In Too Deep (8 page)

“What was that?” He puts his hand to his ear, urging me to say it louder.

“I. Said.
I'm. Sorry,” I say it slowly, enunciating each word.

He grins. “What were you so mad about anyway?” He unzips his duffle bag and pulls out a
worn gray T-shirt. “It was your idea that I needed to get laid. Which reminds me – I didn’t, by the way.”

I watch as he unbuttons his shirt, my eyes traveling
south along the path of his fingers. He peels the button down shirt off his shoulders, and stands in front of me in a snug fit white T-shirt and jeans riding low on his hips.

I blush and loo
k away. “I’m going to go change,” I mutter.

I grab my ba
ckpack and head into the bathroom. Begging myself to get a grip, I splash cold water on my face and catch my reflection in the mirror. My cheeks are flushed pink, my eyes shining brightly. All my senses are lit up around him. Colt is a manwhore. I repeat in my head, and I am not this girl. I will not be this girl. I need to remember that.

I change into my pajamas, and practice deep breathing. When I come out, Colt’s in his room with the door closed, which is probably for the best.

I drift into a restless sleep wondering how it is one guy can both infuriate me and fascinate me so much.

Chapter 14

We
’re both quiet on the drive into Cleveland. I think about the disapproval written all over Taylor’s face last night when I led Sarah back inside and introduced her.

I could tell it unnerved Taylor how much she and Sarah looked alike. But her reaction was the last thing I expected. She seemed genuinely upset.
I didn’t understand why, but I knew I didn’t ever again want to be responsible for making her big blue eyes look up at me like that.

We make it to Cleveland in the late morning and check into the same hotel that Lars Kaiser is staying at. McAllister’s instructions in the envelope I gave Taylor say that she’s supposed to access his computer and copy over his files so we can find out who he’s working with, names and locations of where they may be planning to make their deals. This is a non-contact mission. He won’t even know we’re here. But still, it makes me nervous. Especially since we’re right under his nose. But I know McAllister’s right, he’d have no idea that we even exist.

Inside our hotel room, another two-bedroom suite, I drop my
bag on my bed, then join Taylor in the living room. She gets straight down to business setting up her laptop on the desk. I have nothing to do, so I opt for pacing beside her, wearing a path in the thick carpeting, turning each time I reach the wall. I stop and watch over her shoulder as she eagerly clicks through screens I’ve never seen before.

“Anything I can do to h
elp?” I ask.

She
digs around inside her laptop bag, pulling out a few crumpled dollar bills. “Go get me a Diet Coke.”

I
refuse her money, but head for the door. “On it.”

While in the hallway, I use the time to explore the layout of the hotel. I note where the fire exits are, the distance of each stairwell to our room and the location of the janitor’s closets. Then I go to the vending area and get Taylor her beverage.

Back inside the room, Taylor doesn’t even glance up as I set the drink on the desk beside her. She’s furiously tapping at the keys, an adorable look of concentration on her face. Her hair is pulled tight into a ponytail that hangs down her back. I sit down on the couch, feeling useless.

Taylor’s insistence that I needed sex bothered me. At first it was funny, until I realized what kind of a guy it made me in her eyes. This girl was fucking with my head and I never doubted myself.
Ever. And that look on her face when she thought I’d slept with that girl last night? She looked so hurt. Even though she acts sarcastic and tough, there’s something she’s hiding, and I don’t want to hurt her, which is why I need to stay away from her. She’s far too fragile. We’re partners on an assignment. Nothing more.

Chapter
15

“Got it.”
Colt strolls into the room, looking quite pleased with himself and waving a key card at me.

“How?”
I thought breaking into Lars’ room would be the hardest part.

“Young girl working at the reception desk.
I told her Lars was my uncle and even though it was against policy, I sweet talked her until I got it.”

I shake my head. Of course he got it.

“The cleaning service comes through in a little while, so hopefully he’ll leave during that, and we can slip in.”

I nod my consent, but my stomach curls into a tight knot.

Colt’s tense and on edge, constantly leaving the room to do God knows what, but he bursts in a little while later and motions for me to come with him. “Come on. He went out.”

I scramble to my feet. It’s show time.

We take the stairs two floors up to Lars’ room and Colt delicately slides the card into the card reader. I hold my breath, waiting for someone to bust us. But the light flicks to green and the lock clicks open. My breathing is shallow as I follow Colt inside the room. It’s similar to ours, but with a large king-size bed unmade in the center of the room. My eyes meet the laptop sitting on the desk. I begin working right away, not needing any prompting from Colt. I want to get this done as quickly as possible and get the hell out of here. My hands are shaking as I insert the jump drive into his USB port. I wipe my sweaty palms against my jeans and force a breath into my lungs. I can do this. It will only take a few minutes.

Colt paces the room, throwing glances my way to check my progress. He doesn’t have to tell me to hurry, it’s written all over him.

I punch in a string of commands that will launch the tracking bug I’ve created. Colt leans over my shoulder to watch as I finish up, and pull the jump drive free of his computer. “Almost done,” I assure him.

A noise at the door startles us both. Someone’s trying to come in. Colt grabs my elbow and hauls me to my feet. I drop the jump drive and it clatters to the carpet, landing somewhere under the desk. I jerk towards it, but the door has clicked and is about to open. Colt pulls me toward the bathroom just in time. He ushers us to the bathtub and pulls the curtain to conceal us both. My heart thunders in my chest. I’m praying that it’s just the maid service, but it’s quiet. I hear keys clatter to the dresser, and the TV flips on a second later. Shit.

Colt holds me close to his body, partially shielding me behind him, my back is pressed against the cool tile wall.

Lars has turned on a sitcom and the laughter from the television is disturbing. There is nothing funny about this
situation, it seems so out of place. The footsteps advance toward us, and Colt’s grip on my hips tightens, pulling me in closer to his body. I’m pressed up against his firm chest, and even though I shouldn’t, I somehow feel safe.

The bathroom light flicks on overhead and my knees go weak. Colt’s arm around my waist supports me from falling.

The porcelain toilet seat is lifted and a loud steam of urine pierces the silence. Lars is mere feet away. I breathe as quietly as possible, terrified the sound of my labored breathing will somehow give us away.

Colt reaches up, dragging his fingertips along my back. I can feel the heat from his fingers on my skin, despite the thin material separating us. He continues lightly rubbing my back. At
first I think he’s doing it to keep me calm, but then I feel him trace his fingertip along my spine, spelling out the word
shhh
.

I press my lips together, smiling while my heart pounds erratically. Who knew I was such an adrenaline junkie?

A second later, the toilet flushes, and I drag a ragged breath into my lungs, unaware I’d been holding my breath.

We wait for several agonizing seconds in the, but Lars’ footsteps can’t be heard. He’s still in the bathroom with us.

The shower curtain flings open.

I recognize Lars from his photo.
Bald head, dark, unfeeling eyes. And he looks pissed.

For a tense moment, we stand and stare at each other.

Lars steps forward. “Who the fuck are you?” I stumble back, but Colt snakes his arm around my waist, keeping me upright.

Colt springs forward, knocking Lars out of the way
and we flee from the bathroom. Colt pulls me toward the door, but I’m stopped hard in my tracks. Lars has grabbed me by the neck, his fingers biting into my skin, pressing against my windpipe. I stumble back toward the wall.

Holy shit.
Is this really happening?

I claw at his fingers.
Can’t breathe. Need air. Now.
Colt grabs Lars like he weighs nothing at all and deposits him across the room. I rub my neck, sucking down lungful’s of air. My heart gallops at an alarming pace while I watch them struggle.

Colt hits Lars in the
jaw, the collision knocks his head back violently. They tumble toward me. Lars meets my eyes and grins. He leans back and sends a kick straight at my stomach, knocking the wind from my lungs. His hit knocks me back and I crumble to the floor. The shock of it leaves me breathless, reeling with pain and tears blurring my vision. I struggle for breath, but I clamber on my hands and knees, scooting myself away from them. 

I watch as Colt and Lars go at each other, fists flying. I have no idea what I’ll do if Colt loses. Lars will come after me next. But Colt’s pissed. I can tell he won’t let that happen. The dull thuds of flesh connecting against flesh and male grunts pierce the otherwise quiet hotel room.

A few minutes later, Colt has got Lars by the neck choking him out from behind. And after struggling for a few seconds, Lars falls unconscious to the floor.

“Come on.” Colt pulls me up and we run for the door, heading back up to our room.

The stairs are harder to navigate this time, my legs are wobbly, and I’m still struggling for air. Without Colt helping me, I’d be jelly on the floor.

When we reach our room, Colt sits me down on the couch while he storms through the hotel room, grabbing bags, shoving my laptop into its case, and throwing all the bags over his shoulder. Then he’s hauling me to my feet again.

The trip downstairs is a blur, but somehow we reach the car. Colt opens my door and directs me onto the seat, buckling my seat belt around me like I’m a child. Only once I’m in the safety and silence of his car again do I let myself analyze what’s just happened. Without meaning to, I begin to cry. Fat, soggy tears fall down my cheeks and I struggle to breath. I’m not cut out for this. I can’t handle field work if this is what’s it going to be like. Lars could’ve had a gun. I could’ve been paired with someone less capable than Colt. And then what would’ve happened?

Colt glances over. “Are you okay?”

I sniff and wipe at my eyes. “No I’m not okay. We just got attacked!”

“I’m taking you back to the school. Assignment’s over.”

I let out a muffled sob, despite my best attempt to hold it in.

“Fuck!” Colt slams his palm against the steering wheel. 

The noise startles me and I jerk in my seat. The movement sends a spike of pain through my side.
Ow
. I clutch at my ribs.

“Taylor, you’re shaking.” His voice is soft, worried.

He’s right. My teeth are chattering, despite the heat outside and my knees are trembling. “I’m…I’ll be okay…”

“You’re in shock.” He puts his hand on my knee and gives it a reassuring squeeze. “I’ll get us out of Ohio,
then we’ll stop for the night somewhere. We’ll get some sugar in your system and lay you down to rest. Just hang in there for me.”

I don’t argue. I feel safe with Colt, I do, but today’s been more than I can handle. I lean my head back against the head rest, and close my eyes.