Priceless A Sexy Urban Fantasy Mystery - By Shannon Mayer Page 0,39
stop, which meant we slammed through the door in a heap. Alex laughed and tried to start a wrestling match with me.
“Nope, not right now,” I said, pushing him off me, the scratches on my arms a reminder of how lucky I was to be immune.
Flicking on the TV, I said, “You stay here, be quiet. I’ll be right back.” Alex ignored me as he leapt onto the king-sized bed and flopped down facing the TV.
Two trips later, I had brought up my overnight bag as well as a range of weapons from my Jeep. No way was I going anywhere else without them. For that matter, I was going to sleep in my flak jacket.
Next on the list was finding that mineshaft.
I dialed in Kyle’s number from memory, hoping my little hacker was still up. A groggy hello answered the phone.
“Kyle, can you look up mineshafts for me around here?”
“Hello to you too, Rylee,” he grumbled. A shuffling of papers and then I could hear him typing on the keyboard. “Lots of mineshafts, anything in particular?”
“Deep ones, two hundred feet or better,” I said, switching the channels to a local news station.
“Only four that deep that I can find. Mines are deeper, but you just want the shaft?” His voice became clearer the longer we spoke.
“Yes. Send it here. I gotta go.”
I gave him the hotel’s fax number and hung up, not wanting to stay on longer than we had to and chance either a tap or a power failure due to my proximity. Plopping the phone back into its cradle, I stared at the TV. It was the main story that caught my eyes.
“FBI AGENT KILLS PARTNER IN COLD-BLOODED MURDER, THEN ESCAPES.”
“You’re in deep shit now, O’Shea,” I said.
“Gun man in trouble?” Alex’s voice picked up in intensity.
I stroked his head, soothing him. “Maybe.”
The news reporter came on, her voice pitched all wrong for TV. The gist of it was that on transport, O’Shea (though they didn’t name him) overpowered his guards and stole the unmarked car following the police cruiser he was in. The pictures looked like a bomb had gone off, like some high-end movie production chase scene had gone horribly wrong. Cars flipped over, debris everywhere, not to mention the people gawking at the edges of the scene as the helicopter flew overhead.
“Who do you think you are, O’Shea? Schwarzenegger?”
I turned the TV off. He was on his own now; I’d offered him help and he’d turned it down, stupid man.
Leaving Alex in the room, I took the elevator down to the lobby to see if Kyle had faxed me the info yet. The clerk, the same flustered young woman who’d booked me in, went all wide-eyed when I said I had a fax coming in.
“Oh, I’m sorry, we can’t do that.”
“Too late, I’ve already given him the number and if you didn’t want people sending in faxes it shouldn’t be on the welcome card.” I flopped down said welcome pamphlet on the high counter that made me feel like a little kid even in heeled boots.
Tight blond curls bounced as she shook her head. “I’m so sorry, we can’t . . .” a beeping noise interrupted her. Bless Kyle and his timing. My body ached, my arm hurt, and all I wanted was to soak in a tub and sleep for a few hours before seeking out the mineshaft. Sleeping against my bedroom wall hadn’t been the best of ideas. Damn, I needed Milly to keep me on track.
The doors behind us slid open and a moment later, a large hand pressed into the small of my back. “Did you get us the room . . .honey?”
My eyes bugged out when I turned to stare at a more than rumpled O’Shea standing at my side. “How did you—”
“Oh, you know me, I can find you anywhere. Sweetheart.” His voice was all smooth and silky, but his eyes were wild. Not a good combo.
“Yes, and this lady here was just getting me my paperwork.” No need to make a scene in front of the hotel staff.
O’Shea buried his face into my hair as the woman lifted her eyes. “She can’t see my face,” he whispered into my ear.
“Oh, I understand that . . . Poopsey.”
He grunted as if I’d hit him. I snatched the papers out of her hand and threw a rumpled twenty over the desk. “That should cover any paper costs,” I said over my shoulder. “Poopsey” snuggled into my hair as if