18. Anna #2
So far, everything was going according to plan, but it was still nerve-wracking. That man could have decided to take matters into his own hands and shot at us. He still could when we got to the hotel. My adrenaline was running high, going through the rest of the plan over and over in my head.
This wasn’t like my other missions. Usually , I was just supposed to talk to people, get them to trust me, and then spill their secrets—or at least a few key details—to me while I was wearing a wire.
Other times, I was meant to slide a small tracking device into someone’s pocket or perhaps go the opposite direction and slip something out of their pocket.
Generally speaking, my life wasn’t in grave danger in any of those assignments. I knew this time we had people watching us and we had earpieces and tracking devices on us in case we got separated or anything happened, but still, I was stressed.
We arrived at the hotel and our “taxi driver” conveniently parked a few spots back from the main valet drop-off so that we would be easy to see for the man following us on his motorcycle.
We exited the cab, and Archer grabbed my hand, holding it tight as he pretended to lean in to talk to the driver. Then he turned to me, grabbed me around the waist, and kissed me.
His lips released mine, and I hated admitting the sadness I felt at losing his mouth.
“Loosen up, sweetheart. You shouldn’t look scared after just getting remarried to the love of your life,” Archer whispered to me, smiling.
Realizing I needed to shake myself out of this anxiety funk, I turned to him and smiled back. “ Nice try. Your ego doesn’t need inflating.”
Archer turned us just as a man shouted from behind him. “ Sir . Hey man! Archer !”
I looked over to see the man on the motorcycle coming near us.
“Get inside now!” Sara’s voice commanded in my ear.
Archer turned me quickly and walked briskly through the door. Once inside, he steered me in a new direction as we started walking very quickly through the casino, weaving around slot machines, trying to evade our motorcycle man.
“He turned around and got back on his bike,” the agent who had driven our cab announced in our ears.
At that, we stopped speed-walking and began to make our way over to the elevators to go to our room.
My heart felt like a jackhammer under my chest, racing like I had just chugged six espresso shots.
That was close.
We made it to the elevators, and thankfully, an elevator opened right up as we got there. As the one passenger got off, I tried removing my hand from Archer’s , but he wouldn’t let go. The doors closed, and we rode up to our floor.
“Archer, we’re fine. You can let go of my hand now,” I told him.
“Not until we’re in the room.”
His reply seemed strained, so I decided to let it go for now. I knew when to poke the beast and when to leave him alone.
The elevator door opened on our floor, and Archer walked us down the hallway.
Archer swiped the key to our room and opened the door for me.
I again attempted to dislodge my hand, but to no avail.
When I turned to face him and give him a piece of my mind, I noticed he had his left hand held up in the stop motion and then his pointer finger covered his mouth—the universal sign for “be quiet.”
We stepped into the room, closed the door, and he finally let my hand go, but his eyes started scanning the room wildly.
He was looking for something, but I wasn’t sure what, until I realized where he was looking—under lamps, under the phone, and inside drawers.
He was looking for bugs—and not the insect kind.
I started to move to help him, when he stopped, turned toward me and spoke.
“Alright, all, we are safe in our room. Turning off our comms now,” Archer said, reminding me we were still wearing our earpieces. “ We’ll check in tomorrow morning as planned.”
“Roger that,” Vince replied.
I pulled my earpiece out and walked over to put it inside the charging case. I stood there a minute, needing to calm myself down.
I was a strong woman, for crying out loud. I could take care of myself and make my own decisions.
“Archer, you didn’t need to hold my hand the entire time. I’m not a child who needs to be coddled,” I informed him, hands on my hips. “ I didn’t need you to do that.”
“I held your hand because I needed it,” he all but growled back at me. “ That turned quickly, Ace . That could have gone way worse if that man had caught up with us. The thought of you…”
His words trailed off as he ran his fingers roughly through his short hair in frustration. He took a few steps in my direction but still left about a foot between us.
“The thought of something happening to you, especially when I am right there…” Archer said, closing the small gap left between us.
His hand came up to the side of my neck, his thumb stroking my cheek. “ I lost you once. I’m not losing you again.”
Dear Lord .
He was serious. The look in his eyes told me this bothered him to his core. God , maybe he truly was still in love with me.
Before I thought better of it, I was leaning into him. In an instant, his mouth was on mine, our lips fused. The hand that was at my neck now worked to tilt my head to the side and give him a better angle to all but devour my mouth.
All these years, and this man could still kiss. He ran his tongue along my lips, begging me to open. Just as I was about to, a knock came at the door, breaking the seal between us.
We both stood there frozen for a second before the knock came again. My phone buzzed beside me as Archer walked to the door. His hand was close to his hip, where his gun was tucked away, as he looked through the peephole.
“It’s Sara ,” he announced.
My phone buzzed again, and I realized it was probably Sara demanding I let her in.
After looking through the peephole, Archer opened the door, and she walked right in, her gaze moving back and forth between Archer and me. Then a small smile appeared on her face as if she knew what we had been doing.
“I came to collect your comms pieces and give you a new set for tomorrow,” she said with a sly grin, “but maybe I should have waited five more minutes.”
Her smirk was annoying, but before I could comment, my phone buzzed again. I glanced down, realizing it couldn’t still be Sara since she was now in the room. I picked the phone up to see several texts from my sister Iris .
Iris:
So I was bored at work and thought I’d check on my favorite sister.
Iris:
Imagine my shocked face when I pulled your name up…
Iris:
Care to tell me why you’re in Vegas and didn’t tell me?
“Oh crap,” I said quietly.
“What’s wrong?” Archer asked, his voice on full alert, letting me know I had said that louder than I thought.
I looked up to see him and Sara staring at me.
“I forgot I gave all my sisters access to my phone location,” I told them, pausing slightly, realizing the chaos I was about to add. “ Iris knows I’m in Vegas …and wants to know why.”