Page 29 of Cast in Shadow
Soon after, Aggie was hunkered down under a pile of linens, being wheeled toward the service elevator. She felt a slight twinge of guilt, but really, it was Zeke who’d planted the idea in her head when he’d shoved those sunglasses at her.
When the linens lifted, Aggie was in the basement of the hotel, and her rescuer was speaking rapidly to a man. The man cast several looks Aggie’s way, and then he nodded and beckoned Aggie toward a door.
“Go. He will see you safely away from here,” the woman encouraged.
Aggie thanked her and followed the man. He handed her a jacket and cap, then ushered her into a service van. They drove out of the parking lot without incident.
“Thank you,” Aggie said when he dropped her off at a shopping center several miles away.
She removed the jacket and cap and handed them back to him with heartfelt thanks. She wasn’t sure he spoke any English, but he nodded and tried to shove some cash into her hand. She didn’t accept it, but she did appreciate the effort.
Aggie took a deep breath and disappeared into the ebb and flow of the people moving to and from the shops, pulling anonymity around her like a favorite cloak.
She found an organic café with free Wi-Fi and ordered herself a hot cacao with coconut milk and some peanut butter energy bites. Then, she sat down in the corner and pulled out her laptop. Now that she was back on familiar footing, it was time to figure out her next move.
Chapter Thirteen
Zeke
A growl rose up from deep within Zeke’s chest as he took in the empty room. He’d underestimated her.
He’d thought she was truly ill.
He’d thought he’d be considerate and eat his breakfast in the nearby restaurant since even the mention of food had turned her pale complexion green.
He’d thought he’d positioned himself well enough to notice if she somehow tried to slip away.
Clearly, he’d thought wrong.
He verified that her things were gone, then gathered his own. She couldn’t have gotten far. He hadn’t been out of the room that long.
A knock sounded at the door, followed by a woman’s voice declaring, “Housekeeping.”
She opened the door, hesitating when she saw him standing there with a scowl on his face. She apologized and turned to leave, but he told her it was fine, that he was on his way out.
“Did you happen to see a woman?” he asked. He lifted his hand to his collarbone. “About yay high, brown hair, glasses?”
When she stared blankly back at him, he extracted Aggie’s picture from his wallet and showed it to her.
The woman’s demeanor changed in an instant. Her spine stiffened, her eyes narrowed, and her features hardened. “No see.”
“It’s important.”
The woman started muttering in a foreign language, unaware that it was one he spoke fluently. She called him several nasty things, but they all painted the same picture—that he was a woman-beating piece of shit and should rot in hell.
He couldn’t help but be mildly impressed. The sneaky little hacker had taken his words to heart. She’d played on the woman’s sympathies and somehow enlisted her help to slip away, unnoticed.
Well played, Robin.
Zeke sighed and left the woman muttering obscenities behind him. Knowing exactly how Robin had gotten away wasn’t important. Not when he still had the tracking app for her laptop on his phone.
He stepped into the parking lot and tossed his bag in his latest ride, and then he pulled up the app. Ten miles, north-northwest. Less than twenty minutes away, without traffic.
He put the car in gear and drove away, taking his time. He was in no hurry. The dot hadn’t moved. His lips curled when he thought about the look on her face when she saw him.
He turned into a town center, one with an eclectic mix of shops. The locator signal led him to an organic café tucked back in one of the corners. Zeke chose a parking spot farther away, one with a good view of the entrance, and considered his options.
Going inside wasn’t ideal. All Robin had to do was cause a scene, and with her bruises, she’d be convincing. No, he was better off waiting where he was, then following her when she emerged. Once she was someplace less public, he could reclaim her and be on his way.
