Free Escaping Vegas (The Inheritance Book 1) by Danielle Bourdon Page A

She found it difficult to reply. Cole, whose warm hand still enveloped her own, came to her rescue.
    “It’s more than a break-in, Officer. They decimated the place.”
    “Ransacked it?”
    “Yes. Broke dishes, punched holes in the bedroom walls and the closet, ripped into cushions, that kind of thing.”
    Madalina rubbed her forehead again, as if that might reduce the sting of tears. Or the growing headache behind her eyes.
    “Do you have any idea why someone would want to do that, Miss . . .”
    “Maitland. My name is Madalina Maitland. And no, I don’t know why it happened. As far as I can tell, I haven’t upset anyone, I don’t owe anyone money, and I haven’t had a bad experience with customers or other owners of businesses near mine.”
    “What type of business do you have?”
    “A women’s clothing boutique in town. We’ve never had any trouble.”
    “You say we—do you have a manager or a co-owner?” the female cop asked.
    “I do. She’s my best friend, Lianne. We haven’t had a falling-out or anything,” Madalina said.
    “Do you know if she has had a run-in with anyone regarding your business? Someone who might be targeting her, but targeting you, too, simply because you’re in business together?”
    Madalina hadn’t thought of that. “Honestly, I don’t know. I haven’t heard Lianne say anything. She’s not the sort to start trouble. I’ll call her in the morning and ask.”
    The other two officers exited the house, flashing their lights over the yard.
    “Yeah, it’s really bad. There isn’t anything left in one piece in the whole place,” one officer reported.
    The female cop said, “Let’s go over it again, Miss Maitland.”

    Madalina was relieved to climb into the Jaguar with Cole. The questioning had taken more than an hour—an hour of tension and looking over her shoulder and fretting that it was taking too long to leave. The Chinese agents were going to show up, she just knew it, and all of it would be for naught.
    “You did great,” Cole said, sliding into the front seat. He started the car and drove away, minding his speed with the cops still parked in front of the house, but also wasting no time. He checked the mirrors often.
    “Thanks. I have no idea what to do now.” It was early, perhaps four in the morning, and she felt gritty-eyed and exhausted. She didn’t know what to expect at any given turn, where the threat would pop up next. Cole, taking the opportunity of evading the assailants seriously, performed several maneuvers with the car to aid in ditching a tail. He sped into turns, cut it close at the stoplights, and veered into an alley at the last minute.
    “Why don’t we hit a hotel? If I’m confident that we’re not being followed, we can rent a room and get some sleep. You don’t have to go to work, right?” he asked.
    “No. I’m supposed to be in Vegas for another few days. Lianne won’t expect me back for a while.” She checked her side mirror often. As tired as she was, she wouldn’t let her guard down until she was positive they were safe. And she surely wasn’t so tired that she misunderstood Cole’s singular use of room. Not plural. Maybe he thought it was safer to stay together, just in case the agents somehow discovered their location. And it made sense, from a defense point of view.
    “There’s a hotel about a quarter mile down on the right,” she said, indicating the street he’d just turned onto. “Do you think they’ll expect us to do that and check the parking lots for your car?”
    “I think they’ll expect us to get farther away from the house than that. I haven’t seen a tail at all yet, so we should be safe enough.” Cole pulled into the Whittier Inn and parked next to a long SUV. “This should block the car from the street. It’ll help, anyway, if they do scan the lot.” He tucked his gun into the back of his jeans and covered it with the thick material of his shirt.
    “Good thinking.” Madalina disembarked