Page 7 of Wanted
He was coming for her.
She’d always known that he was hunting her. She’d even known that one day he might catch her. She just hadn’t known what he intended to do if that ever happened.
Now she knew.
She pulled the robe together at her throat, even though her body felt hot beneath it.
Now she knew.
CHAPTER TWO
In the end, it took Reno three days to find her. Three indescribably long days. By the time the call came in, he was in a near panic that he’d made a huge mistake in letting her go.
“Damn local boys,” he muttered as he drove down the interstate.
He’d expected them to track her down more quickly. Strangers couldn’t hide very easily in small towns, and an unfamiliar car would ordinarily attract attention. Somehow, though, the Conrad Police Department hadn’t been able to spot her for almost half a week.
Conrad!
He still couldn’t believe it. For three days, he’d been cooling his heels in Gilroy, and she’d been hiding in the next town down the road.
He took the exit and drove slowly down Main Street. Her car had been spotted behind a motel called the Waterbury Inn. The neon sign wasn’t hard to find; the pink was almost blinding. It forced him to squint as he scanned the parking lot, but he didn’t see her car. Turning at the stoplight, he drove along slowly until he found the dark alley that ran behind the place.
There it was.
He pulled into the alley and parallel-parked behind her car, effectively blocking her exit. He made a tsking sound as he got out of his sedan.
“You made a mistake pulling in so close to that tree,” he said softly.
The gravel crunched loudly beneath his feet, so he moved onto the soft grass. He didn’t want to spook her now. Carefully, he rounded the building until he found Room One. The lights were off, but the pink neon let him see through the slit between the window shades.
She wasn’t there.
But her bag was. It sat, ready to go, on the edge of the bed. She couldn’t be far.
Was she be getting a bite to eat? Making some money? He turned around and looked over the area. If she hadn’t taken her car, she must have walked. Right across the street was another neon sign, this one blue and screaming “Grinders.” A strip club. His brow furrowed.
“Maybe.”
Down the street was an all-night diner.
“More likely.” He started down the street.
Ten minutes later, he was back at the strip club.
He looked over the place with a practiced eye. What the hell had she gotten herself into this time? This was no “gentlemen’s club.” It was a sleazy, down-low hump-and-pump… but it would be a way to make a lot of money fast. His blood pressure went up ten points just imagining her working here.
Putting his palm firmly on the wooden door, he pushed his way inside—and froze where he stood. A blonde bombshell was on stage with her back turned to the audience.
His heart pounded. No way. It couldn’t be. She’d waitress first. She wouldn’t get up on that stage.
His divining rod said otherwise.
It was her.
Lust hit Reno in the gut like a two-by-four. It was Danielle, all right, and all she was wearing was an impossibly high pair of stiletto heels and a tight little G-string. His gaze was pulled to the spot where the thong disappeared into the crevice between her buttocks, and he forgot to breathe.
Somebody bumped into him as they made their way out the door, and he stepped to the side. Air rushed into his lungs, but he couldn’t take his gaze off her. She was absolutely mesmerizing. He watched in fascination as her sleek hips rocked to and fro, muscles clenching and releasing to the beat of the music.
