“Excuse me,” Vikki said, lightly touching a man’s shoulder. The guy jumped and turned. “Sorry, can you help me?”

“How did you get in here?”

“Never mind that. Tell me how to get out of here?”

The guy seemed annoyed and pointed at the double doors. “Just go through the restaurant.”

Vikki thought about her life two months ago. She went to work, came home, drank wine, and spent time with her best friend’s family. Now she was half carrying a grown man through the hospital, trying to escape from some mob boss. It was like a book you couldn’t put down. Well, she would very happily put it down and choose a sappy romance instead.

“We can’t escape on foot. This town may not have a taxi service.”

“Use the burner and call Propel for a ride.”

“Oh, good idea.” Propel was separate from the common taxi service. You used their app and set up a time and place to be picked up. Vikki pulled up the app on the phone and punched in all the information. “I put immediately. I bet they have someone in the area that can grab us.”

“Hey, kitten, you doing okay?”

“Um, how do you want me to answer that?”

Ricky wrapped his arm around Vikki’s waist. “I hoped going to Florida would prevent any of this shit from happening.”

The driver for Propel pulled up. “Did you call for a ride?”

Vikki opened the door. “Where is the nearest hotel?”

“About two miles away?”

“And where is the farthest one you are willing to drive to?”

“Um, well, twenty-five miles away.”

Vikki helped Ricky in first and then slid up beside to him. “Perfect. We want to go to that last one.” She reached for his hand. “Think we can stay at the hotel for a couple days or is that a bad idea?”

“When we get there, I’ll talk to Miles,” Ricky said, squeezing her hand.

* * *

“What do you mean you lost sight of Giano after he arrived in Canada?” Ricky said, sitting down on the edge of the bed.

“I don’t know, man,” Miles said, letting out a heavy sigh. “Cooper had two men watching him and somehow he disappeared. You know he is good at the magic act.”

“Fuck.” Ricky slammed his hand down on the bed. “After what we experienced at the hospital, I don’t think we will be safe anywhere.”

“We have been talking about that here. It might be safer for you to just come back to Toronto, and we all figure this out together.”

“What about Finley?”

“They are off the grid.”

“I know we are about twenty-hours from Toronto.” Ricky stood and pulled the curtain back a quarter inch. “Let me talk to Vikki. We need to figure out the best route to take home, and we still need a vehicle.”

“Get rid of the phone and grab another one.”

He hung up the phone and turned off the power. “We need to get a new phone tomorrow.”

Vikki was in the bathroom. She walked out wearing a towel wrapped around her body. “So, after every use we need to get a new one?”

He walked closer to her. “Yeah, it’s just safer.”

“Is it?” She took the last few steps and was standing only inches from his body. “Feeling better?”

“Much.” He brushed two fingers down the side of her face and twirled a strand of hair around his index finger.

Vikki sucked in a breath. “Well that’s good.” Then she stepped around him and grabbed some clothes from the dresser drawer. “So what took you so long?”

“What do you mean?” She let her towel drop to the floor. He sucked in a breath. “Vikki, what are you doing?”

She put on her T-shirt and cotton pajama pants and then turned to face him. “I think I made it clear what I wanted back in Toronto. You on the other hand seemed confused.” She walked over and sat down on the bed leaning up against the headboard.

Ricky crossed his arms over his chest and leaned up against the wall. “Did you really know what you wanted?”

“Well, yeah.”

“Vikki, you don’t even know me.”

“Oh please, I know you just fine. My best friend is married to your best friend for crying out loud.”

“True,” he said and pushed off the wall. “But Miles knows my past. Did he share why I was still single?”

She rolled her eyes. “Something about a shitty past, but now you were looking for the perfect woman who wants the white picket fence and all.”

“Wow, he did over share.”

“Is that over sharing?”

“Maybe. I don’t know.”

Vikki patted the mattress in front of her. “Join me.”

He cleared his throat. “You sure it's safe for me to do that?”

She burst out laughing. “You think I’ll bite?” She paused for a beat. “Well, if I do, it won't be that hard.”

Ricky walked over to the chair by the window. “I’ll stay here for now.”

“Suit yourself,” she said, pulling the covers back and sliding under them. “Hey, Ricky?”

“Yeah?”

“Never mind.”

He watched her pull the covers up over her shoulder and let out a deep sigh. He needed his head examined. Did he really just turn down the one woman who popped into his dreams almost every night? What the fuck was wrong with him?