Page 75 of Jacques

“I’m glad to hear that,” he said with a smile.

“But it did prove something to me,” she said with a crooked smile. “It proved that I can make love with the right man. I wanted to be with you and still do.”

“Good,” he said. “Because I want to be with you. In fact, I can’t get enough of you.” He bent to kiss her. “I have plans that include you.”

“Like making more jambalaya?”

“And so much more.”

A knock sounded on the door. “It’s time,” Remy called out.

Jacques grabbed their bags. “Ready?”

She nodded. “Ready.”

They’d just punched the button for the elevator when an alarm went off.

A loud, pulsing sound and flashing lights filled the corridor.

Jacques winced, his shoulders stiffening. The blaring noise reminded him too much of air raid sirens right before explosions.

Danny slipped her hand into his. “Fire alarm.”

Remy spoke into his phone. “We’re on the tenth floor. The fire alarm just went off. We’ll take the stairs.

A voice came over the loudspeakers, instructing guests to take the stairs, not the elevators, and to evacuate quickly but carefully.

“Chief, stick with me,” Beau said to Caleb.

Remy led the way to the stairwell and was the first through the door.

Jacques turned to Danny. “Stay with me.”

“That’s the plan,” she said and followed him into the stairwell. Beau and Caleb were next. Anton brought up the rear.

They moved quickly but carefully downward, floor after floor.

So far, he didn’t smell smoke or feel the heat of a fire. He’d been in other hotels when fire alarms had been set off accidentally, requiring all guests to leave the building.

On the sixth floor, the stairwell door opened. Remy stood ready to defend.

A man stepped through, carrying a little girl in purple pajamas, a stuffed unicorn under her arm. A little boy followed, clutching a fluffy stuffed dog. He looked over his shoulder at his mother, eyes wide with fear. “Is there going to be a fire?” he asked.

“I don’t know,” his mother said. “We’re going outside just to be safe. They’ll tell us more when we get there. We need to keep moving.”

They continued down the stairs.

A door opened on the floor below. More guests filed through, their footsteps clanging on the metal stairs, their voices echoing off the concrete walls.

Remy moved ahead of the family. He sent a text back to Jacques. Their transport vehicles had to move to let the fire department through. Remy was going down to coordinate with Collins and find their alternate pickup location.

At each floor, more people crowded into the stairwell. On the third floor, they caught up with an elderly couple. The man held onto the rail with one hand and his cane with the other. A silver-haired woman stayed beside him, taking one painfully slow step at a time.

Everyone slowed behind them. When they finally reached ground level, the stairwell opened into a short hallway that led to the north lobby.

A security guard directed people toward the exit.

Beau moved up to Jacques. “I’m taking Caleb through.”