Midnight Kiss (Men of Midnight #7) - Lisa Marie Rice Page 0,4
is something all of us want to do. Desperately. So you’ve got me and you’ve got a company of pretty competent guys on your side.” He gave a half smile. “Even if most of them are squids.”
“Navy.” She smiled back, the smile shaky but there. He nodded, pleased.
“Okay.” He gave a light pat to the steering wheel and unlocked the doors. “Now that we’ve got that out of the way and now that you’ve understood that you have a lot of people who want to help and we wouldn’t take a penny of your money no matter what, let’s get up into the room and have a debrief.”
She nodded and opened her door. Luke wanted to get around the car to help her down from the vehicle but before he could, she hopped out gracefully and went around to the back of the car and waited for him to open the trunk.
There were two small wheelie bags in the back. He’d packed for a mission of about four days. If it got extended, he’d either order new clothes online or use the hotel’s laundry service. Someone else had packed Hope’s bag and he just hoped she had everything she needed, because they were going to stay put until they figured out what was going on.
He didn’t want them to go out unless necessary.
He rolled both of the bags toward an elevator against the back wall. There were security cameras, but his cell had an app to turn the cameras off. There’d be no record of their arrival. At the elevator, he rolled his eyes at the ‘Out of Order’ placard taped to the doors and pushed a button. The doors opened and he punched ten.
They stood, staring at the elevator doors. “Neat trick,” she said after a moment. “With the Out of Order sign.”
He nodded. Yeah, his company — his future company — was full of neat tricks.
There were only four suites on this floor. He already had the electronic key out and ushered her into the west corner suite, smiling as the door whooshed slowly closed behind them. It was made of reinforced. The mild paranoia that always gripped him when on a mission slowly abated. They were as safe as he could make them. He knew only the bare bones of her situation but he imagined that she’d spent the past 24 hours in a state of high anxiety and dread.
She could relax now.
He watched her as she walked into the living room area. The room was designed to be relaxing and it did its job. Her shoulders dropped a little, her fists unclenched. She noted the two bedrooms, shot a glance at him, was reassured and let out a soft breath.
“Would you like some tea?” he asked and her face lit up.
“Oh God, yes! Thank you!”
Chicks and tea. You’d think it was crack cocaine and oxytocin rolled into one. He left their bags and walked over to the refreshments table against the wall. A water boiler, a billion types of black and herbal teas, an espresso machine with every flavor of coffee capsule, and in the fridge would be a selection of fruit juices. Luke would help himself to a finger of the excellent whiskey at the wet bar.
There was some kind of ritual to tea but he just boiled the water, stuck a tea bag in a cup and poured the hot water over it, figuring she needed the tea fast, not perfect.
“Sit and I’ll bring you your tea. Would you like a cookie or something with it?”
She looked down, consulting her stomach, and shook her head. “Later, maybe,” she said softly. “But thanks.”
He nodded at the couch and she sat at one end. When she was sipping her tea, he sat in the comfortable armchair perpendicular to it and sipped his own equivalent of tea. A very nice single malt. Ah, that went down well. Trust ASI to have only the finest whiskey on tap. There’d be some local brews in the small fridge too. They’d have been chosen by ASI operatives and they’d be good.
He sat, sipped and waited. She was settling her nerves, gathering her thoughts, and he let her. Getting intel was always tricky when the source was unsettled. He didn’t know much about her situation, but he understood that she’d had a brush with violence. Violence would unsettle anyone who wasn’t a battle-hardened former soldier and soon-to-be ex-cop. Violence didn’t unsettle him, it pissed him off.