Feel (23 page)

“Griffin or the man?”

Her head moves underneath my chin, a few strands of her hair catching in the stubble.  “The man.”

“Have you seen him before?”

“No.  I don’t know who he is, but I do know he’s the man who is going to try to shoot Samantha.”

“Is there a connection to Griffin?  Do you know what he looks like?” I ask quickly, grabbing for my jeans.

“Brown hair, maybe six feet.  He’s thin and dressed in a business suit.  Yes, there is definitely a connection to Griffin, but it’s a weak one, like maybe they don’t know each other that well.”  Her words are short, almost hesitant, the perplexed expression remaining as she absently chews on her bottom lip.

“Stay here,” I demand, shoving my legs into my jeans and not taking time with a shirt as I leave the room, racing down the hall to Sam’s room and knock on the door.  “It’s me, Andy,” I whisper as quietly as possible but loud enough for him to hear. 

Andy cracks the door, looking over his shoulder at Sam sleeping in the far bed before closing it behind him.  “Did Saige have another premonition?”

“Yeah,” I confirm, biting back my anger so I can focus.  “The shooter’s here.  We have to get out of the hotel without his knowing.”  Glancing at my watch, I know most everyone will be asleep.  What I don’t know is if that will work to our advantage or against it.  “I’m going to wake Darrin and have him get everyone ready to leave before driving the vehicles to the back door of kitchen in the lobby restaurant.  It’s the closest exit from this hall.”

“It will be quicker if we both drive them around.  I’ll call Axe to stay with Sam and go with you.”

“Does she know?” I ask, hoping Sam doesn’t.  She’s tough, but this would scare the hell out of her.

“No.  I told her what you suggested, that we’re just being cautious.  I don’t know if she bought it or just thinks I’m upping my game of trying to get in her pants,” he jokes, using his usual coping mechanism.

“Save her from this and she might decide to give it up to a hero.  Since Darrin and I are taken, that leaves you a whopping twenty-five percent chance that she’ll choose you to thank instead of Axe, James, or Stephen,” I joke back.

“Ha, ha, smartass,” he smirks.

I smack him on the back of his head, chuckling, “We’ll all meet here in fifteen.” 

Checking both sides of the hall, I make sure it’s still clear as I go back for Saige and we wake up the rest of the crew.  Once we’re back in Andy and Sam’s room, I pull Darrin to the side so I can give him the full update as Saige listens quietly by my side. 

“We’ve figured out that he knows about us, but just how much does he know?  And why Sam?” Darrin asks.

“The only thing I can think of is that Griffin figured out she’s the one who can locate things.  Without her, we might find him, but she’s the one with the strongest ability to locate the actual bomb, especially with how he seems to be shaking us.”

“She’s the finder so he sees her as the biggest threat,” Darrin sighs, pushing his hands against the wall as he hangs his head, trying to make sense of something that just doesn’t.

Saige’s face blanches, and she glances at me before heading back towards the group.  I watch her walk away, wanting to rip Griffin’s heart out of his chest and choke him with the diseased piece of shit.

“Don’t take this the wrong way, Rider, but why isn’t he targeting Saige?”

“I asked myself that a hundred times last night.”  The blood freezes in my veins as I tell him the theory that nearly paralyzes me.  “Saige is personal to Griffin.  He’s connected with her, especially now.  The bastard would want to kill her himself.  He’s not going to want to use someone to do it for him by proxy.”  Pulling my gun from my bag, I shove it in the back of my jeans, “I’m going to make damn sure that doesn’t happen.  Andy and I are going for the vehicles, meet us at the kitchen door in five minutes.” 

“No offense to Andy, but don’t you think I should be going with you since I have the military training and the only thing that boy can shoot is his mouth?”

“I want you here because of that specialized training.  You being trained in how to take out a man with a gun means the girls are safer with you,” I admit truthfully. 

  “I’ll take care of them.”

  “I know.”  I do know.  He would put himself in front of the damn bullet to protect them.  “We’re going out through the kitchen to make sure it’s clear.”

  “Alright, Rider.  You better be there in five minutes or I’m going to kick both of your asses,” he chuckles, but I see the underlying concern. 

  I give a quick nod before stepping out the door with Andy right behind me.  I may give him hell about being a mouth, but he’s always had my back.  The hotel is quiet at 5:45 a.m. until we reach the kitchen, which is already alive with the breakfast shift.  Surprisingly, it’s fairly easy slipping through the back side of the kitchen unnoticed and into the alley. 

The air is chilly as we make our way on the sidewalk to the side entrance of the parking deck.  Outside is empty, except for a few passing cars, and we’ve just reached the vehicles when footsteps barrel towards us.  Immediately reacting, I grab my gun and aim it at the noise, my heart freaking exploding when I see that it’s Saige who is in my aim as she runs faster than I’ve ever seen her move.  I drop my hand, letting out a vile expletive as she screams for us to jump, pointing at the railing behind me.  I reach for her so I can cushion her body with mine, but she propels herself straight into a frozen Andy at full-speed, screaming, “Jump!” as her tackle sends them flying over the railing as I hoist myself over behind them.

The impact is harsher than I expected as sharp branches impel themselves into my skin.  Fighting through the broken brush so I can get to Saige, I get a glimpse of her rolling off Andy as they both groan in pain.  Andy pushes himself to an unsteady standing position as he weaves a little, trying to pick pieces of leaves and branches from his clothing while glaring at Saige. “What the hell were you thinking?”

“I’m sorry.  I-I,” she stammers, looking back up from where we jumped, “I thought there was a bomb.”

  “Well, I guess you were wrong, Princess Psycho!  You better not have broken any of my damn bones.”

“Shut-up, Andy,” I warn, turning towards Saige, worriedly inspecting her.  “Are you okay?”

Saige’s gaze doesn’t move from the railing as she shakes her head, “I’m sorry.  I was wron-”

A deafening boom erupts, the force from the blast sending us flying backwards and slamming against the ground, jarring every bone in my body. 
Saige!
  Ignoring the searing pain in my shoulder, I scramble on my knees to where she is lying motionless on the pavement.  Everything inside of me dies when I shake her and she doesn’t immediately respond.  It’s only a second before her eyes flutter but I swear it feels like a thousand years.  Pulling her into my arms, relief floods through my veins before a hefty shot of anger follows, and I firmly grasp her arms, being sure to not cause pain, but wanting to shake some sense into her.  “Dammit, Saige!  Will you
please
stop running towards fucking bombs?”

A stunned gaze is the only response I get and all my anger vanishes almost as soon as it hit me as I pull her back into my arms.  “If I lose you again…” my voice breaks and I hold her tighter as she says nothing, just clings to me. 

Tears moisten her eyes, and I crush my mouth against hers, needing to feel every damn piece of her right now – needing to know she’s really alright. 

“No, no.  That’s okay.  Don’t worry about me.  I’m all good over here.  I’m happy you two are swapping spit over there while I’m trying to make sure I haven’t lost a limb or pissed my pants,” Andy grumbles. 

My phone buzzes and I grunt at how my shoulder hurts like hell when I reach to pull it out.  Darrin’s peppering questions about the blast they apparently felt in the room, and I have to cover my ear to try to block out Andy and Saige when their bickering begins behind me.  “There was a bomb.  Why in the hell did you let Saige come out here?” I yell angrily. 

“I’m sorry, Rider.  She was here one second, then, I turned around, and she was gone.”

Reigning in my temper, I try to let it go.  Darrin wouldn’t have had a reason to expect her to take off like that, and he never would have let her if he knew what she was thinking.  “It’s not your fault,” I sigh, scanning the area around us as we both agree it’s best for them to stay put until the cops arrive.  No one in their right mind would try to pull a hit off in a hotel swarming with officers.  I just hope to hell the shooter isn’t a psychopath like Griffin. I hang up the phone, raking my hands through my hair and dropping my head as the bantering continues in front of me and I try to figure out what I’m going to do with the gun shoved down my pants. 

“You couldn’t have warned me some other way?  You tackled me OFF-A-BUILDING!”

“I did warn you!  I told you to jump and you just stared at me, frozen like an idiot.”  Saige’s brow cocks as she gives Andy a smartass smirk, “I just saved your ass.”

“No, you broke my ass, and who knows what else.”

“Would you rather I didn’t tackle you off the building and have the cops scrape pieces of you off it instead?”

“Hmmm.  Let me think!  I don’t know.  If I’m going to have to put up with your gloating forever, I might need a moment to answer that one.”

Keeping my eyes on the surrounding area, I gently tug on Saige’s arm, “I think we need to get out of sight until those sirens get closer in case the man who tried to kill us is still around.”

“I don’t feel anyone,” Saige assures me.  “Well, except for pansyass over here.”

“Pansyass?  Really?” Andy throws his hands in the air and dramatically runs them the length of his frame, “This piece of chiseled perfection was almost blown to smithereens.  I think I’m entitled to a bit of bitching at the moment.”

Saige’s lips break into a smile and I roll my eyes at Andy, nodding my appreciation at his distraction techniques, but I’m not sure who he’s trying to calm more right now, Saige or himself.

Sirens blare louder as I pull Saige closer to me, “I really need to know how you knew about the bomb, but I have to get rid of this gun first or I’m going to end up in the back of one of those police cars we’re hearing.”

We scramble to find a hiding place, deciding the drainage pipe Andy and I passed is the best option at the moment.  I sprint back the way I came, shoving the gun out of sight, before quickly running back to Saige so I can make sure to warn her not to open her mouth when the police arrive. 

“You don’t want me to describe the man to the cops?” Saige questions, pressing her hands against her hips.  “Why?”

The first cop car screeches to a stop at the edge of the building, followed by at least a dozen more, and I have to raise my voice over the blaring sirens as I breathe a rushed explanation of how it will hinder us from finding Griffin if we’re detained here.  And we are definitely going to be detained here for further questioning if we show that we know anything about a huge chunk of a parking deck being blown to bits by a bomb planted under our vehicles.  Besides, the description Saige gave probably describes a third of the male population of this city.

Saige is as smart as she is hell-bent on wanting to help people, and I see the struggle waging in her eyes.  Thankfully, she chooses to side with her intelligence over her heart at the moment just as we are surrounded by cops with their guns aimed straight at us.  Grabbing Saige’s wrist, I pull her behind me, shielding her as much as my frame allows.  Andy does the same, pressing his back against hers as we are ordered to our knees. 

  Saige’s labored breathing tears a hole in my chest.  She’s being emotionally beaten by the heightened anger and fear from the officers circling us.  I never thought I would be happy to see a SWAT team and Bomb Squad as much as I am right now as they pull next to the building.  The officers appear to be well trained, but the specialized agents are trained in how to handle situations like this, and their emotions will be much calmer and easier for Saige to handle as they quickly inspect us, then begin the questions that I hold my breath and hope we all answer correctly. 

  It’s after 12:00 p.m. when we’re all released and cleared from any connection to the unknown bomber, with the exception of our only transportation being blown up by the asshole.  Andy gets the cops distracted by bombarding them with questions while I have to get creative with retrieving my gun.  Saige helps me out by giving the officers close to my hiding place something much more interesting to look at.  Hell, she nearly distracts me from retrieving my weapon when she unbuttons her shirt enough to where her black lace bra is peeking out, and bends over to ‘fix’ the lace of her boot.