Nah. What he really needed was to use a foam roller on his muscles and maybe a good massage. That would make him feel better. A solid dozen hours of sleep wouldn’t hurt either. Even though he was exhausted, sleep had been a long time coming last night, and he’d woken at the crack of dawn.
He guzzled more water and looked around the gym. He couldn’t get Dani’s panic attack out of his head. His gut knotted at the memory. Pure terror had gripped her. It had been excruciating for him to watch. It had never occurred to him she would think they were lost at sea. It was his fault. He’d made her suffer simply by not thinking about her needs. He wouldn’t make the same mistake twice.
Why did he care about her needs? Stupid. Just like it was stupid to circle back and watch her eat her breakfast. Not that he stayed long. Just long enough to see her settled and watch her help out the old lady with the pancakes.
Now he had proof. She was tough as nails on the outside but a softy on the inside. He’d witnessed it in Juneau as well. She might have turned to stone when Mrs. Williams went to hug her, but Dani cared very much what happened to her landlady. And Mrs. Williams cared about her. Enough to hold him at gunpoint.
So what if Dani brought out all the protectiveness in him? He obviously wasn’t the only one. It was fascinating to watch her offer kindness or help to those she thought needed it. As long as it didn’t involve physical contact or closeness, she was willing.
It made him think of his mother when she was dying. She would still talk with him for hours and offer advice on all kinds of subjects, including how to help his brothers get along, but he couldn’t hug her. It hurt too much she’d said. He could hold her hands. Maybe that’s where he could start with Dani. He could hold her hand.
Glancing at his watch again, he decided to end his workout right then. He’d done a decent run. It wasn’t his normal couple of hours, but he didn’t feel comfortable leaving Dani any longer than necessary. His body was also aching. He needed some downtime.
Time spent sailing. That would sort him out, and it would be relaxing. Sailing meant all he had to worry about was the thirty feet in front of him. Nothing else. It was exactly what he needed. He made a mental note to add some sailing time to his calendar as soon as he got back to New York and finished with Dani.
Dani. His thoughts kept returning to her. She made his head spin a bit. He’d needed to get away from her and breathe, remind himself this was just business, no matter how fabulous she looked when she’d just woken up. All tousled hair and swollen lips.
He frowned as he wiped down the equipment. Get it together. He walked out of the gym and made his way back to the room. He paused before he opened the door. Work not play. Only a couple more days, and this assignment, or at least this part of it, the part where he was in a confined space with Dani, would be over and he could have some solid time on his sailboat.
He hit the lock with his key and opened the door. Dani wasn’t at the table where he’d pictured her. She wasn’t back from breakfast yet. A small frisson went through his gut. She should have been back by now.
He glanced at his watch. It had been an hour. Not too long really. People took an hour to eat breakfast. She might have stopped to explore a bit, but she hated water, and it would be everywhere she looked. He stood there undecided for a second.
He picked up the phone and hit her number on speed dial. There was no answer. He wouldn’t panic yet. She could have the phone in her backpack. He would take a quick shower and get dressed and then go look for her.
His shower lasted exactly four minutes. He hadn’t even bothered to let the water get warm. He pulled on his jeans and a black, collared shirt. He grabbed his room key and was out the door eight minutes after he’d entered. Not that he thought Dani was in trouble. Much. He’d been in a low-grade state of unease since he’d left her, but now he was at Defcon 3. If he didn’t find her in the next ten minutes, he was going to hit Defcon 5, and no one would be safe.
He stepped off the elevator and hit the Promenade. He walked to the restaurant where he had left Dani. After a rapid scan, he realized she wasn’t there. He moved off down the promenade, looking in shops, trying to locate her. He never should have left her alone.
He tried to text her as he walked, but the text wouldn’t go through. The reception was so damned spotty on the ship. He always brought a few extra burner phones on a job. They usually came in handy. This time, not so much.
He had just passed a couple of clothing stores and a high-end jewelry store when his gaze came to rest on two men ahead of him. Recognition shot through him. He’d seen one of the guys before, in just about every country he’d been in when he was trying to find Dani.
How the hell did they end up here? There was no way they could have made it down from Juneau. The weather had been too bad last night. Had they been waiting here for the ship to dock? How did they know Dani was on the ship?
Gage dove into the nearest shop and hid behind a sunglasses display. He had to find Dani fast before these men found her. And then he had to find a way to get them off the ship and back to New York.
Dani emerged from the cute knickknack shop, bag in hand. Carly was going to love the little gold locket. It had an Inuit design on the front and room inside for a picture. She knew just which one. There was a great shot of the two of them from the day she had taken Carly to the local fair. Carly had eaten too much cotton candy, so they had flopped down on a bench. Dani felt herself smiling. The weight on her shoulders lifted slightly.
She turned toward the elevator bank and saw Gage. He was standing about twenty yards up the promenade. Her heart hiccupped in her chest, and a warmth spread through her. Heat was in her cheeks. She glanced down, willing the blush to fade. She wasn’t a teenager anymore. She needed to be in better control.
She looked up again. Gage was lurking behind a display of sunglasses, his steely gaze trained on something in front of him. Just the way he was standing, she knew there was trouble. She followed his gaze and immediately froze.
There were three Asian men spread out across the promenade. Sweat immediately broke out across her body. Her mouth went Sahara dry. They’d finally found her. They’d missed her by a hair yesterday.
She had been dreading this moment since Drake called her a few months ago and told her some unidentified people were after the software. He had no idea how they found out about it, but he warned her she might be in danger. Dani knew how these people found out about the software. It was because of her. Or what she’d done.
Swallowing hard, she looked around frantically. She turned on her heel and dove back into the shop. Was there a back door? It was a ship. No back alley. She went to the back corner of the store and paced frantically in the aisle. She turned and jumped when someone came around the corner.
“Hello, doll.” Dottie came down the aisle. “Thanks for the rescue this morning. Sometimes Ann can have a bit of a stick up her butt, but she’s only looking out for me.” Dottie shook her head, making her white curls dance. “She needs to let her hair down a bit.” Dottie grinned and then frowned. “You don’t look so happy.”
“I—” Her phone vibrated in her pocket. She grabbed it and stared at the screen. There were several texts from Gage warning her. “No shit,” she mumbled. She looked up at Dottie and bit her lip.
“What’s up? You look scared.” Dottie’s brows went up in a silent question.
“I— There are a few men out there looking for me. I need to avoid them.”
Dottie’s eyes narrowed.
Great. She thinks I’m a nutbar. Dani mentally kicked herself for spewing her troubles to the nice old lady.
“You’re a spy, right?’ Dottie whispered.
“What? No. I—I can’t really explain it. Look, I’m sorry I said anything. I’ll be fine. You just go about your day, and maybe I’ll see you later.” She started to walk by Dottie, but the older lady reached out and grabbed her sleeve.
“You don’t have to tell me, doll, but I can keep a secret if you need to share.” Do
ttie’s eyes sparkled as she leaned toward Dani.
“You really don’t want to be involved in this. Trust me.” Dani gave her a half smile and moved down to the end of the aisle. She peeked around the corner but didn’t see the men. She moved closer to the front of the store. She peered out the doorway.
“Which one are you trying to avoid?” Dottie asked as she peered over Dani’s shoulder.
“Ahh!” Dani bit her cheek, trying to stop her scream. She hadn’t heard Dottie come up behind her. She shuffled the elder lady back into the store. “You should just leave. I don’t want you to get hurt.”
“Lordy, doll, I’m just as likely to drop dead from a stroke at my age. Don’t worry about me. Plus, this is exciting. So what can I do to help?”
Dani looked into Dottie’s sparkling eyes and then glanced back out the door. If Dottie could just distract the men for a couple of moments, she could get by… “Are you sure you want to help? It could be dangerous.”
Dottie nodded. “Of course. I’m up for the challenge.”
Dani gestured for Dottie to stay back and then went to the store doorway again. Two of the men were much closer now. Only one store up the promenade. The third guy came out of the store next to his friends and moved to the store directly across the promenade.
Dani began to tremble. She swallowed hard. There was nowhere to hide from the men. She’d lied to Gage. She knew who was after the software, and they were scary as hell. She went back to the first aisle with Dottie. “I think it’s too dangerous, especially by yourself. You need to go. Now. Before they find me.”
Dottie dug in her purse and pulled out a two-way radio. “I’ve got friends,” she said with a wide smile. “Now, who do you need to hide from?”
Dani shook her head but couldn’t stop a small smile from appearing on her lips. “There are three Asian men,” she said and went on to describe them. “If you want to help, you could distract them until I get past.”
Dottie listened and then relayed the message to whomever was on the other end. Within seconds, Dani heard a disturbance. She peeked around the end of the aisle and saw Ann yelling at one of the men. She was joined by two other elderly ladies. Dottie buzzed on by her and joined the fray.
The men looked shell-shocked. They were blinking repeatedly, as if they couldn’t quite understand what was going on. Dottie started tugging on one of the men’s elbows, and he turned toward her and away from Dani. The other two men turned to face Dottie and Ann.
Taking a deep breath, Dani made a mad dash out to the promenade and walked quickly back toward the elevators. She was glancing over her shoulder when Gage appeared beside her and grabbed her elbow. “Don’t look back. Just keep going.” They walked quickly down the Promenade.
“Where do we go?” Dani asked. “If they found us onboard, they might know our fake names, which means they know the room.”
Gage grunted but kept quiet. They approached the elevators, but Gage kept propelling Dani past them and moving along until they were outside on the deck. They walked at a good clip toward the front of the ship. “We need a place to hide out. Somewhere out of the public space.”
“Ya think?” Dani said as she rolled her eyes.
They came around the corner into a pool area. There was a bar in the corner of the deck and lots of deck chairs all around, but there were very few people. He walked them to the end of the accessible deck area and then through the doors at that end.
It was the ship’s spa area. There was also another bank of elevators. There were benches and chairs set out for those waiting for an appointment. Gage walked them over to the chairs and gestured for her to sit. “Log on to your laptop and see if there are any open cabins.”
Dani flopped into the chair and whipped out her laptop. She booted up and started the process to hack into the ship’s system. She saw a woman approach, but Gage stood up and cut her off. “Hi.”
“Can I help you?” the young, dark-haired girl asked.
“We’re just taking a tour of the ship. Do you have a menu? I was thinking of maybe having a massage.”
“Of course,” she said. She reached back over the desk and selected a pamphlet. She handed it to Gage and gave him a megawatt smile. “We have lots of services, including many types of massages. Did you have a specific kind in mind?” She touched Gage’s arm as she spoke.
Wipe the drool off your chin. Dani frowned as she looked at her screen. Seriously, this woman needed to get a grip. Gage had come in with her. Did she not see that?
Not that Dani cared, she reminded herself as she shifted in the chair. She sneaked a glance at Gage. She couldn’t blame the spa girl really. He looked amazing with his damp hair curling about his collar. The shirt was pulled tight across his well-muscled back. His butt looked fantastic in those jeans as well.
He’d been so kind to her this morning when she was panicking. Last night, too, when he’d closed the curtains and again, when he’d gone to get her food. Yeah, but he’d been an asshole before that.
Focus. She went back to looking at the screen. She clicked a few more buttons, and then a list of staterooms came up. She quickly went through the list. There was one room that was not occupied. She made note of the number and then backed out of the ship’s computer system. She knew without Gage telling her that putting new names on it wasn’t going to help them. It was better to remain under the radar. Names were hooked to pictures in the ship’s system.
She contemplated deleting their pictures from the system and looked up to ask Gage what he thought. The girl was hanging off his arm now, blinking her big eyes at him, and he seemed to be lapping it up. She went back to her computer screen, and shutdown the laptop. What did it matter now about their pictures? The men were already on the ship. She closed her computer and slid it into her backpack. Then she stood up.
Gage gave her a slight nod. “Well, that all sounds great, Petra. I’ll keep it in mind. Thanks so much for explaining everything in such detail.” He turned toward Dani. “Ready to go, hon?”
Petra swiftly dropped her hands from Gage’s arm. Dani smirked. She couldn’t help herself. She beamed at Gage then turned toward the door. Gage said something else she didn’t hear and then fell in step with her as she stepped out of the spa onto the deck.
He took a quick look around and then turned to her. “Is there an empty cabin?”
She had opened her mouth to answer when she caught sight of the water. Her knees softened, and she would’ve hit the deck if Gage hadn’t caught her. “Are you okay?”
“The—the w-water.” How had she not noticed it on the way over to the spa? How had she walked along the deck?
Gage led her to a chair and helped her down with her back to the water. He sat next to her and rubbed her back. “The adrenaline. You were so distracted by the men chasing you, you didn’t notice it on the way over.”
She tried to get her breathing to even out, but it was difficult. She concentrated on Gage’s hand running up and down her back. Breathing became easier. She glanced around at the bar in front of her. There was just a smattering of people about. They were in port, so the ship had emptied out.
The heat from Gage’s hand had worked its way into her bones. The cloud of panic had lifted, and she was able to focus again. She knew they had to move but sitting there in the warm sunshine with Gage rubbing her back, it was…nice. Nice didn’t sum it up really. It was good. She hadn’t felt anything but stressed in so long she’d forgotten what any other feeling was like. Gage’s hand was so reassuring somehow. Strength she could lean on.
“We need to move. Are you okay to get going?” Gage asked.
She turned to face him. There were worry lines on his forehead, and his full lips were pulled into a frown. He took a swift measure of their surroundings and then looked at her again. The lines etched on his face deepened. He seemed to be worried about her. Was that a good thing?
“Yeah, I’m okay. I just don’t want to look at the water.”
He nodded. He helped h
er up and turned toward the main deck area but then stopped dead. Quickly, he swung her around and started moving back to the spa.
“What?” she asked while trying to look back over her shoulder. “Is it them?”
“Don’t turn around and just keep moving.”
They entered the spa waiting area and hurried over to the elevator. Gage pushed the button with great force.
Dani shifted her backpack. “We have a problem.”
“Yeah, I’m aware.” Gage moved forward, hitting the elevator button again.
“No. Not them. I mean, yeah, they’re a problem, but we have another problem.”
“What? You’re afraid of elevators now?”
And just like that, he was back to being an asshole. She clamped her lips together and ground her teeth. And just when she was starting to think he wasn’t so bad. Let that be a lesson to her. “With the room. There’s a problem with the room.”
Chapter Eleven
Gage stared at Dani. Her lips were clamped shut and colorless. Her whole face was pale, and her eyes were shooting daggers at him. He deserved it. The crack about the elevator was uncalled for. He’d known it as soon as it came out of his mouth. He hadn’t meant to be a prick, but sometimes he just was.
His temper was short these days. And it was better to keep her at a distance. Rubbing her back and calming her down had stirred all these aggressive feelings of possessiveness and a fierce need to protect. It was great to protect Dani, but he needed to do it because it was his job, not because he wanted to protect her with every fiber of his being. He shook his head.
“We need to reprogram the medallions to open the new room door.” She shifted her backpack off one shoulder and on to the other. Gage hadn’t offered to carry it because he knew damn well there was no way in hell she was going to let him hold her laptop.
“Can’t you hack in and do that?” he asked as she glanced at the elevator numbers. What the hell was taking so long? No one was on the ship. They should have come right away.
Hit and Run: A Thrilling Novel of Romantic Suspense (Callahan Security series Book 3) Page 7