Casting a look at the other agents to make sure that none of them were looking in our direction, I reached out to twine my fingers through Holbrook’s, gently squeezing his hand. Turning his head just a fraction to look at me, he squeezed back but didn’t smile. After what we had seen that morning, I wasn’t sure I’d ever feel like smiling again either.
The elevator chimed merrily when we reached our floor, and a split second before the door opened Holbrook disentangled his fingers from mine. It stung a little, a seed of rejection taking root in the middle of my chest, but I knew that wasn’t his intention. As Johnson had so graciously reminded everyone the previous day, their job was to protect me, and that was it. Whatever was happening between us was against the rules, and while I didn’t give a flying rat’s ass what anyone else thought, I knew that Holbrook didn’t have the same luxury.
After all, it isn’t my ass that’s on the line if the muckity-mucks find out.
“And on that cheery note,” I muttered under my breath, following my bodyguards out of the elevator.
“Hmm?” Holbrook asked, the slump of his shoulders making him look as morose as I felt.
“Nothing, just still a little unsettled after earlier,” I replied, forcing a lackluster smile.
“Go get some rest. I have some paperwork to do and calls to make, but Collins and Hill will be right outside your door.”
Thing 1 and Thing 2 are on guard duty again. Oh, joy.
“Great,” I said, trying to sound cheerful. Judging by the looks I received I’d failed miserably.
Ah, fuck it.
Chapter 15
THE STINK OF the morgue was still lingering in my nose when I got back to my room. Even Loki didn’t approve, wrinkling his nose and letting out a disapproving meow when I stretched out on the bed next to him.
“You’re right. A shower would be a great idea,” I said, scratching him behind the ears before pushing my tired body up from the bed and walking into the bathroom, stripping off my clothes along the way.
The water was just shy of scalding when I stepped under the spray, a long sigh of relief slipping out of me when I tipped my head back under the water. For several blessed moments I just let it sluice over me, washing away the stench of dead flesh and chemicals. I didn’t step out of the shower until I had all but scrubbed my skin raw, making sure to erase any lingering traces of the morgue.
Brushing my teeth and taking the time to run a comb through my tangled hair, I was starting to feel somewhat human again. The prospect of calling up some room service, finding a mindless reality show on TV, and snuggling into the big bed with Loki sounded like absolute bliss.
“So what do you think buddy, want some room service? We might as well get the FBI to spring for lunch if we’re stuck here, right?” I called as I emerged from the bathroom, squeezing the last of the water from my hair with a towel. He didn’t answer, but I wasn’t surprised. Most of the conversations since my fuzzy roommate wandered into my life had been pretty one-sided.
Dropping the damp towel on the floor and sitting cross-legged on the side of the bed I snagged the room service menu from the bedside table, glancing over the hotel’s offerings. After everything I’d been through since waking up that morning I was in the mood for something sweet, chocolaty, and oozing caramel to chase away the gruesome memories. The wolf on the other hand wanted red meat, hot and bloody.
Deciding that the better part of valor was to appease everyone’s needs I settled on a bacon cheeseburger—rare of course—with a giant helping of French fries, and a caramel-drizzled brownie with a dollop of vanilla ice cream. I’d likely spend the rest of the night twitching from the sugar rush, but I didn’t care. Fluffing my damp curls I picked up the phone and hit the room service button.
“Did you want some milk, Loki?” I asked my lurking companion. When he didn’t answer I gave the room a cursory glance, wondering where the furry little butthead was hiding.
“Good afternoon, how can I assist you?” a cheery voice said in my ear.
“Hi, I want to order some room service,” I answered, leaning across the bed to peer over the edge, trying to ignore the bitter seed of worry taking root in my stomach.
“And what can we get you this afternoon?”
“Umm…a bacon cheeseburger…rare…” I said, turning to look around the rest of the room.
That was when I realized the door to my room was open, and I was alone.
If I hadn’t already been sitting down I would have ended up on my ass as the world dropped out from beneath me, stealing my breath and causing me to reach for the nightstand to steady myself. I wasn’t sure how long the cheery-voiced woman had been trying to get my attention before her voice cut through the numbing fog in my mind.
“Ma’am? Ma’am, are you there?”
“He’s gone…” I started to answer, my words trailing off, but I was already forgetting about her again. Leaping up from the bed, I let the phone slip from my slack fingers. “Loki? Where are you, buddy?” I asked, dropping down to my hands and knees to search under both beds, the small desk, behind the curtains, anywhere and everywhere he might have been hiding, even though I already knew the gut-wrenching truth.