Twisted Shadows (19 page)

“
Don't trust him.
” McLean's words.

The problem was that she was inclined to trust both of them. What did that say about her instincts or lack of them? One was a man she'd just met. The other was a brother she barely knew. The former had been in the right place. Three times now. That alone was suspicious.

She stiffened her spine. “I really have to get back to my brother's room.”

“I'll go with you.”

“As far as the elevator,” she said.

One side of his mouth turned up in a half smile. “All right.”

He stayed at her side as she walked back through the empty corridor. No bogeyman. No sign of the figure she'd seen earlier. They reached the elevator and he pushed the Up button.

She rested against the wall, waiting. He was inches away. Too close.

“Would it be so bad to lean on someone else for a while?” he asked softly, distractedly, as if he couldn't help himself.

An almost palpable desire leaped between them, filling her with a hungering need. The air seemed to thicken with it. She closed her eyes and swayed. How easy it would be to lean against him, to put her problems, her fears, in his hands …

She felt the back of his fingers stroke her cheek, then curl around her neck, easing the tension, cupping the tight muscles, drawing her toward him. His breath brushed her mouth, then his lips followed. Lightly at first, as if testing the waters.

Lightning struck and flashed through her body. She found herself standing on tiptoes to draw even closer. Her body took over her mind as he found her willingness and deepened the kiss.

Every bell rang. Nerve endings erupted. She found herself leaning into him as his fingers tangled in her hair.

She was barely aware of the elevator bell, but then the doors opened. Her legs were rubbery. She hoped it was not entirely because of the kiss. But she'd never responded to a kiss like this before. Her body had never sung like this before.

“Let it go,” he whispered into her ear.

She wanted to.

“
He'll use you.
”

The mental reminder was a splash of cold water. What was she doing?

She moved away, but it was too late. The doors had closed again. His hand caught hers, keeping her with him. Then their lips met again and he pressed the kiss, his tongue finding its way inside her mouth, ravishing and seducing in turn until she felt a warm puddling inside. She pressed against him as if their bodies were made for each other and clothes were no obstacle. All the attraction between them exploded into something that went beyond reason.

Reason
. The elevator bell rang again and the door opened once more. She jerked away and ducked inside, her legs nearly buckling beneath her. He stood in the corridor, looking stunned as the doors closed. He started to reach out, but it was too late. She forced herself not to push the Open button, forced herself to lean back against the wall of the elevator and take a deep breath. She had never been kissed so spontaneously before, nor had she felt such an impact from a kiss. She tingled all over. She still tasted his lips, felt the warmth of his body.

“Damn,” she said softly, though she rarely swore. But there was no other word that really expressed what she felt at this particular moment.

She looked at the numbers lighting up. In her hurry to get inside, she'd pressed the sixth-floor button, passing the floor where she wanted to go.

She looked at her mussed clothes, her shaking hands. Why did she react to him as she did?

The doors opened again, and a man in a white coat stepped in. An intern or resident from his age. She was grateful for his presence.

She reached over and pressed the third-floor button.

“That's mine, too,” he said.

She felt an immediate gratitude. A fellow human being who didn't know her, didn't want anything from her.

They both left the elevator. No sign of McLean.

She made her way to the nurse's station.

“Miss Carroll? Someone's looking for you. He's in Mr. Merritt's room.” The nurse's eyes sparkled just a little as she said Sam's brother's name.

“Thank you,” Sam said.

She went down past two doors, then came to Nick's. The door was open, a light on inside.

Sam hesitated outside, wondering whether the kiss had branded her. She knew her face must be flushed. Her lips felt bruised. Were they swollen, too? She ran her tongue over them before knocking lightly, then entering.

A man sprawled in a chair next to Nick; he stood quickly when she came in. He was thick but not fat, and over six feet tall. Sam noticed that despite his size, he had a quickness about him.

He stuck out a hand to her. “I'm Dan Kelley. Mr. Merritt's security chief sent me to look after you.”

She nodded, then looked accusingly at Nick. “You are supposed to be resting.”

“Have you ever tried to rest in a hospital? It's a revolving door,” Nick said lightly, though is face was strained. “Where did you go?”

“Just for a little walk. I thought it might take some time for someone to get here.”

He searched her face. She wondered whether she was still flushed from the kiss. But if he noticed it, he didn't say anything. Instead he turned to Dan Kelley. “I want you to stay with her until she leaves Boston.”

“Any special problems?”

“Someone tried to shoot her tonight.”

Kelley didn't look surprised. “Anything I need to know?”

“Only that they seem to be professionals.”

It was almost as if they were talking about someone else. He said the words so easily. They were normal for him.

Would they ever be normal for her?

“Any idea who the shooter might be?”

“Someone hired by either my family or an opposing one,” Nick said.

The man didn't blink an eye. Sam wondered exactly what he had done for Nick in the past.

“Shouldn't you have someone, too?” Sam asked Nick.

“They aimed at you, Samantha. Not me.”

“Sam,” she insisted. “My friends and family call me Sam.” He was both now.

He grimaced. “Pop never will.”

It was time to go. He needed rest, and he was still in an area heavily staffed. He would be safe.

“Good-bye,” she said. “I'll be by in the morning.”

“Hopefully, I'll be gone.”

She hesitated. “I'll call first.” She wanted to go over and hug him. But she didn't think he was ready for that.

And maybe she wasn't, either. He was her brother. He had saved her life. But there were still too many questions lurking in her mind.

Nick knew Kelley, who had worked for him before, was competent and honest. He was, in fact, an ex-cop.

Samantha should be safe with him, but how in the hell was he going to get her to leave Boston?

He didn't want her here. She would simply get in his way, and he couldn't afford that. He had plans that couldn't be sidetracked.

He reached for the phone despite the pain in his shoulder. He knew he wasn't going to spend another day here, no matter what the doctors said.

He looked at the clock. Four in the morning. He dialed.

“Hey, Pop …”

The private detective—or whatever he was—had his car with him, and Sam wearily allowed him to open the door for her. It was all beginning to hit her now. Someone had actually tried to kill her.

Someone had shot her twin brother.

And she had no idea why.

She'd been invited here. Although she'd known in the back of her mind that it might not be the wisest thing to come, she'd not for one moment envisioned that someone would try to do her harm. She'd meant to meet her brother, find out why her father had wanted to see her and return home.

Nothing had prepared her for her father, the car being forced off the road, or the gunman.

And she certainly hadn't been prepared for McLean.

She glanced around the street. At this hour of the morning, traffic was light, but she still saw a few pedestrians as they traveled down a commercial strip. Steamboat Springs would be sleeping.

She suddenly longed for her home, her town. For the peace she always felt there. Until two men had wandered into her shop.

She turned and looked behind them.

“No one's following us,” Dan Kelley said. “I've been watching.”

Of course he had. That was what he did for a living. But it wasn't what she did for a living, and she wondered if she could ever accept someone doing it for her. Even after last night.

She wondered whether she would feel the same when she returned to Steamboat Springs. Could she ever get her old life back?

Paul Merritta had found her. Despite her words, she had no idea how long he'd known where his former wife and daughter lived. She might never know. But he—or his henchmen—had obviously known Patsy Carroll would be out of town last week. Someone had been watching both of them for days. Possibly months.

Years?

A now familiar chill returned.

Kelley drove the car to the front of the hotel and asked for valet service. Sam knew how much that cost. Almost as much as her room.

The doorman opened the door and she stepped out just as Dan walked around the car. He tipped the doorman, then took her arm. “Don't do that again,” he said.

She looked up at him. “Do what?”

“Get out like that. Wait for me to come around to the door.”

The simple warning was a stark reminder.

She walked with him through the doors of the hotel. The lobby was empty except for two lone people at the desk. She waited while Kelley talked to them and got a room key, then he led the way into an elevator and pushed the button for her floor.

Exhaustion hit her. Too much had happened in too short a time. She leaned against the side of the elevator, closed her eyes and tried not to think as the elevator started its upward journey.

She opened them when it stopped. No other stops this time, not at this hour.

Kelley looked at her with sympathy. “Where're you from?”

“Colorado.”

All of a sudden, she remembered his conversation with Nick. Nothing had been said about her being Nick's sister. Kelley must think …

She knew she shouldn't care but for some reason she did. “Nick's my brother,” she explained.

“I know,” he said simply.

“I just … found out about him.” She was babbling family secrets to a stranger, and yet she couldn't seem to help herself.

She felt his hand on her arm, steadying her. “It's all right.”

“No,” she said. “It isn't. I don't usually …”

“You're entitled,” he said. “You're doing a hell of a lot better than most people who have just seen a shooting, much less been shot at.”

“Where are you going to stay?”

“A room next to yours has been arranged,” he said. “There's a connecting door.”

She wondered how that had happened so quickly. But she knew by now how efficient her brother was.

Her brother
. It was beginning to sound natural. A brother who hated the man who had just kissed her in a way no other man ever had before. “And if they hadn't had one?”

“Mr. Merritt doesn't leave things to chance,” the man said.

“You've worked for him before, then?”

“Yep.”

Doing what?

She wasn't sure she wanted the answers. She was numb now. Too much had happened in too short of a time. She was unspeakably lonely. She didn't feel that she could call her mother, who would immediately know something was wrong and worry more than she probably already was doing. Terri would be in bed. There was no one else.

Just as Kelley used her key to open the door, a bellman suddenly appeared and unlocked the door between the two rooms. Kelley tipped him, then double locked the doors in each room that led to the corridor.

“I'll leave the door between us open a slit,” he said. “Call me if there's anything out of the ordinary.”

She almost laughed at the statement. Everything was out of the ordinary. In fact, she wondered whether anything would be ordinary again.

She took her blood-stained blouse and slacks off, dumping them on a chair. She slipped into the overlarge nightshirt she always wore and crawled inside the bedcovers, but she knew she wouldn't be able to sleep. Too many questions pounded at her. Who? Why? And might they try again?

She found the remote and turned on the television, though it was nearly five in the morning. But she didn't really hear or see anything. She just needed the noise. She needed to feel not quite so alone.

So out of control.

Secrets and shadows. They were drowning her.

fifteen

Sam awakened to see light filtering into the room. She glanced at the clock. Nine.

Four hours' sleep. She was surprised she had slept even that long.

She heard nothing from the other room. Was Kelley asleep?

She lay there for a moment. She'd had difficulty sleeping. Every time she turned, another part of her body hurt, ached or stung. Her ribs still felt the impact of the airbag, and the cuts were raw. All of them brought back the horror of last night.

She finally rolled over to the edge of the bed, rose, and went to the window. People scurried down below, going to work or shopping or doing ordinary things. She still didn't know exactly what had happened last night with Paul Merritta. She had no more idea now why he wanted to see her than she had yesterday morning.

She only knew she didn't want to stay any longer. If Paul Merritta had wanted to tell her something, he could have done it last night. Since leaving him, the car she'd been in had been run off the road, she'd been shot at and her brother had taken the bullet meant for her.

If she returned home, perhaps she would no longer be considered a problem to someone.

Problem?
That was one way of putting it, she supposed.

Perhaps her mother might have answers she hadn't divulged before. Sam suspected she wouldn't get them over the phone.