Page 10 of Dangerous Devotion

She crouched, trusting him to keep her low enough that she wasn’t whacked by a blade.

He led her blind for several steps across some flat ground. “Step down. You’re on a flight of stairs.”

Tentatively, she extended her foot, seeking these steps.

“You can pull off the hood. Fourteen steps to the bottom.”

Relief filtered into her veins. In all of her career, she hadn’t encountered many things that made her balk. This was one.

She ripped off the hood and blinked like a confused owl at a world pitched into blackness.

Still behind her, Henner curled his fingers around her upper arm. “Your eyes will adjust in a moment.”

She began to count with every step down she took with Henner right behind. The thump of his boots on the metal treads offered a strange kind of comfort. If she had to navigate the stairs to a strange place, at least she wasn’t totally alone.

She reached the bottom, clutching the hood like a limp flag of war. “What now?”

“Door is right in front of you. Open it.”

She felt around for the handle. “I guess this is why you’re called Blackout.”

He snorted.

Finding the handle at last, she twisted it and pushed open the door. Light filtered in, allowing her vision to clear. Before them stretched a long corridor with several doors lining it.

Not a whisper sounded from any of those rooms.

Henner pushed past her. “That’s odd.”

Her heart rate spiked. “What’s odd?”

“It’s usually not so quiet. Stick close to me.”

The first door on the right hung open. A long table was scattered with plates of food—hot dogs and hamburgers and various salads—suddenly abandoned.

“Is this Blackout’s idea of a day’s work? Where’s the bar?” She swept a look over the detritus of the room. A few balloons bobbed in the corner and a big blue cake sat in the center of the table.

“Clearly it’s a party for the baby.”

Baby? In Blackout? She thought they were supposed to remain single, lone ghosts infiltrating the toughest places in the world.

She stared at his profile. The deep line etched between his brows concerned her even more than wearing the hood had.

His Adam’s apple bobbed upward in his throat, hanging there for three solid heartbeats before he swallowed. He turned to her. “This was a welcome home party for Kit and the baby. They must have received word about the explosion and had to scramble.”

THREE

The Presidential Suite.

Henner issued a low whistle as they stepped inside the sprawling space. “Now this is what I’m talkin’ about—plush carpet, crystal chandeliers…” He broke off as he wandered up to the tall windows on the far wall and surveyed the stunning view of the DC skyline.

The dusky sky and fading sunlight enhanced the lights popping out all over the city. He’d stayed in a lot of places all around the world, but this one oozed polished wealth, power and exclusivity.

May, however, seemed unimpressed.

She let her bag slip to the floor and folded her arms over her chest. “One bed.”

He smirked. “Yeah, I noticed that too.”

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