Twice as Hot (Tales of an Extraordinary Girl #2)(48)
Author: Gena Showalter

"Enough of this." In a motion so swift I saw only a blur, Rome reached out and grabbed the officer by the neck, squeezing his carotid tight. First Parton turned red, then blue, and then his knees gave out and he collapsed. He never once fought.

"A quick lesson for you girls. Block the blood to your opponent’s brain, not their airway. They go down faster and won’t struggle." Rome let the man fall, not even trying to catch him as he emerged from the car. "Stay here," he said, scooping Parton into his arms.

I unbuckled, leaning out the window to watch him place Parton in the backseat of his squad car.

Moments passed, the job done, but Rome remained bent over in the car. What was he doing?

Finally he strode back to our car, settled inside and threw it into gear. He tossed the notes Parton had written into a heap on the floorboard.

"What’d you do to him?" I asked.

"Left him naked for his buddies to find. You’re welcome. I also radioed that one of the men from the shootout was found about a mile from here. Hopefully, all available officers will head that way, allowing us an easy escape. Now let’s get the hell out of here."

His plan worked. We made it out of the neighborhood with no other incidents. We even reached the airstrip unimpeded.

Rome parked and killed the engine, and everyone released a sigh of relief.

"Thank you," I told him. "For everything."

Sherridan emerged to get her bags from the trunk, and I attempted to do the same. But Rome reached out and grabbed my arm, stopping me. His expression gave nothing away.

"I thought I’d lost you back there," he said, and even his voice was devoid of emotion.

I couldn’t help but wonder how my loss would have affected him. "But you didn’t."

"I’m glad." He released my arm only to reach up and caress my cheek. "And I’m sorry about this." Tingling, heating up, I gulped. "About what?" The question emerged breathless, needy.

"I can’t let you fly. You nearly froze the car before I reached you and then again while I was driving. If that were to happen in the plane…"

My growing desire morphed into anger. "I’m not afraid of planes, so there won’t be any chance of sudden sky-frost."

"What about turbulence? What if one of the engines blows?"

"What if I grow bunny ears and a tail?"

His eyes narrowed. "You’re not flying like this, and that’s that." Oh, really? "You can’t leave me behind. I’m the agent in charge." On paper, at least. "I’m on this case whether you like it or not."

"No, I mean, I can’t let you fly awake. Your emotions are too volatile, which means your powers are too volatile. So once again, I’m sorry."

A second later, something sharp dug into my shoulder. Having distracted me successfully, he’d reached over with his free hand and injected me with something. His night-night cocktail, I suspected. That was why he’d wanted me and Sherridan to switch places, the diabolical bastard. He’d been planning it all along.

"Sweet dreams, Belle."

"I can’t…believe…" Lethargy beat through me, spreading and consuming me. Black winked over my eyes and rocks settled over my lids, pressing them down. "Payback will be hell," I managed to gasp out before sinking into oblivion.

Chapter Fifteen

My eyelids fluttered open , my brain thrusting into gear as a haze of voices filled my ears. We’re lucky, folks. It’s gonna be cool and misty today, with a high of sixty-one.

Perfect weather for shopping. Right, Helen?

Laughter.

Any weather’s perfect for shopping, Jane.

Weights seemed to pin me into the – bed, I realized, the mattress soft and smooth against my back. At least I wasn’t on cold, hard ground, chained and forgotten.

I scanned myself through sleep-rimmed eyes. I was still wearing the same clothes I’d left Georgia in: plain black shirt, jeans. My gaze lifted, taking in my surroundings. The room was small but clean. The twin-size beds were pushed against the wall and draped by soft, thick comforters of dusky rose. There were a nightstand, desk, TV – ah, the conversation about the weather made sense now – and a closet, but not much else. Hotel room, I realized.

With the sun streaming in through a crack in the curtains, it was clearly a new day. Which meant the plane ride had started and ended without my ever being aware. Which meant someone had had to carry me in and out of the plane, then into this room. My jaw clenched tightly. Rome, of course. The very person responsible for my impromptu snooze. Where was that bastard? I was going to kill him.

As if my thoughts had conjured him, he strode from the bathroom, Lexis and Sherridan trailing at his heels. What had they been doing in there? And where had everyone slept last night? None of them looked in my direction; they were too busy, the women trying to get Rome’s attention, Rome ignoring them. They stopped in front of the room’s only window. The drapes were drawn.

"So what’s the long black tube thingy do?" Sherridan asked.

Rome threw her an irritated scowl, then shifted his attention to a black duffel bag. He dug inside, saying,

"We’re across from Big Rocky’s corporate offices, and this is going to help me keep an eye on everything. Now listen. We got here, we were supposed to rest before kicking things off this morning, yet you talked all damn night."

That answered one question. We’d all slept in this room. Maybe I wouldn’t kill him, after all.

"You promised you’d give me peace and quiet while I worked," he continued.

"I lied. So what are you looking for?"

He sighed, defeated. "I want to know when Candace Bright arrives, how long she stays and what direction she heads when she leaves. I want to know what she drives, if she has guards and who they are. I want to know if Cody is now supposedly working for her and if so, what he’s doing. I want to know why he thought it was so important to get in there, rather than simply take Desert Gall down."

"And before you ask how he can watch for all of this if he’s not here 24/7, he can plug into the camera’s feed from his phone. Now give him some space to work," Lexis said, her irritation showing, as well.

"I will if you will," Sherridan retorted.

God, I loved my friend.

The two women shared a scowl before backing away from Rome and plopping onto the bed I did not occupy to watch TV. Rome continued to work, hooking cords into outlets, pounding on the keyboards and adjusting lenses. Every so often, he inched the drapes farther apart and looked through an eyepiece.

He would grunt in satisfaction, utterly absorbed with his task.

I couldn’t deny such concentration was sexy as hell. Once, not so long ago, all of that focus had been directed on me. I knew how amazingly intense and erotic it could be. The man hadn’t let me out of bed until I’d climaxed (no less than) three times.