Page 23 of Chilled
“Thanks. I will.”
When they arrived at the hotel, Nick grabbed her arm and stopped her in front of the desk. “Do you have a suite with two rooms available?”
The night clerk closed the textbook he’d been studying and leaned over a computer screen. “Let me check.”
“What are you doing?” Brenna whispered harshly. “My room is perfectly fine.”
“We’ll discuss it later. For now, let me handle this.”
The clerk glanced up. “Yes, sir, we do.”
“Miss Jensen and I will be moving into the suite.”
“I’ll have to charge you for all three rooms tonight since you didn’t check out by eleven.”
“Fine.”
The stubborn look on Brenna’s face let Nick know he was in for an argument. But he didn’t care. How else was he supposed to keep his eye on her if she was in a different room on another floor of the hotel? This killer had already proved resourceful at getting into locked houses. Why wouldn’t he be able to get into a locked hotel room?
“How many keys?” the clerk asked.
“One,” Brenna said.
“Two,” Nick countered.
Behind the counter, the clerk eyed them, his brow rising into a shaggy hairline. “Look, this just doesn’t look right.” He turned to Brenna. “Do you or don’t you want to share a suite with this man?”
“I don’t.”
He turned back to Nick. “I’m sorry, sir. If you don’t back off, I’ll have to call the police.”
“We are the police.” He removed his credentials from his pocket and flipped them open. “FBI to be exact. I’m Agent Nick Tarver, and this is Special Agent Brenna Jensen. She and I are on the same team working a case together, and shewillbe sharing a suite with me.” He turned toward her. “Is that perfectly clear, Special Agent Jensen?”
“Perfectly,” she said through her clenched teeth. “Two keys, please.”
The clerk looked from one to the other and finally shrugged and handed over two key cards. “It’s your funeral, Agent Tarver. She looks pretty mad about it.”
Nick forced a smile. “I’ll take my chances.”
To limit furtherargument in front of the hotel staff, Brenna bit her tongue so hard, the taste of copper filled her mouth.I’ll take my chances.The guy had nerve and an ego.
Nick Tarver followed her to her old room and watched as she shoved toiletries and clothing into her suitcase. Then he led the way to the suite on the third floor.
With a few choice words ready to spew, she waited until she could get him alone in the room to vent.
However, when she entered the room, Nick stood at the door and pointed a finger at her. “You stay put until I get back.” With that parting comment, he closed the door and left her standing with her mouth hanging open.
She sputtered a few unintelligible epithets and claimed the bedroom on the right. The one with the larger, more comfortable bed and the better view. A view of the slush-covered parking lot. Still, it was better than a view of the dumpster.
She bounced on the edge of the mattress. No matter how comfortable the bed and the room, she still felt like a prisoner, and she’d be damned if she let Nick do that to her.
With a quick glance at the door, she slid out of her slacks and into a pair of sweatpants and a T-shirt. Although the sun had set an hour earlier, clouds had moved in, helping to retain the heat from the day. The outside temperature should be a balmy forty. A chill snaked down her back. Once she got going on her jog, the T-shirt would be sufficient.
If she hurried, she could slip out beforeAttilareturned. She’d slapped her hair into a loose ponytail and was in the process of tying her shoes in the shared sitting room when she heard a key card slide into the door’s card reader.
Damn.
Purposely refusing to look at him, she continued tying her shoes.
