Free Moonlight by Lisa Kessler Page B

laptop, no money. I have to go get it, creepy cat man or not.”
    “All right.” He held his hands up in mock surrender and nodded. “But I’m going with you.”
    “Actually, you’re not.”
    His hands dropped and his brow furrowed. “Oh, yes, I am.”
    “I don’t think he knows what you look like, Adam. I don’t think he knew what I looked like either. He bumped into me at the library, and let me go. It was like he needed to match a face with the scent he’d been tracking. That could be our only advantage in this. He knows I knew who Gabe was, and he mentioned I should stay away from wolves, but I’m pretty sure he tracked me to the lake by scent. He didn’t actually see us up on the rock.”
    He thought about it for a minute and met my eyes again. “Why would he leave Gabe at your feet?”
    “I have some hunches, but we need to go get my stuff first.”
    “I’ll drive you back to the hotel, and you get security to take you up to your room to collect your things. Don’t go up there alone, got it?”
    “Got it.”
    Adam dropped me off at the back entrance to the hotel, and then drove away to park at the rear of the lot. While he watched the doors for any sign of a certain someone following me, I went to the front desk to check out and to ask security to escort me up. Being in the heart of Reno’s downtown gambling district, most of the hotels kept armed security on staff, and within five minutes I had a tall security officer walking me to the elevators. His badge read “Joe”—seemed like a perfect security name to me.
    “Which floor, ma’am?”
    Cringing inwardly over the ma’am , I answered. “Fifth floor.”
    He pressed the button and stepped back from the elevator panel. Awkward silence descended as I watched the floor numbers light up. The elevator lurched to a stop at the third floor. I held my breath and waited.
    When the doors opened to reveal a couple with their young son, I let out a sigh of relief. Joe and I stepped off the elevator on the fifth floor, and he followed me to my door. I slid the key card in, waited for the green light to flash, and then twisted the knob. As soon as the door opened, I caught his scent.
    “Wait.” I stopped Joe the security officer. “Someone’s been in here.”
    “How can you tell?” His hand hovered over his Taser.
    I peered inside trying to see if anyone was hiding in my hotel room, but it looked empty.
    Except for a note on top of my computer: You cannot run, Little One .
    I crumpled the paper and packed up my laptop, trying not to let it affect me. He could be watching me right now.
    Why was this “Organization” even fixated on me? They were sparing no expense, sending in a team and now some kind of lone agent to bring me in. And what did he mean about me being a treasure to their kind?
    I had no idea.
    Frustrated and scared, I headed out the back door, relieved to see Adam waiting right at the curb. I tossed my duffel in the backseat before I remembered a bloody body had been back there. I didn’t want to reopen a wound with Adam, so as I climbed into the passenger seat, I glanced over into the back.
    His voice was quiet. “I cleaned out the Jeep while I was at the ranch.”
    I turned around and slid down into my seat. “Sorry. I didn’t think about it when I tossed my bag back there.”
    “It’s fine.”
    But nothing seemed fine about Adam tonight. He drove cautiously through downtown Reno, circling around until I wasn’t sure where we were headed anymore.
    “Are we lost?” I asked.
    “No. But if this guy’s a tracker, I want your scent everywhere. Too many trails for him to follow.”
    “He could be following us right now.”
    “I’ve been watching for that. Unless he can fly, he’s not behind us.”
    Adam finally slowed and pulled into a driveway. A pink driveway.
    “You’re kidding right?” I was looking up at the bright pink towers with neon letters spelling Circus Circus down the sides. “Nothing about this place says