Falling for the Cougar

by Terry Spear

  Nicole stripped out of her clothes and shifted. If he hadn’t intended to kill her before, he was going to do so now. As a cougar, she could at least protect herself.

  Her head throbbed with worry. What was she going to do? The police would never believe her. Not unless a gold-toothed man ended up at the hospital. She feared the storm would make it difficult if not impossible to leave the island.

  She’d had every intention of returning to her room that night, but now, she couldn’t. She didn’t want Scott involved in the mess she was in, but the stalker seemed to hold back whenever Scott was around.

  She tensed as a key card slid into the slot.

  “Nicole?”

  She shifted and threw on her clothes.

  “Scott?” She hadn’t meant to breakdown, but her voice shattered into tears as she spoke his name and she peeked through the peephole. She could barely see him for the tears that clouded her eyes.

  Hurriedly, she pulled the latch free and opened the door.

  “What’s wrong?” His voice was threaded with worry.

  She pulled him into the room and shoved the door shut. Locking the latch, she shook her head. “I have to stay here with you tonight.”

  Scott was thrilled she wanted to stay with him, but he was disturbed to see she was tearful and shaking. “What’s wrong?” He took her arm and led her to the bed as he dropped his sack on the bedside table.

  “He came back. He tried to get in and I attempted to break his wrist.”

  “What?” He couldn’t believe it.

  She took an exasperated breath. “The man in the peach suit. He had a key to your room. They must be giving them out wholesale at the front desk.”

  “I just spoke to them and—I’m sorry.” He sat down beside her and wrapped his arm around her securely. “I shouldn’t have left you.”

  She leaned her head against his chest, melting to his touch.

  Though he’d felt a little better taking the clerk to task, he felt like a heel for having left her.

  She took a deep breath and her whole body shuddered. “He tried to unfasten the latch, but it can only be undone inside the room. Still, he slammed his hefty body against the door trying to knock it loose or break the door in.” She sniffled. “He waited until you left. He must have been watching or listening.”

  Scott kissed her head. He couldn’t believe he’d left her alone when her life could be so threatened. But reporting the incident would be useless. He never saw anyone in the hall and heard no noises. There was no damage to the door. “Anything else?”

  “When he tried to reach in through the door, I slammed against it to try and break his wrist.”

  “And?”

  “I don’t know. I’m sure he was injured, but I don’t know how badly. I managed to slam the door against his wrist twice before he broke free. I’m scared, Scott. If he didn’t plan on killing me before, he will now.” She pointed to the news report flashing across the television screen. “The weather is wreaking havoc with the roads and I don’t think I can make it through the suburbs of Houston to return home right now.”

  “You can’t be thinking of leaving Galveston tonight in this mess.” The notion she’d leave on her own without his protection wrenched at his gut. No matter what, he’d go with her.

  Nicole nodded. “Half of me wants to flee in the storm. He can’t come after me then, or at least a part of me feels that way. But the other half says I’d be safer here with you.”

  “That’s for sure. You’ve got me to help you with this man. I won’t let him get close to you again.” Somehow, he had to protect her. If what Nicole said about the stalker not coming after her when he was with her, she’d be safer.

  “Did you get the PM for me?”

  “Yes, but you can’t take it after having alcohol. Not tonight. I had a rather heated discussion with the hotel staff, but if I had realized there would be more incidents…” He took a ragged breath. He ran his fingers over hers. “Did you want me to go to your room for anything? I could bring your bag up here.”

  “I’d like to have my shampoo and a change of clothes.”

  He rose from the bed. She grabbed his hand. “I don’t want to be left alone.”

  “We’ll go together.”

  She grabbed her purse, then hesitated. “If we leave the room, he can get in. He’s got a room key and without it being barred from within—”

  “Then you can stay.”

  “What if he’s got a room key to my room too? He could be waiting for us there.”

  Scott pulled her close and kissed her cheek. “What would you like to do? We could stay here or—”

  “I want my bag. The men aren’t going to keep me from it.”

  “Men?” He followed her to the door.

  She was trying to act tough, but she still looked out the peephole first. “Yeah, I told you. There were two in the boat. And there might have been another at the 3D theater.”

  Scott stared at her. What the hell was going on? “You didn’t tell me about him.”

  “You were busy watching the movie. When I looked back down where he was sitting, he was gone.”

  She pulled the door open and he shut it behind him.

  “What did he look like?”

  “Dressed in black, black hair. That’s all I could see. He looked like a man who got in the elevator with me here at the hotel.”

  “Did he say anything?”

  “I didn’t wait around to find out. I jumped out of the elevator before it shut.”

  If there were two men, it was more than a case of perverted stalking. Something else was going on. But Nicole seemed to be clueless. Or was she?

  When they reached her room, he hesitated, but she continued to walk toward the elevator. Where was she going?

  When he paused, she turned and stared at him. The fear seeped back into her vivid blue eyes.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “How come you know that was my room?” Her voice was barely a terrified whisper.

  He’d made a real mistake that time. He took a step forward and she took a step back. Now she feared him. “I saw you go to your room when you came back from the beach.”

  She couldn’t think he was in cahoots with the bad men, if that’s what they were. But her face, the look of disbelief, her mouth slightly open, and her eyes as round as the moon showed she distrusted him now too. Though he couldn’t blame her. He’d spied on her from the stairwell, and now how could he explain that?

  She dashed for the stairwell.

  He bolted to intercept her, but the door slammed in his face.

  Damn it! He yanked the door open and chased after her. “Nicole!”

  She ran down the steps to the ground floor as he shortened the distance between them, but she pulled the door open and slammed it again before he could reach her.

  When he opened the door, he ran for the lobby. There was no sign of her.

  He turned and faced the outside door. She couldn’t have run out into the storm.

  He ran for the door and tore it open. Wind-driven rain socked him in the face. He squinted, trying to spot her in the parking area. Despite the parking lights illuminating the area, the gray gloom and driving rain darkened it considerably. Then he saw her running against the wind-driven rain toward the south end of the lot. He bolted after her. He had to get to her before she tried to drive into the flooded streets of the Houston suburbs. She could be stranded out there alone. He had to keep her safe and prove to her he wasn’t one of the ones out to get her, if the others were.

  She ducked down, undoubtedly climbing into her car. He ran as fast as he could against the wind. When he reached her blue Grand Am, she was just backing out of the parking space. But he didn’t think she saw him, and he knew she couldn’t have heard him. He pounded on her window, startling her.

  She wasn’t stopping and slammed on the gas, backing the rest of the way out of the parking slot. When she hit the gas and lunged forward, he tried to run in front of her ca
r to halt her progress. Before he could, a man dressed in black shoved Scott into her car’s path. She slammed on her brakes with a squeal.

  Scott hadn’t even seen the man before this, but he fit the description Nicole had given of the one she’d seen in the theater.

  The man looked from Scott to Nicole’s vehicle.

  She idled her car. Was she trying to decide if Scott was with the others or not?

  Scott couldn’t move or feared she’d speed on down the road when he no longer blocked her path.

  When the suited man reached into his suit coat, Scott froze with a new fear. If the man had a gun, Scott was too far away to tackle him for it. He’d be a gonner. And then Nicole would get it too.

  Adrenaline pumped through his body. He wasn’t afraid, just furious he’d let himself get into such a quandary. Nicole had been right all along. Then again, maybe the guy was serving papers or something.

  The man pulled a gun from his holster. No, he wasn’t serving papers.

  Nicole’s engine roared and she twisted her steering wheel sharply to the left. She hit the gas and hurdled the car in the gunman’s direction. Her weapon was bigger than his.

  Even over the roaring of the wind and rain, the man’s body thumping against the bumper made Scott cringe at the sound and sight. She didn’t stop until she had run completely over the body and was several feet beyond. Her tires screeched as she pulled her car to a stop.

  Scott still didn’t want her to leave, but he figured at this point there wasn’t anything he could do about it, if she decided to run. He memorized her license tags so he could find her later, then hurried to check the gunman, laying on his back on the wet pavement. Scott reached down and felt for the man’s pulse. None.

  He felt inside his pockets. No ID. He turned to see Nicole repark the car a few slots over. She ran back to him and grabbed his arm. She sobbed hysterically and he took her arm and led her back to the hotel. “It’s okay.” He held her close as shudders racked her body. “It’s okay.” He tried to sooth her, then said, “We’ve got to report the man’s death.”

  She shook her head and was about to collapse as she sagged against him.

  “Nicole.”

  He was afraid she was going into shock.

  He lifted her into his arms and carried her into the lobby. When he tried to lay her on the lobby sofa, she clung to him with all her might. “I’ve got to report the man’s death.”

  “Don’t leave me,” she sobbed.

  “Can you walk?”

  She nodded, but was trembling so hard, she could barely walk, and he wrapped his arm around her waist to keep her on her feet. When they made it to the counter, the clerk stared at them in surprise. “Accident?” he asked.

  “Call 911. A man has been run over in the parking lot.”

  “Injuries?”

  “Dead.”

  “And the lady?”

  “She’s going into shock.”

  The clerk got on the phone and Scott said to Nicole, “Are you sure you don’t want to lie down on the couch. You’re about ready to collapse.”

  She shook her head.

  The sight of her slender body trembling and cold made him pull her against his body as close as he could to warm her. He was damned angry anyone would try to kill her, and he was glad at least one of them wouldn’t have another chance.

  “Names?” the clerk asked.

  “Scott Weekum,” he nearly snapped as he wanted to get her to his room and into warm, dry clothes, as quickly as possible, “and this is… Listen, I’m going to take Nicole up to Room 305. Her name is Nicole Welsh. You can contact me there.”

  He carried her to the elevator. She rested her head against his chest in silence, though her whole body shivered nonstop. When he walked into the elevator, her teeth chattering with the cold, she said, “Room 205.”

  “What?”

  “I changed my room to 205.”

  “Do you want to stay there?”

  She shook her head.

  “Do you want your bag?”

  She nodded.

  He punched the button for the second floor. “You know, it’s all right. You were only protecting me from the gunman. I saw his gun too.”

  She didn’t respond and he kissed her wet forehead. When they arrived at her room, he took her key and unlocked her door. “Just the one bag?”

  “Yes. I can walk now.”

  “Are you certain?”

  She nodded, but she was still shaking hard and her teeth clinked together.

  “Are you cold?”

  “Yes.”

  He grabbed the handle of her bag and her arm and walked her into the hall. After taking the elevator to the third floor, he led her to his room. He leaned her against the opposite wall. “Wait here for a moment.” He unlocked the door, then checked the room. When he found it was clear, he took her into the room and pulled her bag behind him.

  The phone rang as he shut the door and he nudged her to the bathroom. “Take a hot shower. You need to get warmed up. And then you can change into something dry.” When she closed the door and locked the bolt, he answered the phone. “Hello?”

  “Mr. Weekum?”

  “Yes?”

  “The police are here, but there’s no sign of a body. Could you have been mistaken? Or maybe the person was knocked down but not injured and left the premises?”

  “I felt his pulse. He had none.” Why wouldn’t the guy come into the hotel and file a complaint then if Scott had been mistaken about not feeling a pulse? Because the guy had a gun and was planning to use it on Scott, because he’d shoved Scott in front of Nicole’s car first, so she’d run him over, and the guy was a criminal?

  “Well, there’s no body. Sorry.”

  What in the hell was going on? “No problem.” Yet Scott knew that meant Nicole was in real trouble.

  He hung up the phone and glanced at the bathroom where Nicole was taking her shower. What kind of a mess was she in?

  Either she knew something, and she wasn’t saying, or she really didn’t know what this was all about. One thing he knew, whoever these men were, they were covering their tracks.

  When the door to the bathroom clicked open, he turned. Nicole walked out of the room in a startling blue chemise trimmed in ivory lace. He stared at her in surprise. He’d expected, well, he wasn’t sure what he expected, but nothing like this. Maybe a long T-shirt, or something.

  He hurried over to her as she still seemed in a daze. “I think you’re kind of in shock.” He led her to the bed. Pulling the covers aside for her, he waited as she slipped between the sheets, then he covered her. He pulled a chair up to the bed.

  At this point, he had to have some answers and fast. If he ended up in bed with her, she was probably going to fall asleep in his arms and then he would hold her and worry all night.

  “Do you have any idea what this is all about?”

  “I don’t know.” She closed her eyes.

  “Who could want you harmed?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “You mentioned Jackie, how she made the plans for your vacation, then backed out.”

  Nicole nodded. Her breathing grew shallow and she shut her eyes.

  He knew he wasn’t going to get anywhere with questioning her tonight, but he was worried sick about her safety. Neither of them could report the situation without proof or they’d both be deemed certifiable. He knew now why she was concerned about revealing her concerns to him.

  The men were good at their jobs.

  He sighed heavily with exasperation, then rubbed his tense neck muscles. “You’re safe with me, tonight, but tomorrow we’ve got to figure out what’s going on. Are you feeling all right?”

  “Yes.” She said the word in a whispered hush.

  He leaned over and brushed his lips against her cold cheek. “Okay, I’m taking a shower and getting into some dry things and I’ll rejoin you in a few minutes.” He grabbed up a T-shirt and boxer briefs, walked into the bathroom, took a shower, and
changed into his dry clothes.

  When he left the bathroom, he saw a beautiful, foxy-red cougar sleeping under the covers, her chemise tossed on the floor. He smiled, glad she was in her cougar coat, warmer and hopefully feeling safer. He climbed into bed and pulled her into his arms. She snuggled up to him, resting her head on his chest.

  He sighed deeply, warming her body as she did his, happy that her shivers slowly faded with his touch.

  Later that evening, a crash of thunder woke Scott outright. To his surprise, Nicole still slept. He glanced at the clock. The face of the clock had disappeared. He reached over to the lamp on the bedside stand and twisted the switch. No response.

  The electricity was off. Would it affect the locks?

  He slipped out of bed, then dialed the front desk. “This is Scott Weekum in room 305.”

  “Yes, sir, the electricity is off all over this part of the island and they’re working on it right now.”

  “But the locks. Will they work to the rooms?”

  Or would the unknown gunman be able to walk right in on them while they slept?

  Chapter 8

  The wind howled outside their hotel room as the rain pummeled the windows. “With the electricity off, sir,” the hotel clerk told Scott over the phone, “no one can use the automated door locks. If you leave the room, you won’t be able to get back inside unless someone is in your room who can open the door for you.”

  “Thanks.” Scott hung up the phone. Somewhat relieved, he crawled back into bed. At least nobody could get to them while the electricity was off. Of course, the person would have to take a hacksaw to the security bar too.

  Hell, if someone could get into the room, Nicole would be able to take care of him. He wrapped his arms around her again, aware she could bite him if she woke and felt threatened. Though he wouldn’t want to turn a criminal into a cougar. What a disaster that would be.

  Snuggling close to her, breathing in her peach scent, it didn’t take long for him to slip into the world of dreams.

  Later that night, the lamplight turned on. Scott stared at the lamp for a second uncomprehending. Then he realized the electricity had come back on. Thankfully. Nicole’s silky hair tickled his nose and he ran his hand through the satiny strands of curls. Soft like the tassels of corn from the garden, he scrunched it in his hand. She murmured in her sleep and he stiffened. Hell, she’d shifted and was sleeping naked against him.