Page 17 of France Face-Off
“That would have been kind of hard for you, considering you were with me.”
She nodded. “Which is probably just as well that you disarmed me. If I’d been caught with that knife on my person, I would’ve been the one detained instead of the German Hans Sutter. For that matter, if he’s not released by tomorrow, I won’t have a job. I’m here to translate for him.”
“How did the attacker break into your room?” Daniel asked.
“He broke the window on my balcony’s French door so that he could unlock it.”
“And you just ran out of the room?” he asked.
She shook her head. “No, I charged him and knocked him over the balcony, but he hung on.”
Daniel grinned. “The guy I saw in the hallway was no lightweight.”
Alex stopped pacing and stared at him, her gaze going from his head to his toes. “He was probably about your size.”
“I’m impressed,” Daniel said.
“I’d have been more impressed if he’d have fallen all the way to the ground. My room was on the third floor.”
“Not the seventh?” Daniel cocked an eyebrow.
Alex’s eyes narrowed. “You followed me?”
He shrugged. “I might have. Do you always go up in the elevator before you go down?”
She shrugged. “A girl has to be careful. It doesn’t pay to let somebody follow you back to your room.”
“Apparently, somebody found out where you were staying. I can’t imagine anyone breaking into a random room.”
Alex shook her head. “Me either.”
“Which leads us back to the question, why you?” He raised his hand. “And yes, it could have been Petrov being embarrassed by a woman. But I get the feeling that you’re not telling me something I should know. Who are you really?”
“I told you…I’m an interpreter.”
“An interpreter who carries a knife and can flip a full-grown man over her shoulder. Right,” Daniel said with a snort. “In what language training school do they teach that?”
“A girl has to?—”
“—take care of herself,” he finished. “You don’t have much faith in people, do you?”
“Since my parents’ deaths, I have yet to meet anyone I can trust,” she said.
“And yet, here you are in my room.”
“It was the only place I knew to go on short notice. I’ll be leaving you now,” she said.
“And go where?”
“That’s not for you to worry about.”
“But I will. Look,” he said, “you’re welcome to stay here.” He raised his hands. “I promise not to touch you.” A smirky smile curled one side of his lips. “Unless you want to be touched.”
She pressed her lips together. “Believe me, I don’t want you to touch me. I should go. I’ve already imposed on you too much.”
He waved toward the door. “Then go on. Poke your head out there. He might still be looking for you. Your best bet is to stay put until daylight. Masked men in black don’t usually show up in the daylight. I still think you need to report this to the front desk. How else are you going to explain a broken French door?”
“I’ll worry about that when I check out.” Still, Alex hesitated.
