Finn knew her tirades had been because of her concern for Hunter’s and the rest of the men’s safety—but he’d learned to read her a long time ago, despite the invisible protective armor she wore. She was rash sometimes, but when it came to righting wrongs, she wouldn’t wait for anyone else to get there first to do the job.
He sighed deeply, stroking her leg until she fell sound asleep. He knew she was worried about his text messages. And he suspected that if he’d told her what they were about, she would have insisted that both she and Finn rescue Anna.
He smiled and kissed the top of her head. He was the undercover guy. He slipped the comforter over them. Then he let his breath out in exasperation. And what was she supposed to be? The hostess for the cliffside rental cabins? Free for any wolf to pursue? He didn’t like that notion one bit.
Give it up, he told himself. He wasn’t settling down. He liked his life of adventure, of feeling he was saving the world one mission at a time. He liked being in new places. He was sure he’d hate settling down and getting stuck in one place. And he knew how hard it was for Meara to move to new locations. Hunter had always said she never liked to leave a place once she’d set down roots.
Finn still couldn’t believe that Hunter had found a mate without telling anyone on the team. How had Tessa convinced Hunter to go on a honeymoon? Their kind didn’t marry or follow other human traditions like that.
Finn shook his head. No, mated life wasn’t for him.
He listened to the ocean surging onto the beach, reminding him of his Navy days and his early SEAL training. As a part-time wolf, he’d had to fight wanting to shift and chew out of his restraints while being drownproofed. Being attacked by a trainer in a pool had also triggered the need to shift and eliminate his attacker. He’d had to keep reminding himself it was only part of the training.
He caressed Meara’s arm, felt the way her satiny hair splayed across his chest, and luxuriated in the warmth of her soft body. He inhaled her tantalizing sexy fragrance, memorizing it for all time.
Hell, being in the Navy had never been like this.
Anna considered hotels and bed-and-breakfast accommodations, trying to figure out which would allow her to monitor Joe’s movements more easily. Neither type of accommodation would be all that safe if an assassin wanted to get to her. But she thought a bigger place would protect lodging staff better. Too small a place and the people running it could get caught in the crossfire, if there was any.
She had to settle down and set her trap. She finally picked the Oceanview Hotel and parked. The hotel was situated cliffside with a sandy beach below, although beaches and ocean views weren’t important to her mission. But her choice did make her appear to be on vacation, in case he wasn’t quite sure if she was a civilian or on a job.
Fresh fruit and buttered popcorn greeted guests in the lobby, reminding Anna that she hadn’t eaten in a long while. After she checked in, she grabbed a bag of popcorn to finish her I’m-on-vacation look before she headed up to the room.
The hotel advertised that it was pet friendly, and a short squat man who had been walking his short squat bulldog on a patch of grass out front entered the lobby. Would wolves be welcome? Only if guests thought the wolf was a nice doggy that looked rather wolf-like. If she wanted to go out on a walk as a wolf, she’d have to have a handler. Handler. As if anyone could handle her.
She glanced through the glass lobby doors and saw the faux Joe park his car. A wolf. Finn had said the man was a wolf. But the assassin she’d killed hadn’t been. The other who’d fallen from the cliff near Meara’s cabin had been a wolf. Which meant? Maybe the person who contracted the killings was limiting his pack losses, if the one on the cliff had been part of his pack, and trying out a few human assassins. And this guy? Maybe he was the one who had nearly gotten Hunter’s team killed six months earlier.
After paying for a room, she rolled her bag to the elevator, catching a glimpse of the man whom she thought called himself Joe Matheson. His green eyes caught and held hers in the brief instant before the elevator door closed. His gaze stroked all the way down her body, cad, but he smiled a little when his focus settled on the bag of popcorn in her hand.
And she knew he knew she wasn’t on vacation.
He followed me into Oceanview Hotel, 20 min north of you. Didn’t come into elevator. I’m in my room, 601.
Anna texted Finn while he still reclined in the guest bed in the safe house, his arms folded around Meara. She stirred and Finn slipped out from under her, his heart in his throat as he padded down the hall to the living area and texted Anna back.
Paul there in hr and a half or so. Don’t take unneeded risks. Bolt door.
Anna immediately responded.
I’ve sent Paul a message. Shit, lockpick in door…
But Imposter Joe couldn’t get to her if she’d bolted the damn door. Finn waited a heartbeat for Anna to send another text to finish her statement, but when she didn’t, he texted her. She didn’t respond. Adrenaline surged through him as he tore into the guest bedroom, grabbed his trousers, and began yanking them on.
“What’s wrong?” Meara asked, sitting up, and looking sleepy and well-loved as she stared at him.
Normally decisive, Finn was having a devil of a time trying to figure out what to do next. Rescue Anna and leave Meara behind, where he thought she’d be safer. Or let Anna take care of Joe on her own, while Finn stayed and protected Meara, which was the way he and Anna had been trained to accomplish such a mission. Or take Meara with him to rescue Anna, which was the worst possible scenario, as far as he was concerned.
Meara got out of bed and pulled on her shirt over her pajama tank top. “Is he here? At the house?” she asked. She tried to hide her anxiousness, but he saw it in her widened eyes and heard it in the slight tremor in her voice.
“No,” Finn said abruptly, jerking on his boots. If he’d been alone, he would have already left to take care of Anna. He felt the guilt of letting her deal with the threat alone, while worrying about Meara’s safety, too.
Meara narrowed her eyes and yanked on her pants. “But we’re leaving.”
“I am. You need to stay here.”
“Alone?” she asked, sounding surprised.
“Joe, our imposter, may have gotten into Anna’s hotel room. We’re the closest she’s got for backup. I’m the closest she’s got for backup,” he quickly amended.
“Ah.” Meara wiggled her feet into her still-tied tennis shoes and headed toward the bedroom door. “What are we waiting for?”
“You are staying here,” Finn repeated, strapping on his gun.
She passed him and headed for the garage. “Hunter would be ticked off if he knew you left me behind… alone.” She gave Finn a crooked smile over her shoulder.
“Hunter would undoubtedly know you better than that,” Finn said sarcastically. “But I doubt he would want to hear you tagged along, either.”
Yet Finn hadn’t wanted to enforce his decision to leave her. As much as he didn’t want Meara with him and in harm’s way, he really didn’t feel comfortable leaving her behind.
“So where is Anna?” Meara asked, nearly to the garage.
“We passed it on the way here. It’s the Oceanview Hotel, about twenty minutes up the road.”
They didn’t speak any further and were soon in Finn’s Hummer and on the road. With his foot flooring the gas pedal, they barreled north toward the hotel. He hoped to hell no cops were on the road tonight. He wasn’t stopping to get a ticket if an overzealous cop happened to catch him speeding.
“What’s happened?” Meara asked softly.
“Anna began texting me a message that sounded as though he was picking her lock to get into her room, but she abruptly stopped in the middle of a sentence. She didn’t respond when I tried to contact her again.”
Meara paled a little at that. “She hadn’t bolted the door in time.”
“Sounded like it. When we reach the hotel, I want you to stay in the Hummer.”
As soon as she stiffened her back, he realized Meara wasn’t going for it.
“Why don’t I sit in the lobby? Hotel staff and guests would be there, and I should be safe.” Meara smiled sweetly when he continued to clench his teeth, his neck muscles taut and his grip on the steering wheel just as tight. “I can scream really loud, Finn,” she added, trying to get him to concede.
Finn hesitated to say no, and his hesitation told Meara she was close to convincing him to allow her to stay with him, or at least not far away. She didn’t think staying by herself in the semidark parking lot was a good idea. And she wasn’t going to stay put, even if he told her to do so. Sure, he was a well-trained covert operator, but he didn’t have a crystal ball to tell him where she should stay to remain safe.
“Here we are.” His vehicle tore into the hotel parking lot. He jerked the car to a stop, raced around the other side of the Hummer, and hurried her out of the vehicle toward the lobby with a short, “Come on.”
She might have objected to his rushing her when she could rush on her own very nicely, but she sensed his concern about Anna and went along with him tugging her. If she’d had legs longer than his, she would have hauled him instead.
Movement toward the wooden walk to the beach caught her eye. When she turned to see what it was, she glimpsed a man shielded by a pine tree. She would have figured he was outside taking a smoke, collecting his thoughts, or something like that except that he looked like—no, couldn’t be.
The guy Hunter hadn’t let her date before the team went on that last SEAL mission, Cyn Iverson, wouldn’t have just popped up here of all places. Too weird to consider.
She tried to see more of him, but he stepped behind the tree, and she missed her opportunity, especially with Finn tugging her toward the hotel at a sprinter’s pace.
Finn threw open the door and hauled her inside.
“Stay here,” he ordered, moving her to the lounge chair closest to the check-in counter in the plush lobby. Chandeliers sparkled above, dripping with crystal icicles, and beneath her feet was terra-cotta tile—warm and rustic looking, at odds with the formality of the light fixtures. She sat in the cushy chair, which was covered in floral pastel, and glanced up at Finn, who repeated, “Stay here,” gave her a look that said, Or else, and then hurried toward the stairs.