Brushing leaves and twigs from his hair, Tobias stepped onto the patio. The lights blazed on seconds later.
“Let’s get you cleaned up and changed into fresh clothes.” Layla flicked a piece of dried blood off the folded uniform.
I stood for a moment longer, watching as the three men talked and pointed to the parking lot. What were they saying? Was there a problem? A chill swept over me. Had we been found?
“Rae?” Layla whispered.
“Yeah. I’m coming.” Turning about, I followed the doctor down the hallway. “This layout is similar to the other building.”
Layla chuckled. “Spec Forces isn’t known for it’s innovation in buildings. This one is standard issue layout. Room. Room.” She pointed to the doors on each side of the hall as we walked. “Branching halls.” She led me down the right corridor. “Room. Room. Then a turn. And repeat until you’re dizzy.”
We turned into the next corridor where Layla cut in front of me and opened the first door on the left. “This is one of the quarters, so you can clean up here in private.”
“Thanks.” I slipped around her and entered into the square room. Low pile blue carpet ran wall to wall. A double bed filled most of the space and crowded a metal desk and rolling office chair. Across from the bed, a forty-two inch flat screen TV hung on the wall. Panning to the right, I spied a full on-suite bathroom in gleaming chrome faucets, white fixtures and black tile accents and an empty walk-in closet through partially open doors.
Layla tucked the clothes under my arm. “If you need anything, I’ll be down the hall, first turn on the right then the next door setting up my lab.”
“Uh-huh.” I was halfway across the room before I heard the door click shut. Clean. I was about to be clean. Be still my heart. I yanked the tank top over my head, dropped it on the floor by the bed. Shimmying out of my shorts, I stepped out of them on the threshold of the bathroom. Small bottles of shampoo, conditioner and body wash nested on a pile of towels. Tossing my new clothes onto the closed toilet lid, I ran my hand over the soft plush cotton.
After cranking on the hot water, I wiggled out of my undergarments, scooped up the bottles and stepped under the hot spray. Bliss. Nirvana. Between the scrubby and my hands, I began to wash.
Things were definitely looking up.
***
Wrapping my wet hair in a towel, I reached for the clean clothes. Top. Pants. I shook the fabric until it snapped. Crap on a cracker! I had no under garments. Now what? Should I call Layla and ask to borrow some? Ew. Did I really want to wear another woman’s underwear? I stepped into the pants, pulled them over my hips and did up the fasters. Right and going commando in another’s clothing was ever so much different.
My brain needed a gag.
Thankfully the pants fit. I jumped a little on the balls of my feet. And I was in no danger of accidentally mooning someone. I slipped the shirt over my head. The stiff cotton felt rough against my breasts and my nipples tightened. I plucked at the fabric. Yeah, this wasn’t going to work, especially if I got cold. Tobias would have to take me to get undergarments. I rubbed my breasts until my nipples retreated then reached for the door knob.
My hand stilled.
Had I shut the door? I glanced down at the mat under my bare feet. A chill invaded my blood. My dirty clothes were gone.
Someone had been inside here while I showered.
But who?
Get a grip. You’re in a facility with multiple doodads and high tech thingamabobs. How could anyone get in and why would they only do so to steal your underwear? Okay. Enough. It was a Homer Simpson moment. Layla must have done it, no doubt checking on her patient in the process.
Or avoiding the inventory she had to take.
I needed to find a way to help, to contribute. It’s what team members did. I raked my fingers through my damp hair and opened the door.
Tobias stood by the small dresser, delving into the open duffle bag on top of it. A nearly naked Tobias. And the BVDs clinging to his firm bottom left little to the imagination.
My heart tripped over a few beats. Oh man, oh mama. The guy’s muscles were so well defined he could pose for an anatomy class. And I would sign up to take it. Biceps, triceps and ceps I didn’t know people had formed well defined peaks over his arms, across his back and down his legs.
So did scars.
Faint white trails criss-crossed his back and thighs. Large red welts circled his arms, no doubt where they’d been reattached or re-grown. Other tissue swelled in irregular blobs like the knife wounds I’d seen on veterans. I curled my hands into fists to keep from reaching for him, soothing away the testament of pain and suffering.
“I hope you didn’t take all the hot water.” Tobias turned around.
It was purely primal instinct. Every red-blooded female would have looked. My mouth dried as my gaze traveled down his ten-pack abs to the package below. Holy Toledo! The man’s BVDs must have extra fabric in front to contain that. Liquid heat shimmered through me and my breasts tightened.
A smile lifted Tobias’s lips as his gaze swept over me.
Aw snap. I crossed my arms over my chest. Stupid mood rings of the libido. Raising my chin, I stared back at him. “I don’t have any underwear.”
“You don’t need any either.” His attention remained on my chest.
I raised my hand over my forehead. Someone needed to turn on the air conditioner.
Red stained his cheeks and he raised his attention to my face. Reaching behind him, he plucked a ball of socks off the dresser. He lobbed them from hand to hand a couple of times before tossing them at me. “Except maybe for socks. You seem a little cold.”
I caught the socks mid-air and dug my fingers into the soft terry cloth. “Douche.”
He shrugged, gathered the stack of clothes off the dresser and strode toward me.
I resisted the urge to let my gaze wander. Unfortunately, it also meant I remained rooted in place. “You should know I used up every drop of hot water.”
Tobias squeezed into the doorway facing me. Lust blazed in his eyes as his gaze once more focused on my chest. Leaning forward slightly, he inhaled deeply and moaned softly.
How did he do that? Heat radiated off his skin, warming me with purely feminine pleasure. My legs trembled and the doorjamb propped up my spine. Any moment now, I’d melt around him.
His fingers caressed my shoulder before trailing down my arm to cup my elbow. “I think a cold shower will do me a galaxy of good, right now.”
Before I knew it, he scooted me out of the doorway and shut the door in my face. Staring at the wood, I heard the lock click above my thudding heart. “Hey!”
The tap squeaked then water sprayed the fiberglass tub. “You need to sync your CeeBees with your new datapad.”
I fanned the heat from my face. What was with the man? Hot then cold. He needed to settle on one setting, for my sanity’s sake. “Chicken.”
A moment passed then two. No response. He was probably in the shower lathering up that… I shook my head. Damp locks of hair slapped my shoulders. Right. I had a job to do.
I marched to the double bed. Someone had made it with crisp apple green sheets and a matching thermal blanket. Tobias no doubt. No wrinkle dared mar the surface and those folded and tucked corners could cut paper. I plopped onto the bed, bounced for good measure then tugged on my socks. That’s what he gets for being a tease.
After a moment, guilt tromped on my enjoyment. Yeah, yeah. I’d fix the bed once I got up. But for now, I rolled onto my hands and knees and bounced a little. For now, I would enjoy being a little bit naughty.
Something hard banged against my knee.
Looking down, I spied the source and plucked the purple Smartphone off the covers. Okay, I needed to stop acting so juvenile and do my job. Gathering the pillows, I propped them against the headboard and sank into them. I carefully clasped the cell between my palms. “Okay CeeBees do your thing.”
Tingles raced up my arms and my scalp tightened. I closed my eyes. This I remembered. Next would be fatigue then I’d sleep for twelve hours. I took a deep breath, before exhaling slowly. Again and again and again. I opened one eye. Why wasn’t I tired? I opened the other eye and stared around the room.
Time eeked by.
I stared at the walls, the ceiling and the dark TV. I avoided looking at the bathroom. I could do without the reminder of what’s on the other side thank you very much. I counted heartbeats.
Well, snap. If I’d known I wasn’t going to sleep, I’d have turned on the television.
The screen popped on. Cary Grant’s features materialized in all their black and white glory. Ingrid Bergman stared up at him, her eyes wide with fear or excitement. I settled back into the pillows. Nothing like watching a classic to pass the time. I licked my lips, too bad I didn’t have any chips or soda.
The scene faded to black before red and yellow words filled the screen. News flash. I waited while a map of Arizona popped up on the screen. Red filled many of the southern counties. Flash flood warnings ran across the bottom half of the state, while the news scroll listed the affected areas and times. I leaned forward and watched for my parents’ area.
The map shrunk to the left corner unveiling a suitably serious looking young woman standing under an umbrella. Police cars provided a back drop to her broadcast. Their red and blue strobing lights painted the hotel behind them garish colors. Black silhouettes of cops strode in and out of the open door of one room. Number twelve.
I knew that room. I’d never forget it. I died in that room. “Uh-oh.”
“Earlier this evening, police responded to an urgent 9-1-1 call. A hysterical woman led them to this room.” The perky news personality pointed a manicured finger to my old hotel room. “Where police discovered a grisly murder scene. Witnesses at the scene have helped compile a profile of the man reported fleeing the scene. He is described as a white male, twenty-five to thirty years of age, with short blond hair and green eyes.”
A composite of Tobias flashed on the screen.
“Police ask that you call them immediately if you see him and do not approach him under any circumstances. He is presumed dangerous.”
“Tobias!” I glared at the woman on the TV screen at the foot of my bed. God I hated news personalities. All they did was parrot the government line with fake smiles, capped teeth and heavy make-up. “Tobias!”
“Here.” Propped against the door jamb, he scrubbed a towel through his dripping hair.
“I’ve got to get to the police.” With my hands glued together by the cell phone clasped under my palms, I pointed to the TV. A commercial for singles in my area dying to hear from me played in pixilated soft porn. Son of a monkey’s butt! Why couldn’t anything do what it was supposed to when other people were watching? Gritting my teeth, I scooted across the bed toward the bathroom.
Tobias stretched the damp towel between his hands and began folding it. “Why do you need to get to the police?”
I bounced to the edge of the mattress, placed my feet on the low pile carpeting and stood up. Static buzzed inside my head and the world spun. My knees buckled from my weight and hit the carpet. A slow flame flared through my pants to ignite my flesh as I collapsed. Blackness crowded my vision. Damn but I hated rug burns almost as much as paper cuts.
Diving across the space, Tobias caught my torso before I cracked my skull on the nightstand. “You’re not in any shape to go anywhere.”
My vision blurred as I stared at the wood grained table, just inches from my nose. “Give me a minute and I’ll be all right.”
I swallowed the bile rising in my throat. Maybe. Lifting my hand to brush the hair out of my eyes, I conked myself on the forehead with the phone. Stars joined the Tilt-A-Whirl spinning through my equilibrium. Then again, maybe I’d need an hour or two.
“No, I’m not going to give you a minute or an hour or a day.” Tobias draped me over his shoulder. “You’re staying here, in this facility.”
The carpet receded in telescopic vision when he stood. Whoa! My brain didn’t need that; sourness flooded my mouth. Neither did my stomach. “I can’t. You don’t understand. Now that your photo has been posted on the news, every two bit snake will be looking to find you. Heck the station is probably already flooded with calls, telling Po-po where you are.”
“Po-po?”
“Oh my God! The cameras on the freeways.” I pounded my fists on his back. “They’re always on. The police have probably already tracked us here. We have to move again and avoid Big Brother’s traffic cameras while doing it.”
“You’re getting hysterical.” He tapped my backside.
I yelped and straightened. My hair grazed the light recessed in the ceiling. “I am not. No doubt, Big Brother offered a reward for your arrest. Times are bad. Real bad for some. People are losing their homes and an extra twenty grand will be a great government bail out.”
“Rae.”
“Don’t Rae me.” I wiggled in his hold trying to break free and slide to the ground. “People will do anything for a buck. Heck some folks will turn you in just to have their five minutes of fame.”
“We’re staying put, Rae. That’s final.”
I swallowed the rest of my arguments. For now, but not forever. “For how long?”
“As long as it takes. Don’t worry; I’ve got people taking care of the evidence collected at the crime scene.”
My toes brushed the mattress then I tumbled backward. For an instant weightlessness embraced me, held me suspended in mid-air like a car at the top of the highest peak of a rollercoaster. Then I was falling. My hair waved like a banner around my cheeks. Air rushed by my ears and my gut clenched.
I loved falling; it was the landing that I hated.
My bottom hit the mattress then my back and thighs. The springs gave with a creak then thrust me back up into the air. Gravity tugged me quickly back down. I tried to spread my arms, by my hands were still clasped in prayer around the Smartphone.
Tobias set his hand on my stomach until the mattress cradled my weight. “You enjoyed that.”
That was so not the point. I set my clasped hands on his. “When can we go to the police?”