Let’s go.” Nick ran down the alley, away from the front of the hotel. Quinn followed without question, pressing the hem of her shirt against her wound. The rental car was probably being watched. The attacker knew what room they were in, so he might know more. Even though someone could be in the back of the hotel as easily as the front, there were Dumpsters and pallets and darkness that offered more protection than the bright lights and tiny valet stand on the main road.
Nick let her catch up to him before they reached the back of the building. “Time?” he whispered into her ear. It was too dark for him to see his watch.
“Eight past two,” she whispered back. Nick’s arm around her waist tightened when her lips touched his ear. He turned his head back to whisper to her again.
“We’ll run, few blocks, cab, airport.”
Quinn nodded. Nick leaned to peer around the corner, then signaled her to move. They dashed across the rear alley and continued on to the next main street. After looking both ways, they turned to the right, which was better lit and had a bit of traffic. Dodging black iron lampposts and street signs, they ran, sometimes single file, down the narrow concrete-and-brick sidewalk for three blocks before they slowed to a walk. Quinn realized they were still—or again—holding hands, and she didn’t want to let go.
“You’re limping.”
She looked down. The toes of her socks were flopping. She paused and bent to pull them on tighter. “I didn’t have time to get my shoes.”
A car approached behind them. Quinn’s pulse sped up, and she braced to run again until she saw the green Metro Cab logo on the white sedan. Nick flagged it down, and they got inside practically before it came to a complete stop. As soon as her butt hit the vinyl seat, her body started to shake from the adrenaline ebb, the kind of deep shudders that weren’t visible from the outside. She imagined her face was as white as the moon, though.
“Where to?” The cabbie yawned, which wasn’t very reassuring, but the streets, while not empty, didn’t require rush-hour alertness, either.
“You need shoes,” Nick said to Quinn.
“Nothing’s going to be open around here. I’ll get something at the airport.”
“Airport?” Cabbie asked.
“Airport,” Nick answered, and he turned back to Quinn, immediately spotting the blood on her arm. “What the hell?” He grabbed her arm quickly but gently, lifting it to see better. “Why didn’t you say something?”
“It’s not bad.” But she hissed when he probed it.
“You have a first-aid kit?” he asked the cabbie, who tossed back a white plastic box with a red plus on it.
“It’ll need better cleaning and a proper bandage.” Nick used a few antiseptic wipes to clean the cut and cursed when he could only find small Band-Aids to cover it. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be silly.” He looked so upset, even in the darkness, that she didn’t tell him about the deep throbbing pain. She’d get some painkillers at the airport.
“Did we luck into that scaffolding?” Quinn tried to keep her voice low enough not to be overheard.
“Sam may not be a protector,” Nick admitted, “but he knows what he’s doing.”
“But I changed the room.”
He shrugged. “He left instructions. Did you notice the room numbers?”
“No.”
“The ones she crossed off were one floor below the suite. I spotted the scaffolding when we first got in.” He looked down at her bag on the floor next to her feet. “What did you manage to rescue out of there?”
“Everything.” Thank god. “I only had the one bag, and we never got around to talking about the printout. It’s still in there.”
“Next time, bring extra shoes.”
“Yeah right.” She watched lights flash past for a few minutes. When Nick didn’t bring up the details of the attack, she guessed he didn’t want to talk about it in front of strangers.
The cabbie dropped them in front of their terminal. Quinn paid him, and they went inside. She dug into her bag to find the e-tickets for their return flight Nick kept his hand on her uninjured arm while he took the tickets from her, scanned them, and pulled off the boarding passes after they printed. “Where to?”
“Boston Landing has shops. I should be able to get some shoes once stores open.” Their flight out was early, but still hours away.
“All right.” Nick scrubbed his hands over his face. “Let’s use the bathroom and get some coffee.”
Quinn grinned. “You gonna follow me into