Shades of Gray (KGI #6)(20)

“Tequila, and I just happen to have a bottle in the liquor cabinet. This hotel is remarkably well stocked. Shall we have a drink to get . . . comfortable?”

“Damn she sounds sexy,” Dolphin said as they flew down the city streets.

“Shut the f**k up,” Cole growled.

Things went completely silent. Cole tapped his earpiece. “Hey, are you hearing anything, Dolphin? Things have gone too quiet.”

Dolphin was silent a moment. “No, not hearing anything, but they might be making drinks.”

Damn it. They were getting closer but the evening traffic sucked ass. Still too many damn pedestrians in the streets. Cole swerved to miss one crossing and kept going, bearing down on the hotel still eight blocks ahead.

He picked up his secure cell, planning to call Donovan or Steele, but he was likely ahead of them and would be on scene first anyway. No point in asking them what they were hearing, because he’d had enough of this bullshit.

He was going in and dragging P.J. out. He could claim to be a jealous boyfriend. Ex-boyfriend. Whatever didn’t get her cover blown, but he was pulling the plug because his gut was screaming that this was all wrong and that P.J. was in serious danger.

Five minutes later, he finally screeched into the parking lot of the hotel and parked underneath the awning in front.

“Whoa, wait a minute, Cole, what the f**k are you doing?” Dolphin demanded.

Cole was already out and running into the lobby. Dolphin caught up to him at the elevator and pinned him against the wall while the elevator rose to the top floor.

“I’m going in and taking her out of there,” Cole said. “She’s gone radio silent. This mission is over.”

Just then her voice slid like silk over Cole’s ears.

“I much preferred my hotel,” she said crossly. “I don’t know why it was so important for you to take me somewhere else.”

“Whoa, what?” Dolphin asked.

“Hell no. She’s not leaving this hotel. Check your GPS. Give me her location.”

Dolphin and Cole stepped off the elevator and quietly went to the room next to P.J.’s as Dolphin brought up the handheld GPS.

“It says she’s right there. Next door.”

“But she said why it was so important. Not is,” Cole said as his gut tightened even more. “I don’t like this, Dolphin.”

“The city is beautiful,” P.J. said, once more coming in clearly. “Even the bridge is quaint looking. What river are we crossing?”

Cole and Dolphin exchanged looks and then at the same time hit the adjoining door with enough force to knock it down. They rushed into the hotel room only to find it empty.

The liquor cabinet was open but everything else was exactly as P.J. had left it.

Their gazes tracked downward, and lying on the floor was the jewelry that P.J. had been wearing. The necklace was carelessly strewn and the earrings were scattered as if they’d been ripped off her and discarded. Just as they took in the glittering bracelet that was broken into three pieces, P.J.’s voice came over the wire once more.

“I still can’t believe you broke my bracelet,” she said in a pouty tone. “It was my favorite.”

“It wasn’t even real,” Nelson said impatiently. “Besides, you won’t need it. All you need to worry about is pleasing me.”

The threat in his voice sent a hot flush down Cole’s body. Rage. Anger that P.J. was vulnerable and as of now he didn’t have a f**king clue where she was. She was trying to give them clues through the wire Donovan had planted on her.

Steele, Donovan, Baker and Renshaw burst into the room, their expressions grim. They’d heard everything he had.

Cole looked up as cold fear replaced the heated fury that had boiled in his veins. He held up the broken bracelet so the others could see it.

“We have a huge f**king problem here.”

CHAPTER 9

P.J.’S nerves were shot to hell by the time they arrived at the looming stone house just a few miles from the city center. Though on the fringe of the hustle and bustle of downtown, it was a quiet neighborhood with much more space between the homes. And the one whose garage he’d driven into was huge.

She oohed and made the appropriate noises of appreciation all the while trying her best to convey enough information that her team could find her. She probably sounded like a complete airhead with the way she parroted information, but damn it, she was scared.

Never before on a mission had she felt fear like this. If someone handed her a rifle right now she couldn’t hit the broad side of a barn. But then she’d never been separated from her team. She’d always had their backup and unwavering support.

Now? She was completely on her own.

She was convinced that the ass**le had broken her bracelet on purpose, which meant she was in some pretty deep shit. If he suspected she wasn’t who she said she was or even if he just wanted to play it safe, it still left her without a huge safety net. And it meant he had some not-so-nice plans for her.

At least she still had the patch on her arm so her teammates could hear her.

“You talk too damn much,” Nelson snapped as he herded her toward the door.

She halted and made a show of getting huffy. “Then maybe you should just bring me back to my hotel.”

His hand curled around her nape and he all but shoved her inside the house. “Not going to happen, princess.”