Page 27 of Fire on the Moon

Traditional breakfast food had never been a favorite of Zane’s. He ordered steak and eggs and left most of the food on his plate, while Francesca packed away an order of fruit and pancakes.

They spoke little during the meal and were in and out of the restaurant and back in their room in under forty minutes, partly because he was constantly scanning the dining room instead of talking to her.

As soon as the bedroom door closed behind them, she whirled toward him. “Why were you watching everybody down there?”

“Because some of them noticed us.”

“I thought you said this place was safe.”

“I thought so. Now I think we’re too conspicuous. I think it’s better if we move somewhere more private.”

She folded her arms across her middle as he pulled out his phone and got Teddy at Decorah.

“I’d like some help with rental properties,” he told the Decorah IT guy.

“Not exactly my specialty.”

“But it’s better if I don’t leave a trail of requests for information around the Internet.”

“Right.”

“I don’t suppose you can find me a cabin in a swamp.”

“Doubtful.”

“Well, if we can’t disappear into the wilderness, can you give me a line on houseboat and cabin cruiser rentals in the area, in marinas that are off the beaten track?”

“Let me send the listings to our Dropbox. That way nobody can see it but Decorah personnel.”

“Good idea. And include the specs on the marinas.”

Zane booted his laptop and waited for a Dropbox entry with pictures of the crafts available at various marinas.

The first one came through in about twenty minutes with a notation that more would follow.

After looking at pictures of boats and taking a couple of virtual tours, he had Teddy do the booking.

When he finished, he looked up to find Francesca watching him.

“Are you going to let me in on your deliberations?” she inquired.

“You probably gathered from my end of the conversation that I want to move us to a boat.”

“If you’re worried about people seeing us around the hotel, we could hang a “Do Not Disturb” sign on the door and stay in here making love.”

Her words sent a very enticing picture leaping into his mind—the two of them in the closest bed, her body under his—but he wasn’t going to take the bait.

They stared at each other across six feet of charged space. He wanted to respond to the challenge she’d tossed him. But last night had been a slip in judgment on his part, and it wasn’t going to happen again until he knew killers weren’t coming after her.

He wouldn’t let himself turn away. Instead he forced himself to keep facing her as he took a few moments to get his hormones under control. Finally he said, “We’ve rented a cabin cruiser in an out-of-the-way marina where we won’t be seeing a lot of people. If we’re lucky, the mobsters will think we cleared out of town.”

“And went where?”

“Back north.”

“How did we get away? Don’t you think they’re watching the airports and the car rental companies?”

“We could have headed right out of town.”

The conversation was interrupted when Zane got a call that the new rental car had arrived.

“Our ride’s here. You stay put until we’re ready to roll.”

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