by Eva Chase
I reined in my hormones and eased back. “It’s good to see you. Everything’s okay?”
“Yeah. I—” A momentary shadow crossed her face. “Well, it’s not completely good. They broke into my house and trashed it.”
“What?” My voice cracked with anger. The emotion surged through me so suddenly I couldn’t catch the tingling that shot through my nerves alongside it. One of the pillows flew off the bed. It had smacked the window before I got my reactions under control.
Grace stared at the pillow as it dropped to the floor. She might have accepted what I was, but she had a little way to go before she was completely used to it.
“Tell me everything,” I said, schooling my voice calmer. “Are you okay? What exactly did they do?”
She took my hand and squeezed it reassuringly. “I’m fine. The break-in was over way before I got there. But at work, Britta told me that woman I saw in the blue sedan had come in asking questions about me. About whether I’d been hanging out with any guys around work. She mentioned that I’d brought you in to do the photos. And then when I got home, the lock on the front door was broken and the house was just a mess. Everything pulled apart and ripped open and throw around.”
She sucked in a breath. Her shoulders squared. “But I got one over on them. I called the police. When they came to take the report, I told them the truth—that two people I’d never seen before yesterday had been pestering me at work, and I’d seen one of them parked on the street as if casing places. I described Malcolm and the woman and both of the cars. If they’re cruising around looking for you, they’ll get picked up and taken in.”
The gleam in her eyes was so adorably triumphant that I could barely resist the urge to kiss her again. But I needed to know more before I let my baser desires distract me.
“Did they do any real damage in the house, Grace? I know how much it meant to you.”
“Some things are wrecked,” she said. “But nothing really important. I guess it actually helped me realize that the most important stuff no one can touch anyway.” She tapped her head. “My memories of my grandmother mean a whole lot more than the bits and pieces she left behind.”
She didn’t seem too shaken up. I exhaled in relief. “I know what you mean. And you said the woman who seems to be part of AP Enterprises too, she came by your work?”
Grace nodded. “She came in before my shift started—I have to assume on purpose. Britta talked to her some, but obviously there wasn’t much to say. Like I said, she did mention you, just that I’d hired you to do the photography, but it’s not like she knew anything incriminating. She probably described you to them, but I don’t know if they’d think the photographer is the guy they’re looking for anyway.”
And I’d said as little to Grace’s obnoxious coworker as I’d been able to get away with. “Okay. So they don’t really know any more than they did before. And now they have additional pressure to leave the city with the cops keeping an eye out for them.” I didn’t know if that would be enough to scare the Alpha Project people off, but it certainly couldn’t hurt. “That’s all good. You did great.”
She beamed at me. “I did, didn’t I? Teach them to mess with me and mine.”
The thought of her considering me hers sent a different sort of tingle through me, one with a lot more heat. I swallowed thickly—and my stomach grumbled.
“Have you had dinner yet? I was about to order room service. I could get something for you too.”
“I haven’t, but are you sure?” Grace said. “I can pay—”
I cut her off with a shake of my head. “I don’t want any paper trail leading to you here. My fam— Over the years, I’ve developed ways of making sure any real information about me stays off the grid. And I’ve accumulated a lot of savings. You can build quite the stash when the only things you usually do with your time are working and laying low hanging around wherever you happen to be living.”
“Fine, fine. You can treat me. But first...” She nudged me toward the bed and prowled after me, a sly smile crossing her face. “I’ve come fully prepared, and I know exactly how I want to celebrate my victory.”
My pulse sped up with a heady thump. “Oh, yeah?” I said, arching an eyebrow at her. I loved the shy, awkward Grace I’d gotten to know, but I wasn’t going to say no to this more confident version either.
Her voice dipped. “Yeah.” She gave me another push, so I sat down on the edge of the mattress. Tossing her purse onto one of the pillows, she straddled me. Her arms looped around my neck and the skirt she was wearing rode up on her thighs to show a tantalizing length of skin. The warm sweet smell of her filled my nose. If I’d had any inclination to argue before—not that I had—I’d have been a goner then anyway.
“Impatient, huh?” I had to tease. “I like this look on you.”
She gazed at me, our eyes completely level in this position. Hers turned briefly serious. “Every time I walk away from you, I have no idea if I’m ever going to see you again. So when I am seeing you, I’ll be damned if I’m not going to make the most of it.”
The words squeezed my heart. “Grace...”
“That wasn’t a complaint,” she said, leaning in. “I understand. I want you safe more than I... want you. But we’re together now. Take me?”
How could I deny her when she asked me like that? I was holding every fantasy I’d ever had in my arms right now.
I raised my head to meet her eager kiss, gripping her by the waist. My other hand slid up her thigh to ease that skirt even higher. My fingers teased the edge of her panties, and she rocked against me with a moan that made me even harder than I already was. She slid her hands under my shirt, tracing lines of heat up my chest. I left her thigh to tug her blouse free from the skirt, and—
Grace froze on top of me. She turned her head toward the door. “Did you hear something?”
All I could hear right now was the thrum of desire rushing alongside my pulse. But she was obviously worried. With a wince at the loss of contact, I eased her off my lap. “No. What is it?”
She stepped closer to the door. I pushed myself off the bed to follow. We stood there for a moment, heads cocked. No sound filtered through. Grace let out a breath and started to shake her head.
Then it came. A knock, a short distance down the hall. Another, a little more insistent. The door a few rooms over clicked open. Whoever had answered the knock spoke in a murmur too low for me to make out, but the guy in the hall I could hear perfectly clearly.
“Hi, I’m looking for Grace? I know she’s on this floor, but I seem to have forgotten her room number.”
The color drained from Grace’s face. She grasped my hand, and I curled my fingers around hers.
The person in the other room, obviously, had no idea about any Grace at the hotel. She must have said as much, and the door clicked shut. After a brief shuffle, the knock sounded again. A little closer this time. The guy was working his way down the hall.
It would be fine. All we had to do was not open the door, and what could he do about it? I thought that as he knocked on that other door a second time.
But then, instead of the click of a deadbolt disengaging, I caught the beep of a keycard being swiped. My stomach lurched.
He’d gotten blanket access to the rooms, somehow. He was checking all of them, one way or another. He knew we were here. And he was heading toward our door with no indication of stopping.
18
Grace
I drew back from the hotel room door, my heart thudding. “He’s asking for me,” I said in a whisper. It was Malcolm—I’d recognized his voice. Horror tightened my throat. “He knows I’m here. I thought I was as careful as before, leaving my house, but I must have slipped up. They followed me here.”
And they were assuming I’d come here to see their mystery man. Because why else would I have left so sneakily and then have wandered off to some hotel on the other side of the city?
“It’s not your fault,” Jeremy said. “These people a
re very, very good at what they do. We just have to figure out what we do now.”
He was already moving as he spoke: grabbing his laptop off the night table to stuff it in his bag, whirling to consider the window. Large enough, but it didn’t look like it would open without being smashed. And that definitely wouldn’t go unnoticed.
“You could make a run for it while he’s in another room,” I suggested, scrambling for an answer. But the door Malcolm had unlocked was already thumping shut. He’d only taken a quick glance through—probably because he didn’t want to leave the hall unmonitored.
The answer came to me, even more sharply crystal clear than when I’d realized I needed to call the police. I wished I could call them now, but it wasn’t as if I could prove Malcolm was doing anything illegal here. He’d have found Jeremy before any cop arrived anyway.
But right now he didn’t even know Jeremy was here. He was looking for me, because I was the one he’d followed. All I had to do was give him what he was looking for.
“I’ll go out,” I said as Malcolm knocked on the door that couldn’t have been more than a couple away from ours. “He knows I’m here. I’ll make up a story to explain it that has nothing to do with you, get him distracted, and then you can make a run for it.”
Jeremy’s stance tensed. “I can’t let you do that, Grace. He’s dangerous. They’re all dangerous. You don’t know what they might be willing to do to get to me.”
“He’s going to find me one way or another,” I pointed out. “I’ll be in a lot more danger if they know for sure I’ve been lying to them and helping you hide, won’t they?”
He grimaced, but he couldn’t argue against logic. I didn’t have much time. I grabbed him and pressed a quick kiss to his lips. The last kiss I might ever get.
“You do what you have to do,” I murmured. “Don’t worry about me.”
He laughed faintly. “I don’t think I can help that now, Grace.”
My heart wrenched, but there was nothing I could say to that. I moved to walk away, pretending I didn’t feel as if my chest was being ripped in half, and he caught my hand.
“Tomorrow,” he said. “If you’re okay. Drive or get a ride out to the state park down the highway from your house. I’ll meet you by the grove of redwoods. If you haven’t made it there by noon, I’ll know something’s happened to you. And I will come back.”
His eyes blazed with defiance. Now I couldn’t argue. I nodded, my own eyes tearing up. After a quick swipe at them and a deep breath, I yanked open the door and walked out.
I made sure to tug the door shut behind me, the automatic lock engaging, so there was no chance of Malcolm making a quick dash to push inside. My other hand was already dipping into my pocket, a bluff to suggest I might have my phone to call the police again. Just let him try to break into a hotel room he had every reason to believe was mine right in front of me.
I’d fight him tooth and claw before I let him get to Jeremy.
Malcolm turned from the door he’d been knocking on—and his narrow face froze with a look so startled I’d have felt satisfied if my pulse hadn’t been racing in panic.
“Grace!” he said.
I opened my eyes wide, hoping I had enough acting skills to pull this off. “Oh. Hi! It was... Malcolm, wasn’t it? Funny running into you here.”
“It is,” he agreed. A smile crawled across his lips. His eyes twitched from me to the door behind me and back again. “Are you staying here?”
I had the perfect excuse thanks to his people, didn’t I? “Yeah. My house got broken into. It’s a real mess. I had to get out of there while the police do their investigating thing.” And why would I have picked this hotel? I snatched at one of my whirling thoughts. “One of my old bosses always used to recommend this place to people. I figured it had to be at least decent.”
Malcolm nodded, letting his smile fade. He seemed torn between putting on a front of concern and poking at my story. How much did he think I knew? How much did he think I knew he knew? My head ached just trying to untangle the twisted threads of the lies we’d told each other. Pretend I knew nothing—that was the best way to go regardless.
“That must have been a terrible experience,” Malcolm said. “I’m surprised you’d come all the way out here even with a recommendation. It’s so far from your work.”
I shrugged. “The inconvenience is worth it. I just wanted to be somewhere I could feel secure.” No more questions, at least not directed at me. I had to get him moving. Maybe if I turned it around on him? “Is this where you’re staying? While you’re looking for that guy you asked me about? Have you gotten any leads?”
Malcolm made a noncommittal gesture. “Actually, we had reason to believe he might be staying here.”
He watched me carefully, checking for my reaction. The one I had wouldn’t have been what he’d have expected. I had to restrain a smile. He’d just handed me exactly the ticket I needed to get both me and him out of here.
I pressed my hand to my mouth, which conveniently hid any hint of relief in my expression while I pretended shock. “Here? That’s so weird. He pulls me out of the way of that truck, and then we end up at the same hotel—are you sure?”
“Well, we haven’t—”
Sorry, not going to let you finish that thought. “Oh my God! You don’t think he’s, like, stalking me or something, do you?” I shuddered. “I was so grateful that he stepped in the other day, but if there was something creepier going on—I mean, you wouldn’t be looking for him this thoroughly if he hadn’t done something wrong, right? What am I going to do?”
I was getting through to Malcolm. His expression was turning less calculated and more concerned by the second. He was probably concerned way more about me messing up his investigation than my emotional distress, but it worked for me either way.
“It could be just a coincidence,” he said. “Or he may not be here at all. We had a lot of leads to follow up on.”
Yeah, like following me around town. Not that he’d admitted that he’d gotten here that way. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the real creepy stalker in my life.
I hugged myself with another shudder. Might as well lay it on thick while he was buying the story. “Now I don’t feel safe in the hotel either. What if he had something to do with the break-in at my house? I didn’t even think it could be connected. This is so freaky.”
Malcolm knew the break-in wasn’t connected, because he knew his people had been the ones who’d broken in. He might even have walked through my house, tossing my grandmother’s things off the shelves, tearing open the upholstery, ripping my family photos from their frames.
My hands started to clench at the thought. If I hadn’t needed to protect Jeremy, I would have liked to tear a strip off of this guy.
And I would have. Forget shy, quiet Grace. I was ready to fight now. He’d pushed me to it.
But of course Malcolm couldn’t admit he knew what had happened to my house wasn’t Jeremy’s fault. He put his concerned face back on. “I suppose it might have been. Did you give his description to the police when you spoke to them?”
“No. I had no idea there’d be any reason to.” I shook my head as if overwhelmed. “Geez. Maybe I should. Where am I going to go now, with him still out there?” I shot Malcolm a desperate look. “You know a lot about him. You’ve got all these leads. Maybe I should talk to you first. Go over the break-in, and the day of the accident too, see if there’s anything that could help. It could be I’ll remember some detail I didn’t before.”
There was my lure—and Malcolm latched right on to it. How could he turn away the possibility that I’d lead him to Jeremy after all? An excited light glinted in his eyes even though he kept the rest of his expression calm.
I’d managed to convince him I hadn’t come here to see Jeremy. And now I could keep him busy while Jeremy got out.
“I might be able to offer some help,” he said smoothly. “If I can, I’d be happy to give you some peace of mind. Maybe we could
go down to the hotel bar, you could have a drink to settle your nerves, and we’ll talk?”
I let out a relieved laugh. “Yeah. That sounds perfect.” At the same time my skin was crawling. I saw where this was going. He wanted me tipsy enough to loosen my tongue. Just in case I’d been holding something back on purpose.
That was fine. When we got down there, I’d say my stomach was so unsettled I’d rather just get a ginger ale. Look at me. It turned out Grace Trevell could handle herself just fine.
Malcolm swept his arm toward the elevator. “Ladies first.”
I giggled, feeling even more gross. But this was another victory. I’d diverted him. He was never going to know that I’d scammed him into letting Jeremy slip right through his fingers.
At least, as long as I could pull off this act for another half hour, he wouldn’t. I didn’t want to think about what he’d do to me if he did find out.
19
Jeremy
Going out into the wild used to be my one sure way of centering myself. Away from people, away from all the pressures that came with them, I didn’t have to worry about anything except myself and where I was going in that moment. I didn’t have to pretend to be normal. I didn’t have any expectations to face except my own.
Tonight, too many of the people I cared about had followed me into the park, if only in my mind. I stretched out at the mouth of the cave where I was planning to spend the night, sitting in shadow so I’d see any ranger coming before they spotted me. The lichen-speckled rock was dry and warm, the evening air full of the smell of spring leaves, but my heart was still thumping as if I’d only just finished running out here.
Grace might still be talking to that Alpha Project asshole right now. Or worse, he might have picked up on some slip one of us had made and decided the time for talking was done. Lord only knew what he’d be doing to her if that was the case. I wouldn’t know whether she was okay until noon tomorrow.