Love Inspired Suspense April 2015 #2

by Dana Mentink

  Lexie wanted to accept the call as genuine, but Shaun’s ongoing skepticism had begun to creep into her psyche. Combined with the worry over the dead air at the end of Maria’s call, Lexie didn’t know whether to hide herself in the nearest closet or race around opening doors until she found the girls. At the very least, her gratefulness for the anonymous tipster to Lead Me Home had increased—the only regret being that she couldn’t thank him or her in person.

  Shaun led the way from his room toward the security office, flying through empty stretches of hallway and sauntering by groups of passengers to minimize alarm. When they reached the office hallway, Shaun broke into a sprint as Lexie followed behind.

  “Parsons!” Shaun shouted, yanking Lexie from her speculations. “We’ve got to move!” He came to an abrupt stop before the office door, causing Lexie to run into his back with a light thud.

  Parsons’s head poked out the door. Seeing them, he stepped out and locked the office in one deft motion. “You’re in a mighty hurry,” he mused, reattaching his keys to a belt loop. “Aren’t you supposed to be trekking through the rest of the passenger list?”

  “We got a call from the girl,” Shaun said, waving his radio and sliding his computer bag from his shoulder. “I’ll just be a sec, I need to drop this in the captain’s room. I should have left it in my room, but I got distracted by the call. We may need to use it later anyway.”

  “No need.” Parsons reached over and snatched the bag out of Shaun’s hand. He plopped it inside the office and shut the door. “You can leave it here.”

  Shaun frowned, glanced at Lexie and gestured at Parsons to return the bag. “No, thanks. I have my own reasons for wanting it in the other room.”

  Lexie raised her eyebrows, but caught on to his subtle hint to back him up. “That way I can use it if I need to, and I won’t have to bug your team to unlock the office.”

  A tic pulled the corner of Parsons’s mouth toward the floor. A half second later, his expression cleared and he reopened the office, pulling the computer bag back out. “I can drop it off in there if you’d like. I’m headed that way now.”

  “Thanks, but I’ve got it.” Shaun’s tone had turned flat. He took the computer from the security officer, who seemed reluctant to let it go. The two men looked at each other in silence for a moment until Parsons cleared his throat, glancing over Shaun’s shoulder at Lexie.

  She started, surprised by the acknowledgment. It was the first time the man had bothered to make direct eye contact with her the entire trip. Something about his look made her shift uncomfortably, and she folded her arms across her stomach.

  Parsons’s attention wandered off of her as quickly as it had landed. “You said a call came through on the radio? From the missing girl? Need me to call the others?”

  “Please,” Shaun said, his tone shifting again as though the past thirty seconds hadn’t happened. What had that been all about? Did the man resent Shaun’s aptitude at the job Parsons should really be doing? Josh and Reed rounded the corner just as Parsons pulled his walkie-talkie off his belt. “Here they are. Guys, we have a major development.”

  As Shaun gave the security team a bare-bones rundown of Maria’s call—leaving out, Lexie noted, any specifics of where she might be located—Lexie’s attention wandered. She preferred not to relive the moment the call cut out, dwelling instead on—

  On the belts of the two younger security officers.

  Reed’s walkie-talkie was clipped in place as expected, but Josh…Josh’s radio was missing. Could he really be that careless not to notice its absence? And then she noticed that he’d noticed her watching him. Oops.

  Josh’s gaze hardened and Lexie swallowed the desire to let the moment pass without a word. If she didn’t say something first, she’d be giving him the upper hand. “What happened to your walkie-talkie?”

  Parsons and Shaun stopped talking. Silence fell over the group as surprise registered on Josh’s face. He looked down at his belt and then at the staring faces around him. “It’s charging in the staff room. I ran out of juice about forty minutes ago. Reed here can attest to that.”

  Reed tapped his own walkie-talkie. “Tried to call him a little while ago, but no answer. We bumped into each other on the way back up.”

  Shaun coughed. “Back up?”

  Reed shrugged as Josh scowled and replied, “Figure of speech.”

  “But you didn’t see him put it on the charger?” Lexie heard the tremble in her voice, but hoped the others would mistake it for exhaustion. “Can we go get it? We should all have a way to communicate with each other.”

  “I have a spare,” Parsons said. “I can get it from the office here.”

  “No, I’d rather we go get the other one,” Lexie said. “It wouldn’t do to leave radios lying around.”

  The typically quiet Reed laughed. “We do it all the time in the staff areas. It’s not a big deal.” He whacked Josh in the arm. “Get one from here.”

  “Sure,” Josh said with a shrug. “I was going to pick it up in about twenty minutes, but whatever.”

  Lexie snuck a questioning glance at Shaun, whose attention snapped between Josh and Parsons. If only she hadn’t allowed her emotions to take over after Maria’s call. She should have formulated a plan of approach with Shaun instead of heading in blind and leaving him to do the talking. She didn’t usually operate that way—trusting someone else to take the reins—but Shaun had the kind of strength and confidence to make her comfortable enough to trust his judgment. Did that mean she should extend that trust to other things…like the events of the past?

  “We need to get searching,” Shaun said, casting a glance back at Lexie. She caught the meaning behind the look—he’d developed his own suspicions, but now wasn’t the right time to address them. Not yet. “We’ll take the lower passenger decks, you guys take the top two. Sound good?”

  “I’ll go with you two,” Josh said, crossing the distance to stand by Lexie. “Then we’ll have enough muscle on each team in case we run into trouble.” The man patted his empty radio case and snuck a look at Parsons.

  With a grunt, Parsons unlocked his office again and disappeared inside, closing the door behind him. He emerged with another walkie-talkie and shoved it into Josh’s outstretched fingers. “Keep track of this one or it’s coming out of your paycheck.”

  “Told you, I didn’t lose it.”

  “You know what I mean.”

  Lexie’s intuition nudged her, suggesting that Josh’s company might not be the best idea. “He can’t come with us,” she said, soft enough for only Shaun to hear.

  Shaun’s nod of agreement was almost imperceptible. “It doesn’t make sense to have a team of three and a team of two,” he addressed the waiting men. “Our strategic advantage will come from the element of moving quickly and with surprise. I recommend teams of two, plus one person back here on middeck to respond immediately as backup for either team as needed. If we need further backup, whoever is farthest from the incident location can retrieve medical or other staff.”

  “I really think—” Josh began.

  “The man’s right,” Parsons interrupted, glaring at his team. “You and I will go together. Reed stays back—you’re light on your feet, son.”

  Lexie took careful note of the color draining from Josh’s cheeks. Should they have paid closer attention to the man’s whereabouts during the trip? If he was the one they were looking for—be it the Wolf or another accomplice, despite the impossibility his role in several of the scenarios—would he make a move against Parsons? The burly head of security sure looked as if he could take on Josh, but the way Parsons continued to glare at his officer, it appeared he might take out the man first for showing up without his radio.

  “Sounds good.” Shaun interrupted Josh’s protests. “Stay in contact. Keep the channel open at all times, and check the ones around it, too, in case the girl tries to contact us again.”

  Shaun placed his hand on Lexie’s back and ushered her away from t
he three security men. She felt an urge to look back at them and see what transpired as when they left, but Shaun grunted beside her. “Don’t. Let it play out.”

  “But what if—”

  “Trust me.” He guided them toward the nearest set of stairs. “If my suspicions are correct, we’ll find the girls and be long gone before they’ve dealt with whatever’s going on there.”

  FOURTEEN

  Lexie winced at the noise they made trampling down the metal staircase. Though she couldn’t fathom what Shaun had planned, she felt confident in his judgment. Quite the change from a little over twenty-four hours ago, when all she’d seen in him had been a wannabe hero with a penchant for getting himself into trouble.

  How had this man worked his way into her heart in such a short period of time? Shaun’s offer to check his sources for information about Nikki had been the kicker—she couldn’t deny that the offer went above and beyond any involvement she’d expected him to have in her life. After all, when they found the girls and finally made harbor, she’d head back to small-town Ontario and he’d go back to Langley…or maybe he’d head overseas for a new mission.

  Regardless of where he went, she couldn’t follow. And why would he want her to? Allowing herself to feel anything beyond trust in the immediate situation simply didn’t make sense. They had no possible future together. Certainly Shaun had to realize that, despite his flirtatious nature. She’d already seen that more than once, and hadn’t done much to discourage it. Maybe that was her mistake.

  Yet he’d also been nothing but a perfect gentleman. Had she read him wrong? Maybe she’d become delusional out of fear, or maybe her subconscious was attempting to connect dots that weren’t there. Still, his earnestness drew her like a moth to flame…so how long until she got burned?

  The air suddenly felt thick and electric. She couldn’t shake the memory of Shaun on the parking deck when they’d met again for the first time. His tender touch on her injured palm had said more than words ever could, and the very fact that he’d remembered how she liked her coffee—twice!—made her throat tighten with an unbidden sense of longing.

  “Lexie?” Shaun pivoted on the staircase, eyeing her with curiosity. “You realize you’ve stopped moving, right? Is something wrong?”

  Heat flooded Lexie’s cheeks as a whole migration’s worth of butterflies exploded in her stomach. Get a grip, girl. Now is not the time, and maybe not ever. He’s so wrong for you, and you know it.

  She said nothing, not trusting herself to speak in the moment. She clanged down the stairs ahead of him, putting him out of her field of vision, and pushed open the door to passenger deck two in silence. But of course, Shaun stepped in front of her, checking both ways down the hall. She’d forgotten about that part of their agreement. Why did he have to stand so close?

  An elderly couple exited their room about twenty feet down the hall, waving at Shaun and Lexie in greeting.

  “Maritimers,” Lexie commented, grateful for a neutral topic to focus on. “Must be locals. They’re too calm and casually dressed to be tourists. That’s a fisherman’s hat he’s wearing.”

  Her observation brought a tiny curve to Shaun’s lips. “You’d make a good superspy yourself, Miss Reilly.”

  She warmed at the compliment, though warmth was the very thing she’d been trying to avoid. Maybe she should take a break from the search, step outside. Away from him. Permanently.

  “Follow me and stay close,” Shaun said, oblivious to her internal struggle. He tilted his head to listen to the sounds around them, then pulled the walkie-talkie off his belt and handed it to Lexie. “If anything happens, I want you to run. Find a safe place and call for help. Understand?”

  “I can handle it,” she snapped, feeling quite overwhelmed. Couldn’t he just…leave her alone for a little while? Her guilt spiked at the confusion on his face. He didn’t deserve to be snapped at because she had feelings for him. How middle school of her. “You’re right. We’re in this together. I’ll get help, but I’m not going to leave you behind.”

  Shaun frowned and focused on her with the ferocity of a lion. “I’m not going to let you get hurt again, Lexie. You’ve been through enough already, and the next time we’re attacked, I may not be so fortunate.” He tapped where the bullet had grazed his shoulder the night before. “We’re dealing with someone incredibly dangerous, and we may be walking into a trap. It’s taken me three years to get this close, and I can’t have the repercussions fall on you.”

  Lexie swallowed, her throat growing dry. Why hadn’t he moved out of the way? “I know what I’m getting into. I’m just as much a part of this as you are now. Plus, you need me—you said as much when you brought my breakfast.”

  His expression grew thoughtful, the intensity calming to that of a mild summer storm. “I did, didn’t I?”

  Lexie’s breath quickened as Shaun leaned closer, every ounce of his intent directed at her being. Why hadn’t she moved out of the way? Why weren’t her feet working? Her brain screamed at her to get away, to stop this nonsense while she still could, but her heart pushed her closer and closer to the scruffy agent she’d become so attached to in only a matter of a few short hours.

  His strong hands gripped her shoulders and pulled her closer. She didn’t resist as they were drawn together like magnets. Time stood still as his head descended to hers with a cautious optimism. Their lips brushed, a tender and soft gesture as he tested her willingness. When she didn’t resist, his mouth lingered over hers, building Lexie’s anticipation for the inevitable connection.

  Just as she felt herself relax into the moment, he suddenly pulled back, frowned and walked away.

  *

  Stupid, stupid, stupid. Shaun’s head buzzed with the frustration of letting himself get too deep, too quickly. They both had a job to do, and this would help neither of them.

  But then, hadn’t he been thinking about what it would be like to kiss her since the moment he’d realized that they were actually perfect for each other? Perfect in every way except timing. Another time, maybe…except that when this was all said and done, he’d be on another assignment and she’d be back to her job in Ontario. They didn’t even live in the same country. How could he lead either of their hearts astray when a future together was an impossibility?

  Despite all the opposition she’d given him since that first moment on the parking deck, Shaun had no doubt that they had almost shared a kiss that would have been incredible. Enthralling. Consuming. And totally, utterly distracting to both of them at a time when distraction meant the kind of failure they couldn’t afford.

  Still, he’d be a fool to assume he didn’t have a very angry, hurt woman following several feet behind him. They trekked in silence, but the tension in the air had grown thick and stifling. He’d try to explain himself later—she deserved an apology—but right now he needed to focus on the mission.

  The passenger deck they’d entered sounded much quieter than the upper decks, save for being closer to the noises made by the ferry’s inner workings. Almost too quiet. Too empty. The hair on the back of his neck stood up as he sensed Lexie draw close behind him.

  “I think I heard something,” she murmured. Shaun grimaced but didn’t turn around. He hadn’t heard anything, and they’d been walking together this whole time. Then again, he’d also gotten lost in his thoughts, going a little deeper than acceptable for the present situation.

  “Stop for a second, please,” she said, louder this time. He did, acknowledging her request with a nod over his shoulder. Dismissing her hunch at this late stage in their search would be folly, especially when they’d been working together so well—working being the key word, here—but he had his doubts on this one.

  “I don’t hear anything,” he replied, after a few moments of silence.

  Lexie pursed her lips and backed up a few paces. “I heard it here, a little closer to the bank of elevators on this deck.” She kept walking backward, eyes closed and hands cupped around her ears to focus
sound. She stopped just in front of the elevator doors. “Here. It sounds like…beeping? Like an alarm clock.”

  A chill swept through Shaun and he bounded across the short distance to where Lexie stood. He copied her, closing his eyes and using cupped hands to locate the sound she’d heard. In an instant, the chill turned into a full tidal wave of cold terror.

  The soft beeping she’d heard had changed from an occasional blip to a full-on constant buzzing. The closest passenger rooms were twenty feet away in either direction.

  The noise came from inside the elevator.

  Shaun grabbed Lexie’s forearm and pulled her toward him. “Run!”

  Lexie’s bewilderment lasted only long enough for her to find her footing. Shaun sprinted down the hallway, half dragging Lexie behind him as the elevators exploded with a deafening boom.

  The floor underneath them shook and they tumbled to the ground, Shaun summoning his strength to pull Lexie alongside him and encircle her in his arms. He winced at the impact of his knees against the floor. Shaun covered Lexie’s head and neck, holding her tightly against his chest as paint, plaster and metal debris rained down around them. He prayed that no dislodged live wires would land on or near them.

  The world went from the loud noise of devastation to the muted thrum of temporarily damaged hearing—they’d been too close to the blast to avoid it, and it would take some time for their hearing to return. The scent of burned plastic and sharp chemicals filled Shaun’s nostrils, reminding him of the missing cleaning supplies.

  Shaun gritted his teeth at the realization. Why hadn’t he considered a homemade bomb a possibility and put all the supplies on lockdown after the gassing incident?

  Breathing through his nose, Shaun squinted into the haze of the hallway. Dust floated in the air, obscuring his vision. The hall lights made several valiant attempts to revive themselves, but after a shower of sparks flew from the damaged elevator shaft, the lights and power failed with an anticlimactic flicker. If his hearing hadn’t been muffled, Shaun imagined he’d have heard the buzz of failing electricity, followed by the thud and click of emergency power generators kicking in.