“And I got one in the bathroom while they were downloading the information.”
“Of course you did.” They burst through the doors of the nightclub and looked around the empty mezzanine. He considered his choices.
They needed to hide. Fast. “Take the back stairs.”
Julie scoffed at the idea. “In these shoes?”
He was already rushing her past the elevators. “I have a bad feeling those women aren’t working alone. They have people watching out for them.”
Her gasp rang against the pale marble that surrounded them. “Why didn’t you tell me this?”
“It only just occurred to me.” He should have considered the possibility immediately. “They’re coming after us and they will split up to find us. They’ll first go for the most obvious places.”
“The stairs are the slowest way out of here.”
“Which is why they’ll spend most of their resources on the escalators and elevators.”
“Okay, okay. We’ll take the stairs.” She kicked off her shoes, scooped them up in her hands and followed him barefoot.
He found the stairs in the far corner of the building. He raised his head when he heard footsteps. He motioned for her to go up to the next level.
“Where are we going?” she whispered.
“To my room.”
She shook her head. “We should go to the hotel bar. Everyone is waiting for us and there’s safety in numbers.”
“The less Mercedes and her gang know about our colleagues, the better.” He placed his hand against her back and encouraged her to move faster.
“So, we’re hiding out?” Her face lit up as she gave a brilliant smile. “This is so exciting!”
Eric looked over his shoulder. “Not if they catch us.”
12
ERIC HURRIED JULIE into his hotel suite. From the corner of his eye he saw Julie fling her purse onto the table and toss her shoes underneath. He checked the hallway one last time to make sure they had not been followed.
He shut the door and locked it. When he slid the security bolt home, he didn’t feel any relief. If anything, he felt cornered. Trapped. Hiding wasn’t his usual strategy. He pursued and attacked.
His blood pounded and every instinct called for him to hunt down the enemy. But he couldn’t take the risk. He had Julie to protect. He had to hide her as far away from the danger as he could.
Eric leaned back against the door and found Julie smiling as she twirled around the room with her arms outstretched.
He shook his head. Unbelievable. “You’re enjoying this?”
Julie stopped to hug him. “Absolutely! Aren’t you?”
“I’d rather chase than be chased,” he said, but from the glow on Julie’s face, she didn’t have a preference as long as she got to be in the game. “They know you took pictures of them.”
“Wasn’t that great?” Her eyes sparkled. “If only I knew who they worked for.”
The idea of her investigating more made his blood run cold. “You’ve done enough. It’s time to stop poking around and give what you have to Z-Ray.”
“I’m not done yet,” Julie said as she flattened her hands against his chest.
He grabbed her wrists and held her hands still. “Those women know they’re being watched. They know you have incriminating evidence.”
“How awesome is that?” She was about to burst with joy. “They think I’m a threat. No one has thought of me as that before.”
She was kidding, right? Julie had been a threat to his peace of mind ever since he’d met her. “They aren’t going to take any more risks. In fact, they probably went under,” he lied.
“They don’t seem the type,” she murmured as she leaned into him, her hips snuggled against his. “They’re more of the kind who would strike when crossed.”
“And yet, you went after them with no plan, no backup?” His chest tightened as he considered what all could have gone wrong. “What were you thinking?”
She rested her head against his shoulders. “I had backup. I had you.”
He let go of her wrists and held her close. Eric closed his eyes and pressed his mouth against her hair. He liked that she trusted him completely. She had no doubt that he would look after her. But Julie’s blind faith in his abilities made him nervous. She thought he could do anything.