Page 105 of Hidden Agendas (Tempting SEALs 4)

The ladies’ room was empty. Silent.

Daddy, why . . .

Emily stumbled as the memory of Risa’s frightened cries seemed to wrap around her.

Why, Daddy?

A sudden groan jerked her from the memory.

Emily’s head snapped up just in time to hear the soft pop of a silenced pistol and to watch Kira slide to the floor.

“Kira,” she cried out, rushing toward the fallen woman, watching in horror as blood bloomed across her chest.

“Stay the hell where you are, you little bitch,” Elaine snapped, pressing the gun to Emily’s head, her expression creased with malevolent anger as Emily stared back at her.

“It’s really too bad.” Elaine was no longer crying. She was staring back at Emily with cold hatred as she backed away slowly, keeping the gun leveled on her.

“You’ll never get past Kell,” she told the other woman. “He’ll stop you.”

“That gutter rat.” she said, sneering. “He’ll never know what happened. Neither will anyone else. These old houses are full of hidden passageways.” One such passageway opened up to reveal Jansen.

Emily opened her mouth to scream when he rushed forward, only to have the sound cut off by the nasty-smelling handkerchief he pressed over her mouth and nose.

“There you go, pretty girl,” he crooned. It was the voice from her nightmares. “Just go to sleep.”

Darkness washed over her as screams and memories echoed in her head.

Jansen Clay. It had been Jansen all along and she had remembered too late.

Twenty-six

KELL PACED THE HALLWAY, CHECKING his watch, as Ian watched the door with eagle eyes. It wasn’t like they could hear anything if there were any problems in the bathroom. The music and chatter from the party was so damned loud in the hallway that guns could have been blasting and it would have blended in.

“A ladies’ room is a vortex into another fucking dimension,” Ian growled. “They disappear in there and it takes them damned hours to come back out.”

Kell stared back at him in surprise. Ian wasn’t a big talker. His rough voice, nearly ruined from an assailant’s garrote years before, always seemed to make him uncomfortable.

Kell checked his watch again.

Ten minutes. It was ten minutes too long.

“I should have never let her step in there,” he told Ian fiercely. “She knows we need to get the hell out of here.”

He stalked to the door as Jansen came in from the foyer and stared at him with a frown.

“They’ve been in there too long,” Kell explained as he went to push the door open.

Jansen shook his head as a somber smile tugged at his lips.

“You don’t know women,” he said, chuckling. “I’ve seen Elaine disappear into the ladies’ room for more than half an hour simply to repair her makeup. Give her a few minutes, Kell. The news about Risa has really shaken her up.”

Kell stepped back, his jaw tensing as he glared at the door.

“She’s different, isn’t she?” Jansen said then, resting against the wall beside him.

Kell snapped his gaze back to the older man.

“Emily,” Jansen explained. “She’s different for you. I told Richard years ago he would have to watch her closely. I could tell you had a thing for her.”

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