Bound by Danger (23 page)

The rest slipped into the vehicle, soaking wet and muddy. Johnson wiped the mud off his cheek with a wet handkerchief. “We’ll all be fighting for the shower when we get the rooms.”

“Ladies first.” Deidre rested her hand on Dave’s thigh. He wrapped his fingers around hers. Just a simple gesture of intimacy sent a cascade of warmth through her. More than anything, she wished they could continue to see each other beyond his current mission, but once the job ended, she knew they’d be through.

Johnson turned to face her. “Why is it women want equal rights, but not truly equal treatment?”

“I thought you guys were supposed to be tough, manly men. Don’t tell me you carry an umbrella in a light rain shower, too?”

He was a giant of a man, six foot, six in height, with angular features and a slight underbite, but had pools of azure eyes framed in dark lashes. The notion such a man would fight a woman for the shower, amused her.

Dave and Bill chuckled. Dave squeezed her hand lightly. “Guess she’s got you pegged, Johnson. Didn’t I warn you she has an uncanny way of profiling folks?”

***

After leaving Ricky at the hospital and the killer at the morgue, the rest of the party retired to a classy hotel in Orlando. Crystal chandeliers sparkled in the marble entryway as the muddy party of four walked inside. “Electricity,” Dave murmured.

Deidre stared at the shop windows displaying exclusive men’s and women’s clothing from glittery gowns to high-priced tuxes. She twisted her mouth in distress. “We have nothing to change into after we shower. Our luggage was lost with the vehicle.”

Dave motioned to Johnson with his head. “Check and see where our rooms are.” He slipped his muddy arm through Deidre’s and walked her to the restrooms in the lobby. “Wash up a bit, then we’ll check out some clothes.”

A few minutes later, Deidre joined Dave, their hands, arms and faces freshly cleaned. Their clothes still were damp and dirty and Dave’s wet shoes squeaked and hers squished as they walked into a shop.

The clerk, dressed in a linen dress of the highest quality, stuck her nose up slightly as she looked down at Deidre. “May I help you?”

Dave spoke, “We need the works.” He gave Deidre a nudge toward the dresses. “Select whatever you need. I’ll personally pick up the tab.”

“But I have to pay for the Hale Koa in Hawaii.” She quirked an eyebrow.

He chuckled. “It still hurts to laugh.”

The woman followed Deidre around the racks while she looked over her shoulder to watch Dave. Deidre finally turned to her. “We’re usually dressed a tad worse than this, but we knew we were going to a really classy joint so we dressed up for the occasion.”

The woman distinctly grunted in annoyance. Deidre pulled out a black cocktail-length dress. Dave squeezed up behind her and smiled. “Looks nice.”

His wet body against hers warmed her up. Right then and there she wanted him to wrap his arms around and hold her tight—no matter how bad they looked. She took a deep breath. “They don’t have anything here that normal people wear.”

He laughed. “You want to try it on?”

Deidre fingered the strap of the gown. “I probably have tons of mud inside my clothes. You know, trying to catch crabs the way in which we did it, wasn’t the right way, I don’t think. I certainly didn’t catch a one.”

The woman huffed off.

“I guess I could buy it, take my shower, and if it doesn’t fit, you could bring it down here to exchange?”

“That works for me, Deidre.”

She looked around the store. “Miss, you don’t carry lingerie?”

“No.”

“I guess I could go without,” Deidre said.

Dave ran his hand over her shoulder. “That’d be all right with me.”

The clerk glared at them. “There’s one a couple of shops down.”

Deidre nodded. “Okay. Did you find something you liked, Dave?”

He held up a pair of black slacks and a black and white pinstriped shirt.

“Looks good.”

After paying for the purchases, they walked to the lingerie shop. Dave rubbed his chin. “Nothing here for me. Guess I’ll have to go without.” He winked at her, making her cheeks instantly warm.

Deidre hurried to pick out the undergarments she needed, then turned to see Dave observing her. “You know you could be a gentleman and turn away.”

“Have to pay for them, don’t I?” He pointed to her muddy shoes. “We’ve got to find something to replace those. We’re going dancing tonight.”

She kissed his cheek. “Won’t it be a bit dangerous?” Glancing down at her shoes, she frowned. “You don’t think these would do? I could rinse them off.”

“No, I want you gliding in my arms tonight and those have rubber soles. As far as the danger, the guys will check everyone out before we go to the club.”

She touched his chest, lightly. “Are you sure my dancing with you won’t hurt you too much?”

“Not if you’re gentle with me.”

“I’ll certainly try to be.”

“Ahem,” the sales clerk said. “Did you need anything else?” Her eyes turned to new customers dressed as clientele normally would for such a ritzy hotel.

“Come on, Dave. Let’s get those dancing shoes on and have a good time.”

“Wait. Let’s get some bathing suits while we’re at it. There’s a pool topside.”

“On top of the hotel?” she asked.

“Yep.”

“Outside?”

He smiled. “With a view of the city lights and everything.”

“And it has a high wall wrapped around it?”

He laughed and slipped his fingers through hers, then pulled her out of the shop.

***

“Wow.” Deidre brushed out her hair as she walked out of the bedroom. “Heated bathrobes and everything.” She ran her hand over her robe. “How did we ever get so lucky, Dave?”

Dave moved in close and kissed her heavily on the lips. “Man, no more mud freckles, and I swear those blue eyes of yours are more brilliant than usual.” He waved his hand at the table filled with food. “And room service, too.” They sat down to enjoy the meal. “I need to get caught up on some paperwork pertaining to the case. Maybe you could get some rest. I know your back has got to be bothering you, and we have a date tonight.”

She pulled a shrimp from its shell with her teeth and nodded. “I wouldn’t miss dancing with you for the world.” She studied his trim form in his permanently pressed slacks and shirt. “How’d you get cleaned up so fast?”

“Used the room next door. Guys don’t take as long and since most of the others didn’t take a dunk in the river, they didn’t need to get cleaned up like us.”

She looked up from her meal and smiled as he watched her as if he wanted to memorize every detail of her face. Why? Because he knew it would end for them all too soon? “What is it, Dave?”

He shook his head and concentrated on his shrimp again. It was times like these she wished she could read minds instead of seeing the future.

After the meal, Deidre kissed Dave on the cheek, totally wearied from their swim in the river. “More later.” Too tired to do anything else, she walked back into the bedroom and slipped into bed. Every part of her body was drained of energy. She definitely wanted to be refreshed for the evening’s activities.

Dave watched her from the doorway for a moment and smiled. “Pleasant dreams, Deidre.” He shut the door tight.

What was bothering him, she wondered? But her mind was too groggy to think on it further. Soon after she closed her eyes, the red canyons returned to her sleep-time visions. The red canyons where she would fall and meet her untimely death? Were they visions of something to come or just a nonsensical nightmare?

The sun reflected off the red clay. She squinted her eyes. Someone appeared, but not the one who she normally encountered. Someone else, she couldn’t see. Her body tensed with frustration, and her skin freckled with perspiration.

The sun shone too bright, situated halfway to the earth already, like an orange ball of flame. And then it dipped low enough that she could see—it was him. The redheaded man. His hair was colored the same as the cliffs, only he wasn’t standing before the canyon.

She twisted her head in her pillow. Where? Huge metal pans banged around against stainless steel counters. A kitchen? Not a family’s kitchen though. A restaurant? Where? His teeth shown slightly yellowed—coffee stained? Or tobacco?

He waited for her, taunting her to come.

She moaned in exasperation. Where was he? She would stop him. She had to. But her legs wouldn’t move. And then he ducked out of sight. She had to follow him. But she was frozen—with indecision? Why? She had to stop him. What was there to decide about? Something else was stopping her, but what?

Moving her leg underneath the bedcovers in an effort to run after the redhead, woke her. She opened her eyes. It was time to dance with Dave, but her body still felt weary as if she’d been running all night—the redhead taunting her nightmares. She dragged herself out of bed.

***

Later that night, the agents and Deidre shared a supper.

She slipped her knife through her steak, then turned to Dave. “Did you get some rest, too?”

Bill cleared his throat. “He slept like a baby, only disturbing the quiet with an occasional snore.”

She smiled, pleased to hear Dave had slept so well.

Dave gave his friend a dark smile.

After finishing her last morsel of steak dripping with blood, she rested her fork on her plate. “Is everybody going dancing?”

Dave nodded. “Yep. We stick together. Of course, just you and I get to dance, and Charlie and Marilyn, too. The others will watch to see no one gets out of hand. The boss figured having us stay at a joint like this would throw the killers off. More security here, too. The hotel staff has already been alerted of our business here.”

She stood as he pulled her chair out for her. Then she reached up and tied his tie. “You know, cowboy, you look pretty spiffy in these duds.”

He looked down at her legs. “You look pretty good yourself.”

“I’ll say,” Bill said. “The next time I want to be the boss and get the girl.”

“Sure, Bill. I’ve already got mine. You can have the next one.”

“On second thought, I wouldn’t mind having your girl. She’s more of a known quantity.”

Deidre smiled broadly. Little did he know just how different she was and how much of an unknown quantity she really was. “Dave says the two of you have known each other for years.”

“Yeah, we even attended the same high school.”

That must have been fun. She wondered what it would have been like if she had dated Dave back then. No good. He’d have learned she was one of the weirdest kids in school—all because of her visions.

A rap at their door made Dave, Johnson, and Bill pull their guns from their holsters.

Bill twisted the knob, then jerked the door open.

Marilyn twirled around in her stiletto heels as Charlie stood slightly behind her. “Hey, guys, ready to dance?”

Dave escorted Deidre out of the room, his hand gripping hers as if he never wanted to be torn from her again. And she loved the feeling, wishing it could last forever. “All right folks, let’s go.”

***

Dave glanced around at the lounge and dance floor—overstated elegance. Chandeliers featuring tons of crystals hung overhead, golden lights providing enough illumination in the darkness to offer a romantic ambience.

The lights reflected off Deidre’s pale blond hair, her toned body moving in the slinky black formal like it had been made just for her. He couldn’t wait to hold her close and dance like he did with her at the Texas club.

No matter where Deidre was, she looked like she belonged. Whether it was on a gray sandy beach, building sand castles, sleeping on a tower of sand in the middle of a night at a Florida safe house, dancing with him in a Texas dance club filled with powerful music and colorful lights against a black backdrop, or here in sheer elegance, she fit like a natural.

The guys had ribbed him that he must have confiscated the photo headquarters sent of her and replaced it with a different picture, because she didn’t look anything like that photo. Not even when strands of muddy kelp clung to her wet hair, or when she was lying in a hospital bed wearing one of their designer gowns.

He’d fielded the shakes of heads and small smiles the other agents gave him when they saw her in the black shimmering gown—with him. He didn’t mind. Like Bill said, Dave had gotten the girl.

He guided Deidre to a table big enough for four, while Marilyn and Charlie joined them. Deidre drank a Tom Collins and Charlie worked on a beer while Dave and Marilyn drank bottled water. The rest of the agents scattered as they watched the crowd.

As soon as the music started another waltz, Dave pulled Deidre from her chair and led her to the dance floor. Without hesitation, he drew her close and whispered in her ear, “You know you drive me to distraction, don’t you?”

“All the guys tell me that.”

He dipped her back carefully, and she squealed in surprise and laughed. Loving her sense of humor, he shook his head at her. “You haven’t been with that many men.”

“Says who?”

His lips turned up in a devilish grin. “Your brother. You love me, don’t you?” Without waiting for an answer as she raised her brows at him, he added, “I’m concerned about you, Deidre. You seem to be bothered by migraines.”

She chuckled, sounding like she was relieved. “No, thank goodness for that. Sometimes I kind of have a little bit of tension tugging at my temple.”

“Oh.” He twirled her around. “Charlie really seemed concerned about it.”

“He’s overly protective.”

“Are you certain there’s nothing more to it? You seem totally distracted when one of these spells comes on.”

This was it. The moment of truth. Dave wasn’t a reporter. He wouldn’t tell her boss about her visions. He probably wouldn’t even believe her. Rarely did anyone unless they knew for certain she couldn’t know something and then they couldn’t refute it.

Sometimes, she found the best way to diffuse a situation was to be blatantly truthful. She leaned her head against his shoulder, and he moved her slowly across the dance floor. “Yes, well, the truth is I can see glimpses of the future. It’s totally distracting.”