Page 24 of Abducted

Nate and Ethan got out of the vehicle, and Cal told them his plan. They agreed to wait with Lana, and once they’d slid into the back seat of his truck, he went to the front entrance to check in.

There weren’t many people checking in, probably because it was Monday. He asked for extra room keys—just in case—and declined the valet parking.

Lana, Nate, and Ethan were talking amiably when he got back to the truck.

“All set.” He passed a room key to each of them. “Hang on to those in case of emergencies.” He pulled out of the parking spot and drove to the underground parking lot.

When they got out and headed toward the entrance, Cal instructed Lana to keep her head down and out of view of the cameras. He, Nate, and Ethan formed a human shield around her; Cal walked in front, Ethan to her left, and Nate to her right. They made it up to the room without encountering anyone.

“Whoa, honeymoon suite, or what?” Nate whistled when they walked in. Cal glowered at him.

“Cal, you didn’t have to do all of this,” Lana said in a hushed voice.

The room was more opulent than even he’d expected.

“It was the only room besides the penthouse with a separate bedroom, all right? Lana, the room is yours. You need your privacy.”

The shine in her eyes faded. Had he said something wrong?

“Thank you,” she said. “If you boys don’t mind, I’m dying for a shower and clean clothes.”

“Go right ahead, honey,”

“‘Honey’?” Nate and Ethan echoed when Lana shut the bedroom door and was out of earshot. The endearment had been meant to soften the blow of whatever he’d said that had put that look in her eyes.

“Shut it.” He went to the bar and poured himself a drink. He didn’t normally indulge before a job, but after being cooped up with Lana for two days, he needed some form of release.

“You’re calling her ‘honey’ and banishing yourself out of the bedroom? Tell me you’re tapping that.” This, of course, came from Nate. Ethan smacked him on the back of the head.

“Go to hell,” Cal warned. His tone was lethal. Lana wasn’t one to ‘tap,’ plain and simple.

“Hey, I’m looking out for you, bro. I saw that look in her eyes. She likes you. Like, a lot. Tell him, E.”

Ethan accepted the drink he’d made him. Nate could damn well make his own. A pit formed in his stomach. Shit, were they right? He hadn’t meant to push her away. He was only trying to protect her. Ethan’s mouth lifted into a knowing smirk. Whatever. It was none of their damn business anyway. And he sure wasn’t going to discuss his thoughts about Lana when he’d barely had a chance to analyze them himself. Emotions were always high in situations like this. So, if Nate claimed to have seen something in her eyes, it sure as hell didn’t mean it was really interest in him. Fear was the more likely source of her wide eyes and sultry lips. Nate would interpret anything as sexual.

He met Nate’s stupid grin. “Let’s just stay on track, all right?” He didn’t need the damn distraction of their input in his personal life.

Ethan chuckled, and Nate lifted a hand in surrender. “Fine. You always liked to figure shit out the hard way.” He took a sip of his drink, and Cal suppressed the burning comment that singed his tongue. “Who do you think trashed your place?”

“Stamos, without a doubt. His fee depends on the job being complete, so when Lana’s death wasn’t reported, he would have known I deviated.”

“Why the hell are you still in contact with that guy, anyway?” Ethan settled into a chair and shook his head in disgust. Yeah, Cal was pretty disgusted about it too.

“He’s hard to shake. He never got so annoying that I had to tell him off, just some harmless phone calls a couple times a year.”

“He knows where you live?”

Cal sighed. The nosy bastard had a way of weaseling himself into people’s lives. Looking back at Stamos’s questions into Cal’s career and his fascination with his life, it was obvious now that he’d wanted information. “Yeah, I let him come over when he presented me the job to kill Lana.

You know I never bring random people to my house, but in all the years I’ve known him, he’s never crossed me. He claimed the job was top secret and had to be discussed in a secure location. I should have known better.”

Nate’s lip lifted into a snarl. “Why the hell would he think you’d kill an innocent woman, anyway?”

Cal shrugged. “I’ve never given him too many details about what I do. But I have told him that it’s dangerous and takes me to the darkest places of hell on earth. I let him gather his own assumptions. When he told me the job, though, there was no way in hell I could walk away.”

Ethan nodded slowly, and Nate’s eyes darkened. “We’d have done the same thing,” Ethan said. “It’s a damn good thing he came to you and no one else.”

Cal took a long sip of his drink.

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