Page 6 of Romeo

A large masked figure lunges from the bathroom.

I barely have enough time to react before he’s on me, slamming my body against the door.

“Hey there, trouble.I told you I’d find you,” he snarls against my ear.

I bring my knee up and slam it into his groin.He groans and stumbles back, giving me just enough time to get to the door.I grip the knob.If I can get out to the hall, I can call for help.

He won’t get away this time.

I get the door partially open before he grabs me and throws me back into the room.The man towers over me, hands balled into fists.“You’re going to suffer for what you’ve put me through.”

Adrenaline coursing through my veins, I shove my panic down and focus only on the task at hand—getting free so I can call for help.

He lunges for me, and I dive to the side then scramble to my feet as I sprint out into the hall.I’ve made it two steps before I’m hitting a hard body at full force.

“Let me go!”I scream as hands grip my shoulders, steadying me on my feet.

A dog barks.

“Ruhig, Romeo,” a deep voice orders.I know that voice.“Easy, I’m not going to hurt you.”He releases me and steps back.The man from the restaurant is standing in front of me.Coincidence?“What happened?”he asks.

“I was attacked,” I tell him.“In my?—”

He shoves past me.“Such,Romeo,” he orders what I now see is a large, fluffy German shepherd.

The dog races into my room as the man draws a gun and follows him in.

All while I remain in the hall, staring after him, trying to come down from the panic clawing at my throat.I should run, should leave now, but as the adrenaline wanes, all I can do is lean back against the wall of the hallway.

“It’s empty,” he says as he comes out.

“It can’t be; he was just there.”I force myself to walk on shaking legs, only to find myself staring at a messy—but empty—motel room.The window is flung wide open, curtains spread apart.“No!Come on!”Panic turning to frustration, I cross the room and peer outside.The street isn’t busy, but someone had to have seen him.

“Were you hoping he was hanging out in here waiting for a round two?”

I turn toward the stranger, who’s leaning back against my door.His dog sits at his side, ears perked straight ahead.Unease snakes through my belly as I recall where I know that voice from.

“You were at the restaurant earlier.”

“I was.I’d been hoping to have a bite to eat while we talked, but you shut that down pretty quick, and I wasn’t looking to make a scene.”He grins at me.I imagine it’s meant to be charming and disarm me, but all it does is set off alarm bells in my head.

Charming men cannot be trusted.

It’s a lesson I’ve learned time and time again.

“Who are you?”I back away from him, getting closer to the window.If I have to, I’ll leave what’s left of the jewelry and my pocketbook and find a way to start over again.

“I was hired to find you.”

“By who?”

“Your brother.”

The mention of Odie has me pausing my retreat.“I don’t believe you.”

“Believe me or don’t.It really doesn’t matter.”

He’s blocking the easiest exit for me, but I take a step back toward the window.Wouldn’t be the first time in the last week that I’ve had to escape through a window.