by Katie Reus
The flashing purple lights and modular seating reminded him of a club. Sophie was right. This wasn’t like any hostel he’d ever stayed in either.
“Which way do we go?” Sophie asked.
To the right was a bar area, and the room to the left of the lobby had a pool table and a row of computers. “Let’s try this way.”
As soon as they stepped inside, a man about his age wearing a white polo shirt greeted them. The man stuck out his hand. “Hi, I’m Mark, the owner. Are you folks looking for a place to stay?”
Jack took his hand and smiled. “My name is Robert Smith. I called earlier about the private room.”
“Oh, right, dude. Sorry, the one with the two twin beds is gone, but I’ve still got one private room left. Only one bed, though. That a problem?”
The thought of sharing a bed with her was too damn tempting. He glanced at Sophie—hoping his internal reaction wasn’t visible on his face—and she shrugged. “Nope. Show us the way.”
They followed the man through the computer room and down a plain white hallway.
The owner opened the last door on the left and turned to face them. “There’s a dollar-fifty happy hour every night from six to eight. No curfew, but if you come in after three, try to keep it down.”
“That won’t be a problem.” Jack fished out enough bills to cover three nights and handed them to the man.
The outer areas might be bright and colorful, but their matchbox-sized room was painted a dull white. No cheap art hanging on the walls, just a bed, a nightstand, and a plastic plant.
Sophie sat on the edge of the bed. “Want to hit the shower first?”
“No, you can. I’ll take the floor, so don’t worry.” He unzipped his bag and pulled out the plastic bag she’d shoved her stuff into earlier.
To his surprise, her lips pulled into a thin line. “We’re both adults. After everything I’ve been through in the past forty-eight hours, I think I can handle sleeping in the same bed with you.” She snatched the bag from his hand and before he could respond, she’d slammed the bathroom door behind her.
• • •
Sophie turned the shower on before collapsing onto the closed toilet seat. His offer to take the floor had been sweet, but for some reason it had seriously pissed her off. It was as if he’d just lit the match on her temper. And deep down, she knew why.
Thoughts of Sam had been bombarding her all day. They’d been mixed in with every other crazy thing that had happened. Watching Jack move, the way he’d stood up for her, protected her . . . it was fucking with her head. And all she could picture was one of her last memories with Sam. Not the last, but this one was brutal enough because it had been the beginning of the end for them. She hated that she kept seeing Sam when she looked at Jack but couldn’t figure out what was wrong with her.
Squeezing her eyes shut, she tried to banish the memory that wouldn’t go away, but it was impossible. The treacherous images played over and over like a bad movie.
Sophie stretched out on Sam’s bare chest, resting her chin on her hands as she watched him. They were in his bedroom, where they usually hung out when Ms. Bigsby was gone. His bed was bigger and softer and she liked it better because it smelled like him.
“What are you doing?” he murmured, a half smile playing across his hard features, but he didn’t open his eyes.
Pale eyes she swore could see right into her soul. He was the only person she’d ever truly loved. She hadn’t told him. She couldn’t find the courage yet. If she did, she was afraid he’d be taken from her. Things between them were so good, and in her experience, good things didn’t last long.
“Watching you fake sleep,” she whispered, wishing he was kissing and touching her. She loved it when he touched her. He made her feel so treasured. As if she mattered.
The humming sound of the air conditioner was steady and loud, filling the otherwise quiet house. Ms. Bigsby was away for her bingo night and there weren’t any other kids in the house except them.
Soon Sophie wouldn’t be living here and she couldn’t wait. Only two months left until she turned eighteen—and in one month she’d graduate from high school. Sam turned eighteen in a month, a week before they graduated. He planned to join the Marines then. He’d told her he was thinking about waiting a month, but she could tell he didn’t want to wait, so she’d told him no. Besides, he’d have nowhere to stay except with friends for that month, and that didn’t make sense—even if deep down she didn’t want to let him go just yet. But she figured she’d rather him be in boot camp while she was still living here. Then when she was free, she could get a place of her own. She had a lot of scholarships for college lined up, but she’d found a small diamond ring hidden in one of Sam’s drawers. Well, it wasn’t hidden very well since she’d stumbled across it. She might be wrong, but Sophie was pretty sure he was going to propose when she turned eighteen. He was only a month older than her, but he’d probably wait. Even though he hadn’t told her he loved her, she knew he did. And the thought of marrying him, of finally belonging to someone, was heaven.
They were so young, but if he asked, she’d say yes. And she’d follow him anywhere. She could put off college for six months and then go to school anywhere with her grades. She’d applied to colleges all over the country simply because she could. And she’d gotten into ninety percent of them. So, wherever Sam was stationed, she could go. She was all about planning and there was no way she was giving up a man like Sam. He was totally it for her.
“What are you thinking of?” Sam’s deep voice had her blinking and she realized that she’d been staring off into space.
“What we did an hour ago.” She grinned when his face turned red.
Nothing ever seemed to faze him, but since they’d started dating and having sex, it was so easy to mess with him. She loved that he only got like that with her. With everyone else he was this big, tough guy. Not with her. He was just her Sam.
Before she could blink, he had her pinned flat on her back underneath him. He was wearing boxers, but she was still naked and could feel his reaction to her. It made her entire body tingle. Their first time had hurt a little, and he’d been nervous about making sure it was good for her, but ever since then it had been amazing. Sam liked to take his time and use his mouth on her in places that would have grossed her out only months ago. Now she loved it. Loved doing the same to him in return. As they started kissing and she grew even more turned on, the doorbell rang.
Sophie’s eyes flew open and Sam froze above her. Ms. Bigsby wouldn’t ring the doorbell and it was way too early for her to be back anyway. The older lady never left bingo night early either. Sam jumped off her and they quickly dressed as someone started knocking.
“Should we answer it?” she whispered, though she wasn’t sure why.
He nodded and she stayed behind him as they headed down the hallway and he peered through the peephole. “It’s the cops.”
Sam looked at her and shrugged as he opened the door. There were two police officers and one woman Sophie recognized from DHS. Dread settled in her stomach. She knew things had been too good to be true right now. Of course something bad would happen to mess it up. The cops and DHS meant one thing: they were moving to another home. And it was unlikely she and Sam would get to stick together.
Chapter 15
OSINT: open-source intelligence; information derived from publicly available sources.
Hannah sagged against the steel door after the guard slammed it shut. The sound of the heavy lock sliding into place made her jump. At least she wasn’t in front of that monster Vargas anymore. Just looking into his eyes had made her skin crawl.
“You okay?” Holly was stretched out on the bed, but sat up, her face worried.
“Yeah. That guy Vargas wanted to ask me questions.” Hannah just hoped he’d believed her lies.
“About what?”
“He wanted to know more about Sophie. . . . Has he asked you questions too?”
Holly shook her h
ead. “No. He kidnapped me to use as leverage against my dad. I only have one purpose for him.”
“Leverage?” Sophie hadn’t told Hannah much and she was more than a little curious.
“My dad works with different flight companies to get into some really hard-to-reach places. His company has been around so long that they’re basically above reproach, and I think Vargas capitalized on his reputation. . . . Do you think Sophie was working with Vargas or something?”
“Hell no! Whatever’s going on, Sophie was trying to keep me safe. There’s no way she’d ever do business with some drug runner.” That much Hannah knew. Sophie had been her best friend since college. More like a sister actually. If she got too much change at a restaurant, she gave it back to the waitress. No way was Sophie involved in any of this—whatever this was. For a moment she felt bad for what she’d just said because it was obvious Holly’s dad was working with a drug runner or whatever, but that was the least of her worries right now.
Hannah glanced around the room, eyeing the ceiling, which looked like all slab concrete. Just like the walls. The entire room was concrete. No doubt to stop people from escaping through the ceiling. “Have you tried the window?”
Again, Holly shook her head and placed a finger over her mouth, then pointed toward the sink.
Frowning, Hannah crouched down by the sink and peered underneath it. There was a tiny black rectangular device that was blinking red. When Hannah stood, Holly continued.
“Trying to escape is pointless. They’ll just catch us.” Holly stood near the sink and turned the water on. She nodded toward the window, then motioned with her hands for Hannah to lean closer. “One of the guys must have just put this in while you were gone. They let me out for a walk and when I came back, I found it.” Her voice was barely above a whisper.
They were both silent for a moment until Holly turned off the water.
“How were you kidnapped?” Hannah asked since this wasn’t the kind of information that could be used against either of them.
“I was in South America on a backpacking trip when two men took me. I’d planned to stay there for a month, then head to Europe for a couple months. They must have been tracking my family’s movements and honestly, my trip wasn’t a secret. I posted about it on Facebook, so for all I know, that’s how they found out about me coming here. Now I wish I’d just gone straight to Europe. I wanted to take some time off . . .”
As they continued making idle conversation, Holly stood by the window, crouched down, and motioned for Hannah to get on her shoulders. Hannah shimmied up her back until she was sitting on her shoulders. Holly tottered for a second, but quickly gained her balance. Hannah barely weighed a hundred pounds, but Holly was probably only twenty more than her. Still, she was taller than Hannah, so that gave them a little more height.
Placing her hands against the glass, she tried to push. There was no give, but it wasn’t double paned. Hannah was certain she could break it. Unfortunately it would make noise. Somehow they’d have to cover it—
The door flew open with a bang. Holly swiveled and when she did, Hannah toppled onto the bed. A dark-haired man—not the one who’d taken her to see Vargas—stood in the doorway. Oh, shit. There was no denying what they’d been trying to do. Unable to move, she felt like that proverbial deer in headlights.
The man glanced back and forth between them, then spoke quietly to Holly.
Thanks to Sophie, Hannah knew a few Spanish phrases. She picked out a couple of words, and the guy’s tone wasn’t threatening, so maybe he wasn’t going to hurt them after all. After he shut and locked the door, she was almost afraid to ask.
“What did he say?” she whispered.
“He’s the one listening to us. He said his shift ends in twenty minutes and the next guy won’t be so forgiving. If we want to stay in the same room, and if we want to remain unharmed, we need to be quiet. He also said if we had managed to get through the window, there are a dozen men with guns canvassing the area. They’ll shoot us on sight.” She bit her bottom lip and a few tears spilled over her cheeks. “I just want to go home. I miss my mom and dad,” she whispered.
Sighing, Hannah lay on the lumpy mattress and turned on her side. “Me too. I’ll sleep with my head at this end. If you want to sleep in the other direction, I think we’ll both fit.”
“Okay.” Holly dimmed the overhead light and lay down next to her.
Moonlight streamed in from the small window, giving them a little light. A lead ball congealed in Hannah’s stomach. They were stuck and there was nothing she could do about it. And according to that asshole Vargas, he was going to kill her best friend. She’d never felt so helpless in her life.
• • •
After checking the lock on the small window—which was pathetic—Jack stripped down to his boxers, laid his weapon on the dresser, then slid under the covers. He hadn’t realized how tired he was until his back hit the cool, cotton sheet. If he was exhausted, he could only imagine how beat Sophie must be.
He closed his eyes, though he wasn’t anywhere near ready to sleep. He couldn’t until Sophie was in the room with him. Safe and close enough for him to touch. The shower had shut off a few minutes ago, so he knew she’d be coming out soon. He’d decided to put off his shower until the morning because the thought of stripping down completely naked with Sophie only feet away from him . . . yeah, he wasn’t even going there right now.
The sound of the door opening forced his eyes open. He ordered himself to keep them shut, but his gaze was drawn to her like a magnet. Sophie walked out wearing skimpy shorts and a tight tank top that molded to every curve. It was one of the outfits he’d grabbed for her. Imagining her wearing it and actually seeing her in it were two different beasts. He’d turned off the light, but his eyes had adjusted to the darkness. With the light from the bathroom streaming in, he got a perfect view of her toned, sleek body and he wanted to slowly peel her clothes off. Or frantically tear them off. It didn’t matter. As long as he got to see her naked. To taste every inch of her.
“You awake?” Sophie whispered as she took a few tentative steps toward the bed.
“Yeah,” he managed to rasp out. He shifted uncomfortably, cursing his erection.
She set the bag on the floor next to the bed, then slipped under the covers next to him. She smelled fresh. Like vanilla and something exotic. Something that was all her. The familiarity of that scent wrapped around him, threatening to choke him. “I’m sorry I snapped at you. I’m just tired, I guess.”
He rolled over to face her, hating that he had no fucking control over his cock. At least the darkness was covering his condition. “You don’t have to apologize.”
“Yeah, I do. I’m so angry right now and you’re the only one I can take it out on.”
“Your boss is an asshole.” Jack guessed that was probably bothering her more than being almost killed. With both of them lying sideways on the pillows, they were only a foot apart from each other. He could see the bright sheen of unshed tears in her eyes and it killed him.
“That’s just it. He’s not. He was doing what he thought was best . . . I guess.”
Yeah, well, her boss could have found another way to deal with his problem. He could have gone to the feds. Instead his stupidity had upended Sophie’s life and gotten her almost killed. That put Ronald Weller at the top of Jack’s shit list. “Anyone willing to sacrifice someone like you is an asshole.”
A few tears spilled over her cheeks, and something inside him cracked wide open. Crying women had never bothered him before, but tears from Sophie were too much. “Damn it, Soph, don’t cry.” He reached out and cupped her cheek, only intending to wipe away her tears, comfort her as he’d done so many times when they were younger. He swiped his thumb across her delicate cheekbone, but couldn’t tear his hand away from her soft skin. Touching her was addictive and something he could get used to very easily if he allowed it. Hell, she’d been his addiction years ago. One he’d never wanted to walk away from
.
Sophie didn’t seem to want him to stop either. The tears abruptly dried and her breathing grew ragged, unsteady. Her pink lips parted as she stared at him with those intoxicating dark eyes. When her gaze dropped to his mouth in a hooded sensual way, he knew he’d lost whatever control he had on himself. Which by this point wasn’t much. She moistened her lips and he wondered if she’d done it intentionally to drive him crazy. Either way, he didn’t care.
Not kissing her was not an option. Not when he already knew how she tasted. She met him halfway and before he could think about stopping—like that was ever a choice—their lips were dancing with a raw, pent-up need. She tasted sweet, minty, and perfect.
Over the years he’d thought about Sophie a lot, but he’d always tried to tamp down the sexual memories. Buried them deep in his mind because he knew nothing would ever happen between them again. Would be kinda hard considering he’d never planned to see her again. Some days he’d even convinced himself that it was just teenage love that he’d built up in his mind, but he knew better. What he’d felt for her back then just wouldn’t die, and the longer he was around her now, the stronger it grew.
She moaned into his mouth and though they were both still lying on their sides, his hips bucked toward her until their entire bodies meshed together. When she hooked one leg around his waist and ground against him, a shudder rolled through him. He slid his hands under her shirt, savoring the feel of her soft skin. Making quick work of it, he peeled her top off.
Blindly, he tossed it onto the floor as he stared. For a moment he couldn’t do anything else other than just look at her. He’d tried to tell himself that his memories were faulty, that she wasn’t as beautiful as he remembered, but damn. She was better than he remembered. Her nipples were small and brown and perfect for his mouth. Faint triangle-shaped tan lines covered her bare breasts, which brought up a dozen different memories of them together at the beach. They’d made love in the ocean on more than one occasion.
