Chapter 19
19
Ani felt a headache coming on. Wasn’t headache one of the viral symptoms? This one felt more like her standard “I’m overwhelmed and I need a nap” headache. Or a “when will things get back to normal” headache.
“Involved in what ?”
“Good fucking question. Excuse me.”
She waved that off. “Are you saying they’re not testing us for the virus? It’s just an excuse to shut us up in a hotel room so we don’t cause trouble?”
“Something like that. Neither of us have any symptoms. If we were exposed, there’s probably a dozen more people back in Firelight Ridge who were too. What about them?”
She rubbed her temples. “Do you know that other people aren’t getting tested?”
“Firelight Ridge is a tiny place. The news would spread. Molly would have mentioned it on the phone, or Sam.”
Ani had to agree with that. Something as dramatic as a potential contagion would be all over town in no time. “Okay, walk me through this, because I’m not used to any of this kind of stuff. I’m used to rules and things making sense…until they don’t.” Which had happened too often for comfort over the past few days. “What’s your theory here?”
He paced to the window and back. “Even if they are testing us for the virus, it feels like there’s more going on. Did you notice how they shut down every question about what happened at Smoky Lake? A virus is one thing. Blowing up the Institute is another.”
“You’re saying they think we had something to do with that?” Shocked, she shook her head, refusing to believe it. “That’s not possible. They rescued us from the people who did that, whoever they are.”
“Or…” Gil held up a finger. “Or they extracted us before we could meet with them.”
“What?” She blinked at him in confusion.
“In their view,” he said quickly. “I’m trying to look at things from their perspective. It must have looked suspicious that we were holed up in that cabin. Maybe they airlifted us out so they could find out what we knew.”
“Which is nothing.”
“Not entirely.” He strode to his duffel bag and unzipped it, revealing Victor’s leather pouch. He put his finger to his lips to warn her not to speak of it out loud. She glanced at the door. Could Sergeant Thomson hear them?
“Well, if they’re really keeping an eye on us, it’s going to be very boring.” She raised her voice just in case anyone was listening. “Because we’re more confused than anyone.”
He smirked, then paused in front of her. Putting a gentle hand under her chin, he scanned her face. “Are you feeling okay?”
“I really need to close my eyes for a bit. My head hurts.”
His expression shifted. “Do you think it’s…”
“No. Nothing to do with a frozen virus. I just need some sleep.” She sniffed at her armpit, and winced. “And a shower. Why didn’t you tell me I smell like I’ve been on a roller-coaster ride through a haunted house?”
“I like the way you smell.” Such a simple statement, one she found both touching and absurd. “Go ahead, I’ll do some research into Kyle Cross while you take a long hot shower. If anyone calls your phone, mind if I answer? It could be about Lachlan.”
“That’s fine. If my mother calls, tell her I’m perfectly fine and that we’re not having sex.”
“Uh…” His expression—gobsmacked—made her laugh.
“That’s the conclusion she’ll jump to if a man answers my phone. You have a very sexy voice, so there’s that too.”
“Is that right?” His drawl was even sexier.
She winked at him and took herself off to the shower in the second bedroom. As she was turning on the water, she heard her phone ring, and Gil’s deep—and sexy—voice answer the call.
Smiling to herself, she let the blessedly warm and relaxing water cascade across her body. What kind of a conversation would Gil and her mother have? Her poor mom would probably interrogate him about everything from his marital status to his third grade report card. Geeta Devi was a legendary litigator who was now up for a judgeship. That was a lot to live up to, and Ani had never believed that she’d quite managed it. Having a child would have helped. Marrying John hadn’t. Although Geeta had never said so, Ani knew she had always believed her only daughter could do better. Not that she’d been happy about the divorce, either.
Basically, when Ani had worked hard at being the good, dutiful daughter who did everything she was supposed to, it had never been enough. Now that she was breaking the rules and stepping out of bounds, her mother worried about her even more.
She couldn’t win. So she might as well do exactly what she wanted.
Which was…?
A hot fling in Alaska sounded pretty good to her. What would it be like to have sex without caring where you were in your cycle? She couldn’t even remember anymore.
The shower did wonders for her state of mind. Her headache receded under the drumming of the hot water. A short nap and she’d be good to go. Or good to stay in. Under the covers. With Gil.
Gil had made that crack about self-quarantining just for fun, which she’d taken to mean that he wouldn’t say no to a little bedroom action. A man like that must get offers all the time.
Did people have sex with condoms these days?
Of course they did. Embarrassment washed over her, hot as the shower. She was a fool who had no business trying to have a fling with such an attractive man. She didn’t have any condoms with her; she barely remembered what they felt like.
John hadn’t been her only lover, but pretty darn close. They’d broken up for a time after high school and she’d slept with someone from her college dorm. She’d liked him—he was smart and funny and nerdy. But as soon as John had heard about his rival, he’d driven to her campus and popped the question. She hadn’t slept with any more men who weren’t John after that.
After turning off the shower, she stepped out of the stall and forced herself to stare at her reflection in the mirror. That golden-skinned, maybe slightly plumpish—but in all the right places—woman looked perfectly fuck-able. She didn’t look like an ancient frigid crone. Take that, John.
But there was only one way to confirm it. She imagined walking out naked into the living room, catching Gil by surprise. Do it.
Maybe a towel would make it easier. She wrapped a big, fluffy white towel around herself and fastened it tightly over her breasts. Cleavage for the win. Barefoot, with her damp hair loose over her shoulders, she pushed open the door and tiptoed into her bedroom. She could hear Gil’s voice, and wanted to make sure he was on the phone and not talking to room service before she sashayed mostly naked into the room.
But she couldn’t see him, and couldn’t make out what he was saying, so she stepped closer to the open door between her room and the living room.
And then, suddenly, there he was. On the phone.
Until he saw her, at which point he dropped the phone.
She could have danced in glee at the look on his face. Definitely still fuck-able, according to Gil McGowan’s expression. A rush of sexy excitement burned through her system. How had she forgotten this feeling, the giddy, carefree joy of realizing the man you were attracted to felt the same way?
Gil bent to pick up his cell phone. “Sorry, Lachlan. Dropped the phone. We’ll be back later,” he glanced at Ani, then amended that, “as soon as we can.”
A scorching thrill shot through her. He must mean that they wouldn’t be rushing back right away. That they’d have time here. Time together. Alone.
“What’s going on with Lachlan? Is he okay?” she asked when he ended the call.
“He’s okay, but he had a scare. Someone ambushed him at one of his field stations. I don’t know how he did it, but he fought the guy off. Actually, I do know how he did it. He used the move I taught him. The only one he ever mastered, but it obviously worked.”
His gaze kept flitting away, as if he didn’t think he should look at her, then coming back.
“What move did you teach him? Will you show me?” Her voice was practically a purr.
“It’s…well, it’s better with clothes on. You might end up on the floor in a very uncomfortable position.”
“We could start off on the bed.” She was really, truly amazing herself right now. Where was all this seduction technique coming from?
He narrowed his eyes at her. “Are you trying to get me into bed? Because you don’t need to do anything besides crook your little finger and I’ll be there. But you might want an update first.”
She drew her bottom lip between her teeth. An update. Yes, of course. That would be a good thing, considering everything swirling around them. “Who ambushed Lachlan? Does he know?”
“He does not. It was someone he’d never seen before. After Lachlan got away from him, the man ran away. But before that, he said something about me.”
Ani tightened her grip on her towel. She was starting to feel silly, and wishing she’d put clothes on. “What was it?”
“He said, verbatim, ‘Your brother better back off or he’s a dead man walking.’”
She froze. Shivered, then stepped backwards. She needed clothes. Armor. This was too much. Without a word, she closed the door in Gil’s face, then hurried to pull on the only other set of clothing she’d brought—a pair of violet hiphuggers and a black short-sleeved turtleneck top. The combination made her look like a backup singer in a sixties band, but she didn’t have a choice.
Dead man walking? What a terrifying choice of words. Like a zombie. Was that deliberate?
Gil was standing in exactly the same spot when she opened the door again.
“You should leave Alaska,” she told him. “Just get out, go somewhere else.”
“Why?”
“Because you’re in danger here. They threatened you.”
“I deal with danger all the time. That’s literally my job.” He seemed more amused than anything else. “Is that why you got dressed, because you think I’m in danger?”
“I got dressed because…that’s what you do after a shower.” The report from Lachlan had really shaken her up. She couldn’t stop hearing those words echoing in her brain. Dead man walking. “ Gil, I don’t think you’re taking this seriously enough.”
“I take it seriously. A minute ago you were in a towel, now you’re not. That’s a serious consequence.”
She shook her head, refusing to laugh this off the way he was. “Where’s Lachlan now?”
“Nick took him to Fire Peak Lodge and Charlie set him up with a room. He’ll be safe up there. I made him promise to not do any fieldwork until I get back.”
“Oh, so you can be an open target?”
“Better me than him,” he said calmly. “He’s fine for the night, but I’m hoping to head back tomorrow, test results or no test results.”
“They haven’t called yet?”
“No, and something tells me they won’t until tomorrow. They want to keep us here where they can watch us. Maybe it’s for our protection, or maybe it’s something else. Victor said not to trust anyone. Maybe that includes the CDC.”
She ran her fingers through her damp hair, wishing she’d brought a comb. Yet another thing she’d forgotten to pack. Reaching a knot in her hair, she tried to tease it out with her fingers. “I wonder if Sergeant Thomson would tell us anything.”
“That’s no good,” Gil said curtly. “Let me.” In two strides, he was next to her, his hands replacing hers on that hard-to-reach tangle. “She won’t. She’s a good soldier. And she may not know anything.”
The gentle way he handled her hair made her insides hum. Even her mother had never been this sensitive with her hair. How could such big rough hands be capable of such a delicate touch?
“Okay, you’re right.” Ani couldn’t even remember what they were talking about. Something about Sergeant Thomson? Lachlan? Whatever it was, it drifted into the dreamland created by Gil’s combing of her hair.
“Ani.” She startled at the sound of her name in his deep voice. Had she heard him say her name before? Had she heard anyone say it with that particular tone of aching longing?
A sound from outside the suite door had them both swinging around. Once again, Gil thrust her behind him. She was getting used to the up-close sight of his broad back, she thought wryly.
“Sergeant Thomson?” he called through the door.
No answer.
“Stay here,” he told her firmly. “Or go into the bedroom and get ready to call for help.”
She got out her phone, but stayed right where she was. Maybe the old Ani would have cowered in the bedroom, but she didn’t want to do that. He gestured for her to step behind the edge of the open bedroom door.
After a quick check through the peephole of the suite’s door, he swung it open.
Peering around the edge of the door, Ani caught the barest glimpse of what Gil was staring at—Sergeant Thomson sprawled on the carpeted hallway floor, unconscious.