Page 51 of Critical Doubt

"Yes. I'm as stubborn as I am suspicious and cynical."

He smiled. "Got it."

"Let's go to a hotel by the airport. We can book our flights, and I can contact my team and see if they can tap into the cameras by Maloney's. If we can find the driver of that car, we'll have a clue. But first, we need to turn off our phones, just in case anyone is tracking us."

"I think we're going to need a phone to find a hotel."

"I've got a burner phone in my bag. It's not traceable."

He met her gaze. "Sometimes I forget who I'm with." He turned off his phone. "Tell me where you want me to go."

Forty minutes later, Savannah checked them into a hotel next to the airport, using her task force-issued fake ID and credit card under the same name. She didn't want anyone to be able to track their location through a card transaction. With their phones off, and after the circuitous route they'd taken to the hotel, she was as sure as she could be that no one knew where they were.

As they took the elevator to the sixth floor, she felt like she was once more stepping back into the past. But five years ago, the elevator ride she and Ryker had taken together had passed in a blur of passionate kisses and hungry touches. She barely remembered how they'd gotten from the bar to Ryker's room, and once he unlocked his door, they'd been all over each other.

Even now, her heart beat faster at the memories.

Ryker was staring straight ahead, but she couldn't help wondering if his mind wasn't going down the same memory lane.

But she wasn't going to ask him. If he wasn't on that path, she didn't need to put him there, not with a long night looming ahead and only one room, because they really did need to stay close to each other for safety reasons. Although she had made sure there were two beds. She had to keep some boundaries.Didn't she?

When the elevator doors opened, she peered into the hall before stepping out. Their room was midway down the corridor. She used the keycard to open the lock and then entered the room.

It was a modest room, nothing special: two full-sized beds, a dresser, a television and a small table by the window with two chairs. She moved over to the window, noting that their view was of the airport. She hoped the noise from the planes wouldn't drive Ryker mad, although at the moment she couldn't hear anything. They weren't under the flight path, so that was good.

"Do you ever wear earplugs?" she asked, as Ryker moved next to her. "I'm thinking about airport noise. There are probably some earplugs in the gift shop downstairs."

"I've tried earplugs and noise-canceling headphones. Sometimes they work, but often they don't. I wish I could say there's a pattern, but there's not."

"Well, we could run down and pick some up."

"I'm more interested in food. I'm starving. What about you?"

"I could eat."

"Looks like there's room service." He picked up the menu from the table. "Shall we stay in?"

That meant more time alone with Ryker, but a noisy hotel restaurant would not work for him. "That's perfect." They sat down at the table and perused the menu, and then ordered turkey club sandwiches with fries and salad, with Ryker adding in a slice of apple pie.

"Sweet tooth?" she asked with a smile. "I wouldn't have guessed that."

"Guilty. Especially when it comes to pie. What about you?"

"Chocolate is my kryptonite."

"Damn. We should have ordered the chocolate cake."

"No, it's good that we didn't. But I might steal a bite of your pie."

"You don't have to steal it. I got it to share."

She gave him a smile. "You seem relaxed for the first time all day."

"I feel relaxed. I don't know why considering everything that's going on."

"Maybe it's just that we're back inside a quiet room."

"That could be it."