Past Sins

by Debra Webb

  There was no way either of them was going to be back in L.A. anytime soon.

  It was doubtful that, assuming she survived the coming storm, she would be able to return to her life in L.A., period. Jeffrey had a chance, but his odds weren’t that much better than hers.

  She closed her eyes and fought the need to start grieving her newest life already. She didn’t want to think about how upset her patients would be. Sadness welled inside her at the prospect that she probably wouldn’t ever see any of them again. She’d grown unexpectedly attached to a couple of them over the past couple of years.

  Olivia squeezed her eyes shut and tried to block her thoughts, but that wasn’t happening.

  She didn’t deserve to be betrayed by anyone she’d worked for at the CIA. She’d been extremely dedicated, loyal to a fault. Hamilton, Woods, Echols…the former president himself, not to mention Andrew Page and who knows who else at Interpol.

  Why were the men in her life always letting her down?

  She turned her head toward the man sleeping next to her. He hadn’t actually done anything to hurt her in any way, but then she hadn’t let herself get emotionally tangled up with Jeffrey. She liked him a lot. She enjoyed his company. But she wasn’t in love with him and if he walked away from the relationship tomorrow, she’d be okay with it. She hadn’t been able to let him deep enough inside to have that kind of power.

  Landry had done that to her. He’d damaged her to the point that she didn’t have the guts to give her heart away again. She couldn’t trust on that level.

  That kiss earlier tonight zoomed into vivid focus. Need ached through her. It had been so long since she’d wanted anything that badly. The idea that he could still bring her to that place startled her. It wasn’t fair. She didn’t want to feel that way about him anymore. Or maybe she did and just didn’t want to admit as much.

  It would be so much easier to continue hating him.

  But that wasn’t going to happen, no use pretending.

  Jeffrey rolled onto his side and the snoring stopped. Thankfully.

  Having him next to her like this felt soothing from a standpoint she recognized was fueled by familiarity and safety and nothing more. He was no threat to her physically or emotionally. Was that fair to him? To allow him to continue to care about her, perhaps even fall in love with her, when she couldn’t possibly ever fall in love with him? And all that was assuming he could forgive her for lying to him or that he could get past her former profession.

  Where did that leave her?

  Alone again.

  She turned onto her side, away from him, and stared at the connecting door that separated her room from Landry’s. To deny she still cared about him would be a flat-out lie. There were aspects of her emotions over which she had no control. There, far beyond the borders of her reach, she wanted him desperately. Cared for him every bit as much as she had before. They’d been a perfect match, like the final two pieces of a puzzle. His dark, enigmatic traits had drawn her to him in ways she still couldn’t explain. Everything about him had completed her, made her whole.

  Letting him in on the idea that she still had feelings for him would be another mistake. She might not be able to salvage her heart but at least she could save face.

  The sound of Landry moving around in his room drew her attention toward the door once more. Her foolish heart skipped a beat.

  Why couldn’t she keep hating him?

  She rolled onto her back and stared at the ceiling. With the bathroom light on and the door only partially open, the room wasn’t completely dark. She never had liked sleeping in the dark.

  She almost laughed at herself. A killer who was afraid of the dark.

  Was that ridiculous or what?

  A soft rap on the connecting door sent her into a sitting position.

  Landry rested one foot on her side of the doorway. Judging by the half of him she could see, he appeared to be fully dressed. That was good since she’d seen more than enough of his body already tonight.

  “I’m going to take a look around outside,” he let her know. “I’m feeling restless.”

  She threw the covers back and got up, belatedly realizing she’d opted to sleep in her T-shirt only. Damn.

  “Any particular reason you can’t sleep?” She wished the tee was a couple of inches longer, but it was too late now. He’d already taken a head-to-toe visual. Her skin felt on fire everywhere his gaze had lingered.

  His shoulders moved up and down in a noncommittal gesture. “Feels like something is wrong.”

  She resisted the urge to say something irreverent like duh. “Well, it’s not like we have any reason to feel anxious. Someone from our past wants us dead, but that’s really no big deal. We should both be sleeping like babies.”

  Those dark eyebrows drew together in a curious manner. “Funny that you mention that. Do you ever wish you’d had a couple?”

  Okay, he’d lost her completely. “A couple of what?”

  “Babies.”

  A choked laugh burst out of her before she could close her gaping mouth. “Are you kidding?”

  Another of those careless shrugs. “Just wondered. You’re at that age when most women claim they can hear their biological clocks ticking.”

  She was thirty-seven. Big deal. Call her old-fashioned, but she hadn’t thought about kids, considering she didn’t have a husband.

  “I guess you and Jeffrey don’t want children.”

  Oh, now she knew where he was going with this. He wanted to know how serious things were between her and Jeffrey.

  She shrugged dramatically, uncaring that the T-shirt had just lifted high enough to give him a sneak peek at her black panties. “I don’t know. We’re busy people. Maybe sometime. If I live through this, that is.”

  “Fine.” He readied to return to his side of the door. “I’ll be back in five.”

  Well, well. She might not be a mind reader and Landry certainly worked at keeping his thoughts hidden, but she was relatively sure she’d just heard jealousy in his voice.

  Then again, the way he’d kissed her pretty much gave away his position on the matter. He still had feelings for her. She definitely wasn’t in this fix alone.

  Five minutes had come and gone.

  Olivia had paced the room about a thousand times in those excruciatingly long seconds.

  She was going out there.

  Pulling on her jeans, she stuck first one foot then the other into her hiking boots. She snapped her fly then laced her boots and tucked the knife into place just in case. Grabbing her Beretta, she jammed it into her waistband. She silenced her cell phone and slid it into her back pocket. On second thought, she pulled it back out and called Landry’s cell. Four rings later it went to voice mail. Where the hell was he?

  After shoving her phone back into her pocket, she roused Jeffrey. She’d considered leaving him asleep in the room since this very well could be nothing, but she wasn’t willing to take the risk. Protecting him was her responsibility.

  “Hey,” she murmured. “Something may be wrong. We need to take a walk outside. Get dressed, okay?”

  He got up without any fuss and pulled himself together. “What’s up?” he asked as they eased into the corridor and headed for the stairwell. No covert-operations agent would ever let himself get trapped in an elevator. To this day Olivia always took the stairs wherever she went.

  Inside the stairwell she listened for several seconds to ensure she and Jeffrey were alone.

  At 1:00 a.m. she didn’t anticipate running into any other guests. Most of the folks who popped into this hotel would be long-distance travelers and sleep would be the only thing on their minds.

  When she reached for the railing to start down the stairs, an uneasy feeling swept over her.

  She wasn’t sure she could trust her instincts enough to assume they had kicked back into gear with any accuracy, but she wasn’t imprudent enough to ignore the sensation.

  Reaching beneath her T, she wrapped the fingers o
f her right hand around the butt of her Beretta and withdrew the weapon.

  “Is that necessary?” Jeffrey eased up close behind her. “Have they found us?”

  “I don’t know, but we’re not taking any chances. Let’s just move down the stairs as quietly as we can.”

  If she got outside and there was trouble, keeping Jeffrey out of the line of fire wouldn’t be an easy thing, considering there wasn’t that much cover in the parking lot. About her only option would be the parked vehicles. Better to stash him away, she decided.

  They descended one level as quickly and soundlessly as possible. She tucked her weapon back into her waistband and moved into the corridor. She surveyed the rows of closed doors on either side. The vending-machine area was about the only place readily available. Not optimal but it would do.

  “This way.”

  She hurried in that direction. Jeffrey stayed right behind her. Just before she reached the vending-machine area, she passed a door marked Linens. She hesitated, checked the door. Locked. She sized up the situation and decided that wouldn’t present a problem.

  “Give me your credit card, Jeffrey.”

  Looking totally confused, he dug out his wallet and produced his platinum Visa. A few jiggles of the knob along with just the right pressure with the credit card and she had the door open.

  Jeffrey looked from her to the open door and back. “That’s scary.”

  Olivia smiled. “I know all kinds of tricks like that.” She turned on the light and peeked inside. “I want you to hide in here and keep the door locked until I come back for you.”

  “I’d rather stay with you.” Concern cluttered his expression. “I don’t want you getting hurt.”

  This sweet man would be far better off without her.

  “Remember, I’ve got a gun. Just stay in here and don’t come out until I come back for you, okay?”

  Reluctantly he did as she urged. When the door had closed and she’d heard the lock click, she headed for the stairwell once more.

  On ground level, she pressed against the door that would take her outside and listened. She wasn’t worried about anyone coming in through this door—it was an exit only. They’d had to walk back to the lobby to reach their room after parking a few hours ago. If trouble had arrived, it would have to come through the lobby to reach her.

  A moment’s uncertainty trickled through her. Jeffrey should be safe as long as he stayed put. Any scouts that had been sent would be searching rooms, not locked linen closets.

  And, bearing in mind what she knew now, this could turn ugly. Ushering Jeffrey outside in the middle of the night only to get shot at wasn’t at all appealing.

  She steeled herself and slowly pulled the door inward just enough to peek outside. Nothing moved in and around the vehicles she could see beyond the sidewalk at this end of the hotel.

  Not wanting to have to go through the lobby in the event she needed to reach the room in a hurry, she bent down and felt around for a large enough nugget of landscaping bark to prevent the door from closing fully once she slipped out.

  The night was warm. Humid. And deathly still.

  Her pulse skittered, reacting to the faster rhythm of her heart’s response to the rising adrenaline.

  She edged to the corner of the building and surveyed the front parking area and hotel entrance. Nothing.

  Where the hell was Landry?

  Moving swiftly, she checked the rear of the building. She almost turned away, assuming the back of the building was as clear as the front. But then she looked again.

  The vehicle’s engine ran smoothly, quietly. She might not have heard it at all if she hadn’t hesitated that extra second. No interior lights, no exterior lights, just an engine running in a beefy black SUV. One very much like the vehicle that had given pursuit at the mall. But she couldn’t say for sure it was the same one.

  The windows were tinted to the extent that she couldn’t see inside.

  She needed to be closer.

  A lot closer.

  Olivia crouched next to the shrubbery line that flanked the building and reviewed her options for getting from point A to point B across the parking lot.

  If she stayed close to the building, behind the shrubs that softened the landscape between it and the sidewalk, she would be concealed until she reached the other side of the parking lot. Cars sat in every available space on that end, all the way to the sidewalk.

  She could move through the cars until she reached the SUV.

  Attempting to maneuver with any speed in a crouched position resulted in a couple of spills, but she made it to the other end of the building. Damn, she was out of practice. A running crouch was not a part of her regular workout these days.

  A distance of about ten feet separated the shrub she was currently using as camouflage from the first vehicle she needed to reach. Since she couldn’t tell if anyone was in the SUV, she’d just have to risk being seen.

  Hunkering as low to the pavement as possible, she scrambled to the first parked vehicle.

  She sat very still, trying to hear above her ragged breathing. No door slamming. No running footsteps.

  Okay.

  Move.

  Staying low, she wove through the vehicles. A steadying calm had lapsed over her, allowing her to focus fully on her target.

  The SUV sat on the access way between two rows of parked vehicles, facilitating a fast getaway if necessary. The engine was still running. A puddle of water beneath it indicated the air-conditioning was in use.

  She had two options here. She could move around the end of the vehicle, stand up and peer through the glass and hope she’d be able to make out anyone inside. Or she could create a distraction.

  The distraction won out.

  Reaching into her boot, she pulled out the knife. The sharp blade gleamed in the moonlight. This would do the trick.

  She reached up and scraped the knife along the cargo door, putting all her weight behind it. The blade screeched along the metal, tearing away a line of paint as it went.

  The unmistakable sound of a door opening stopped her dead still. Front driver’s side. She eased around to the passenger side of the vehicle, slid the knife back into her boot and waited. She wrapped the fingers of both hands around the butt of the Beretta and prepared to do battle.

  “Son of a bitch,” rumbled from the rear of the vehicle.

  She shot upward, feet landing wide apart, and leveled her aim on the man who stepped around to her side of the vehicle at almost the same time.

  “Move and you’re dead,” she cautioned.

  In her peripheral vision she could see that his weapon was in his hand but she kept her eyes on his, didn’t let herself get distracted by that detail.

  “Put your weapon down, Miss Clark.”

  She didn’t recognize the voice but she did know the face. Same guy she’d told the salesclerk was her boyfriend back at the mall. Only this time he was wearing a dark suit.

  “Not a chance. Drop yours and maybe I’ll let you live.”

  “We have your friend.”

  Dread pricked her. She didn’t have to ask who; she knew he meant Jeffrey. Landry wouldn’t be caught by these chumps, not alive anyway.

  “Prove it.” He could be bluffing.

  “Linen closet, second floor.”

  Damn.

  “That won’t change how I handle this situation.” She stared straight into his eyes and hoped like hell he would buy her bluff.

  She hadn’t killed a man in three years.

  Could she do this?

  Her heart thumped mercilessly against her chest.

  The sound of approaching footsteps behind her had him looking beyond her. His glance past her lasted a fraction of a second, a mere instant, but she reacted.

  She fired, hit him just above the knee as she lunged for the ground.

  His weapon discharged. The bullet hit the pavement inches from her head.

  She rolled. Bumped into the wheel of a nearby car. She scrambled
beneath it. Crawled to the other side.

  One—no two—sets of running footsteps ricocheted in the night air.

  She slid from under the car. Peeked above the vehicle to get a fix on the others.

  One man was using Jeffrey as a human shield as he made his way to the SUV. The other was not in sight.

  Damn. Damn.

  If she tried to take out the guy holding on to Jeffrey…

  “You bitch!”

  The guy she’d shot was coming after her. The hop-and-drag sound was close. She edged around to the front of the vehicle just as he staggered up behind it. She held her position. Listened intently for him to move closer.

  “You should’ve killed me when you had the chance,” he growled.

  “You’re probably right.”

  Her breath caught. Landry.

  She stole a look over the trunk just in time to see Landry bop the guy on the back of the head. He crumpled to the ground and Landry kicked his weapon out of reach.

  A bullet glanced off the hood next to Landry. He ducked down. “That was a close one.” He peeped above the fender to locate the man dragging Jeffrey toward the SUV.

  “Only two?” Olivia wanted to be sure there wasn’t more trouble lurking around before she made a move.

  “I took care of two others inside.” Landry was working his way to the front of the vehicle. “While you were sleeping.”

  “I wasn’t sleeping.” She didn’t ask…tried not to wonder what he meant when he said he’d taken care of two others. She didn’t want to know.

  The distant sound of sirens split the night air.

  Not good.

  Scuffling.

  Olivia’s heart surged into her throat. She hoped like hell Jeffrey wasn’t fighting his captor. One look confirmed her worst fears.

  The only man left was attempting to herd Jeffrey into the SUV while keeping a lookout for her and Landry. Jeffrey wasn’t cooperating.

  She couldn’t wait any longer. She had to move.

  “Wait, Nessa,” Landry hissed.

  Not going to happen.

  She rushed between the vehicles until she reached the last row next to the SUV.

  Holding her breath, she rocketed to a standing position. Leveled her weapon. Took a bead.