Dangerous Deception

“See you at eleven.”

“I’ll be johnny-on-the-spot.”

After they waved goodbye, she went inside her suite. He punched the elevator down button and waited. Then he realized he still had her key and she still had his jacket. The jacket was no big deal. He could get it tomorrow. But what if she got curious and took a look in the pockets? When he’d wrapped the jacket around her after they left the Beachcomber, he’d forgotten that he’d put the photo of her that Edward Bedell had given him inside the inner pocket. How would he ever be able to explain to her why he had a picture of her?

Dom walked down the hall to her door, but just as he started to knock, he heard an odd noise. Something inside the suite had fallen. He pressed his ear to the door and listened. Another thud, then the sound of scuffling. And finally a muffled cry.

His adrenaline pumping, he slid the plastic key down the lock and opened the door.

“Audrey?” he called to her. “Are you all right?”

Deadly silence.

Then suddenly a loud, terrified scream.

CHAPTER FOUR

DOM ’S TRAINING as a SEAL told him how to handle the situation, despite being emotionally involved. And damn it all, he was emotionally involved with Audrey Perkins whether he wanted to be or not.

The suite lay in darkness, which meant the curtains had been closed to prevent outside light from entering the area. Someone had entered the suite, prepared it for an attack and waited for Audrey’s return. He could be dealing with a kidnapper, a rapist or a thief, although one of the first two was more likely, unless he had simply walked into the middle of a robbery attempt.

Dom had no way of knowing if he was dealing with one assailant or more. His Glock 30 was in his room in the safe. After making contact with Audrey and finding out she was alone, he had erroneously assumed he wouldn’t need his gun. Besides, if he’d carried his weapon on their date, how could he have explained it to her? But Dom seldom if ever went anywhere without being armed, especially not when he was working. Keeping his back to the wall, he eased down, lifted his pants leg and removed the Beretta 950 Jetfire pistol from the holster strapped to his calf. Many of the Dundee agents used the small, 10 ounce, 4.7 inch handgun as a backup weapon.

Not knowing his enemy, Dom took extra precautions. He had to work under the assumption that the person or persons involved posed a threat to Audrey, that they wouldn’t hesitate to kill her, especially if this was a kidnapping gone wrong.

When he made his way from the entrance foyer and into the parlor/dining room of the luxurious suite, his Beretta in hand, he heard a loud, agonized grunt, then saw a flash of movement.

Something or someone came barreling toward him, followed by a bulking dark shadow.

Audrey ran straight into him, her breathing labored. “He has a knife,” she whispered. “He’s trying to kill me.”

Before Dom had time to respond, the big, brutal man came at him, but just as Dom aimed the Beretta, the guy rushed past him and Audrey and ran straight for the open door.

“Was he alone?” Dom asked, halfway into the foyer.

“Yes, as far as I know,” she replied.

“You stay here,” he told her, then headed out the door.

“Don’t go. Don’t leave me alone,” she called after him.

Dom hesitated for a split second, but when he saw the man disappear inside the elevator, he turned around to face Audrey.

“I’ll call hotel security,” Dom said, then flipped on a light switch and walked over to the phone in the parlor. “They should be able to catch him when he exits the elevator, if he stays on the elevator.”

“Don’t call security. Please.” Audrey grabbed his wrist. “Don’t call anyone.”

“Why not?”

“I’m not hurt. I don’t think anything is missing. And even so, I really don’t want the publicity. If you notify the hotel, they’ll call in the police, then the newspapers will get wind of it and Audrey Bedell Perkins will be front page news tomorrow. The press will hound me.”

Dom intensely disliked the idea of letting a criminal get off scot-free. It went against everything he believed in, everything he’d fought for as a SEAL, everything he stood for as a Dundee agent.

“Please, Dom.”

He replaced the phone on its base. “What’s really going on? I thought you said he was trying to kill you. Why would you want a man like that to go free?”

“Maybe I overreacted.” Her voice quivered slightly. “I’m not sure. He took me by surprise. He grabbed me from behind. He had a knife. He held it to my throat.”

“How did you get away from him?”

“Basic survival techniques. I bit his hand that he held over my mouth, then I elbowed him in the groin. Luckily, I hit the right spot.”

Dom looked at her in a whole new light. The pampered heiress had defended herself. She’d fought off an attacker like a spunky streetwise woman would have done. “Where did you learn to fight dirty?”

She exhaled deeply. “Look, there are things I can’t tell you. Not yet. Not until I talk to…my father. I need to go back to Chattanooga.”

Dom eyed her quizzically. “I can take you home right now. I have a plane at my disposal.” He lifted his leg, eased up the cuff of his pants and put the Beretta in the calf holster.

She stared at him, obviously puzzled by his comment.

“Look, I think we should come clean with each other,” he said. “I’ll go first, then you.”

“What?” She stared at him, obviously puzzled by his suggestion. “I don’t understand.”

“My name is Domingo Shea and I did come to Palm Beach on business. I work for the Dundee Private Security and Investigation Agency, based in Atlanta. Edward Bedell hired me to locate his missing daughter. I came to Palm Beach to find you.”

“Oh.”

He couldn’t bear the look of disappointment on her face. “But what happened between us had nothing to do with—”

“You had an ulterior motive for being so nice to me.”

Dom grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her gently. “I came here on an assignment and expected to find a cold, calculating, spoiled bitch, but you don’t come across as any of those things. I was nice to you because I like you. I like you a little more than I should, but once I spoke to your father and told him you were okay, he said fine, just have her call me. Assignment over.”

“And that’s all I was to you, an assignment.”

“No, damn it.” He eased his hands from her shoulders, down her arms and then released her. “That’s what I’m trying to explain. I became emotionally involved and I shouldn’t have. Right now, a potential murderer is getting away because instead of calling hotel security the way I should have, I’m sitting here with you. But once you explain exactly what’s going on with you, why somebody tried to kill you and you don’t want me to go after them, I’m calling the police.”

“No!”

“Why the hell not?”

“Please, believe me when I tell you that if you’ll just take me back to Chattanooga, straight to my father—”

“Why are you so anxious to go home to dear old dad when you’ve been running away for nearly two weeks now? You know who your attacker was or, at the very least, why he was waiting here for you, don’t you?”

She shook her head. “No, I swear I don’t know who he was or why—” she gulped “—he was waiting here to kill me.”