AllFreeNovel
Share Us
"It is for me." He aimed a finger at the staircase. "Is there someplace specific I should bunk, or should I wander through the thirty rooms up there and pick one myself?"
"Not quite thirty." Lola edged past him, careful not to brush against his body. Her nerves couldn't take any more close encounters with Jack. "But there should be a few rooms all made up and ready to go."
She jogged ahead of him up the curved staircase, her fingers skimming the polished banister. Pausing on the landing, she pointed down the hallway to her right. "First room on your left and first room on your right should be okay. The one on your right has a bathroom attached."
She turned and he touched her shoulder. "Thanks, Lola."
For some absurd reason, tears pricked the back of her eyes and she jerked her head around so he wouldn't see. Jack Coburn was not a man who wanted pity. "Yeah, sure. I just hope a little sleep jogs memories about Gabe."
She skipped downstairs and paused at the bottom, her foot hanging off the last step until she heard the door snap shut.
Sliding into the chair Jack had vacated, she grabbed her cell phone. Although officially off duty, she wanted to check on a few of her patients. While talking, she entered Prospero into a search engine and scrolled through a few businesses and several references to the play. Jack had been right--nothing rang any bells. Why had Emilio whispered that word?
When the nurse came back on the line, Lola stopped typing. "So how is Eddie?"
"He's scheduled to start his physical therapy tomorrow."
"I'm coming in. I promised him I'd be there on his first day of PT."
The nurse clicked her tongue. "You're supposed to be on vacation."
"I'm right here in Miami and not in the Bahamas, so what does it matter?"
"You're going to come in, anyway, but you really do need a vacation."
Now more than ever. Lola ended the call and rolled her shoulders. For the heck of it, she entered Jack Coburn on the computer. Jack was right about that, too--a fairly common name that belonged to a legion of people, all looking for some recognition on the internet. But no news stories about missing hostage negotiators.
Lola searched for stories referencing the CIA and came up blank there, too. CIA. She'd had contact with a CIA agent a while back regarding a victim of a kidnapping case she'd treated. Maybe Jack felt hinky about contacting the CIA, but why should she?
She'd lugged her briefcase to the house along with her other bags and crossed the room to retrieve it. She fumbled for the zipper on a compartment inside the briefcase and wrapped her fingers around a bundle of business cards.
She pulled them out and thumbed through them, blowing out a breath when she located the card belonging to Nate Schriever, the CIA agent on the kidnapping case.
With shaky fingers, she punched in his number and then slumped back in her chair when she got his voice mail. She left her name and number, reminding him of their past association.
Lola stiffened when the front door swung open. Her muscles tense, she jumped from the chair and took a step toward the door.
"Miss Lola!"
"Rosa." Relief coursed through Lola's veins, and she felt light-headed. Of course, nobody without a code for the front gate and a key to the front door could waltz in here.
"I didn't know you were coming." Rosa waved her arms in big circles. "I would have cleaned up."
"The house is spotless, Rosa."
"Mr. Gabriel said you were going to stay here while he was gone, but you never came." She'd crossed her arms over her ample bosom and was tapping her toe, as if she'd been waiting for Lola for the past six months.
"I prefer to stay at my own place." Lola jerked a thumb at the ceiling. "I brought a guest with me. H-he needs a place to stay right now."
Rosa raised her dark brows. "A man? A special man?"
He was a special man, but not in the way matchmaking Rosa meant. Lola rolled her eyes. "A friend, Rosa."
Flapping her hands, Rosa frowned. "You have too many friends, Miss Lola. You need un novio, un hombre guapo."
Lola grinned and shook her head. Jack was a very handsome man...hot, sexy and dangerous, but he was not boyfriend material. She'd have to disappoint Rosa.
