Page 5 of Extracted

She stepped into the hallway and let the door close behind her. Moving soundlessly over the carpet, she reached the open-to-below hallway that held the staircase leading to the main level. Across the hall was the east wing of the hotel, where the conference rooms were located.

“I need to confirm which room he’s in,” Charlene said into her ear.

Hearing Charlene’s voice without having a phone in her hand made Gemma feel as if the irritating woman were in her head. Tension radiated across her forehead. Within the hour, she’d burn the phone and earpiece.

Her throat tightened as she reached the east wing. Gemma could only hope Charlene would keep her word and knock out the cameras so there’d be nothing to trace what happened back to her. She glanced into the first conference-room window. The blinds were up and two men in suits sat across from each other—one blond, one with wavy black hair, neither of them Silas.

“Well?”

She swallowed. “Room 2A is clear,” she said, under her breath. She moved eight paces, to the next window. The blinds were drawn.

Crap.

There was a two-inch gap at the bottom, though. She leaned forward and adjusted the strap on her shoe. Lifting her gaze to the window, she peeked through the slit.

Two guards stood on one side of the room, their hands clasped in front of them and their bodies stiff. Charlene had warned her that Silas had undercover bodyguards stationed around the hotel.

A woman and three men sat around a conference table. Another man was on his feet, pacing. He held a phone away from his mouth, likely on speaker, and his free hand was shoved in his pocket. His eerily clear blue eyes flicked toward the window, and she straightened away.

Silas.

A hard lump formed in the center of her throat and expanded to her chest. She turned away from the window and quickly fumbled in her purse. Great. Just freaking great. Silas would feed her to the sharks if he thought for a second she was watching him.

She could really use some go-go gadgets right about now.

Who was she kidding? She wasn’t a spy. The best she could do was look like a lost, distracted tourist. She touched the smooth glass of her phone and pulled it out.

Unease puckered the skin at the base of her neck. She flicked open her email and waited a beat, pretending to read something. If he was going to catch her, it was better he didn’t see her run away.

Oh god, please tell me I didn’t just fuck up this whole mission. She squeezed her eyes shut but no one stormed toward the door.

“Gemma?” Charlene said. Impatience dripped from the word.

“He’s in 2B,” she whispered.

“Good work. Now get out. You have thirty seconds.” The line went dead in her ear, the abruptness sucking the air from her lungs. She clutched her phone and moved swiftly down the hall. Thirty seconds wasn’t enough time. She could almost feel a bullet cutting through her flesh. Once one shot was fired, the bodyguards would search for whoever was involved. She needed to be as far from the scene as possible.

Twenty-seven, twenty-six . . .

She caught the railing and paused, her foot hovering midair. Had Dallas gotten out? Her pulse skittered. She didn’t have his phone number. Didn’t know his room number. There was no way to be certain he’d left.

Twenty-two, twenty-one . . .

It’s too late.

All she could do was pray he’d left. She spurred herself down the stairs, the hounds of death chomping on her ass.

Charlene had instructed her during their briefing to exit the property from the side patio. Which was why she’d been heading there earlier, before Dallas found her. She hadn’t gotten the chance to scope out her escape route. Her heels smacked the marble floor of the main level, and she turned toward the wide-open side-patio doors.

She closed her eyes as she whisked past the lobby desk.

Eighteen, seventeen . . .

She sailed out into the hot sun. The urge to run nipped at her heels. She kept her step in check and scanned the yard.

A three-foot rock wall surrounded the property. Behind it was foliage. Panic swelled inside her veins. She ran to the wall and stared down at the slope of a mountain.

Her stomach sank with the weight of an anvil.

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