by Marlie May
And sleepy.
Don’t go there. In a fire, sleeping equaled death.
The stairs. To the right. Twelve fuckin’ flights to the bottom.
I could do it. I would do it.
I dragged my feet in that direction, hauling an unconscious Jax with me. If he went down, I’d go down with him. Then pick him up and haul him further.
Reaching the door to the stairs after what felt like one-thousand years, I propped Jax against the wall, bracing him up with my knee, and hauled open the steel door.
Farther down below, Mia yelled, “Eli?” Panic ruled in her voice.
“I’m—”
Footsteps rushed up from farther down the hall. No other rooms. Couldn’t be another guest.
Before I could pivot to confront what I knew had to be an incoming threat, someone hit me from behind, the blow landing solidly on my head.
The world blurred. Jax, released from my hold, slumped to the floor. A burst of clean air shot up the stairwell and I could only pray there wasn’t fire below or I’d turn the stairwell into a chimney.
As I nosedived toward the floor, the bearded man I’d seen talking to the server—and to Peter—rushed past me. He clattered down the stairs.
After Mia.
19
Mia
When I scrambled from the bed, I’d dressed in yoga pants and a tee but my flip flops had gone missing and were nowhere to be found.
No time to look. I’d slipped my feet into my heels. Running down the stairs in these babies was going to be torture.
I’d only hobbled down a few flights to the fourth floor and was contemplating ditching the shoes and going barefoot when the door opened above me.
“Eli?” I called out. He was faster than I’d expected. While no one answered, it had to be he and Jax. With only one suite per floor, there was no one at the top of the tower but us.
I’d hated leaving him to rescue Jax alone, but he was right. Dragging Jax down multiple flights of stairs would be beyond my capabilities. I’d slow us down solely because I wasn’t strong enough to be a full member of the team. He needed help and, as much as I wanted that person to be me, someone stronger could make the difference between living and dying.
Go faster!
The thuds of shoes coming down fast told me this couldn’t be Eli. He’d never leave Jax. Who could it be? If it was someone who worked at the hotel, I could wait for them and send them up to help Eli. But a rising terror inside me told me this wasn’t someone who worked at the hotel.
Should I hide on the fourth floor?
Eli had suggested the fire had been set. If so, this could be the beginning of strike three, and I’d be in considerable danger.
I wouldn’t go down without a fight. I had too much to live for to give up now. My career, Flint. Eli.
I rounded the next flight of stairs. The third-floor landing waited ahead. My heels banged on the metal treads despite my effort to move quickly yet silently.
I reached the third and kept going. Should I exit the stairwell and see if anyone there could help Eli? Although, Suzie at the front desk had said we were alone in the south tower, that most of the guests were in the main hotel and the north tower. And the fire could be stronger on any of the floors. If I left the stairs and something happened, Eli would never find me. Deviating from our plan could make the difference he needed.
Second floor. The clatter of my heels echoed around me.
Harsh breathing roared up behind me, making me jump.
I spun, lifting my fists. I tried to tell myself it was another guest, but I knew…
I just knew.
“You!”
The bearded man from Mexico rushed down the stairs toward me.
He’d tracked me. Found me.
He grabbed my arm and hauled me in close, pressing a gun against my temple.
I gasped and struggled, but couldn’t break free of his hold.
He shook me until my teeth rattled. “Where’s the notebook? It’s not in your house.”
While I should be trembling and pleading for him to let me go, rage roared through me. “You scared Walter. And me!”
He hauled me close enough his hot, foul breath coated my face. “The notebook. Where is it?”
“All this time…it was you. First strike, second strike, and now the third.” My time was up unless Eli arrived. The odds of that were slim. He was helping Jax. For all I knew, he was still getting Jax out of the room.
The man frowned. “I don’t…Just give me the notebook.”
“I…” Terrified out of my mind, I couldn’t think.
“Where is it?” he roared.
Where had I put it? When I’d returned from Mexico, the dress had been inside my suitcase, wrapped in a plastic bag.
Should’ve thrown it out. Why hadn’t I?
The notebook was still in the pocket. And the dress…
“Your friends upstairs didn’t have it, either. Thought I’d get it from them.”
“What did you do to Eli and Jax?” I tipped my head back, peering up the open section in the center of the stairwell. “Eli!”
Not hearing his reply sent fear bolting up my spine like jagged lightning.
I tried to haul my arm out of the man’s tight grip. If Eli was okay, he would’ve replied. He couldn’t still be on the sixth floor. He’d be in the stairs with Jax by now.
The man reinforced his hold and shoved the gun hard against my head, the blow making me wince. Sweat drizzled down my spine, but my body flashed cold.
Was this it? Would I die here in the stairwell?
Fear roared through me. He’d kill me like he had the man on the beach in Mexico. “Where is Eli? What did you do to him?” I yelled, unsure why I wasn’t cowering. The gun would end my life in one second yet I still found a core of resistance inside me.
“You mean the guy upstairs?” He grinned. “Think he’s asleep. Not a very good bodyguard, now is he?”
“You hurt him!” My anger escalated, flailing through me, giving me the strength of Wonder Woman. I pushed the man hard. Adrenaline charged through my veins like molten lava.
I had to get away and find Eli. He could be burning!
The man grabbed my clutch and tried to wrench it from me. “It in here?”
Strapped around my wrist, he only hauled me forward.
I scrambled back, freeing myself from his hold and spinning, yanking my clutch from his grasp. This was over. I was done with running. Shrieking, I charged at him, pushing, shoving, screaming nonsense.
His foot dropped down one step. Arms spiraling, he tumbled backward, falling down, down. Tumbling over and over until he smacked on the next lower landing. The gun discharged, and he shuddered.
“Mia!” Eli approached from above, Jax braced on his shoulders, somehow remaining upright. He reached this landing and carefully lowered the semi-conscious Jax to the floor. “You okay? I heard you scream.”
“Yes.” My gaze fell on the man lying unmoving below us and reaction took over. My arms and legs shook, my throat tightened, and tears welled behind my eyelids.
Eli followed my gaze. “What the…? The guy from the ballroom? Jax said he’s the maintenance man.”
“He had a gun,” I blubbered out. I pressed my knuckles against my lips hard enough I flinched. “He tried to kill me in Mexico, and he followed me here.”
“What?” Eli shouted. He glared toward the motionless man. “I don’t understand. Why would someone who tried to rob you follow you all the way to Maine?”
“He wanted something else…” Shaking my head, I started down the stairs but turned. “When he fell, the gun went off.” Had it hit him? “He’s…I don’t think he’s worked here long. Assuming he works here at all.”
Eli had suggested the person after me would know I was attending the conference, that they’d follow.
“This was it,” I said. “Strike three. I stopped him.”
“This is…” Around us, the alarm continued to blare, and lights f
lashed. “We can talk soon, but we’ve got to get out of here first.”
“I’ll help with Jax.” Having a purpose would allow me to push the rest of my horror aside. “We only have a few flights left before we reach the ground floor.”
Together, we got Jax to his feet. Stumbling like he’d chugged a six-pack, he slurred his words and was more hindrance than assistance, but we got him down the next flight of stairs to the landing where the bearded man lay with blood expanding in a brilliant circle around him.
The gunshot had hit him.
Dead?
No, not dead, but soon. When I stooped down to roll him over, he stared up at us, his dark eyes watering.
“I…” I lifted my chin. “I’ll get you help.” He had a chest wound, and I worried he wouldn’t last long. Like with the woman in the park, there wasn’t anything I could do. We needed to get Jax out, then I could send someone up the stairwell to help him.
His breathing slowed, telling me there wasn’t time even for that.
“Mia,” Eli said, supporting Jax. “The firemen will come for him.”
“It’ll be too late.” If nothing else, I’d kneel beside him while he left this world for the next. Because it was clear by his rough breathing and the glazed look in his eyes, he wouldn’t be with us for long. Everyone deserved to die with someone holding their hand, even a murderer.
Eli lowered Jax to the tile floor, leaning him against the wall with his legs splayed forward, his head lolling against the cinderblock wall.
The weirdest thing about all this was that we had yet to see a fireman. A quick look at my phone told me it hadn’t been long since the alarm woke us. The impression of many lifetimes passing had only been minutes.
“Why did you do it?” I asked the bearded man. “Tell me.” He’d killed another man, chased me on the beach.
What was so important about a blank notebook?
Unless it wasn’t truly blank.
“Give the…notebook,” the man gasped out. His hands rose to his chest where dark blood squirted out. He’d hit an artery deep inside and would bleed out in seconds. His hand fluttered before dropping back to his side. “Give it…to my sister. Tell her to…” Gulps consumed him, and he coughed, spurting more blood. “Tell her to destroy it. Don’t let…the maestro…get it.”
“Maestro?” I asked.
Eli took in a sharp breath of air.
“Traitor,” the dying man said.
From the way he gurgled, we didn’t have much time. Even if EMTs arrived this minute, they’d be unable to save him. He’d lost too much. In trying to harm me, he’d instead dealt himself a lethal blow.
Curiosity overwhelmed me, and I leaned closer. Why did I linger? I should be escaping the burning building. “Who’s your sister?”
A soft smile lifted his lips. “You know. Julia,” he hissed out.
I reeled away from him, “What?”
His head tilted sideways, and his chest stopped rising.
“He’s gone.” Chills wracked my frame. My eyes met Eli’s and it was clear we shared the same conclusion.
Julia, the man had said.
Flint’s ex-fiancée?
20
Eli
“Why did you lie to the police?” I asked Mia as I popped my Jeep into a lower gear and drove up a steep incline.
“You caught that, did you?” She stared out the window.
“You said you didn’t know the guy.”
“Actually, I don’t. Know his name, that is.”
“But you’ve seen him before.”
“Yes.”
“He’s Julia’s brother?”
“I think so.”
What was going on here? I trusted Mia completely, but she needed to spill.
“Flint will be home today. I need to tell him…no, show him something. Both of you.”
“If you’re still in danger, I can’t protect you unless I know all the facts.” I was a jerk to press her after the trauma we’d been through, but the thought of someone still eager to hurt her tore through me like a jagged blade.
“The guy who just tried to hurt me is dead. You know Russell is in jail. Seems like I’m relatively safe for the moment.”
I growled, because the hospital was straight ahead and it was clear I wouldn’t be getting any answers before we arrived. “I’m not letting go of this.”
“And I’ll tell you all you want to know,” she said in a scratchy voice. We’d all experienced various degrees of smoke exposure. “Let’s go see Jax first.”
“All right.” I parked my Jeep in a visitor spot. The EMTs hadn’t been able to revive the guy in the stairwell and he had been pronounced at the scene. Jax, fortunately, was okay. He’d been checked out and told he needed more tests. They’d taken him by ambulance to the hospital. They’d also suggested I see a doctor, though my head must be tougher than Jax’s because I hadn’t bled and I’d only been stunned, not knocked out. My brain pounded like I’d drank an entire bottle of tequila last night, but I’d live.
“You need to let them examine you, too,” Mia said as she unbuckled and opened her door.
“I’m okay.” We got out.
Meeting me at the front of the Jeep, her breath caught. “I’m grateful you weren’t more seriously injured.” Lines of worry had etched her face. “But it’s not just the blow to your head. Smoke inhalation isn’t anything to play around with.”
“I’m more worried about Jax,” I said, taking her hand.
“He’s going to be okay.” There was no denying the anxiety in her voice.
We hurried up the walkway to the main entrance.
“After we’re sure he’s okay, we’ll talk about the guy back at the hotel,” she said softly. “We can patch into Flint and I’ll fill him in at the same time or we can wait for him to arrive home.”
I’d never been good with waiting. I needed to know why the guy tried to kill her in the stairwell and how the server and Peter were involved.
What did she need to tell me? This was about more than a robbery in Mexico. The guy naming the maestro proved it. It was tied in with our job.
We went inside and they directed us to the ER. The clerk sitting behind the desk rose and took us back into an area with a long row of bays. She pointed to where we could find Jax. Pushing aside the curtain, we stood motionless, staring at him. He lay on a stretcher covered with a white sheet with his eyes closed.
As we approached, he woke.
“Hey,” he said in a scratchy voice.
“How you doin’?” I asked, rubbing his shoulder.
He shrugged. “I’ve seen better but I’ll live.”
“Jax.” Mia took his hand and squeezed it. “I’m sorry.”
“Not your fault.”
“What happened?” I asked. “Your door was open. I found you lying on the floor.”
“In a pool of blood.” She shuddered.
He frowned. “I sat up awhile, watching TV. Then I…went to the bathroom. I think. Got ready for bed. I came out and the room was dark.” He winced. “Someone was waiting.”
“Don’t strain yourself,” Mia said. “I imagine you have a concussion.”
“I’m pissed, actually. Someone jumped me and I didn’t hear them, didn’t even know they were there.”
“Have you been to CT yet?” Mia asked.
“Yes. All clear.”
She slumped against the stretcher. “Phew. I was really worried.”
“I’m going to be okay.” He patted her hand as if she was the one needing reassurance. “He came up behind me and it was lights out. Never had anything like that happen before. I was complacent. Thought the only threat was only to…Mia.”
“He’s dead,” she said with a lift of her chin.
“Who the hell was it?” He turned to me. “Did he come after you, too?”
“Me,” Mia said. “He was after me.”
And I was determined to find out who the guy was as soon as possible.
The curtain parted and the
doctor came in. “Well, you’re going to be okay, Jackson. No bleeding on the CT. Vitals check out fine. But we want to keep you overnight and repeat the CT in the morning. You had quite a blow to the head. Took ten stitches to close it up. Sometimes we don’t see bleeds right away but will on the repeat. Neuro will see you, too, though I’m confident we’re only dealing with a concussion here.”
“But—” Jax started to rise but Mia gently pressed him back down on the mattress.
“This needs to be taken seriously,” the doctor said. “If we’re not careful, you could have lasting damage. Head injuries have been in the news a lot lately for good reason.”
“You need me,” Jax said to me. “I’ve got to get out of here.”
“The guy…” Mia said. “I think he was the one we were…concerned about.”
In the stairwell, she’d said this man followed her from Mexico, but I wasn’t buying that as the only explanation. Something bigger was going on here.
“At least you don’t have to worry about that any longer,” Jax said. His shoulders eased onto the stretcher. “I’ll be out of here tomorrow, then.”
“I can send Becca for you,” I said. “Your SUV, too.”
A nurse came in as the doctor was leaving. “We’re going to take him upstairs to a room, now. If you’d like to follow, we can get him settled and you can visit with him some more after that.”
“Why don’t you two go home,” Jax said, waving toward the door. “I’ll hang out here. I’m sure you have a few things to talk about.”
We couldn’t talk here, not in front of the medical staff. This didn’t just involve a man who’d accidentally shot himself in the stairwell, only to die from the wound. With the maestro names, this tied into what went on down in Mexico.
I caught Mia’s eye, and she nodded.
We started to leave when Jax called out, “I want the deets when I get home.”
“Yup,” I said. I’d fill him in as soon as I could.
A short time later, we were back in my Jeep and driving down the main route home.
“How do you know this guy?” I asked. “Because you did. Or, he knew you.”