs leaned forward, placing his elbows on his
legs. “Who was he?”

“He was one of the ones who escaped when we
raided Floyd’s compound.”

Briggs let his head drop and closed his eyes. “I
figured as much. Do you have any idea why they set their sights on us?”

Jamie stood and walked over to the bathroom
door. “No, it’s not like he needs my gifts. The guy we captured during the raid
already told us that Floyd could heal too. He doesn’t need me.” She turned the
knob and pushed the door open, only stopping to lean against the wall. “And
it’s not like you have any special powers. He doesn’t need either one of us.”

She walked into the bathroom and shut the door.
None of this made any sense. He’d come to help her figure out what the key
opened and if it helped her figure out her past, then that was a bonus. He
wasn’t prepared to handle a fight with Floyd in an unknown town. “I’m going to
check out the hotel. I’ll be back in less than a half hour,” he hollered
through the closed bathroom door. “Please stay put.”

“Planned on it.”

He grabbed the keycard from the dresser and
shoved it in his back pocket. He checked the gun in his holster hidden
underneath the leg of his jeans. He needed some space from the brunette. He’d
been with her for only forty-eight hours, but that was more than he’d spent
with any one woman in a long time. He wasn’t used to the company and the way
his jeans tightened around her; it wasn’t pleasant either. Yep, he needed a
break, and if he was smart, he’d grab a beer after his recon.

Jamie waited until she heard the door click into
place before she walked out of the bathroom. Her nerves were shot, coiled tight
in her shoulders and throughout her body. She was mentally drained, and they’d
just begun their journey with no answers accounted for. She pulled the key from
beneath her shirt and palmed the familiar metal as she walked over to the sliding
glass door and peeked outside. Night had started to fall. She normally liked
the peacefulness the darkness provided, but it did little tonight to settle the
butterflies in her stomach. She walked to her bag and started pulling out her
clothes, hanging them in the closet. She checked her guns and slid one under
the pillow closest to the window. Her cell phone rang, and she checked the
caller ID.

****

Max walked around the inside and outside of the
hotel. People milled around, but nothing seemed out of the ordinary. None of
the men who had tried to grab Jamie were anywhere nearby. He walked the parking
garage in search of the white van that they’d driven to the orphanage. Nothing
indicated they’d been followed. He’d rounded his SUV to ensure no one had
tampered with it when he caught a glimpse of someone walking by. He leaned back
into the shadow of the SUV to
 
hide in
the darkness.

“I can’t believe Floyd is sending us to the
fucking jail to bail out those idiots. Why doesn’t he just leave them there?”
One of the men pointed toward the entrance. “I mean if he’s so worried about them,
why doesn’t he leave the fucking penthouse himself and go bail their asses
out.”

Max’s ears perked up. The bastard himself was in
the building. Max waited until the men got in their rental SUV and pulled out
of the garage before he hurried back inside the hotel entrance to warn Jamie.
The sound of Jamie’s voice calling his name from the bar had him stopping in
his tracks.

He moved quickly to where she stood. She grabbed
his hand and dragged him toward the back of the bar to a secluded table that
sat in the shadows.

He sat with his back to the wall. “I thought I
told you to stay in the room.”

“I had to find you and make sure you were okay.”

The waitress arrived, and they each ordered a
beer. Max knew good and well why it was possible that he wasn’t okay, but how
had she? “Why wouldn’t I be okay?” he asked curiously to see how much she’d
figured out.

“Floyd is here. He’s staying in the penthouse.”

Briggs leaned back in his chair as the waitress
set their beers in front of them. How the hell she’d figured that out when she
was supposed to be waiting in the room bugged him. He waited until the waitress
left before he asked, “How did you know? I just found out myself.”

Jamie looked back over her shoulder as if Floyd
had found out where they were. She turned back to Briggs. “I can’t tell you. I
don’t have the specifics, but we have an unexpected source that has managed to
infiltrate his compound.”

Max ran a hand over his face and took a sip of
his beer. If she had an informant inside the traitor’s walls, why in the hell
had she kept it from him? What else was she keeping secret? “Did you call the
compound and inform the general?”

Jamie let her head drop as she cupped the beer
in her hands. She lifted her gaze. “I can’t just yet. It’s complicated.”

Chapter
8

Complicated… There was nothing complicated about
it. The man was a deranged fucking psycho, and she was keeping a secret from
her team that could help to keep her safe. She wasn’t thinking clearly. “Jamie,
you have to call them, and we have to get you out of here.”

Max went to stand up, only stopping when Jamie
reached for his arm. An unusual sense of calm overcame him. His urgency
vanished.

He jerked his arm away from her and narrowed his
eyes. “Did you just use your gift on me?”

“I needed you to listen to me, and in order for
you to do that, you needed to calm down.”

He stood and planted his hands on the table.
“Don’t. Ever. Do. That. Again.”

Her gaze pleaded with him. Her lip trembled, and
tears formed in her eyes. “I can’t leave.” She rose from her chair and lifted
her chin. “I’ll do this on my own if I have to, but I’m not leaving.”

Max dropped some bills on the table. He was
furious that she didn’t see how much danger she was in. He needed to get her
back to their room without being seen so he could really explain the urgency of
their situation. He threw his arm around her shoulder and whispered in her ear.
“We’ll discuss this when we get back to the room.” He kissed her cheek. “Just
act natural and we’ll blend in.”

She lifted her arm around his waist and leaned
into his embrace as they walked arm in arm out of the bar. She smiled up at
him. Her smile didn’t reach her eyes, but it was enough to fool any onlookers who
might be looking for them. They’d just rounded out of the bar’s entrance and had
made it almost back to their hall when he spotted the five men walking into the
building. They’d spent too long arguing over the situation; either that or
Floyd’s goons had paid people off to spring the thugs from jail.

He panicked. They weren’t even close to an exit,
and there were too many people loitering in the lobby for them to fight it out.
He stopped Jamie and pushed her back into the wall. His hands went to cup her
face, and he pressed his lips to hers, hiding her with his back as best he
could.

Her arms slid up his back as she opened her
mouth, giving him the entrance he wanted. God, he wanted her, but not like this
and not in the lobby with killers only a few feet away.

She whispered against his lips. “If you don’t
make it look natural, they’re going to notice us.”

Max did one of the more stupid moves that he’d
ever make. He closed his eyes, not keeping an eye on his enemy and tilted his
head, delving into the kiss. His kiss was demanding. He tasted her and explored
every crevice of her mouth. Her moan spurred him on. His hands went to her
waist, and he pulled her tighter against his body. His hands slid around to her
ass, and he squeezed, lifting her to fit his body better. He wanted her, and
there wasn’t anything he could tell himself that was going to change how he
felt about her. She held him in a sex-hazed trance.

She lightly pushed against his chest and pulled
her lips from his. She leaned her forehead against his. Her lips were swollen
from their kiss. His breathing calmed as he tried to regain his composure. Her
heartbeat patted in her chest, matching his own.

She whispered, “I think they’re gone.”

He never released his hold on her. “Was that
believable enough?”

She didn’t speak only nodded her approval.

He let her slide down against his body until her
feet were firmly on the ground. “Are you ready?”

She nodded again.

He put his arm around her shoulders, and they
walked the last five feet to their hall, disappearing down the long corridor. They
picked up the pace when they were out of sight, pushing the door open and
quickly closing it behind them after they entered the room.

****

Jamie exhaled a deep breath and lifted her
fingers to her tingling lips. Max’s kiss had set her on fire. If it had
happened elsewhere, she would have been lost and surrendered to the man who
left her wanting more. She sat down on the bed, aware that Max was pacing.

He came to stand in front of her then kneeled
and took both of her hands gently into his. “We have to get you out of here,
and we need to call the general. I can’t let them get their hands on you.” He
inhaled a deep breath. “Jamie, you’re their healer. With this battle coming up,
if they don’t have you to fix them when it’s all over, then some of them are
going to die, and I can’t let that happen again.”

Jamie’s heart was breaking. She’d seen the pain
in his eyes before he concealed it. Was it possible he was still thinking that Lydia’s brief
death was his fault or had he lost someone else altogether? She couldn’t leave
without knowing the truth.

“I’m sorry, but I have to see this through. It’s
our mission to figure out where…” She slipped her hand from his and lifted her
necklace. “…this fits. If we don’t, they’re
all
dead, and
I
won’t let that happen.”

Briggs fingered the key and let it fall back to
her chest. He stood, his towering form leaning over her. “You have to trust me
that we will, but we have to be smart about this.” He pressed his lips to hers.
“You have my word I’ll help you.”

 
He was no
longer trying to convince her to leave but offering her his word that he was
going to help. She wasn’t sure she’d ever figure out the silent giant, but when
all of this was over, she damn sure was going to try. He was worth whatever
effort it took.

“What are we going to?”

Briggs sat down beside her on the bed and patted
her leg. “We’re going to leave.”

“But, you just said—”

“I didn’t say we were going to leave town, but
we damn sure aren’t staying in the same hotel as that monster.”

Max walked over to the window and peeked out of
the corner. “We’re going to sneak out when everyone’s sleeping.” He turned back
to her. “I still want you to call the general, and even if you won’t tell him who
the mole is, you need to tell him that Floyd is here. If anything, he can send
in some of the troops to keep the psycho busy while we figure out where your key
fits.”

She could do that. It made sense to create a
diversion, something to keep all of them, including the maniac, busy. Lydia’s vision about the battle had been in Henderson, not in
Jonesville. There was just no way in hell she could tell the general who’d told
her about Floyd. It would break his heart if he didn’t kill Gracie Lou first.

She pushed speed dial 1 and held the phone to
her ear. She explained what she could about Floyd’s location but left out the
part about her informant. She’d explained about the attack outside the
orphanage and updated him on their status. Max had figured right. The general
was sending in two teams to take the asshole out. They were flying in and would
be landing just after six in the morning. If everything worked out, Jamie and
Max would be long gone by then. She hung up, feeling a bit of the apprehension
ease in her shoulders. She still had one more call to make. She hit redial from
her recent numbers.

Gracie answered on the first ring. “Are you all right?”

“We’re fine, and the general is sending in some
teams. There is no need for you to come here. I want you to turn around and go
home; somewhere safe until I get back, and we’ll figure the rest of this out.”
Jamie closed her eyes and opened them again. “You did good, but you know the
General is going to want to lock you up for what you did.”

“I know.”

Max paced around the room, pretending not to
listen, but she knew better. He wasn’t going to be able to help himself. She
ended the call and sat the phone on the nightstand next to the bed.

“If you’re tired, I suggest you go ahead and get
some sleep. I’ll wake you when it’s time to go.” Briggs picked up his bag and checked
his additional guns. “Do you have one under your pillow like you did last
night?”