Hot and Dangerous (Decorah Security) Read online

  Hot and Dangerous

  A Decorah Security Short Story

  By Rebecca York

  Ruth Glick writing as Rebecca York

  Published by Light Street Press

  Copyright © 2012 by Ruth Glick

  Cover art and design by Earthly Charms

  All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, scanning, or other—except for brief quotations in critical reviews or articles, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  More Decorah Security Series Books

  by Rebecca York

  AMBUSHED (a short story)

  CHAINED (a novella)

  DARK MOON (a novel)

  DARK POWERS (a novel)

  TABLE OF CONTENTS

  HOT AND DANGEROUS

  THE END

  PRAISE FOR REBECCA YORK

  ABOUT REBECCA YORK

  BOOKS BY REBECCA YORK

  HOT AND DANGEROUS

  It should have been a perfect afternoon in paradise, yet Jenna Brockhurst sensed something unsettling in the air as she stepped onto the marble terrace of the tropical resort.

  A gentle breeze played through her long blond hair and the gauzy shirt she wore over her bikini top and shorts. Raising her head, she scanned the terrace, then the wide beach and the bay beyond, where sailboats skimmed across the blue water of Honeycomb Bay.

  Was she looking for danger? Or looking for him? The lean, dark-haired guy with the broad shoulders, the shadow of a beard where he hadn’t shaved in a few days, and eyes so dark they were almost black, except for the touch of fire in their depths. The same guy who radiated a leashed power that made her want to run. Toward him or away? She wasn’t exactly sure. He’d met her gaze that first night in the resort’s elegant dining room where they’d both been eating alone at separate tables. In those first seconds of eye contact, she felt a hot shiver go through her. She was sure he was going to get up and walk over. He was going to ask if he could join her. Instead, he turned back to the slab of steak on his plate and left the baked potato before signing the check and disappearing.

  She took a gulp of her Margarita, trying to swallow her disappointment. She hadn’t come to this tropical resort looking for a hot summer fling, but she hadn’t discounted it, either. And if she was going to pick a bed partner, it would be the guy who had just blown her off.

  Over the next two days, he’d disappeared from view for long stretches of time. Then she’d catch sight of him again. He was always alone, and she had the satisfaction of knowing that he hadn’t rejected her and hooked up with someone else. One time she saw him out on a jet ski. Another time, he was pumping iron in the gym, lifting weights that would have been impossible for most men. And always with a look on his face that warned he didn’t want company. Yet she understood men well enough to know that he was interested in her.

  She heard one of the hotel employees call him Señor Marshall. And from the sign-up sheet in the gym, she knew that his first name was Zack.

  Had he looked at her name, too?

  It was hard to believe he was shy, but maybe that was it. Why not just walk up to him the next time they encountered each other and start a conversation? What was the worst thing he could do? Walk away, then send a letter bomb to her room? Tell her that slim blue-eyed blonds weren’t his type at all?

  She’d come to San Marcos because she’d known that if she didn’t get out of the U.S. and away from her high-pressure medical research job, she was going to snap. Luban, the company where she headed a research team, was pressing for a breakthrough on the cancer vaccine project, and she’d just run into another dead end.

  She needed a break, and if they fired her for a two-week escape, so be it. But she’d had to get out of the lab and into a totally different environment. So far the peaceful atmosphere of the resort had helped to rejuvenate her. The only thing missing was a romantic adventure. Apparently that was too much to ask. There were maybe a hundred guests at El Sol y Enrolla, but few singles, as it turned out.

  Except for Mr. Mysterious Marshall. She’d dreamed about him, sensuous and disturbing fantasies that had left her lying in bed, hot and bothered. Thinking of the dreams brought back the hot sensations that had accompanied them. With a silent curse, she sat down at one of the glass-topped, umbrella-shaded tables that dotted the patio and took a sip of the iced latte she’d brought outside. Perfect as usual. Maybe the cold drink would cool her down.

  Exotic vegetation and flowering shrubs screened the patio. From hidden speakers, the hotel sound system played light sixties rock. Stretching out her legs, she examined their hue. She’d gotten a little tan since she’d been here, but not enough to wipe away her lab-pale skin.

  She had just taken another sip of her latte when a sound that was totally wrong made her head jerk up.

  It came again, and she realized it was gunfire. From automatic weapons.

  Two dark-haired men dressed in black tee shirts and jeans were running across the beach, firing machine guns as they went.

  She heard a scream. Then, to her horror, she saw a man and woman in bathing suits go down, then one of the beach attendants.

  The men with the guns were heading this way, speaking to each other in Spanish. Instinctively, she slid off her chair and crouched behind the low wall that separated the terrace from the sand. Footsteps pounded toward her, and every muscle in her body tensed as she waited for one of the attackers to round the wall and start blasting away at her. But they kept going, into the hotel, where she heard more screams and gunfire.

  Lord, what was happening? She’d heard murmurs of political unrest in San Marcos, but she’d never thought it would reach her out here at this isolated resort.

  Apparently she’d been wrong. She hoped it wasn’t dead wrong.

  oOo

  Zack Marshall stopped in his tracks. He’d just heard the chatter of automatic weapons—from back at the hotel.

  He was on the beach, a quarter mile from the resort, and the smart thing would be to stay the hell away. But he couldn’t run in the other direction. Not when Jenna Brockhurst was back there.

  A wave of panic swept over him. He’d been trying to avoid her, knowing all the time that he was fooling himself into thinking he could walk away from the slender blond woman who drew him as no other female ever had. The moment he’d seen her, he’d known where the two of them were headed. Yet he hadn’t wanted to admit it to himself. Now it might be too late.

  He turned on his heel, running back the way he’d come, every sense alert for danger.

  When he heard more gunfire, he quickened his pace. Before he reached the hotel, he saw Jenna crouching behind the low wall that separated the terrace from the beach._

  His heart leaped. Thank God she was out of the line of fire.

  He wanted to call to her, but that would pinpoint his location—and hers. Instead, he moved cautiously toward her, hoping he could reach her in time.

  oOo

  Every instinct urged Jenna to run for her life. But where?

  El Sol y Enrolla was a small resort on an island off the coast. You could only get here by boat—or small plane.

  Which meant that she couldn’t make for the road and get anywhere except the other side of the island.

  And the road was a bad idea, anyway, because she’d be exposed.

&nb
sp; She thought about the self-defense course she’d taken back home. That was for when a guy came at you on the street armed with a knife or a handgun. Not guys with automatic weapons who shot at anything that moved.

  To prove the point, from inside the hotel, she heard more sounds of carnage. She’d seen two men, but there must be more. Or maybe somebody was shooting back. Either way, horrible images leaped into her mind. How long before the men she’d seen returned and found her out here?

  One thing she did know, she was going to end up dead if she stayed where she was. Cautiously she raised her head above the wall and looked around. The beach was clear, except for the dead bodies. What if she made for the jungle? If she could hide in the vegetation, she might have a chance.

  She said a silent prayer, then crawled to the beach side of the wall. Staying low and keeping a screen of foliage between her and the terrace, she made for the little hut where white fluffy towels were piled for hotel guests.

  As she reached the shelter, someone streaked to her side, and she whirled, prepared to go down fighting.

  But it wasn’t one of the gunmen. It was Zack Marshall, dressed in jeans and a blue polo shirt, coming up beside her.

  “Keep down,” he said, his tone low and hard.

  “I am.” She heard the quaver in her voice, felt herself trembling. She’d been utterly alone. Not now.

  oOo

  Z_ack reached for Jenna, pulling her close. He’d dreamed of holding her, kissing her, and now she was in his arms—under circumstances he never would have imagined.

  He felt her lean into him, saw her close her eyes as he stroked his hand up and down the goose bumps on her arm.

  “What are you doing out here?” she whispered, and he heard the tremble in her voice.

  “I was walking. I heard the gunfire and came back.”

  “You could have headed in the other direction.”

  “I couldn’t leave you here.”

  She raised her head, staring at him.

  He gathered her closer, wishing he could protect her with his body.

  “We’ll get out of this,” he whispered.

  “How?”

  “We’ve got to get to the jungle.”

  She nodded against his chest, then raised her head again.

  “Who are they?”

  “My guess? Opponents of the government who want to make a statement by wiping out a bunch of Americans. Which means we’ve got to make ourselves scarce. Like I said, the jungle is our best option until help arrives.”

  “Does anyone know what’s happening here?”

  “Somebody must have gotten out a call,” he answered, hoping it was true. “The emergency number is posted in every room.”

  Privately he was wondering how long it would be before anyone realized the deadly situation on the island and sent help.

  He cupped his hand around her shoulder, and she reached up to cover his fingers with hers. It felt natural, like they’d known each other for years.

  For long moments, neither one of them moved.

  “Zack,” she murmured.

  He stiffened. “You know my name?”

  “I saw it on the sign-up book at the gym.”

  He nodded. “And I saw yours. Jenna. Too bad we’re meeting this way.”

  oOo

  Jenna wanted to ask if they would have met at all under other circumstances, but she kept the question to herself.

  Zack looked around the side of the towel stand and gestured. “The gazebo’s about thirty yards away. We’ll make that our next stop.”

  “What about the attackers?”

  “If we’re lucky, they’re busy inside the hotel.”

  Busy. She didn’t want to think about what they might be doing there.

  Instead, she switched her attention to the layout of the grounds. The gazebo was on the lawn, closer to the hotel—and the gunmen. But there wasn’t any other cover.

  “Okay.” She’d let him take charge because she had no idea what else to do.

  “I’ll go first. If I make it, you follow me. Keep low.”

  She winced at the way he put it, but she told herself that if anyone was going to make it, he would.

  “Now.”

  Her heart leaped into her throat as she watched him dash across the open space between her hiding place and the white gazebo surrounded by hibiscus bushes.

  When he reached the little building without any gunfire, she breathed out a sigh of relief.

  Then he turned and motioned to her, and she took several deep breaths before starting out. Following his example, she ducked low, running flat out for the back of the shelter, tumbling into Zack Marshall’s arms. He gathered her close, sliding his hands up and down her back and shoulder. She had wanted to be this close to him and never expected it would happen. Now it felt like the most natural thing in the world to raise her face to his.

  Their lips were so close. She could have kissed him. Wanted to kiss him. Out of gratitude or because the danger was heightening her emotions? She saw from the look in his eyes that his thoughts were traveling on the same path.

  But instead of kissing her, he raised his head and looked toward the jungle. “We’re not safe here. Got to get into the trees.”

  Now they had only twenty yards to safety. She hoped it was safety.

  “This time, it’s better if you go first,” Zack whispered. “I’ll keep guard.”

  Her heart pounding, she took off toward the jungle, saying a prayer of thanks as she plunged into the darkness under a grove of low palms.

  She’d made it!

  She expected Zack to follow, but when she peeked out from behind a tree, he wasn’t there.

  Oh Lord, what had happened to him? Had he changed his mind about following her? Was he leaving her here to fend for herself?

  When she heard an explosion of gunfire, she went rigid. As her eyes searched the expanse of the lawn, she saw one of the gunmen moving slowly toward the jungle, gun in hand, and she knew he must have seen her wild dash into the underbrush.

  She froze. Should she run—or stay? Then she saw something so out of place that at first she couldn’t believe her eyes. A gray shape was moving rapidly across the lawn, following the man with the gun. It was a large dog or maybe a wolf, although she’d never heard of wolves in San Marcos.

  As she watched, she knew the moment when the gunman realized there was something behind him. He whirled, the weapon aimed at the animal.

  When he fired, Jenna screamed. But the wolf was already in motion, taking a giant leap above the gun barrel and coming down on the invader. The man tried to fight him off, but the animal continued the fierce attack, biting and mauling him.

  The man’s struggles grew weaker. When he finally went still, the wolf stepped away, looking down at the attacker as though considering his next move. Then, to her astonishment, it came back and pulled the gun from the man’s hands, dragging the weapon toward the jungle before turning and racing away.

  For long seconds she stood frozen, wondering if she had really witnessed the violent scene and the aftermath, but the gunman was still lying on the lawn where the wolf had left him.

  She was still trying to come to grips with that, when she heard the crackle of foliage behind her. Her heart pounding, she turned and saw Zack coming toward her.

  Wide-eyed, she stared at him.

  “Where were you?”

  “I saw the gunman and ducked back.”

  “Did you see the . . . wolf?” she asked in a strangled voice.

  “Yeah. When I saw him go after the guy, I stayed where I was until the fight was over.”

  She nodded, wondering if his explanation really dovetailed with the facts. But what else could it be?

  “They have wolves in San Marcos?”

  He shrugged. “Maybe they’re not native, but they could have been brought here.”

  “But why did he attack?”

  “Maybe he’s trained to go after a man with a gun.”

  “Maybe,”
she answered slowly, wondering if her mind was playing tricks on her. Yet it wasn’t just her. Zack had seen the animal, too.

  “We’d better get out of here,” he muttered. “Before they come looking for the guy—or us.” Knitting his fingers with hers, he led her farther into the vegetation, the tall trees and dense underbrush closing in around them. The temperature was cooler here than down at the beach, yet she felt heat gathering between her and the man who walked a little ahead of her, moving branches and vines out of her way.

  To take the focus off the two of them, she asked, “You think they checked the hotel registry to find out how many people are here?”

  “They could have.”

  They kept going, every step putting distance between themselves and the scene of carnage back at the resort.

  oOo

  Beside Zack, Jenna was breathing hard. He stopped, watching her look looked around at the unfamiliar setting.

  “They carved the resort out of the jungle,” she murmured.

  “Yeah. Lucky for us.” Zack slung an arm around her shoulder. “It’s all right. We’re going to be all right.”

  “Maybe not,” she answered. “I could have been killed in the first few minutes, if you hadn’t come along. And then there was that wolf,” she added in a shaky voice.

  What did she really think about the wolf? Zack wasn’t prepared to go there yet.

  Instead, he turned her toward him and felt a wave of hot sensations he’d never experienced before, as he pulled her into his arms.

  A few hours ago he might have told himself that the desperate circumstances were jolting up his emotions—his awareness. Now he knew he would have been lying to himself. It was the woman he held in his arms who was affecting him so profoundly.

  With a low growl, he pulled her more tightly into his arms, crushing her breasts against his chest, suddenly overwhelmed by lust. Or maybe need was a more polite word.

  What he called it didn’t matter. Not when he craved this woman in ways that he’d never even imagined.

  She raised her head and stared at him, and he saw the same intense heat he was feeling—mixed with confusion. She didn’t know why she was feeling this way, and he wasn’t going to tell her. Not yet.