Page 26 of France Face-Off
“How did it go in the summit meeting?”
Alex filled him in on the discussion between the attendees and how Petrov and the German left the room.
Daniel shook his head. “A much more interesting morning than I had.”
“Did you have a chance to look over the video again?” Alex asked.
“I did.” Then he shook his head. “I didn’t find out anything different.”
“Did you learn anything else about the attendees?”
“I did some web surfing, but nothing seemed to indicate a motive for murder.”
“Well, I guess I'd better get back to the summit. Are you still okay with me leaving my things here?”
Daniel nodded. “And I’m still okay with you staying here again tonight.”
“Thank you,” she said. “Can we discuss it later after the summit meetings and dinner?”
He nodded. “The offer remains open. I won’t withdraw it, unless you turn out to be a real assassin.”
She gave him a stiff smile. “I take it you’re a man who likes to take risks?”
“Calculated risks,” he said.
“I guess we’ll see each other at dinner.”
“Before you go,” Daniel said, “let me check the corridor.” He went to the door, glanced through the peephole then opened the door just a little so that he could look out. Finally, he held the door wide. “All clear.”
Alex quickly walked down the hallway to the elevator. Once inside, she descended to the second floor, where she’d get off and take the stairs the rest of the way. She held her breath as she neared the third floor. If Natalya stepped in at that point, she had a lie ready to tell the woman. Her story would be that she’d stepped into the elevator moments before, thinking it was going down and it went up instead. She’d gone up to the sixth floor and back down. Thankfully, she didn’t have to use the excuse. The elevator didn’t stop, and Natalya didn’t step into the elevator on the third floor.
The short visit with Daniel had managed to calm her. Somehow, she knew if she got in a pinch, he would help her out of it. She didn’t know much else about him, but her instincts told her he was a good guy, even if he wasn’t telling her the whole truth about himself. What male escort was all that concerned about identifying potential assassins?
Chapter 7
As soon as Alex left his room, Striker went after her to make sure she made it back to the summit meetings safely.
She’d taken the elevator down.
Striker took the stairs with the intention of running all five flights of steps. When he reached the second floor, the stairwell door opened, and he almost ran into Alex as she pushed through.
She stopped, her eyes widening until she realized it was him. She released her breath, her lips curving into a broad smile.
That smile hit Striker square in the chest. “Wow. You should smile more often.”
Her smile faded. “You have to have something to smile about.”
A grin spread across his face. “I guess that means seeing me made you smile.”
Her lips twisted into a wry grimace. “Seeing someone on the stairwell, who isn’t the man in the black ski mask, is much more pleasing than running into him again.”
“I’m still taking it as a compliment,” he said.
Her brow wrinkled. “Are you headed for the summit meetings?”
“No,” he said. “I was making sure you got there. I take it getting off on the second floor was another of your diversionary tactics.”
She nodded.
