“This the resort?” Sam asked, drawing her head up.
She followed his gaze to a sprawling hotel built in the style of Cape Cod manors. “That’s got to be it. Should we go in and try to call your team?”
“No.”
“Why not?” She sounded crabby, but it was more that she was tired of feeling behind the curve yet again and ready to make something happen.
Sam’s voice took on a consoling tone. “You’re trained and a cool operator under stress, but now you aren’t thinking like someone executing a mission. You want to fix not calling my team. Let that go. We’ll be okay until we find them.” He waited a breath and asked, “Do you still trust me?”
Those five words were leaning toward disappointment.
She’d disappointed him enough. “Of course, I trust you. I just fear seeing Phoebe for a moment and maybe never seeing her again.”
“I understand that. I do, but we didn’t drown, and even though my team hasn’t found us yet, neither has that hit squad.”
“You’re right.” She shoved wet hair off her face and searched the grounds beyond where they stood among trees where undergrowth had been cleared away. Ornate light fixtures on tall metal poles lined the drive to the main building offering enough ambient glow for them to finally see their way without her LED ring.
The silly thing had survived the river when her expensive phone would not have even if Sam had managed to drag that bag to the surface.
Lights inside the elegant structure and shining up at it from outside gave the hotel a magical image for someone arriving at night.
She hadn’t trusted anyone to this level since being around Coop, but she’d been through more with Sam in the last few hours than she had ever experienced with Coop.
Maybe she was done listening to a dead guy and ready to embrace the very alive one at her side. If she had loved Coop, she would never have accepted friendship.
She knew without question she loved Sam and losing him would rip her heart into more pieces than she’d ever put back together again.
He suggested, “Let’s make a wide arc around the front of the building and look for a parking lot. Somewhere that would make sense to meet.”
“Okay.” Hallene followed Sam as he angled them around the three-story structure. Wide steps led to an inviting veranda entrance where some guests sat outside with drinks to enjoy the rainy night by candlelight.
On each side, tiered gardens stepped down and spread out for a stunning view. “Why would anyone meet in a location that had only one way in and out, Sam?”
“Because they have an alternate escape route.”
He’d figured that out before now.
“What would it be?”
“I don’t know for sure without surveilling this location, but if I had to make a meet in a place like this, I would have another way to leave. I’d probably have an ATV plus a helicopter waiting nearby.”
An all-terrain vehicle made perfect sense. She wished they had one.
Sam grabbed her hand and angled his stride more to the right. “This way.”
She had never allowed anyone to lead her around. It had been so long since she’d dated, she couldn’t remember anyone holding her hand. Probably because she would not let them. She’d seen her mother led around by powerful men as nothing more than arm candy.
Sam had not treated her as a tagalong woman. He respected her skills and ability. When he took her hand, his strong fingers reminded her she had a badass partner in this, one who would stick with her to the end.
She only hoped the end would be with him still alive.
Stepping carefully since her ring was now turned off, she kept an eye out for any threat coming at them.
No parking lot had appeared on the left side of the building or beyond the circular entrance where a private tour bus had parked to the side.
Sam kept moving like he knew exactly where he was going.
She had to train harder and learn to look at a situation the way he did. Train her people who hunted children so they would be sharper and safer. Thinking back on what Sam had said about a new threat chasing her, she whispered, “How did this hit squad find us?”
