Twice as Hot (Tales of an Extraordinary Girl #2)(73)

"You're right. I know you're right. That doesn't make it any less frustrating, though." We finished our search of the room in silence. And yes, I admit it. I finally worked up the courage to peek in the bathroom - and promptly wished to God I hadn't.

There was a man in our bathtub. A man I didn't recognize, but nonetheless felt sick about seeing so still.

So...dead. He'd been completely drained of water. His cheekbones were sunken, his skin papery thin, yellowish and flaking.

What a sad, terrible way to die. And completely unnecessary since I could only surmise Desert Bitch had left him for us to find as a warning. Cross me, and this is what will happen to your friends, to you.

My hands clenched at my sides. "Did you tell Cody where we were staying?" I asked Rome. Knowing Rome, he'd feel responsible for this death, as well, if he had.

"No. I didn't tell him."

Good. But did that mean Cody had had to dig for the information or...A terrifying prospect hit me.

What if there was a leak at PSI? What if that's how he'd found out?

"Anything missing?" Rome asked, jerking me from my musings.

Ponder it later. "Just their purses, which have their IDs, makeup most likely, and business cards for Sherridan." She was a Realtor. Not that she'd sold any houses lately. She'd been spending too much time in her Happy Place, dreaming of superpowers. Dreams that had brought her here. Who are you kidding? You brought her here. You should have protected her, not enabled her misguided fantasy.

"I don't know exactly what clothing they brought, so I'm not sure if any of it was taken. Their toiletries are here, though."

"Anything of yours taken?"

I shook my head. Except for what I had in my purse, all of my stuff was in my bag and my bag was in the corner. Why had they left it?

"Good. Let's go," Rome said, and motioned me to the door.

I padded across the room and bent down to grab the duffel, but Rome stalked to my side and gripped my arm, stilling me. Silent, he shook his head. I opened my mouth to ask what was going on, but he gave another of those head shakes.

O-kay. We were leaving empty-handed, it seemed.

His grip remaining firm, he ushered me to the door and into the hallway. As he shut the door behind us, he leaned down and whispered, "They probably placed tracking chips on your clothes." My eyes widened. Of course.

"Assume we're being watched. Say nothing. Do nothing without my permission." This time, the permission thing didn't bother me. This man knew what he was doing. I didn't. One day I would, though, I vowed. One day soon.

When I'd first been recruited to be an agent, I hadn't really wanted the job. Okay, a part of me had still craved the excitement. But mostly, I'd agreed for Rome. To protect his daughter, he'd wanted out, so I'd traded myself, taking his position as my own.

Because he loved me, he hadn't wanted to leave me at PSI without him. He'd shocked me by changing his plans and staying on, asking only that I help him safeguard Sunny. Well, that, and love him always.

I'd considered before but truly accepted now that I'd kind of coasted through the job all these months, doing what was required of me, but nothing extra. Nothing above and beyond. I hadn't really trained like I should have, hadn't hunted Desert Gall like I should have. I'd put myself first. My wedding first. My life first. Because of that, my best guy friend was lying unconscious in the hospital, my lover was without his memory and my best girlfriend was now a prisoner of a water-sucking scrim.

No more, I thought, hands again clenching into fists. From now on, I was an agent, pure and simple. No longer would I play at this job, pass time with it or place my own desires over my missions. They called me Wonder Girl, after all. I would do wonderful things, I told myself - and tried to believe it.

I remained close to Rome as we trekked the length of the hall and down the staircase. He had a weapon trained ahead of us, but he never had to use it. The rest of the hotel had seemed to drift off to sleep, leaving us to our spy games.

"This way." He didn't lead me to the parking garage as I expected. No, he led me outside, back into night's shadows. A few cars meandered along the road, their lights glaring.

I was still wearing my hooker dress, and the air was chilly against my skin, causing goose bumps to break out over every visible inch. My gaze remained watchful, circling the area with suspicion. Any moment, I expected someone to jump out at us and attack.

Keeping his own gaze alert, Rome removed his jacket and draped it over my shoulders, though he never broke stride.

"Thank you."

"Welcome. Now get ready."

"For what?"

"Anything."

Smart man. Hmm. What to do to prepare? The only way to be ready for anything, I supposed, was to work up a simmering anger. That way, I could torch something - or someone - if necessary, and the ensuing smoke would help hide us. But I had to be careful. Anything beyond simmering would light me on fire. I had to be just angry enough so the flames would be contained inside me until I was ready to unleash them.

I needed Tanner and Rome for this; I'd never done it on my own. Tanner would have warned me before things got out of control, and Rome would have filtered out the excess emotion. Without one, it was risky. Without both, it was probably suicide. A one percent chance of success was better than nothing, though.