Twice as Hot (Tales of an Extraordinary Girl #2)(58)
Author: Gena Showalter

Which means they would have fought him."

"During that fight, he should have found a way to let them escape yet still seem trustworthy." Right?

But he hadn’t. Why?

First time I’d met Cody, he’d been holding a gun on Rome and me. He hadn’t shot us, had only been trying to take us in, but I’d sensed his determination to do whatever was necessary to get what he wanted.

What if what he now wanted wasn’t good for my team?

We reached another doorway. Rome sprang through it, weapon raised, ready, but there was no one inside the stairwell. "Keep an eye trained behind me."

Another order, but again I obeyed, wanting to reach the room as quickly as possible. Up, up we climbed. Only one person passed us, a drunk male who nearly peed his pants when Rome pushed him against the wall and frisked him.

By the time we reached our room, I had a good ice-sweat worked up, making my motions slow and sluggish. I was scared, so scared for my friend and even for Lexis – and only growing more so as I surveyed the damage. Clearly, there’d been a struggle. The sheets were torn from the bed, there was a blood smear on the phone, which hung useless from its receiver, and the lamps were overturned.

Rome wore a mask of fury as he stalked through the room. He stopped in front of the desk, his body as tense as a rubber band, ready to snap. "Look around. See what’s missing. Make me a list." Unlike his face, his voice was calm, unemotional. "And like I said, stay out of the bathroom." Okay, so what was in the bathroom? Gulping, afraid to look, I bent down and began sorting through the multihued sea of clothing scattered across the floor. My hands were shaking, my chest constricting. "Just so you know, we left the club. You can stop with the commando bullshit." He uttered a weary sigh. "Sorry. I’ve never really worked for you. That I remember," he quickly added.

"I don’t know what you can do, what you can’t, how you operate."

"All you need to know is that I can help. Anyway, apology accepted," I added with barely a pause. I would have liked to hear a little more groveling, but now was hardly the time.

There was a slight twitching of his lips. "You hold your own pretty well. I can see why John likes you." A compliment? For me? Do not act like a gooey lovebird. Get back to work. "Maybe we’re wrong.

Maybe the girls did escape. Maybe, like I first thought, they’re hiding, waiting for us. A messy room doesn’t equate with kidnapping."

"You’re right." Rome kept his back to me as he tossed a photo in my direction. "But this does." The small square landed with a whoosh in front of me, and I had to flip it over to see the actual snapshot.

A gasp escaped me. There they were, Sherridan and Lexis lying on the bed, bound and gagged. "Are they – "

"Like I told you, they’ll be fine." For now echoed unsaid between us. "Cody took the picture. I’m sure of it. The man loves his Polaroids."

That, I knew firsthand. "A Polaroid doesn’t prove anything. And why didn’t you show this to me sooner?"

"Just found it. And look at the marks on the wall."

My eyes zeroed in on the wall in question and sure enough, there were tiny white circles gleaming from the shadows. Circles that could be sparks. Sparks an electrophile might emit. "So Cody is indeed dating Desert Gall and gave our team to her to prove his affection," I whispered. "What if he forgets this is a mission and really starts to fall for her? Sometimes playing pretend leads to real feelings. What if – "

"That’s not going to happen. Like I said, he’ll make sure they’re safe. He clearly thought this was the best and fastest course of action." Every word Rome uttered was laced with more fury. "But damn it, I would have liked to warn the girls. They were probably scared, confused. I should have checked my f**king phone!" He slammed his fist into the wall, leaving a hole. Plumes of plaster dusted the area, forming a white cloud around him.

I must have aspirated some of that plaster into my lungs, because there was a tickle in the back of my throat. I coughed as I stuffed the photograph in my bra for safekeeping.

Finally Rome turned to me. Shame coated his beautiful features, all the more potent because it was mixed with fury and helplessness, the latter of which I’d never seen from him before.

"Sorry for the outburst," he muttered.

"Don’t worry about it." I lifted one of the shirts from the floor and clutched it to my chest. The material was white, cotton and baggy. Sherridan’s pj’s. Tears filled my eyes. "And don’t blame yourself. You’re only one man. You can’t do everything."

"Do you blame me?"

"No! You know better."

"Do I?" He sounded sad now, lost. But he scrubbed a hand down his face, seemingly washing away the vulnerability. "I should have told them what to do if this sort of situation arose." I hated seeing Rome like this, so torn up inside. It compounded my emotions, made them all the more volatile. "Lexis has worked in the field before. Besides, she’s a powerful psychic," I reminded him. "She had that earlier sense of foreboding. She would have planned for something. And Sherridan may not be a trained agent, but she’s a fighter. No one can keep her down."

"You’re right. I know you’re right. That doesn’t make it any less frustrating, though." We finished our search of the room in silence. And yes, I admit it. I finally worked up the courage to peek in the bathroom – and promptly wished to God I hadn’t.

There was a man in our bathtub. A man I didn’t recognize, but nonetheless felt sick about seeing so still.

So…dead. He’d been completely drained of water. His cheekbones were sunken, his skin papery thin, yellowish and flaking.

What a sad, terrible way to die. And completely unnecessary since I could only surmise Desert Bitch had left him for us to find as a warning. Cross me, and this is what will happen to your friends, to you.

My hands clenched at my sides. "Did you tell Cody where we were staying?" I asked Rome. Knowing Rome, he’d feel responsible for this death, as well, if he had.

"No. I didn’t tell him."

Good. But did that mean Cody had had to dig for the information or…A terrifying prospect hit me.

What if there was a leak at PSI? What if that’s how he’d found out?

"Anything missing?" Rome asked, jerking me from my musings.

Ponder it later. "Just their purses, which have their IDs, makeup most likely, and business cards for Sherridan." She was a Realtor. Not that she’d sold any houses lately. She’d been spending too much time in her Happy Place, dreaming of superpowers. Dreams that had brought her here. Who are you kidding? You brought her here. You should have protected her, not enabled her misguided fantasy.