Page 40 of The Scenic Route
“We might get to tackle some guys,” she said in a wheedling tone, as if offering him a treat. When the corner of his mouth kicked up in a partial smile, she felt like she’d won a prize.
“Fine.” He reached above his head in a full-body stretch, and she allowed herself to stare for a solid second before forcing her feet to move to the bathroom. Whoever invented the term “eye candy” had to have been thinking of a shirtless Bennett.
***
An hour later, Felicity sipped her take-out coffee and groaned. “We might as well have stayed in bed longer.”
He gave her a sideways look, the one that lately she was finding much too endearing.
Hiding her smile against the lip of her coffee cup, she eyed the old pickup parked several rows in front of them. They’d paid for a day of parking in the tattered hotel’s ramp and spent the first forty-five minutes searching for their skip’s pickup. Now, they stared at the parked Ford and waited.
“Stupid security cameras,” Felicity mumbled, glaring at the ceiling-mounted electronics. She would’ve loved to break into the pickup to search it, but that was guaranteed to send security running, and staking out Clint and Dino would be hard to do from the inside of a Vegas jail cell. Still, the windowless hard-shell topper had a beast of a lock on it, which meant it was almost guaranteed to contain something interesting.
The minutes ticked by, turning into hours. They took turns watching while the other one went on foot to get snacks and use the bathroom at the diner next door to the hotel. Seeing Clint and Dino’s hotel and the scruffy area around it made her appreciate their wonderful not-honeymoon suite at Ronan’s. As afternoon faded into evening, Felicity started to wonder if Clint and Dino had dumped the pickup here. She cringed at the thought.
“How long ago did you work for Ronan?” she asked between chewing carrot sticks, trying to distract herself from all the possible ways this stakeout could go wrong.
One shoulder lifted in a half shrug. “About two years ago.”
“You investigated his casino employees?”
He gave a short nod.
“Did you go undercover?” She bit a carrot stick in half with relish as she thought about how fun investigating in a casino could be. “Maybe as a high roller who likes blackjack?”
This time, he combined his sideways look with a slight eye roll, making her grin around her carrot.
“Just saying. You could’ve had some fun with it.”
He just shrugged, as if he didn’t understand the concept of fun.
“Who was the thief?” When he paused, she clarified, “Not their name, just the position. I’m writing the screenplay in my head. It’s a blockbuster.”
“Wasn’t an employee,” he said, just when she thought he was going to keep her hanging. “His partner.”
She felt her eyes widen. “Business partner or romantic partner?”
“Both.”
“Nooooo.” Her head fell back against the seat. “Ronan’s a sweetheart. He deserves so much better, and I’m not just saying that because he’s letting us stay in his not-honeymoon suite.”
Although she expected Bennett to stiffen up, he actually gave her a half smile and said, “He does deserve better.”
Something about the way he looked at her made Felicity’s face warm. She mentally scolded her traitorous cheeks, telling them that there was absolutely no reason to be getting all flustered by a considerate, caring Bennett, but it didn’t do any good.
To her great relief, the elevator opened, and the very men they wanted to see strode toward their pickup. Felicity went still, impatiently waiting as she watched Clint and Dino walkacross the parking ramp. Once they turned toward their pickup, showing her their backs, Felicity put a hand on her door handle.
“Ready?” she whispered, her heart rate kicking up enough to make her bare her teeth in an anticipatory grin.
He gave her a full-on smile back. “Let’s do some tackling.”
She slipped out of the car, soundlessly closing the door most of the way. Catching Bennett’s gaze, she tipped her head toward a concrete pillar standing between them and their quarry. He gave a slight nod, and they both made their way to it, concealing themselves from the two men.
Felicity peeked around the column. The men were at the pickup, Clint manually unlocking the driver’s door with a key as Dino waited to be let in. Felicity’s leg muscles bunched as she watched for her moment. They’d have to be fast, before security came running and muddled things up. As soon as Dino went to get into the truck, she decided, she’d sprint across the remaining distance and pull him back out and down on the ground.
She poked Bennett, who was peering around the opposite side of the pillar. When he turned to her, eyebrows raised in question, she mouthed, “I’ll grab Dino. You handle Clint.” He nodded again before returning to his surveillance.
Felicity followed suit, watching Clint reach across the cab and pop Dino’s door lock. Just as she burst into a run, the elevator dinged, and Dino whirled to his right to face the opening doors, pulling a black handgun from his waistband that’d been hidden beneath his loose T-shirt.
