Page 79 of Acting on Instinct
She felt too connected to him, and his lies led to her survival.
Still, Kira hoped for something that would take away the sense that all was not as it seemed. She wondered if a pawn could ever transform into the queen or if she’d just be moved around the game board by the people in her life who were willing to sacrifice her to clear a route for some preferred position.
Lying there in the tub, staring at the shiny white tiles, Kira thought she’d be better if she could hear Ty’s voice. She wanted to use him, too, Kira realized. She thought that with him and Rory in the picture, she would be safe.
Kira desperately wanted to feel safe.
This was certainly not the time to think about the possibility of her own personal happily ever after.
Uncle Nadir had sent someone to bring her home.
She knew something. Innocently or not, Kira knewsomething.
The thought burrowed down into her intestines, where it immediately began to ferment.
With the water in the tub turned cold, the tinnitus in her ears ringing and ringing, and the buzz at the tip of her nose about to drive her mad, Kira opened the drain and stood.
After drying herself off, she wrapped herself in a towel and padded into the bedroom to rummage through her suitcase for a change of clothes. Choosing a pair of yoga pants and one of Ty’s oversized T-shirts, Kira realized that she still hadn’t eaten.
She wasn’t hungry, but she didn’t want to wake up with a growling stomach after the kitchen was closed. So she picked up the room service menu. Chewing seemed like a lot. Kira went for comfort food, choosing a grilled cheese sandwich and tomato soup. After placing the call to the kitchen, Kira’s burner phone rang.
She had to laugh at herself, the way her heart jumped into her throat.
Tapping the phone, before Kira had time to say hello, she heard. “It’s Lynx. Gator and I are swinging by to check on you. We’re bringing your album back to you.”
“All done? Did they find anything?” Kira picked up her normal phone from the table and slid it in the side pocket of her yoga pants, so she’d have it handy to pull up Lula’s number, then text her on the burner once she had information about the album.
“We’ll talk about it in person. We’re bringing a friend with us, Steve Finley.”
“Is he with Iniquus?”
“No, he’s a special agent with the FBI. I’m just giving you a heads up that we replaced Houston with a friend of ours,” Lynx said.
“Not pettable, then,” Kira said, aiming for levity. “I’ve just ordered dinner. Should I order something for you three?”
Lynx says, “You go ahead and eat. We already grabbed sandwiches at work. It’ll take a little time to get over there. We’ve got to deal with traffic.”
Kira stood without a thought in her head as she looked out the window at the hotel pool, not yet warm enough for the hotel guests. A few more months, and it would be filled with kids making cannonballs.
And there she stood as if rooted until there was a knock at her door.
Kira looked through the peephole to find one of the hotel staff pushing a trolley.
She focused on the food, the thick slices of sourdough bread fried to a golden brown, the edges dripping with cheese. This was definitely her order.
When Kira pulled the door open, the man identified himself and rolled the trolley in, positioning it in front of the armchair.
Kira handed him a five-dollar bill as he bowed and moved out the door.
He was pulling it to, when she heard other voices in the hall.
Kira plunged forward to shut the door and twist the locks, but before she could get there, two men walked in, dressed in dark suits. A gun was in the first man’s hand, and his finger came to his lips.
The second man moved the do-not-disturb sign into place, then shut and locked the door.
The second man looked at the table where Kira had put her burner phone. He picked it up and put it in his pocket.
“You’ll excuse me,” Kira said, moving to the chair and sitting down, “but my dinner just arrived, and I prefer to eat it hot.” She looked over her shoulder at the room phone and said, “You’re welcome to call for something. The kitchen is pretty fast.”
