Chapter Twenty-One

Hurting all over, Rory stiffly maneuvered through the door of their motel room. After the whole Jack debacle, they’d made straight for the state line and crossed into Missouri, and the Ozarks. In the first little town they’d come to with a decent motel, he had pulled over for the night. Navigating the dirt roads to the remote safe house in his present condition wouldn’t be smart.

His traveling companion had been silent during the hour drive to the next town and hadn’t looked at him once the entire time.

Still curiously docile, she followed him into their room and dropped her bag beside one of the twin beds. Her behavior worried him more than the insistent complaints of his battered body. His body would heal. As for Nina.…

He closed the door, turned around to ask what the hell was wrong with her— just in time to see her sprint into the bathroom where he heard her retch violently.

Putting the gun he’d prudently confiscated earlier on the nightstand, he frowned and went after her.

“Nina?” He paused on the threshold of the bathroom and flicked the light switch. The white-tiled room was instantly bathed in a garish light.

Well on her way to emptying her stomach completely, her shivering body hovered over the toilet. Mighty shudders wracked through her, and her breathing came out in sobs.

He sighed. “It’s okay, Nina. Just let it out.”

Favoring his bruised ribs, he squatted beside her and rubbed her heaving back. Confronted by her physical and mental distress, he felt a distinctive ache start in his chest that had nothing to do with the beating.

“Easy now. Breathe, Nina. Just breathe,” he soothed, and waited until there was nothing left in her stomach and she’d dry-heaved several times. Then he helped her sit back against the side of the tub.

He immediately noticed a change. It was visible in her posture and a dozen other little telltale signs as she settled back and draped her arms over drawn-up knees. Whoever had entered the motel room with him was gone now.

Damn. He’d really wanted to observe that quiet persona and figure out who it was.