Chapter Eight

Things were going from bad to worse, and then worse again. As I rushed to get through town at a speed that made even me cringe, I wavered between blaming myself and blaming the girl—Cass Sternlight.

I’d only been out of the car for a minute—just trying to talk Billy into getting back in—when I’d spied the lights of another car. At first I’d ignored them as I’d talked to the older man.

“C’mon,” I cajoled. “Do I ever steer you wrong?”

He grunted.

“I’m just trying to do what’s right,” I said.

“Since when?”

“Since always.”

“So you’re gonna forget your personal vendetta for the first pretty face that walks through your door?”

He was being sarcastic, and I made myself brush it off. Billy knew better than anyone that nothing short of my own death would make me give up on finding my brother’s killer.

“She didn’t just walk through my door. I dragged her kicking and screaming,” I told him.

“You carried her while she snored,” Billy reminded me.

I rolled my eyes.

“I’m still on the job,” I assured him.

Then the car lights had flashed again, and we both turned toward the winding ramp that led down to where we were parked.

“Monato followed us,” I muttered. “Clever little bastard.”

“Fuck,” Billy replied, for once sounding angrier than I did.

We’ jumped back into the car, and I turned the ignition on, turned the lights off, and eased the car through the lot until I’d hit the service ramp on the other side of the underground structure. We made it to the exit and the road, but my blood pressure was still up, and I hadn’t made a decision about what my next move was going to be.

The whiskey had finally worn off, and I couldn’t help but wonder how much it had influenced my actions tonight.

“If you have any sense left, John, you’ll drop her at the address listed on her license, and move on,” Billy told me.

“No,” I replied coldly.

“But John…” The doctor said, sounding uncertain.

“What?” I snapped. “I can’t just leave her somewhere for Monato to take.”

“Under almost every other circumstance, I would agree with you. But in this case, I’m not sure you’re thinking straight,” he told me nervously.

A growl built up in my throat, mostly because I’d been thinking the same thing. I refused to back down. I was starting to regret having called the doctor in the first place. Ramirez was soft, often simpering, and always self-serving. It was why he’d been asked to surrender his license—he made his decisions based on what was good for him, not what was good for his patients. If Cass Sternlight hadn’t been so still, and I’d known what to do for her myself, I wouldn’t have asked for his help at all.

“Under any other circumstance, I would toss you out of the car without stopping to think about it,” I said quietly. “You should be thanking God that I still have the girl. That’s what’s keeping you in one piece.”

That shut him up, at least momentarily.

I slowed for a yellow, waited impatiently through the red, and moved on wordlessly when it became a green. I kept driving, and tried to work out a plan.

Billy opened his mouth several times, thought better of whatever he’d been going to say, then closed it again.

I wasn’t going anywhere near my apartment, or anywhere else I could be found on a regular basis. I figured even Monato was smart enough to station people there.

I cringed when I considered what his men might do to the old man at the front desk in my apartment building. If they questioned him in an attempt to find out where I’d gone…I really hated the thought of being indirectly responsible for any harm that came to innocent people.

Oh, really? I said to myself sarcastically. That’s not at all obvious.

I made a mental note to check on the desk attendant later, and kept moving.

We were getting low on gas, but I was too cautious of a man—at least when it came to my business life—to stop at any of the stations in town. And I obviously hadn’t been being careful enough so far.

“What’s the plan?” Billy finally asked when the fuel light began to blink.

I stared at the glowing E and was struck by a sudden inspiration. I glanced in the rearview mirror, pulled over and handed Billy my credit card.

“Get out,” I said.

Both Billy and the Doc looked at me incredulously.

“We’re in the middle of the highway,” Billy pointed out.

“Call a cab,” I told him. “I really think it’s better if I take her somewhere safe. And alone. Monato can follow the card instead of me.”

For a second, Billy seemed like he was going to argue, but I shook my head, and the two men got out slowly. I glanced at the pretty blonde in the backseat. Without Ramirez crowding her, she looked smaller and even more vulnerable. It made me feel like I’d made the right decision.

I pulled back onto the road, and I didn’t look back at the two men I’d abandoned.

I kept going until I hit the highway, glad to have thought of the hotel. It was huge, out of the way, and except for a few renovated rooms, near to uninhabitable.

Damn. I realized that the very thing that made it suitable for hiding, also made it unsuitable for a long-term stay. I’m going to need to stop.

I drove a little further, ignoring the angrily blinking fuel light until I spotted a sign advertising an out-of-the-way, twenty-four hour grocery and gas. I stopped for some supplies. I had no choice but to leave the girl in the car, and I had to fight to keep myself from running through the store as I picked up the things I might need. Food. Drinks. Toiletries.

“Like I’m taking a goddamned vacation,” I muttered.

My heart hammered guiltily as I paid.

“You all right?” the bored cashier asked.

I nodded, cursing myself for being so transparent, and for letting myself be someone who would be remembered. How had I made it this far in my life of crime?

“I need gas,” I told her curtly.

“Pump is down.”

I suppressed a frustrated sigh and paid the girl in cash for the other stuff.

When I got back into the car, my hands clenched the steering wheel. I couldn’t force them to release, even as I pulled the inconspicuous sedan onto the road.

“Thirty clicks,” I muttered at the gas gauge. “That’s all I ask.”

I didn’t breathe easily until I caught sight of the largely hidden sign. Its signature E—broken and unlit—proclaimed that we’d reached the Empress Hotel.

I drove to the back lot slowly, with the lights out, and parked the car beside the rundown laundry facility. I was glad I had decided not to have it levelled. It provided the perfect cover, and my car would go unnoticed, at least for a little while.

I glanced at my watch. The live-in security detail I’d hired to patrol the perimeter of the hotel itself would’ve finished his latest rounds twenty minutes earlier. I had about an hour until he came around again. Plenty of time to let him know I’d become a guest. I doubted I could fully trust him, but I would have to, at least until I figured out a solid plan.

I opened the back door and lifted the girl out. I cradled her against my chest while balancing the weight of the two grocery bags on my arms. I paused for a second.

Would I be able to manage the trek over to the hotel without dropping her?

“You’d better be worth all this trouble,” I said.

She sighed softly and settled more comfortably into my grip. One of her arms came up automatically in her sleep, and she bent it at the elbow. Her hand was resting gently on my collar bone. I looked down, and my body decided—all on its own—that the sight of her delicate fingers, curled possessively against my chest was more than worth it.

I swallowed thickly and told myself to move.