wanted to pound rocks.
“What’s wrong?”
She stared off through the passenger window. “I should have been paying more attention. It’s not like me to be so careless. I almost got us both killed.”
Alex was angry as well, but for a different reason. He was still in the grip of rage — rage at a man who had tried to hurt her and had come so close to doing so.
“Don’t be so hard on yourself. We’re both alive and they’re both dead. That’s what matters.”
“Not to me,” she said under her breath as she looked away. “I didn’t come here to be stupid.” He could detect a catch in her voice when she said, “People are depending on me.”
“Jax, look at me.” Reluctantly, she did. “We survived. I don’t think those people depending on you would give you points for style. They’d only care that we survived so that we can find out how to stop this.”
She smiled a bit at last. “You’re right. We survived. I would lecture you for being so sloppy, Alexander Rahl, but I was no better. Let’s hope that we both are more careful so that the next time it isn’t nearly so close.”
He returned the smile. “Deal.”
22
ALEX SLOWED AS HE TURNED the truck into the well-lit parking lot. Even in the middle of the night it was half full.
“What is this place?” Jax asked.
Alex pointed off to the right. “That’s a gambling casino over there. Gambling isn’t legal on land, but it’s allowed on boats, so they build the whole place on big barges and tie them to docks at the edge of the river.”
“Do you spend time at this place?”
Alex knew what she was getting at. He remembered her admonition about places he was known to frequent. He had been afraid, though, that if he simply parked in a strange neighborhood or an empty lot they would draw unwanted attention.
“I know of it, but I’ve never been here before.”
She pulled a strand of hair back off her face. “Good.”
“This place is always busy, so we won’t look suspicious parked here. We can pull the cargo cover over the back and sleep under it.
It will be cramped, but it will keep us out of sight for the rest of the night.”
“I’m not so tired. I’ll stay up and stand watch.”
Alex shot her a look. “Stand watch? Anyone sitting in a parked car might attract attention. You, in that dress, with that long blond hair, this time of night, are bound to draw a crowd. That’s the last thing we need.”
“I look a mess,” she said as she glanced down at her dress. “Besides, I wore this dress so that I wouldn’t draw attention.”
“Trust me,” he said. “A crowd.”
Out of the corner of his eye he saw her start combing her fingers through waves of her damp hair, trying to coax it back into place. Alex thought that her disheveled condition somehow made her look all the more alluring. He had always thought that if he saw a beautiful woman with her clothes and hair in disarray and he still thought she was beautiful, then she truly was beautiful. Jax was more than that. She was gorgeous.
A thought he definitely didn’t like crossed his mind. He wondered if her looks helped her get close to men she intended to kill.
He forced his thoughts off of how attractive she was and pulled into a parking place between a couple of minivans. They would make the Jeep harder to spot for anyone looking for it. Centered between towering light poles, it was as dark a place as he could manage in the casino lot.
He knew that casinos had cameras that watched their parking lots, but as long as no one approached his Cherokee he doubted there would be any reason for security to notice them. People darted through the rainy night, hurrying to get to their cars or into the casinos. He hoped that none of those figures hidden by shadows and rain were looking for him and Jax.
Once he had turned off the wipers, with the way the rain was coming down, it was hard to see much in the blur of water flowing down the windows. Alex gestured off to the left.
“Over there are some outlet stores. We can get some more clothes there, but they don’t open until morning.”
She gazed into the distance where he pointed. “Morning is still hours away.”
“So we’d better get what rest we can.”
“But I—”
“Didn’t you say that you weren’t paying good enough attention and you almost got us killed? You need sleep to stay alert.”
Jax sighed. “I suppose you’re right. Maybe we should try to get some rest while we can.”
Rather than go out in the rain and get wet going in through the tailgate — and risk being watched by security — they both climbed over the seats into the rear cargo area. With the way the rain was coming down he was pretty sure that any security camera that happened to be pointed in their direction wouldn’t be able to see anything inside the Jeep.
Alex kept a blanket and a small duffel bag filled with emergency gear in the back. He spread the blanket over the floor, then pulled the cargo shade over them and hooked it in place. Once it was secure he turned on a small LED light from the bag. It wasn’t bright, but in the confined space it was more than ample. Jax watched him as he squirmed out of his jacket.
“Lie down,” he told her.
She didn’t object. He put the duffel bag under her head for a pillow, then draped his jacket over her, covering her as best he could. She had to pull her knees up to fit in the small area.
“Thanks,” she said as she watched him.
Alex nodded as he leaned back against the wheel arch. It wasn’t very comfortable, but he found it far preferable to being someplace where guys from another world could suddenly pop up and break his neck.
Once they were settled he turned off the light. Yellowish lamp-light from the tall poles leaked in around the edges of the cargo shade. The rain running down the windows made the light waver softly on her face. She was still watching him.
“We need to figure out our next move.”
Alex shrugged. “Maybe not. Maybe it’s over.”
Her face was a picture of incredulity. “Over?”
“Maybe we’ve finished it, tonight. Bethany is dead. Once they all realize that they’ve lost their leader, isn’t it likely they’ll quit? Maybe you’ve already accomplished what you came here to do.”
Jax twisted a thread sticking out from the edge of the blanket for a moment as if trying to find words, or maybe trying to decide how much she wanted to tell him.
“I can see why it would seem that way to you, Alex — I really can — but it’s more complicated than that. Queen Bethany wasn’t the real problem.”
She certainly had seemed like a problem to Alex. “What are you talking about? She came here from your world. You said that they have probably been interfering with my family for a long time. She killed Ben — you said so yourself. She wanted a Rahl heir for herself, and then she planned to kill me.” Alex folded his arms. “She even had some guy buy my paintings and ruin them.”
“The man who did that had no connection with her.”
Alex frowned. “How do you know that?”
“Because when I was looking for you through the mirror in the gallery I saw the man who ruined your paintings. His name is Sedrick Vendis. He had nothing to do with Queen Bethany.”
“Sedrick Vendis? Who the hell is he? And what do you mean he had nothing to do with Bethany? What’s this all about?”
Jax lifted a hand, urging him to calm down. “Queen Bethany was on the same side as these people, but lately
