Driving Force

Money wasn’t her goal with the Halverson woman. Answers were worth much more to her. Why did she have those coordinates on her wrist? Why did she have a Trinity-knot tattoo? Why had she been detained and tortured in Syria? Why had she been there in the first place?

More than anything...who was she?

All the effort she’d gone to in order to gain access to the gala had been a bust. All she needed was to talk to the Halverson woman and no one else. At this point, she wasn’t going to risk interaction with a single soul other than Halverson. If the woman’s bodyguard hadn’t been so attentive she might have gotten her alone long enough to figure out the puzzle of her existence. Now she was back to square one. Not even square one. The bodyguards would think she had tried to abscond with the rich widow. They wouldn’t let her anywhere near her now, and she still didn’t know if she could trust anyone other than Halverson.

Once she’d made it past the guards, she’d circled the entire building, counting the number of security personnel on the outside at every entry or exit point. The only reason she’d gotten through the first time was she’d gone in as one of the housekeeping staff, with her dress and shoes tucked beneath the uniform she’d pilfered from the back of a laundry van. She’d helped clean rooms, stating she was new.

Eventually, she slipped out of sight and hid in one of the unoccupied rooms until close to time for the gala to begin. She’d showered, dressed and applied the makeup she’d borrowed from one of the rooms. The shoes had belonged to one of the guests at the hotel. Appropriately dressed, she’d found her way down a staff elevator to the kitchen and from there into the ballroom after a majority of the people had already arrived. She’d mixed and mingled as if she belonged until she’d spotted Charlotte Halverson.

Thankfully, by the time she’d made it to DC, her bruises had faded enough that makeup covered them. The swelling around her eye had all but disappeared.

Now, standing outside the Mayflower Hotel, frustration ate a hole in her gut. The only keys she had to her identity were the tattoo on her wrist and the woman inside, and she was stuck outside. Without a coat, the cool air wrapped around her, raising gooseflesh on her skin. She wrapped her arms around her middle and stared at the Mayflower Hotel wishing she had one more chance. Just one more chance was all she needed with Charlotte Halverson.

THE WOMAN IN the black dress haunted Gus. All the way around the massive hotel he searched the shadows for her. Damn the security guard for stopping him from capturing her and getting answers about why she’d tried to take Charlie.

Did she want to take Charlie away and hold her for ransom? Had the Halversons wronged her or someone in her family, requiring retribution? Was there another reason she’d tried to get close to Charlie, to give her something, tell her something?

Mostly, he couldn’t forget the brown-black eyes filled with mystery and a touch of sadness.

Who was she?

Once again, he had to run the gauntlet of the security personnel at the front door and the woman holding the tablet with the list of names of persons who were allowed inside.

Gus wondered if the woman in black was on that list. If not, how had she managed to get past the security personnel? And if she was able to get past them, who else had done the same?

That thought made him worry that much more. Once his ID had been compared to the names on the roster, he hurried to find Declan and Charlie.

Making a beeline for the ballroom, he searched the faces, finally finding Declan, who stood with Charlie at the far end of the ballroom. Declan was easy to spot. He was a good head taller than most of the women and many of the men in attendance.

Gus worked his way around the side of the room, refusing to make eye contact with anyone, in case they waylaid him and tried to strike up a conversation. He wasn’t in the mood to talk to strangers. Except maybe the woman in the black dress.

Ten minutes had passed since he’d left Charlie and Declan inside the hotel to chase after the woman who got away.

“Everything okay?” he asked when he finally reached them.

Charlie frowned. “I can’t get that woman out of my mind.”

Gus caught himself short of saying, you and me both, sister. Instead, he nodded. “Did she hurt you in any way?”

“No,” Charlie said, shaking her head. “She kept saying she just needed to talk to me. Something about being the key to who she was.” The older woman’s frown deepened. “There was a certain desperation in her eyes. I should have gone with her.”

Declan touched Charlie’s arm. “We don’t know who she is, or why she felt the need to drag you out of the hotel. For all we know, she could have been on a mission to kidnap you and hold you for ransom.”

Charlie looked up into Gus’s eyes. “I don’t think so. She didn’t hold a gun or knife to my head. I could have shaken free of her grip had I tried hard enough. I truly believe she only wanted to get me alone to talk to me. About what, I can’t imagine. I’ve never seen her before in my life.”

“DO YOU THINK she might claim to be a secret daughter of your late husband?” Declan asked.

Charlie snorted. “I don’t think so. We didn’t have children. John was infertile.” Her lips curled into a sad smile. “He wanted children, but he never could have fathered them. No, the woman couldn’t have been his daughter.” She pinched the bridge of her nose. “I’m getting a headache. Perhaps it’s time for us to leave and let the younger people stay and dance the night away.” She straightened her shoulders and placed her hand on Declan’s arm.

Gus fell in step at her other side.

They’d only gone a few feet when a loud, whining sound penetrated the roar of voices in the ballroom.

Gus tilted his head and listened as the noise continued. “Fire alarm.”

The hotel concierge appeared at the opposite end of the ballroom, carrying a bullhorn. “Ladies and gentlemen. We’re sorry to disturb your evening, but what you are hearing is the fire alarm. We need everyone to leave the building through the closest exit to you.”

Declan pointed to one of the signs to the outside. “This way.” He cupped Charlie’s elbow and led her toward the exit. Gus cupped her other elbow and the two men escorted her out of the ballroom, into a long hallway with a bright red exit sign over the door at the end. In the hallway, the alarm was even louder.

The door at the end of the hallway, like the one he’d chased the woman in the black dress through, opened to the outside.

“Should we go out a door closer to the bulk of the crowd?” Gus suggested.

“No,” Charlie said. “They wanted everyone out in case there really is a fire.”

Gus pushed open the door. Before he stepped out, he looked for the security personnel first. No one stood outside. In fact, the back of the building appeared deserted.

Gus held open the door while Declan led Charlie out of the building.

“Are you guys evacuating?” Mack said into Gus’s earpiece.

“We are,” Declan responded. “We just stepped out of the building at the southeastern corner. We’ll make our way around to the front, coming up the eastern side.”

“We’re on our way to rendezvous with you,” Mack said.

As they rounded the corner of the building, men jumped out of the shadows and surrounded them.

Declan and Gus stepped in front of Charlie.

“We’ve got trouble,” Gus said into his microphone.

“How much trouble?” Mack asked.

“Six deep,” Gus said. Six big burly men, none of whom wore the uniforms of the paid security guards.

Gus braced himself as the men rushed them.

The first one to Gus swung a meaty fist at his head. Gus ducked and slammed his fist into the man’s gut.

The man doubled over but was replaced by the next man behind him.

Gus didn’t let the fact they were outnumbered slow him down. He had to keep even one of them from getting to Charlie.

Declan had his hands full, throwing punches, ducking some and taking a couple to the jaw. The men they were fighting were trained combatants. For every punch Gus threw, they hit back with equal aim and dexterity.

While Gus and Declan fought off two each, the fifth and sixth men circled around them and grabbed Charlie’s arm.

She screamed, kicked and cursed, doing her best to protect herself. But she was one woman. The two men were bigger, stronger and meaner than anything she could offer in the way of a fight.