Destined for Power (12 page)

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Reid couldn’t sleep. He lay in bed and stared at the ceiling. He was willing himself not to get up and look at the woman sleeping on his couch. He tried to get Mallory to take the bed, but she insisted on being between him and the door. Then he tried to talk her into his bed. That didn’t work either. And maybe that was the reason he couldn’t sleep. There was a part of him still very much awake and eager to see Mallory as well.

Letting out a frustrated breath, Reid closed his eyes. A faint scratching noise caught his attention. What was that? Reid sat up and listened. He had to strain his ears, but he was pretty sure it was coming from the living room. Mallory was up! Maybe she was having trouble sleeping. A smile spread across his face, and the other part of him jumped up in anticipation.

Reid walked over to the chair to grab a pair of athletic shorts when the sound of glass breaking sent him running from the bedroom.

Mallory was counting sheep jumping a fence as she tried to get some sleep. But somehow those sheep kept turning into Reid, and he was winking at her. Then the next Reid to jump the fence was beckoning her with his finger. The next one didn’t have shoes. The next one didn’t have a shirt. The next one didn’t have pants. And then those jumping Reids did nothing to help Mallory go to sleep.

She was flushed and wondered if Reid’s offer to sleep with him was still open when she heard the unmistakable sound of a lock pick on the balcony door. Mallory slowly slid her hand under the couch cushion and pulled out her gun. She crept toward the door in her tank top and boy shorts. Taking a deep breath, she waited patiently behind the large sitting chair as the lock tumbled and the door opened.

A black-gloved hand reached through the drapes and pulled one back. A black-clad figure slowly slipped into the room. Mallory stood slowly and raised her gun.

“A little late for a visitor, isn’t it?” Mallory asked.

The figure in black turned toward her.

“Hands above your head, now,” Mallory ordered.

Mallory stepped around the chair as the person in a black ski mask complied. The zip ties were in a bag a few feet away. She glanced at the bag, and he leapt toward her. Mallory didn’t have time to fire before the impact. She fell backward and grabbed onto the retreating arm of the attacker moments before crashing into the glass table.

Pain from landing on the thousands of tempered-glass granules shot through her a second before the attacker landed on her. The impact sent her gun falling from her hand as she grappled with the person sitting on her.

“Mallory!”

“Run, Reid!” she ordered as she blocked a punch. She wasn’t so lucky and caught an elbow to her diaphragm, leaving her gasping for air.

The attacker sprang up and charged Reid. Mallory dragged in a ragged breath as she pushed herself up. She ignored the painful ovals of glass that dug into her palm. Mallory saw the needle a second before Reid grabbed the black-clad arm, lowered his shoulder, and used momentum to send the attacker flying over his shoulder.

Mallory rushed past him as the attacker jumped up. They circled each other, both obviously trained in military combat and some other lesser-known martial arts. Mallory saw his hand unclench and move toward a boot knife. Mallory’s was too far away to reach him in time to stop him from grabbing his secondary weapon. Instead she picked up a heavy coffee table book on the history of Atlanta and hurled it at the same time the attacker made his move.

The book hit him in the shoulder and caused him to stumble behind the couch. Reid took the opportunity and ran across the room. He hurtled the broken table and couch, landing right behind Mallory racing after the dark figure. As a group, they sprinted toward the open balcony door. The attacker didn’t stop, but instead sprinted across the balcony and vaulted over the iron railing, disappearing from view.

“Where the hell did he go?” Reid asked as they raced toward the railing.

Mallory didn’t answer. She was already jumping over the railing and sliding down the black nylon rope the attacker used.

“Wait!” Reid watched as Mallory slid as fast as lightning down the rope and ran after the shadow, tearing across the back lawn of the resort.

Mallory didn’t hear Reid’s shout. She was too focused on not losing sight of the figure in front of her.

She raced past the pool and onto the croquet field. With a burst of energy, she leaped after him. Her hand grabbed the back of the attacker’s shirt and the unmistakable feel of a light tactical vest as they went down hard in the dew-covered grass. Mallory grunted as a boot connected with her ribs; a needle stabbed into her shoulder causing Mallory to cry out in pain.

Mallory couldn’t let whatever was in that needle be injected into her. Her survival instincts kicked in full force as she struggled to prevent him from pushing the plunger. They fought frantically with each other. Each move was blocked and countered in a series of close-range combat moves. With the attacker straddling her and their hands on the plunger, Mallory used the only weapon left to her. She crunched up and smashed her head into his ski-mask-covered cheekbone.

It wasn’t the right spot to knock him out, but it was enough to let her wrestle away control of the needle. Mallory yanked it from her shoulder. The sound of screaming and the bobbing of flashlights in the distance had the attacker jumping up. Mallory leaned forward to give chase, but a boot to the stomach had her coughing to catch her breath. There was nothing she could do but watch him disappear into the shadows.

Reid and hotel security raced into the garden. He heard Mallory wheezing as they trained their flashlights ahead. Her white tank top was covered with a sprinkling of blood as she lay on her back with her arms over her face. Her eyes were closed, focused on breathing.

“Mallory, are you all right?” Reid called as he raced barefoot and bare-chested toward her.

She coughed in response but gave a nod of her head. She pointed toward the woods before covering her face again.

“Search the woods,” Reid ordered as security hurried off.

Reid knelt down beside her and saw the dirt marks covering her body. Her forearms were scraped, and her knees were bleeding.

“Shh. That’s it, deep breaths,” Reid said reassuringly.

Mallory lowered her arms and glared before rolling her eyes. “Duh,” she gasped.

Reid rubbed her arm gently and waited for her to catch her breath. He saw more injuries, but nothing looked too major. He also saw the needle on the ground next to her. “Did you get injected?”

Mallory struggled to take a deep breath. “No. It was in my shoulder, but I stopped him from injecting me. Learned two good things tonight. One, we’ll find out what’s in the needle and hope it leads to a clue on who it is.”

“And the other good thing?”

“It’s not Bowie. Bowie’s taller and heavier. This person was more of a runner than a strength trainer. About five foot nine inches tall too. Bowie is just a little shorter than you, and you’re what, six foot two?”

Reid nodded and slid his arm under her shoulders to help her sit up. “Let me take you to the doctor.”

“No. I have someone I need to see. I’ll also get him to identify what’s in the needle. Just get me back to your room, and I’ll call him.”

Noise from the security team took their attention away from her wounds. The group was walking out of the woods empty-handed.

“Sorry. We couldn’t find any trace of him.”

Reid grimaced. “It’s okay. Let’s be on the lookout for any more thieves, though. Let’s tighten security until after the ball. Anything suspicious, notify me at once. No matter how small it may seem. We don’t want to let it get out we might have a thief on the grounds. We want our guests to feel safe.”

Mallory let out a hiss of air as she stood up. When Reid shot her a worried look, she smiled. “Just a bruised rib, nothing too bad.”

Reid refused to let go of her as he walked with her back to the hotel. He would never forget the feeling of watching her jump over the railing and run into the night after the attacker. There was a battle of conflicting emotions raging inside him. He loved her. He should be the one protecting her. But it was her job to protect him, and he wanted Mallory to know he trusted her to do that.

“Come on, let’s call your doctor. I’ll feel better knowing that you’re not hurt too badly.” Reid helped her inside and swore to himself he wouldn’t turn domineering to her. It was hard, but he knew the right thing to do was work with her, not against her. Not only was he battling for her heart; he was now battling for her life.

Mallory smiled as Feng made his way into the room while bowing repeatedly to Reid. To say Reid was surprised to see the tiny Chinese man at the door early in the morning was an understatement. Feng was barely five feet two inches with a thin comb over and huge round wire glasses. He wasn’t a day younger than eighty.

“Little missy, you’ve gotten yourself into trouble again.” He shook his head. “No worries, Feng will take care of you,” he said affectionately.

“You’re a doctor?” Reid asked as Feng set down a bag half his size.

“I was a doctor in China, but when my family moved to the United States my training was not recognized even though I’d been a doctor for thirty years,” Feng explained as he pushed up his glasses with his finger.

“What do you do now?”

“I own the Qigong studio on Peachtree.”

“The yoga place?”

“Yes,” Feng smiled as he pulled out his stethoscope.

Mallory smiled at Reid. “I met Feng at class there almost ten years ago now. When I found out he was a doctor and missed practicing, we made an arrangement. He would treat me for any, um, nefarious injuries I got. He gets paid and gets to practice medicine, while I don’t have to go to the hospital and deal with all that paperwork.”

“Take off your shirt, please,” Feng said after listening to her heart, taking her pulse, and checking her blood pressure.

Finally Reid smiled, and Mallory just rolled her eyes and turned her back on him. She peeled off the tank top and Feng clucked again.

“You call Feng out early in the morning for this? This is nothing. You must be growing weak. You need to come back to class. I’ll toughen you up.”

“Nothing?” Reid asked surprised. Even though he was looking at her bare back, he could still see a bruise forming that ran across her side.

Feng shook his head. “Nothing for little missy. No bullet or stab wound. No broken bones,” he said as he poked her in the ribs.

Mallory knew better than to make a noise while Feng examined her, or he’d just poke her some more. “But I do have this,” she told him as she held up the needle.

Reid stepped closer as the little man was examining her and cleaning her cuts. He looked at her naked back and saw thin scars from knives and what looked like two bullet holes. A part of his mind had told himself what she did was nothing more than collecting gossip, despite the stories she had shared with him. It was something completely different to see the marks she bore on her body, proving the dangerous risks she had taken. It somehow made it more real.

The little doctor’s eyes went wide though when Mallory held up the needle. They both smiled, and Reid wondered if he could ever fit into her world. This amused them while Reid was anything but amused.

“A mystery,” Feng said happily as he took the needle.

“My attacker was trying to stab Reid with it and then, when we were fighting, stabbed me in the shoulder with it,” Mallory explained.

“Was any injected?” Feng asked as he took a closer look at her shoulder.

“No. But, I need to know what it is. I’m hoping it will help me find out who was behind this attack.”

“Sure thing. Feng will find out. Don’t you worry.”

The room froze when a knock suddenly interrupted them. Reid looked through the peephole before stepping back to open the door. The silver legs of a walker came through first.
Sexiness Never Gets Old
was hanging in between the bars as Shirley appeared. She looked around at Feng and a topless Mallory and then to Reid. “Looks like I’m missing the fun, but shouldn’t you be where he is?” she asked Reid with a tilt of her head to where Feng sat in front of Mallory.

“I wish,” Reid murmured. “He’s her doctor,” he said louder this time.

“I heard you the first time.” Shirley winked before wheeling farther into the room. “And who are you, good-lookin’?”

Reid almost choked as Feng’s cheeks turned red and he ran a hand over the ten strands of hair covering his head. He decided right then Mallory was the best government asset they had when she turned with a straight face and introduced them.

“I heard Qigong is great for sexual exercising,” Shirley said as she wiggled her eyebrows.

Feng nodded repeatedly. “Yes. Yes. Very good for it.”

“Maybe I could get some private lessons?”

Reid stood staring. He didn’t want to hear or see anymore of this octogenarian flirt fest, but it was like a train wreck. He couldn’t look away. Mallory slipped on her shirt and smiled serenely at Feng and Shirley.

Feng placed the needle in his bag and pulled out a business card. “Here you go. You call me, and I’ll teach you many techniques. You’ll feel like a teenager again,” he said with a wink.