The Midnight Hour - Brenda Jackson [69]
Drake was about to make a comment about one of the places and glanced over at Tori. She had stretched out across the bed closest to the door and fallen off to sleep. She had put on a robe when the waiter had arrived with their food but had removed it after the man had left. The over-large T-shirt had been sufficient enough in covering most of her… until now. With the way she was lying in bed, too much of her thighs were showing, which equated to way too much temptation.
Crossing the room, he pulled down the covers on the other bed and then picked her up in his arms. She came awake immediately and looked up at him with tired, drowsy eyes. "What are you doing, Drake?"
He smiled as he gazed down at her. "Putting you in bed."
She glared. "I was already in bed."
"Yeah, but the wrong one. I'm the one who's taking the bed closest to the door."
Tori sighed. She knew it would be pointless to argue with him. Besides, she was too tired and sleepy to do so. She hadn't slept in well over twenty hours; more than that if you didn't count the catnaps she'd managed to squeeze in during the time they'd been on the road.
The bed felt wonderful and she curled into her usual sleep position as soon as Drake placed the covers over her. She was too tired to care that he continued to stand next to the bed, staring down at her. The last thing she remembered when she closed her eyes to go to sleep was the feel of his hand as he gently caressed her cheek.
Drake sat at the computer and forced his mind back to what he was doing. He had a map on the screen that showed all the routes they could take to reach Houston, especially back roads. He needed that information in case they needed to get off the interstate at a moment's notice.
He glanced back over to the bed where Tori was sleeping. This was the first time he'd ever seen her sleep. She had token catnaps while he'd been driving and on their last mission together they had taken turns keeping watch. But this was the first time he could actually study her for a long period of time while she was at rest. She had let her guard down and put her trust in him to keep her safe… and he would. He'd lost one woman to the cruelty and craziness of Solomon Cross, but didn't intend to lose another.
He tried to refocus his attention back on the computer map and found it straying back to Tori time and time again. He couldn't help but wonder what deep, dark secret she had that only Hawk knew about, and how was it connected to what was going on? He was trying to be patient but patience wouldn't keep them alive.
He glanced at his watch. It was just past midnight and he needed to get some rest himself. Standing, he rechecked the door and, deciding he wouldn't undress but would sleep on top of the covers, he kicked off his shoes and stretched out on the bed closest to the door, with his pistol within close reach.
"Just what kind of animal you plan to bring down with this?"
The Red Hunter ignored the old man's question as he continued to count out the money he was paying for the tranquilizer gun. It was a high-powered cartridge-fired rifle; a special type of weapon that had a unique side lever where darts could be loaded and unloaded from the chamber with ease. By adjusting the power on the control valve, close shots could be taken without injury to the animal… or in this case, the humans.
Cross wanted Drake and the woman alive and he intended to give the man what he asked for. Like he'd told Cross, overtaking two seasoned, highly skilled agents without fuss wouldn't easy, and he would have to find them first But he hadn't earned the name the Red Hunter for nothing. And he preferred working alone although he had reinforcements in the way of contacts if he needed them. He enjoyed tracking people down. Before joining