The Midnight Hour - Brenda Jackson [51]
Tori opened the car door and got out. Glancing around as she followed Drake to the hotel's door. She was glad they didn't have to go through the lobby to get to his room but were able to gain entrance through one of the side doors.
"When we leave we'll continue to head east, making sure we aren't followed," Drake said. "We're going to ditch your car in San Jose. Hawk has arranged to have another vehicle waiting for us at a hotel there for us to make the switch."
Tori shook her head. Hawk had retired yet he was placing himself at the head of this investigation and a part of her appreciated that fact. When it came to his agents, present or former, he did anything and everything to protect their backs. Until they figured what was going on, he would be the lone person they trusted. "Do you know who was in that vehicle and why they were after me?"
"No," Drake answered immediately, "I don't have a clue. It was definitely a man, though. When I turned on the high-powered headlights, I saw that much. White male, blond hair, crew cut."
He glanced up the hallway and met Tori's gaze. She knew the routine. From here on out they would not be taking any chances. In unison they both drew their guns as Drake slowly opened his hotel room door and when she made a move to step ahead, he moved swiftly in front of her, searching the room first to the right and then to the left. Tori did the same.
Closing the door behind him and locking it, he quickly checked the bathroom. When he returned Tori was standing in the middle of the room glaring at him. A part of him wanted to cross the room and kiss that damn glare right off her face. "What's your problem?" he asked, putting his gun back into his holster.
"I think we need to get one thing straight, Drake."
"What?"
"I don't need a guard dog."
He leaned against the dresser and stared at her. He knew she was referring to how he had opened the hotel room and entered the room before she did. He had to remember that she didn't like playing the part of a weakling in any situation and liked kicking butt as much as he did. At the moment she was pissed. Too bad. Whether she liked it or not he was her guard dog, but now was not the time to tell her that.
"I'll keep that in mind," he finally said, just to appease her.
"If Hawk sent you all the way from South Carolina then-"
"Hawk didn't send me."
She lifted a brow. "But you said that-"
"I said that he called me. I was already here in Oakland when he reached me."
She eyed him. "You were here? Why?"
Drake smiled. "I came to see you." As if that one sentence explained everything, he then said, "Make yourself comfortable while I repack."
Tori shook her head. He had come to see her? She then began chewing on her lower lip, not ready to ask him why. She sighed as she watched him pack. He evidently knew where they were going but she didn't have a clue. "Where're we going, Drake?"
"To my home."
Tori blinked at him, not sure she'd heard him correctly. "In the mountains in Tennessee?"
Drake straightened his frame and raised a brow before answering, "Yes." He studied her features for a few moments, then asked. "How did you know my home was in the Tennessee Mountains, Tori?"
CHAPTER 7
Ah hell, Tori thought as she scrambled for an answer to Drake's question while pretending to get something out of her shoulder bag. Anyone who worked for the Agency knew that an agent's permanent place of residence was a top secret, even with someone like Drake, whose family had owned an entire mountain. The government had pretty much established bogus paperwork to protect Drake's anonymity so Cross could never find the exact location of Drake's family home.
"I think Hawk mentioned it a while back. He said he'd been your colonel when you were in the marines. It was right after you pulled that stunt in Russia. Everyone thought you were crazy to climb those mountains the way you did to rescue that other agent, but Hawk said climbing mountains was a piece of cake for you since you'd grown up in the Tennessee