As he stepped back from the window, he heard the door of the room they’d just left slide open.
Sienna stiffened.
Carson grabbed his service weapon and pointed that they should hide in the little alcove where the bathroom was.
On silent feet they both moved in near silence, not turning any lights on.
There was a slight shuffling next door, maybe the sound of the bathroom door opening, and five long minutes later the main door into the hallway opened once more.
Motioning for her to stay where she was, Carson peered out the peephole again and saw a nondescript-looking white guy pull a hoodie over his head as he hurried down the hallway.
He counted to sixty then eased the door open. He kept his weapon down, out of sight, and after a glance in the hallway, he motioned for her to grab their bags.
He kept his hand on his weapon as they raced down the hallway in the opposite direction, hurrying toward the set of stairs instead of the elevators.
Once they were in the stairwell, he said, “We need to take the batteries out of our phones.”
She’d already switched phones and no one was supposed to know she was with him, but someone had tracked them somehow. And he was betting on their phones being the easiest way.
After they’d done that, they quietly hurried down the rest of the stairs. Leaving in the rental car was out of the question. As soon as they exited downstairs, he glanced around the hallway, knowing they were momentarily exposed. He had his weapon tucked beneath his shirt but he didn’t like any of this.
Somehow someone had found them despite all their precautions.
Instead of heading toward the lobby and going out the front doors, they went to a side exit.
“We need to get the video surveillance. And I have a backup burner phone we can use,” Sienna murmured as they reached the exit doors. “I want to call my brother. Daniel will be able to get us out of here. Or get us a car. It’s better than depending on a lift service company which will be linked to one of our credit cards.” Technically they could use cash, but he wasn’t even sure a driver would take them all the way to Miami on the promise of cash. No, they needed their own wheels.
And they’d have to turn their damn phones back on to contact a company. Even though Carson didn’t like depending on her brother for anything, he nodded and quickly scanned the side of the hotel as they stepped out into the late-night air.
Cars zooming by on the nearby main road were louder here, the scent of exhaust filling the air. A row of hedges stood between them and the neighboring gas station.
“Give me your phone,” he murmured.
Without question she handed it and the battery to him.
They moved to the row of hedges, and after ordering her to sit tight he made his way to the gas station parking lot. He pieced the phone together, took out the SIM and tossed it into the back of a pickup truck before casually heading into the gas station itself.
Right off the main highway, the place was busy, so he once again scanned the parking lot, looking for the man he’d seen. Nothing. Whoever had broken into their hotel room was likely long gone or trying to track their phones.
Hurrying back out, he met up with Sienna, who was still hidden in between hedges, tucked away out of sight. Her burner phone was in hand.
“What did your brother say?”
“He’s got a rental for us. We can just make the drive to Miami tonight and hole up.” She chewed on her bottom lip as she glanced around and he wanted to brush his fingers over her forehead, to smooth out the worry lines.
“How far is the rental place?”
“Not even a mile.” They could easily walk that.
“Let’s go, then.” He’d worry about his rental car in the hotel parking lot later. For now, they needed to get the hell out of here.
Chapter 10
“So what did Julian say?” Sienna asked as Carson strode into the living room overlooking the Atlantic.
They’d arrived an hour ago and had settled into the Miami condo—courtesy of her brother Daniel. No one except him—and Daniel’s friend who owned this place—knew where they were, which was the point.
She was all out of sorts, had barely gotten any sleep, couldn’t stop thinking about that kiss she and Carson had shared, and now she couldn’t get in touch with her client, Eileen Bentley. Sienna had wanted to talk to her, especially after what had happened at the hotel hours ago. It was mid-morning so Eileen should definitely be awake.
“They got the security feed but weren’t able to get anything off it. The guy must have used some kind of program because it wasn’t just him avoiding cameras, there were blank spaces. They also found a tracking device on my rental car.”
So…whoever had done this was a pro. That ball in her stomach hardened even more. And her worry over Eileen was now simmering. Sienna stood and walked to the sliding glass door, and stared out at the glittering blue water and white sand beaches. Everything in front of her was peaceful and soothing, but nothing could soothe her edges now. “I can’t get a hold of Eileen.” She ran her hand over her braid once as she turned back to him.
Her whole body was humming with energy and she didn’t know if she should down more coffee or try to get in a couple hours of sleep. They needed to lie low but she desperately wanted to talk to Eileen in person. There were some things that you could see and judge in person as opposed to talking to someone over the phone. Though that was a moot point now, since Sienna couldn’t even get in touch with her.
“You said she was coming down here to get away. There’s no reason to think that she’s in danger.”
She lifted an eyebrow.
“Okay, there is. I just don’t like you worrying.” Carson glanced at her open laptop, frowned. “What’s all this?”
“All the pictures I’ve taken in the last six months. I know it’s like searching for a needle in a stack of needles, but I decided to rescan all of them. Maybe…I don’t know, maybe there’s something in one of the pictures that matters?” She was just working blind at this point. “I feel like I need to be doing more, I guess.” She’d left her laptop in airplane mode so it wasn’t connected to the internet. Not that she thought anyone had tracked her using her laptop. That took a special type of skill.
But Carson frowned, sat in front of her laptop and pulled up the photos she’d taken from the yacht. “Who are these men?”
“You already know that this is Wesley Bentley, Eileen’s husband.” She’d sent a solo picture of him to Julian and Carson for their files. “I figured I’d move backward through the pictures, starting with the most recent.” She touched the screen above Bentley’s face. “And that’s his lawyer. But I don’t know who this other guy is with them. I thought you saw them at the marina?”
Carson shook his head. “I never saw their faces, just their backs as they got on the boat.”
“What’s wrong, then?” Because his jaw had tightened slightly and he’d gone sort of still in the way he did when he was mulling something over. It was so damn sexy.
“Nothing. Did you send all of these to Julian?”
She shook her head. “There are a lot of pictures in there that…I’m not handing over to the police.”