Chapter 5
Jonah
I leaned my elbows on the front desk, tracking her movements with my eyes even though I desperately pretended not to. It had been three days since Sabrina had checked in to the bed and breakfast. Checked in? Is that what we’re calling breaking and entering now? I snorted to myself, shaking my head, but my gaze never left her.
Over the past few days, I’d watched her sneak around the bed and breakfast like some kind of Sherlock Holmes. Sleuthing. Scribbling unreadable notes in that damned notebook of hers.
I’d been keeping an eye on her, mostly because when she was in the same room as me I couldn’t look away but partly because I hoped I could figure out who it was she was after. And what? Keep her safe? Protect her? She would hate that, and you know it.
I did know it. But it didn’t stop me from wanting to protect her anyway. I could just picture the way temper would flair up in her dark eyes if she could hear what I was thinking.
You better be glad she can’t. You already know she can kick your ass. I smirked to myself at the thought. It was true, but it filled me equal parts ire and irritation. It was a unique blend of emotion that I attributed only to Sabrina.
Over the last few days, I’d felt that particular blend more than a couple of times but it was worth it, to have her back. For however long she decides to stay this time.
The thought sobered me, making my brows furrow as I glanced down to find my hands clenched into fists in front of me.
Unfortunately, that was the truth too. I knew it was only a matter of time before she left again. Just like she had last time. Just like she had all the times before. As soon as she had finished her case and caught her bounty, she would be gone.
Just thinking about it had an ache filling me, as if someone had placed a lead weight on my chest until I couldn’t breathe. For a second I thought about calling Leo. He’d been there for me the last time Sabrina had shredded my heart to pieces. He knew what it had done to me. How it had destroyed me. But I already knew what he would say.
He’d tell me to turn the other way and run as far as I could in the opposite direction. He’d tell to have fun while I could but don’t let it get too serious. The only problem was that it already was serious. It always had been.
I tried to shake off the train of my thoughts, focusing on tracking Sabrina’s movements undetected as she moved around the dining room. Who the hell could she be looking for? I’d looked at the books, gone over everyone who’d checked and no one made sense. Not a one of them screamed criminal.
Mr. and Mrs. Carter, the nature loving geriatric couple in room 201? I doubted it. Ginger hadn’t even been able to bring herself to kill the spider in her room and had called me to do it and her husband wasn’t any more threatening.
Mrs. Markel, maybe? The thought had a small smile curling my lips despite the sick feeling that still swirled in my stomach. I wouldn’t want to be trapped in the same room with her but I couldn’t imagine her committing any sort of crime or having a bounty on her head.
And the newly-wed couple staying in the tower suite had barely come out of their room long enough to have their complimentary breakfast. Not them either.
I shook my head, tempted to pull the check in log one more time to see if there was someone else I might have overlooked but Sabrina suddenly disappeared. Curious and more than I little worried, I straightened, scanning the dining room, the rest of the hallway and the lobby before ending back up in the dining room. No sight of her.
I was about to go on a search for her when I saw her head poke up from underneath one of the tables and I stared at her wide-eyed as I realized what she’d been up to.
Sabrina tried to walk past me, her expression overly casual but I reached out, grasping her wrist and stopping her in her tracks.
“Sabrina, please tell me you did not just plant bugs in the dining room.” It wasn’t a question. I knew first hand all the little tricks and tech gadgets she had up her sleeve, and I’d seen them in use more than once before.
She just sent me a tiny shrug, the expression on her face far too innocent for anybody’s good.
“What, do you really want to know what Ginger and Mrs. Markel gossip about?” I huffed on an irritated sigh. I hated that she was keeping things from me. I hated that she couldn’t trust me. Most of all, I hated that I couldn’t do anything to protect her, to keep her safe. It was like watching her put her head in a lion’s mouth and not being able to do a damn thing about it.
“I already know what Ginger and Caroline gossip about,” Sabrina snorted, shooting me a small grin, “You better watch out for those old ladies. They’ve got their eyes on you. Of course, you won’t have to worry as long as they’re not wearing their glasses.”
She gave as soft chuckle but I didn’t laugh. I tugged at her wrist, still held tightly in my grip.
“I’m serious, Sabrina.”
“So am I.”
And suddenly, her expression was serious. That quicksilver smile gone as if it had never been there at all and she looked up at me with those dark eyes of her and I couldn’t read a damn thing in their depths.
“I’m getting close, Jonah. I’ve almost got this guy.”
“Just let me help you!” I pleaded, but I wasn’t really expecting the answer I wanted. I wasn’t disappointed.
“No, Jonah. I can’t let you do that. I know what I’m doing. You just have to trust me.”
“Why should I? You don’t trust me.”
She opened her mouth to answer but after moment closed it again without saying another word. Sabrina yanked her arm away and I let her go without a fight, watching as she walked down the hallway until she disappeared around the corner and I couldn’t see her anymore. Gone, just like always.
***
Sabrina
I walked quickly down the hallway and up the stairs at the end, rubbing at my wrist where Jonah had held me. Not because he had hurt me, but because of the electric shock still running through my body from his touch.
Jonah Moore was bad news for me. Major trouble. He had been from the very first time that I’d met him. The only problem was that I loved trouble. No, you love Jonah.
I loved Jonah. Once. Maybe. I replied silently, emphasizing the past tense, arguing with own thoughts as my thumb brushed over the same spot his had been. I could still feel his touch there like an impression, or a brand that was burned into my skin.
You sure you still aren’t in love him? Then why are you dragging your feet on this case. I shrugged, not even able to answer myself. I knew it was true. I had already pretty much narrowed down which room my mark was in, just by method of deducing the other guests. I knew what he looked like. It was just a matter of figuring out a way to lure him out of hiding safely. Then bag and tag him, drop him at the nearest booking station and collect my bounty. Should be no problem. I could have been done with the job and out of town already. But I wasn’t. I was still there, stuck in Coral Springs. With Jonah.
I tried to shake off the thoughts, so distracted I nearly ran into one of the bed and breakfast’s guests walking in the opposite direction.
“Sorry.” I mumbled, hastily stepping out of the way, and then I froze. I stood there for a moment, not moving a muscle and threw a hasty look over my shoulder. Shit! It was him. What is wrong with me! So worried about a guy that I miss my mark when he walks right passed me!
Shit. Shit. Shit. The curse was an echo in my head as I forced myself to take a deep breath before turning and following him as silently as I could. I made sure to keep him far enough ahead of me so that I could stay out of sight but so that I wouldn’t lose him as we walked down the hallway.
I waited to see what room he would stop at, but he didn’t. He kept going, past one room and then the next, not even stopping when he got to the end of the hall for a for a terrible moment I was afraid he would turn and spot me, reveal that he knew I was following him. I didn’t even have any of my tools on me. No handcuffs. No pepper spray or the Taser that I kept on me in case of an emergency.
But he didn’t turn. Instead, he rounded a corner and headed up a narrow set of stairs that I had seen earlier but when I’d questioned Jonah about it he said it just led up to the tower suite, where a couple of newlyweds were staying. He’d laughed and said he hadn’t seen them since checking in.
I cursed at myself once more as the realization settled over me. It was the perfect cover. Tell the manager that he’s here with his new wife and doesn’t want to be disturbed. He could hide away up there without suspicious for as long as he needed to before disappearing and no one would ever question it. Not even here.
Ace detective, that’s me. I thought ruefully to myself as I stood there for a long moment, debating whether or not to follow him up.
“I didn’t get this far playing is safe.” I whispered to myself before creeping up the stairs as quietly as I could. I paused when I got to the door. It was closed but I could hear a muffled voice coming from within the room. It was my guy. The mark I had been chasing.
“…yeah, don’t worry about it. I told you not to fucking worry about it!” I missed a lot of what he was saying, the thick wood of the material blocking some of the words but as he raised his voice I could tell one thing. He was worried. And worried people did stupid things.
I pressed my ear to the door as I heard him speaking again.
“…I did the dirty work….The blood…on my hands, not yours…Don’t fucking tell me not to be scared. I’m not safe here…Don’t worry. We’ve done too much…I’ll take care of her…”
I took a hasty step back as the words registered. I was only catching half of the conversation, and not all of it at that but I’d heard enough. He was planning something. The only question was how to catch him before he could act on it.
I would just have to figure out another way to draw him out. I knew where his hidey hole was now. I could set the trap and let him walk right in to it. And then I’d be done here. I could move on from Coral Springs.
I turned and walked back down the stairs, not wanting to be caught now with his menacing words still echoing in my head, wondering all the while why the thought of leaving didn’t make me feel any better.