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“What if I thought I already loved you?”
He grinned. “What if I thought I already loved you?”
I smiled back up at him, placing my hand on the side of his face. “I think that sounds about perfect.”
Chapter Nine
Ice
The storm got bad. Real bad. By the time I got a text from Ripper telling me it would be best to move to the inner part of the hotel, we were already heading to the ballroom with everyone else. I almost decided to stay in the bathroom and would have if it had just been me. But I wasn’t risking Dawn because I didn’t like to be around strange people. I could “people” sometimes, but being around strangers wasn’t my thing. Probably because I was constantly looking around them trying to determine who was the biggest threat and who was the sleeper.
Dawn stayed right by my side, her hand tucked in the waistband of my jeans as we made our way to a corner of the room. I chose the innermost one. Thankfully, no one had taken it because it was on the complete opposite side from the food bar the hotel had set up.
“Stay here. I’ll get us a snack and something to drink.”
“OK.”
Even in the crowded area, the wind howled loudly, making me nervous. There were dangers I could control and dangers I couldn’t. I didn’t deal with what I couldn’t control. It was the reason storms made me nervous. All a person could do was hunker down until it passed.
I’d just gotten us a sandwich, chips, and a bottle of water when the lights went out. Of course, there was the collective gasp and a few screams and whimpers. It was a couple of seconds before the generator kicked on and the safety lights followed.
“It’s all right, folks.” Someone from the hotel tried to calm everyone down. “We expected this. There’s enough fuel for the generators for three days, and we’re keeping an eye on the water. We’ve got plans for three meals a day and snacks for everyone here. We’ll keep you as safe and comfortable as we possibly can.”
I kept moving back to the corner where I’d left Dawn, snacks in hand. I had to move through several people and stopped once to help an older couple by getting them snacks. The woman was in a wheelchair and the man didn’t like the idea of leaving her by herself while he got refreshments. I’d just gotten back to the snack table when my sat phone rang. Which prompted several people to check their own phones because at some point cell service and Internet had been interrupted.
“Yeah.”
“Found the man you were looking for.” Something in Suzie’s voice clued me into the fact that something was very, very wrong.
“Whatcha got?”
“Well, let me start by saying you didn’t give me much to go on. With that being said, I still got the guy.”
“Give it to me.”
“Before I do that -- we’re still trying to track down his location -- I want to apologize for any trouble you may have in the future. I’ll take full responsibility but, given your parameters, I had to go outside the box and there is a very, very, very slight possibility I got caught.”
“Caught?” Yeah, I got a sinking feeling I knew what was coming next and I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. Now I knew how Cain felt that first time Suzie did what I thought she’d done. I didn’t know whether to be proud of her or scold her.
“You gave me a name, Cliff. One. Name. That’s it. And the fact that there was, and I quote, a friend who had trouble with this guy. Based on that and the fact that you went to find El Diablo’s daughter, I went on the assumption it was her who was your friend.”
“How does that relate?”
“I backtracked her from Florida back to Lexington. Cross-referenced her whereabouts with the name of your guy. David Almond. That’s where I found him. Two days before Dawn left Lexington, he was at her apartment. From what I could tell, she left in a pretty bad way and headed to Louisville where she got a hotel room for the night. The next day, she left, headed to Florida.”
“How’d you do all that, Suz?”
“That’s the tricky part. I might have maybe kinda sorta hacked Giovanni again. But it was for a good cause!”
“Jesus. Did you at least get away clean?” Yeah. I was definitely equal parts amused and irritated.
“Well, that’s the thing. This guy’s a monster, Cliff. If Dawn’s messed up with him, you’re not safe and neither is she. When I found out about this guy, speed became more important than stealth.”
“Tell me.”
“There has been more than one woman go missing around him. Rumor is he killed his best friend, but they were never able to prove it. Of course, each time charges are filed against him, the prosecutor assigned gets a huge deposit. Sometimes to their personal bank in Lexington, sometimes to an offshore account. Right after, the charges are dropped.”
