Dani let loose with an almighty yell and kicked the guy square in the face. His grip loosened enough for her to get away. She was on her feet, running for the door. She pulled it open and flew into the hallway where she barreled directly into an elderly gentleman, knocking him into the wall. She felt badly for hitting him, but she couldn’t stop. Her life depended on it. Hers and Carly’s.
The bits of coffee table crunched under Gage’s back as he struggled with the intruder. He managed to get a good punch in. The man’s nose crumpled under his fist and the warm spurt of blood covered his knuckles. He followed up with another punch, and while the intruder was disoriented, he rolled them both over so he was on top and hit the other man once more. When the intruder’s head bounced off a coffee table leg his body went limp. He was out cold.
Gage stumbled as he picked himself up off the floor and started toward the door. He looked out the peephole, but the hallway was empty. He put the metal triangle across the lock so no one could open the door again, berating himself for forgetting to do it after Jeremy left.
He’d been distracted by Dani. She looked so cute when she was arguing with his brothers about stealing the code from the Chinese. Fuck. This is why sleeping with the client was always a bad idea. It was a distraction, and that distraction had almost gotten them killed.
He leaned against the door for a moment and coughed. He was more winded than he should be. Too much fun time with Dani and not enough sleep. He needed to get home and get some serious rest.
Gage walked over to the table and grabbed his shirt. After pulling it on, he picked up the candle they’d left burning. He carried it over to the end table and set it down. He walked back to the men and started searching them. He noticed a tattoo peeking out from under the collar of the first guy’s shirt when he was checking for a pulse, but the guy had no ID. Not surprising.
He did the same to the other guy with the same results. This guy had tattoos on his arms as well as his neck, but nothing else Gage could use to identify them. He didn’t have a camera to take pictures of their faces and tattoos to send to his brothers, and his burner phone didn’t have the capability.
Both men were out cold but still breathing. They would have serious concussions when they woke up, but they would live. Too bad.
Gage walked back to the door and checked the peephole. The hallway was still empty. He flipped the metal bar and opened the door. He stepped out and closed it quietly behind him. As he walked down the hallway, he heard stirring behind some of the doors. People were waking up. Good. He could blend better. Now he just had to find Dani.
He heard the elevator ding, and a phalanx of security stepped into the hallway. They turned and started walking toward him. An elderly gentleman was with them.
“She hit me and then she took off down this hallway,” he said as he half-walked half-ran to keep up with the security guards.
Gage kept his head tilted down and moved to the side to let them pass. It was all bad if they noticed his swelling lip or the blood on his knuckles. They moved passed him, taking no notice.
He picked up his pace to catch the elevator. Once safely onboard with the doors closed, he let out a pent-up breath. This reprieve was only temporary. They would check the security cameras now that there had been a complaint and discover who was coming and going from that stateroom. His face would show up and so would Dani’s.
Jeremy. Shit. He was there, too. Gage had to find him and warn him as well.
Chapter Nineteen
Dani walked down the hallway as if she did it every day. It was the key to success. She’d learned it from a hacker buddy. Sometimes physical access was needed to hack things. He’d taught her if she dressed like everyone else and made an effort to look comfortable, like she belonged, chances were good no one would ask questions. He’d been right.
Dani had used that approach a time or two. Now was no different. She glanced at her hand where she’d written a few directions. The hallways in the crew quarters were much more maze-like, and she’d needed a few helpful reminders to find Jeremy’s room. Pretending to be staff on a cruise ship was infinitely easier than pretending to be a worker on an oil rig. She shuddered at the memory.
Jeremy’s quarters were just ahead, after the next right. She looked up from her hand and saw a guy coming down the hallway. She gave him a smile and kept going. He just nodded and didn’t bother to stop. He’d probably just come off some shift since he was in work clothes, or he was just starting. Either way, he looked half asleep.
Dani made the right and knocked on Jeremy’s door. She was worried he wouldn’t be in his room. Or that he’d have roommates. Either one could be a problem. She knocked again. “Come on, come on,” she pleaded in a whisper.
The door opened, and Jeremy’s surprised face filled the doorway. “What are you doing here?” He stuck his head out into the hallway, looked both ways, and then pulled her into his cabin. “Are you trying to get me fired?”
Dani hissed, “Some men broke into the cabin and attacked us. Gage told me to run.”
Jeremy’s eyes bulged out of his face. “Is he okay?”
“I don’t know.” She bit her lip. “I have to check the security video to know for sure. Where are the repeaters located on the ship?”
Jeremy blinked. “The what?”
There was a loud snort, and Dani jumped. Her heart sank as she noted another bunk in the room. “Who is that?”
Jeremy gestured over his shoulder. “My roommate, Dale. Don’t worry. He wears a face mask and ear plugs so he can’t see or hear you. Plus, he sleeps like the dead. Now, what are you looking for?”
“The things that provide the internet. Where are they located? I need to get service ’cause I’ve gotta make a call.” Or two, she added silently.
“Oh, right. Well, you can access it here in my cabin. It almost always works in here. I’m not sure about anywhere else.”
Dani looked around. The cabin was tiny. Her eyes had adjusted to the dim lighting and she noted a third bed. Two were against one wall, bunkbed style, and the other was against the opposite wall but was built up high with a desk underneath. “Is this guy likely to wake? Or will your other roommate show up soon?”
“Dale will sleep for hours. He just went to bed not too long ago, and the other guy left altogether. He couldn’t take life on a cruise ship.”
“Okay. I’ll log in here. Where are you going to be?” Jeremy was dressed in his work uniform.
“I’ve got to start work.” He turned around and opened a closet door. He reached in and pulled out a radio. “Here. Click once so it squawks, and that will be the signal. I’ll change mine to channel eighteen. You do the same. Then you can speak to me when you need to. If you hear one squawk, it means I’m trying to reach you.”
Dani nodded. “Good. I’ll find the best place for internet access, and then I’ll squawk once I leave.” She looked at Dale, who grunted as he rolled over. “Once we change the channel, I’ll let you know where I’ll be. Keep your eyes peeled for Gage.” She couldn’t even think about the possibility the men had Gage and he was hurt. Or worse.
“Okay. Good luck. Talk soon.” Jeremy slid quietly out the door.
When Dale snorted again, Dani about jumped out of her skin. She’d forgotten he was even there. She took a deep breath and immediately regretted it. The cabin smelled like stinky boy. Yuk.
Dani sat down gingerly at the desk and pulled out her laptop. She put her backpack on the desk and her laptop on top of it. No need to touch too many surfaces. She booted up and logged on to the internet. Jeremy was right; he had great signal.
She checked the video feed and saw that Gage made it out of the cabin. Her shoulders sagged with relief. She immediately set to work erasing the video from the hallway. She also deleted the video of them entering the cabin the previous day and the clips of Jeremy bringing them food. Then she picked random clips of video and erased them. When security looked at the system, it would look like there was some kind of glitch.<
br />
Dani then took a quick look at the schematics and found where a repeater was located in the passenger area of the ship. There were a few, but the ice-skating rink looked like the best choice.
She grabbed the radio and squawked once. Then she turned to channel eighteen. Jeremy responded in seconds. She told him that Gage was on the promenade and she’d be in the rink. “Oh and tell him I’m calling Janet for help. He’ll understand.”
“Roger that,” Jeremy said, and then she turned the radio back to its original channel and turned the volume down so she could just hear the chatter.
Dani backed out of the ship’s systems and stared at her screen for a second. She bit her lip and then tried Carly. She wanted to speak to her little sister badly. No answer. She was probably off getting treatment or tests or something.
She sighed. She would feel much better if she could reach Carly. It would just have to wait. She made another video call. This one was answered. “Hi, Janet. It’s Dani Pierce.”
“Dani. This is a surprise. Is everything okay? You usually email.”
It was true. She emailed Janet when she needed anything per Drake’s instructions. They’d only spoken a few times on the phone. Once when Dani wanted to run a trial of the software at one of Drake’s hotels. Another time when Dani was looking for Drake to discuss a time extension. That was when she and Janet had fallen into a discussion about what it was like when Janet lost her son.
He’d been struggling with drug addiction and, according to Janet, almost beat it, but in the end, he overdosed. Janet had been crushed as any mother would be, but she had also seemed so angry. Dani remembered feeling uncomfortable confronted by Janet’s rage. She could understand it, though. She’d been wildly angry about Carly’s diagnosis in the beginning, but the little girl was always so upbeat and full of sunshine that she made Dani promise to let the anger go.
“Everything is…going.” She didn’t want to get into details. “How’s everything with you?” She could see brochures on Janet’s desk. She quickly asked, “Going on vacation?” She had no interest in seeing Janet rage about her son again. Best stay away from that topic.
Janet laughed. “Thinking of retiring actually. It might be time.”
“That’s uh, good, I guess.” Retirement. Dani knew nothing about that type of thing. Janet wasn’t young, but Dani didn’t think she was yet in her mid-sixties, but maybe it was time. She couldn’t get over losing Micah. “Good for you for going while you’re young.” She’d heard one of her teachers at school say that to another one who was leaving. Young was relative. The teacher had white hair.
“Yes, I want to travel and enjoy life. I’ve certainly earned my golden parachute.”
“Um, cool.” Dani nodded. “So, anyway, do you have cell numbers for Gage’s brothers? I need to talk to them.”
“Sure, dear.” Janet flicked through some rolling paper thing on her desk and pulled out a little card. She read the numbers off and then put the card back.
“Well, thanks. Take care. Enjoy your parachute and your retirement.”
Janet laughed. “I will.”
Dani clicked off and then opened another app on her computer. She tried calling the cell numbers, but neither call would go through. It was a bit odd, but maybe they were in the air already on the way to Vancouver. Dani shut her laptop. It was time to get to the rink. She stood up and put her laptop in her backpack. She grabbed the radio and tucked it inside as well. She went over to the door and put her ear to it. She heard nothing so turned the knob.
“No!” Dale yelled.
Dani let out a squeal. She whirled around and stared at Dale. He turned restlessly in his sleep and mumbled something. Dani swore and pulled open the door. She turned left and started down the hallway. She needed to get to the rink, but first she needed the restroom. She’d damn near peed herself when Dale yelled.
Chapter Twenty
Gage got off the elevator on the promenade deck and walked toward the shops and the restaurants. It was still pretty empty, but it wouldn’t be for long. He tried to figure out where Dani would go but had no idea.
He ran a hand through his hair. God! He needed a shower. He could still smell Dani on his skin. He had grabbed his T-shirt on the way out the door so at least he was covered, but he was looking rough. He tried to fix his hair again. The last thing he needed was to attract more attention. He sighed. His sailing vacation seemed to be getting farther and farther away.
He checked for Dani in the restaurants that were open, but nothing. The shops weren’t open as yet so unless she’d broken in, she wasn’t there.
As he searched, his stomach churned with guilt. He’d crossed a line last night. His only job was to protect her. Sleeping with her muddied the waters and made his job difficult but, damn, he just didn’t care. That woman had burrowed under his skin and he had big plans for a repeat performance of last night’s adventures.
He worked his way to the other end of the ship and then stood in front of a map, trying to figure out where to look next. Jeremy appeared out of nowhere and stood beside Gage. “Can I help you find something, sir?” he asked loudly. Gage turned to look, and Jeremy whispered, “She’s with me. She’s down in my cabin. She said to tell you she’s talking to someone named Janet, asking for help.”
“How did—? Never mind. Did she tell you what happened?”
“Yes. I’m sorry.” Jeremy had guilt written all over his face. “I guess I wasn’t as discrete as I thought. They must have followed me.”
“Don’t worry about it. To be honest, I’m not sure how they found us. They seem to be one step ahead all the time. Not sure it was you that tipped them off.” Gage continued in a low voice. “Besides, we have bigger things to worry about at the moment. Dani hit some old guy on the way out of the cabin so now security is up there checking it out.”
“Oh boy.” Jeremy wiped his forehead with his shirtsleeve.
“Yeah,” Gage grunted. “By now they’ll have found the two unconscious men and a pile of broken furniture. They’ll question the men and probably get nowhere, and then they’ll watch the video of the hallway. They are going to see me and Dani and you coming in and out of that cabin.”
Jeremy blinked and swallowed hard. He pointed to the ice rink on the map. “I think this is what you’re looking for, sir.” He glanced around and then said, “She said to tell you she’ll meet you in the rink and not to worry about the cameras. Apparently, they have been going out all over the ship at random times in random hallways.” He grinned. “She’s good.”
Gage’s shoulders sagged. That’s my girl! He grinned back. “Yes, she’s amazing.”
“Go to this door to enter. It will be unlocked.” Jeremy pointed at the map again. “I gave Dani a radio. Just make sure you change it to an outside channel so no one on the ship hears you if you use them. We worked out a channel to use to communicate and times for me to check in.”
“Jeremy, I can’t thank you enough for his,” Gage said.
“Dude, I’m getting paid big time for this. It’s totally worth it.” Jeremy’s big smile was back in place. He winked and left Gage standing at the map.
Gage chuckled and shook his head. Then he sobered up and checked the map again for the location of the rink. He strode to the nearest set of elevators and punched the down button. It took a few minutes for an available elevator to arrive.
Dani. They were bad together. He couldn’t stand that she was a hacker. She probably couldn’t stand that he liked law and order…when it suited him. It was just bad on all kinds of levels. And yet his relief at finding out she was okay was profound. She was bold and intelligent, sassy and all kinds of sexy. And he loved every bit of her.
He closed his eyes. Just work the problem. Keep both of them alive until they get back to NYC. He’d figure out the rest then. He opened his eyes.
Activity was picking up. People were hungry and hitting the decks. Gage kept his head on a swivel. There was at least one more guy onboard that they knew about
. Chances were good there were more.
Finally his elevator arrived, and he got on. Fortunately, no one else was in the car, so the ride to the floor with the ice rink didn’t take long. He moved down the hallway to the door Jeremy had indicated. He pushed, but nothing happened. Panic started in his gut, but then it hit him. He pulled on the door, and it opened easily. He cursed his stupidity and entered the rink.
A cool blast of air hit him. It was dark except for a few small spotlights above the theatre seating and a couple above the ice. He gave his eyes a moment to adjust. He looked around but saw nothing but the red theatre seats.
“Gage.” A waving hand appeared directly under the light in the back corner. He walked down the stairs to the rink and then around the outside wall. He wasn’t about to walk across the ice. No doubt he’d go flying. He went up the stairs on the other side of the rink and stopped next to the row where he’d seen Dani’s hand. About five rows back, Dani was just sitting down again in a corner seat.
“Thank God, you’re okay,” he said as he took the remaining stairs two at a time and then moved swiftly down the row. When he came up beside her, he picked her up out of her chair and gave her a big hug. She gave him a small hug back. Progress. He squeezed her harder.
“Ahh. Easy, that hurts.”
He pulled back and held her at arm’s length. “Where? What hurts?”
She looked up at him. “My ribs. I think I bruised them when that guy grabbed my leg.”
Gage ran his fingers over her ribs, and she winced. “You’re right. Bruised but not broken. Are you hurt anywhere else?”
She shook her head. “You okay?”
He nodded.
“The men, are they…?”
“They’ll have bad headaches when they wake up and a few broken bones but no permanent damage.”
Hit and Run: A Thrilling Novel of Romantic Suspense (Callahan Security series Book 3) Page 13