The van was gone from in front of their room, but their car was still there. She hoped that meant Ryan was still in the room, still within her reach. She could only hope they left him alive.
Keeping to the shadows, she ran to the office and pushed open the door. The clerk and Stacy looked up in unison.
“Didn’t expect you back,” the old man grumbled.
Tess ignored him and focused her attention on the woman. “I need help.”
Stacy nodded. “I figured you weren’t expecting that little invasion. That’s why I told the old man to ring your room.” She laughed. “Hope they didn’t interrupt anything serious.”
The thought of Ryan rising up over her, his skilled touch and beautiful hands making her body sing with sweet fulfillment tore at her. But Tess shoved them aside. Not now. Later they’d talk and she’d be able to tell him what he meant to her. How she craved him like something sweet and forbidden.
She moved away from the window. “Will you help me?”
The woman blew a bubble with her pink gum and then sucked it back between her lips. “What did you have in mind, sugar?”
Tess pulled at her shirt. “A change of clothes for starters. Then we go trolling for a few boys down in room 36.”
“What’s in it for me?”
“My undying gratitude.”
Stacy laughed again. “Much less than my usual fee, but tonight’s your lucky night. I’m intrigued.” She stood up and nodded toward the back room. “Follow me. We’ll have you fixed up in no time.”
RYAN’S HEAD LOLLED forward and his chin hit his chest. Someone grabbed a handful of his hair and yanked his head back.
He tried to focus, but everything shifted and turned upside down. Nothing seemed to want to stay still. From somewhere in the back of his brain, a voice shouted at him to wake up. But none of his muscles wanted to cooperate.
Someone shoved three more pills into his mouth and followed it up with a healthy swig of booze. But Ryan coughed and everything shot out of his mouth and across the room.
He laughed and someone swore. But before they could start all over again, there was a sharp rap on the door.
“Help me get him on the bed,” one of the thugs said.
Two arms slipped under his and pulled him roughly to his feet. They threw him onto the bed, and he landed on his back. He tried to kick out but missed. He watched one of the men walk through a white haze to open the door. Ryan wondered if it was actually hazy in the room or if his vision was going.
The door opened to admit a redhead with a pair of knockers the size of party balloons. But it was the other woman, the one with the straight black hair and an overabundance of blue eye shadow who was the real knockout. A combination of beauty and kick-ass arrogance. He tried to lift his head to tell them to watch out, but his tongue wouldn’t work.
“You boys the ones who called for a party?” the redhead asked. She spotted Ryan on the bed and shot him a purple-lipsticked smile. “Looks like you boys got started without us.”
“You’ve got the wrong room,” the man growled, starting to close the door.
The dark-haired one jammed her three-inch-heel pump between the door and stuck out her hand. “Not so fast. We didn’t come all the way out here to get turned away. It’s fine by us if you changed your minds. But we need to make a living.”
Ryan thought the two women looked vaguely familiar, especially the dark-haired one. But he couldn’t get his head wrapped around who they were. He lifted his head and stared, spying the dark-haired beauty’s long legs in the leather short shorts. Damn, they were fine, and the fishnets were a nice touch. He’d have to tell Tess to hang on to the shorts and nylons. His eyes snapped open. Tess?
He caught the warning glance she directed toward him. Brilliant green. Yep, it was Tess in a wig and dressed for business. He opened his mouth to tell her that the guy at the door had a gun, but nothing came out.
“Shove off,” the goon said, starting to close the door again.
When he leaned forward to kick Tess’s foot out of the way, she came up with a nice right. Her fist connected with his chin and his head snapped back. He dropped like a stone, and his gun flew across the room.
Stacy screamed and Tess pushed her out of the way as she dived for the loose gun. Next to Ryan, the other thug tried to run, but Ryan stuck out his foot and the guy tripped. The thug scrambled on hands and knees for the bathroom and from the doorway, he got off two shots. Pieces of bedding and mattress flew up around Ryan’s ears.
Ryan drew up his knees and rolled backward off the bed, hitting the floor with a thud. Several more slugs hit the wall over his head and the plaster rained down on him. But then he heard the retort of another gun and knew Tess had located the revolver.
A few minutes later, there was a grunt and the guy in the bathroom fell out the doorway onto the worn carpet. Even with his blurry vision, Ryan could tell the guy wouldn’t be shoving any more pills down his throat.
“Are you okay?” Tess bent down next to him, her hands on his face, her eyes misted with tears.
“I’m juss fine,” he managed.
She leaned down and kissed him. “You also reek of booze.”
“Yuss, I do.”
“Help me get him up,” she said to Stacy.
They bent over him and pulled him to his feet. Ryan staggered against them. “Did yu know you’re both mighty fine lookin’ women.”
“And you’re loaded,” Tess said, turning her head to avoid the fumes of his breath. “Help me get him into the car. He can sleep it off in the back seat. We need to get out of here before the police come.”
They loaded him into the back seat, and he lifted his head, grabbing Stacy’s arm. “Dohn’t let her give you those leather shorts back. I’ve got plans for them.”
Stacy patted his cheek. “Don’t you fret, baby. Stacy will make sure she takes them with her.”
“Obviously he’s going to be fine if all he’s thinking about is the shorts,” Tess said dryly.
“He’s a man, sugar. It’s always about the shorts.”
The two women laughed again and the car door slammed.
Ryan smiled and let his head drop back against the seat. The world went softly dark around him.
BY THE TIME Ryan had slept off the drugs and alcohol, it was morning and they had arrived on the outskirts of D.C. His deep groan from the back seat told Tess he was awake, but she barely had to time to glance up to greet him as the traffic surrounding them was whipping past at a dizzying speed.
“There’s some orange juice in the cup holder and a semi-warm sausage biscuit in the bag.” She used one hand to steady the wheel and the other to throw a fast food bag over the seat to him. “There might be some hash browns in there, too, but I wouldn’t bank on it. They were pretty tasty and I was hungry a few miles back.”
He sat up and rubbed his face, his appearance endearingly grungie in her rearview mirror.
“How long was I out?” he asked, opening the bag and taking a whiff. His color turned a little greener, but she gave him credit-he didn’t lose anything.
“Long enough to have me worried. I pulled over a couple of times just to make sure you were still breathing. But you were snoring away peacefully every time.” She grinned at him in the mirror. “You’re cute when you’re drunk.”
“I don’t feel so cute,” he grumbled. “My mouth tastes like a five-day-old diaper pail.”
Tess shuddered. “Well, that’s romantic. Not to mention my concern about why you’d know how a five-day-old diaper pail actually tastes.” She passed another cup over the seat with one hand. “Here, drink this. Black coffee. It’ll take the edge off the headache.”
He took a sip and grimaced. “Or the enamel off my teeth.” He looked up again. “Where are we?”
“D.C.”
“Do you know where in D.C. we’re headed?” He took another bigger sip and some color came back into his face.
