by K. M. Scott
He touched her on the shoulder and smiled when she looked back at him with tears in her eyes. “I’m sorry, but we need to get out of here right now.”
Sadly, she nodded her understanding. “Okay. I just wanted to say my goodbyes.”
Roman ushered her out into the hallway, and they hurried toward the back stairway they came up through. As they reached the door to the stairwell, he saw someone walking in the dark toward them.
“Someone’s coming! Hurry,” he said as he opened the stairwell door and pushed her through.
Behind them, a man yelled, “Stop! Who are you? What are you doing here?”
Kate’s eyes opened wide and filled with fear. “That’s the security guard! He must have seen us!”
Grabbing her hand, Roman began rushing down the stairs, pulling her along behind him as he took them two at a time. They reached the eighth floor landing and heard the door on the floor above them open before the man ran into the stairwell.
“Stop! You’re not allowed in this building! Who are you?” he yelled as Roman’s heart began to pound wildly.
They still had seven flights of stairs to run down, and if the security guard had a partner, they might be caught anywhere between there and the back door. He could handle one guard or even two, but if one of them called the police, they’d likely be met when they hit the street behind the building and taken in for breaking and entering in addition to theft, even with Kate’s keys.
Her hand clutched his so tightly he didn’t worry about them being separated, but as he bounded down the stairs, his legs much longer than hers, he worried she’d trip and fall. Looking back as they hit the fifth floor landing, he saw her holding the laptop to her chest, clinging to it like a life preserver.
Then he looked up as he heard the sound of shoes hitting the steps and saw the guard following them down the stairs. Much slower than them, he still might catch up if she fell, and Roman didn’t want to risk it.
He stopped on the next landing and turned toward Kate. “Get on my back. I’ll carry you until we get out of this building.”
“No!” she said, shaking her head. “You can’t. Your side, Roman.”
“Don’t worry about my side,” he said as he spun around and crouched down so she could jump on his back. “Just get on and hold on tight because I’m going to take these stairs as fast as I can.”
Only two floors above them, the security guard called out, “The police are on their way! Don’t move!”
Kate didn’t wait for Roman to tell her twice and climbed onto his back. Pushing the laptop against his chest, she wrapped her arm around his neck and her legs around his waist.
“Okay, I’m set! Go!”
He took off, jumping the stairs three at a time now as the sound of the security guard’s shoes tapping against each concrete step echoed around them in the stairwell. Kate’s leg rubbed against his side over and over, sending streams of pain through his torso, but Roman didn’t stop until they reached the back door and got out into the street.
Lowering her to the ground, he handed her the laptop. “We need to keep running. Can you do that in those shoes?”
She looked down at the black boots with two inch heels and then up at him. “Not a problem. You obviously know very little about women. We can run in stilettos if we have to.”
“Good. Then run.”
They took off toward Canal Street on their way back to the hotel in the French Quarter, and even though Kate tried to keep up with him, she simply couldn’t run as fast as he could. He kept looking back to see if the security guard planned to chase them outside the building and finally saw the man push the back door open and look up the street toward them.
Kate saw him look back and turned her head, causing her to trip over her own feet. She fell forward and landed hard on the ground and on the laptop.
Roman looked back and saw the man begin to run after them. He picked Kate up off the ground and grabbed the laptop.
“Run!”
She looked back and stopped as the guard continued to run toward them, so Roman pulled her along. Kate finally started running again after he barked at her to move, holding tightly onto his hand.
“Is he following us?” she asked frantically.
He looked back and saw the man about two blocks behind, but he didn’t want to scare her by telling her that. “I don’t know. Keep running. I’ll tell you when you can stop.”
They ran for another block before he turned around one more time and saw the man had given up. They were in the clear.
For now.
As they reached the hotel, they slowed down and began to walk again. Kate still held his hand and asked, “Can we please take the elevator up to the room? I can’t handle any more stairs right now. My legs feel like cooked spaghetti.”
Roman hoped when they walked into the lobby they wouldn’t run into the police standing there waiting for them, but he didn’t want to make her walk up the stairs again, even to the second floor. She had, after all, not fought him on anything since they left the room over an hour ago, so at least he could give her this one thing to make her happy.
He looked down at her and smiled. “Okay, we’ll do the elevator, but if there’s anyone suspicious in the lobby, we won’t have a choice. We’ll have to take the stairs.”
The smile she gave him lit up her face. “Deal. See, I don’t have to fight with you all the time.”
No, she didn’t. And he liked this Kate who agreed with him.
For the second time, they walked into the Allton Hotel lobby with its white marble floors, huge crystal chandelier, and luxurious furnishings in the waiting area. This time, they held hands, and Kate pressed her body to his as they passed the check-in desk and that same clerk he’d met the first night.
“Good morning, Mr. Madson,” the desk clerk said in an entirely too chipper early morning voice.
Roman gave him a smile but said nothing, preferring to keep silent as he and Kate walked to the elevators. Although no one stood waiting for any of the three doors to open, just like the last time they stood there waiting to go up to their room, he wrapped his arm around her and she buried her face in his shoulder to hide from anyone who might walk up to them.
No one did, and when the doors to the center elevator opened a few moments later and they walked in, she didn’t move away from him. Instead, she pressed her face into the space in between his shoulder and chin. Her skin was warm against his neck, and as the elevator rode up to the second floor, he felt her lips touch his skin beneath his ear.
Closing his eyes, he let himself revel in how good it felt to have a woman this close again. Not just any woman, though.
This woman.
He wanted to feel every inch of her against him. Even though he knew he shouldn’t want that, he couldn’t help himself.
No. He didn’t want to help himself.
Never before in Roman’s life had he been so willing to throw caution to the wind for another human being. His world had been built on knowing when to risk it all and what to expect in return when he did. It’s what made him the successful soldier he’d been and the man Persephone and Nicholas could always count on, no matter what the case.
Now his thoughts turned to the basic fact that although he barely knew Kate Sheridan, she made feelings he’d sworn he’d never feel again come alive inside him. Those emotions, so risky in his line of work, now threatened to overwhelm him as she stood clinging to him.
So close that he felt the beat of her heart against his side. He’d promised to protect her when they first met because it was his duty as a member of Project Artemis.
As they stood alone in that elevator after nearly being caught at that office building, he knew that had changed. Now he silently swore that he’d protect her not out of duty but because he cared for her.
It made no sense, but then again, he’d never thought emotions made much sense anyway.
“I’m sorry I nearly messed everything up back there,” she said quietly, h
er soft lips moving against his neck and making him want to feel those lips on his right there in the elevator.
“You did great back there, Kate,” he said, gently pressing her against him. “Even better, you didn’t fight me.”
The elevator dinged to let them know they’d reached the second floor, and the doors opened. They stood there for a moment, neither of them moving, until Kate pulled away from him and walked out into the hallway.
Roman was left wishing that moment never had to end, but now that it had, he needed to focus on the case. Kate was depending on him to protect her, and to do that, he needed to know what Jonas Flynn kept on that laptop.
Chapter Eleven
Kate jumped onto the bed and opened the laptop, eager to delve into what Jonas had been investigating. Roman closed the door behind him and took his spot in the chair near the window. Whatever that had been between them in the elevator made her not want to look up as Jonas’s laptop warmed up, but she felt her partner’s stare on her as she avoided his gaze.
Partner. For the first time, she actually felt like they were partners in this mess. Not that she thought they were equal partners. She knew better than to fool herself. Roman brought far more to the table than she did, but maybe if she found something useful to give them a clue to follow she could prove to him that she wasn’t simply a woman caught up in a disastrous mess.
And even more, she could show him that she wasn’t just some crazy woman who believed the cops were out to get her, or worse, a murderer he should turn in the next chance he got.
“Find anything yet?” Roman asked with a lilt to his voice that told her he’d caught her daydreaming.
She turned her head and leveled her gaze on his face. “Patience, grasshopper. This laptop has been through hell tonight. For God’s sake, I landed on it full force back there. Give it a chance.”
A slow smile lit up his face. “Just checking. You looked a little lost for a minute. I’m not a computer genius, but I can help if you need me to.”
Pretending to be offended, Kate screwed her face into a scowl. “I don’t need help getting into a laptop, and certainly not my boss’s laptop. I’m not a complete idiot, you know, Roman.”
The smile didn’t leave his face as he held his hands up in fake surrender. “I didn’t mean to upset you. I was just trying to help.”
As the welcome screen came up on the laptop, she smiled and blew on the tips of her fingers before rubbing her hands together. “No worries. I got this. Now to make some magic.”
Roman chuckled. “Kate’s going to make magic. Everyone step back.”
She ignored his attempt at being cute, even though she couldn’t deny that she liked when he acted like that. Seeing him smile and acting almost silly made her feel like he might be okay with her. After being so difficult and injuring him, she hoped this change meant things were improving between them.
That was other than what just happened in the elevator, which she didn’t want to think too much about or her emotions would start running away with her.
Focus, Kate. Stop thinking like an oversexed teenage girl and get down to business.
Tapping on the keys, she began reading through the names Jonas had given his files. Ever the eccentric, he chose old TV show names, but Kate had no problem deciphering his secret code.
She hovered over the first yellow file and mumbled the name. “Barney Miller.”
“What?” Roman asked, obviously listening carefully to what she was doing.
Kate looked up and shook her head. “Nothing. Just a file name.”
He repeated his question. “What?”
“Nothing. Just Jonas’s way of hiding things. Now give me a few minutes to see if I can find anything.”
Roman’s dark eyebrows came in toward his nose, and his eyes narrowed to squints. “Fine. If you need me, I’ll be watching TV.”
Before she could apologize for being so short with him, he turned away and pointed the remote at the TV, effectively shutting down their conversation. Not that she wanted to continue talking since she had to start figuring out her boss’s notes, but she hadn’t wanted him to think she was brushing him off.
He flipped through a few channels before settling on some old movie, so Kate returned her focus to Jonas’s file named Barney Miller. Clicking on it and expecting something to do with the New Orleans Police Department, she saw it contained a single document with the name Fish.
“Fish?” she said out loud, unsure why anything in this folder would have that name.
Maybe Roman would know.
“Any idea why Jonas would call a file in the Barney Miller folder Fish?” she asked, interrupting his movie.
He turned his head to look at her for a moment before he turned back to look at the TV. “One of the characters was named Fish. The old guy who sounded like a human version of Eeyore.”
Kate hadn’t seen enough episodes of Barney Miller to understand Roman’s explanation, so she didn’t bother asking him anything else and just clicked on the document to see what it was about. In it, she found nothing but numbers. Some looked like dates, while others made no sense at all. They didn’t appear to be dollar amounts, so what could they be?
She considered asking Roman for his help, but everything in his body language told her now was not the time, from the way he kept his arms crossed tightly across his chest to the way his shoulders turned away from her sharply. Making a mental note to ask him later once he looked more receptive, she moved on to the next folder named Hawaii Five-O.
Even before she clicked, she knew this would be about the New Orleans Police Department. Jonas hadn’t been very clever with this one. Opening the file, she saw two documents. Apartment Defects and Flics.
Jonas must have been in a hurry when he typed the second file name because he missed the k in Flicks. Not that she had any idea what the word flick referred to.
Her curiosity piqued, she opened that document and found a list of five sets of letters that appeared to be initials. Were they initials indicating people’s names or the names of other things, like towns or something else?
R.G.
H.H.
A.J.
K.S.
M.M.
Frustrated, Kate stretched her legs out in front of her under the laptop. What the hell did Jonas mean by naming this file flics and what did these letters mean? She’d been so sure she could figure out whatever he wrote in these notes, and now that she sat there staring at this second document, she had no idea what he meant.
The files hadn’t given her anything useful yet, but she wasn’t defeated by any means. Surely, the file named Apartment Defects would make more sense.
Kate clicked on it and sighed loudly as she read a partial address and a list of problems in someone’s home. Had Jonas mistakenly put a document about his home repairs in with his work files? No, that made no sense. The address had nothing to do with where he lived, and he didn’t own any other properties, as far as she knew.
Wherever this place was, it certainly wasn’t anywhere she’d ever want to live. 1073 Richmond Street had improperly installed windows that allowed water to seep into the residence and into the walls. In addition, Jonas had noted it had missing drag strips and hold downs. Kate had no idea what either of those were. Continuing on, she read the apartment had even more problems. Faulty electrical work, including wiring that hadn’t been completed to code, plagued the entire building. Even worse, a balcony on the third floor had been found to be structurally unsound due to a lack of proper supports.
Where was this horrible place? Kate scanned the document again and found no city or state mentioned.
“Find anything useful yet?” Roman asked, jarring her from her thoughts.
Kate sighed. “I don’t know. This folder has two documents in it. One doesn’t seem to make any sense at all, and the other just seems to be a list of things some poor homeowner has to deal with at their home.”
“Is this the Barney Miller folder?” he asked, turning
in the chair to face her.
“No. Hawaii Five-O. Not that I have any idea why he would name it that,” she explained as a feeling of dejection began to come over her.
“Great show,” Roman said, as if that helped at all.
“Well, I’m happy that you and my boss share a love of old TV shows. Unfortunately, I have no idea what any of this means.”
Roman stood and walked over to stand next to the bed. “Here, let me see if I can make anything of it.”
Kate couldn’t help but feel disappointed that her big chance to prove she could offer something of use to their partnership had gone down in flames in such a short time. As much as she wanted to figure out just what was behind Jonas and Samuel’s murders, part of her hoped Roman wouldn’t be able to decipher what her boss meant in these notes because she didn’t want to feel completely useless.
He sat down next to her on the bed, forcing her to move in toward the center, and took the laptop from her hold without another world. God, he could be so bossy!
Settling in, he began scrolling through the Fish document as Kate mumbled, “Sure. Go ahead. Do your thing.”
Roman didn’t pay any attention to her, so as he began to read through the documents in both files, Kate sulked. So much for showing him she could handle herself.
So much for proving her innocence.
After nearly ten minutes of him saying nothing, she couldn’t stand the silence anymore and craned her neck to see what he was reading. Her eyes read down the page that contained the info about flics, whatever they were.
“I figured that file would be about the cops, but I couldn’t make heads or tails of what Jonas put in there.”
“Right church, wrong pew,” Roman said before turning to face her. “Hawaii Five-O wasn’t about cops.”
Confused, she shook her head. “No, it was. I might not know anything my boss was trying to show in those documents, but I’ve seen that show once or twice. He would have used it to indicate something about New Orleans’ finest.”
She had no idea what he was talking about with his church and pew comment, but she knew her old television shows. Her mother had an odd obsession with programs from before Kate was born, so many a nights she missed the shows her friends were watching because her mother decided some seventies show was more interesting. That very reason was why she begged her parents for a TV for her fourteenth birthday.