“He knows that,” Shane said. “He’s probably figuring out why we aren’t.”
“Well, I probably irritate you way too much,” she said. “And, in all honesty, I kind of irritate myself. So I’m not sure what to do about that.”
“Well, you could just get along in life,” Shane said. “You don’t always have to be at the front of all the trouble.”
“Wouldn’t that be nice,” she said, “if such a thing were even possible. But remember. I just came here to do a job. I didn’t have anything to do with starting that mess at my office. That was all on you, buddy.”
“I know,” he said, “and I thank you very much for your assistance.”
“Right,” she said, hearing the overly patronizing tone in his voice. In no time, they make it up to their room. She sat down on one of the two queen beds in the room, then looked around and said, “We better not be here for the whole night,” she said, “because there isn’t room for all three of us.”
“Yes, there is,” Shane said. “One of us will always be on watch through the night.”
“Oh, good,” she said. “I really need to get some sleep first, but then I can take a watch.”
“You’ll get to sleep all night,” Shane said. “We’ll handle the watch.”
“No, really. I’ll take a watch.”
“No.”
She glared at him and then gave in. “Right. Now you’ll say, ‘This is what we do,’ right?”
Diesel quietly chuckled at the way she dropped her voice and changed her posture to imitate Shane.
“Do you really want to argue over this?” Shane asked her.
“No, I guess not,” she said, “but seriously, can we get some food? I’m starving.”
“Yes, we’ll get some food,” he said. “We’ll order room service.”
She wrinkled up her face at that. “Yeah, I can just imagine what the kitchen in this place looks like. I think there was a pizza place around the corner, maybe a steakhouse. Can we leave?”
“No.”
“Steak from takeout would be cold and overcooked,” she said, “but pizza on the other hand …” And she waggled her eyebrows. “Come on. We have a long history of sharing a pizza and talking all night.”
“Yes, we do,” he said. “Go get your shower, and we’ll see what we can come up with.” She grinned, then snagged her overnight bag and raced into the bathroom.
Diesel looked on, shaking his head. “Man, I don’t know,” he said. “I think the two of you are a perfect match.”
“Hell no,” he said. “You heard how it is. Trust me. We do much better not together.”
“I’m not so sure about that,” Diesel said. “I don’t think you’ve ever given it a chance.”
“Did you see her in that cab?” he said. “I damn near had a heart attack when she reached over and smacked him the first time, much less when she grabbed the steering wheel, jumped on top of him, punching him in the face.”
“I did too,” Diesel admitted. “Is she always that hot-tempered?”
“Yeah, but she’s also very good-hearted. She would say that she only loses it when people need it.”
Diesel snorted at that. “She’s something,” he said. “When she snapped at that cop, I thought she might talk us right into handcuffs.”
“I know it,” he said, laughing at the memory. “Like I said, she’s generally pretty good with it, but she’s been under a lot of stress with this hostage deal.”
“You think?” Diesel said. Then he added, “What’s it gonna be? Pizza or steak?”
“Well, I was hoping for a damn steak,” he said, “but she’s right. Steak should be served sizzling hot, and we won’t get that from takeout, and, now that she mentioned it, we might save ourselves a gut ache by skipping room service.”
“So …”
“Pizza it is,” he said. “We need to just find one nearby that delivers.”
“No problem,” Diesel said. “There’s one across the street.”
“Oh, good,” he said, “one of us can just walk across and grab something, instead of delivery.”
“Why don’t I go over and take a look,” he said.
“Would you mind?”
“Hell no,” he said. “I’m just as damn tired and hungry as the two of you. I’ll go get some food, and, maybe by the time I get back, you’ll have both showered, so I can hop in.”
“We’ll make it happen,” Shane said and smiled, as Diesel headed out.
Chapter 4
Shelly stood under the hot water, letting it sluice down her back, easing some of the knots of stress that had settled into her shoulders and the back of her neck. She wanted to stay here and not move again. She’d prefer a soak in a hot tub after a good steak and a glass of red wine, but, since those options weren’t available, she better get moving. She stood there for a moment longer and scrubbed her hair.
She was in rough shape by the time she finished. She was tired from the heat, exhausted from the events of the day, and felt her energy waning. Finally she shut off the water, wrapped up in a towel, and just sat on the end of the bathtub for a few minutes. By the time she dried herself down, she felt a little better.
Just then came a knock on the door, and Shane called out, “You okay?”
“I’m fine,” she said with a sigh. Moving quickly to her bag, she slipped on underclothes, then threw on an oversize T-shirt and a pair of leggings. As she opened the door, she finished brushing out her hair and said, “Sorry. I’m taking a long time.”
“It’s all good,” he said, his gaze searching her face. “I’m just worried about you.”
“I appreciate that,” she said with a bright smile. “It’s been a rough day.”
“That’s an understatement,” he said with a nod. “Bet you never have to experience a workday like that again.”
“Yeah,” she said. “Not likely.” Taking a deep breath, she continued, “The problem is that I saw at least four of them. And they all know who I am.”
He nodded slowly. “I was wondering if you connected those dots.”
She glared at him and said, “I know I’m not in your field and don’t have experience with all this cloak-and-dagger stuff, but I do have a brain. Since they made a point of leaving no other witnesses alive, odds are they won’t leave a loose end like me out here. Hence the cabbie.”
“Unfortunately you’re absolutely right,” he said boldly.
She winced. “You could go ahead and sugarcoat it a little, you know?” she said with a groan. “You never have been one to mince words, have you?”
“You want me to lie to you?”
“Of course not,” she said. Tossing the hairbrush into her bag, she gave the ends of her hair one last squeeze before hanging up the towel and stepping into the other room. “It’s just so depressing,” she said.