“Baker,” I answered quietly. Yeah…like they could hear me from the other building.
“Ready to be some bait?” Landon asked. “There’s movement and flashing from the apartment across the way. There may not be a connection, but I’m thinking there is. I want to try and lure them out. How do you feel about a nice, lonely walk on the beach?”
I felt sick to my stomach. I needed more time with Seth. I also knew now wasn’t the time to be worried about my needs. “Walk on the beach. Got it. What do I tell Seth?” I’d been pacing back and forth in the living room, but then started in the direction of the bedroom.
Landon answered with a string of curse words. “He’s going to be a problem, I’m afraid. He won’t be comfortable with sending you down by yourself. He can be an overprotective bastard at times.” After a few seconds, Landon said, “Take his phone into the bedroom and put it on the nightstand next to him. I’m going to send you down first and have him follow within fifteen minutes. Trust me; Seth won’t let anything happen to you.”
Standing outside the bedroom door, I countered with, “Yeah, well maybe I won’t let anything happen to Seth. Ever think about that?” Seth was going to be so angry that I went down without him, but I knew Landon was in charge of our mission.
“No, not really,” Landon answered dryly. “Just put the phone on the nightstand and keep your cute ass safe. I don’t need Seth gunning for me if something goes wrong and you end up scraping your knee or something as equally tragic. You’ve got this, kid. Everything’s good.”
Not feeling good about the situation at all, I still gently placed the phone on the nightstand, took a few seconds to soak up every beautiful detail of my lover’s face, and then left the bedroom. Was the mission really about to be over? More importantly, was there a chance Seth might want me the way I wanted him. As I opened the apartment door, I thought about the note I’d left on the counter. Suddenly, I wished I’d said more.
Knowing there wasn’t time to make things better, I exited the apartment and headed for the elevator. Landon would kick my ass if I did something to screw up a job as simple as being bait. As I rode the elevator to the ground floor, I tried to work out some sort of believable plan to use once I reached the lobby. I had no idea who was friend or foe…or where they were spying from.
A quick plan formed in my mind—something that would look believable to anybody who just spent the last three hours watching Seth and me making love like a real couple…like the couple I wanted us to be. When the elevator doors slid open to the lobby of the apartment building, the doorman was waiting there, a friendly but sleepy smile on his face.
“Good evening, Mr. Solomon,” the man greeted. It was weird, being called by the wrong name, but I kept my face relaxed and friendly. “Unable to sleep, Sir?”
“You could say that,” I answered. It was then that I noticed I’d forgotten to put shoes on my feet. Oops. “Which is the fastest way to the beach? I need to hear the waves tonight.”
“Of course, sir,” he answered pleasantly. “Straight down that hall.” He pointed to a long hall to my left. “You’ll be able to exit the building but in order to re-enter, you’ll need the access code. I assume you have it?”
“Yes, of course.”
“Excellent. When you exit the door at the end of the hall, the path will lead you directly to our private beach.” He gave me a grandfatherly smile. “The waves soothe my soul, as well. Be careful, though. I wouldn’t recommend any night swimming, that’s when the sharks are the most dangerous.”
I nodded. “Definitely no night swimming, then. I’m terrified of sharks, so no need to put myself on their buffet. Thanks for your help, Henri. Have a good evening.”
His smile brightened when I called him by his name. It was sad. I’d noticed a lot of the residents were uppity and I hated to imagine how many of them made the staff feel like they weren’t appreciated. Hell, half of them had looked at me like I resembled something they scraped off their shoes and I should be viewed as one of their equals…financially, at least. I guessed it could have been their distaste of mine and Seth’s lifestyle. I smiled as I walked down the hallway. I hoped that was something I needed to get used to because I wanted to keep Seth in my life, living this particular lifestyle.
Once I reached the end of the hall, I took a deep, calming breath, pulled the door open, and stepped out into the late night/early morning world of Miami. My feet followed the path, taking my time and trying to pretend that I wasn’t terrified of every shadow I crossed. After of few minutes, and with nothing suspicious happening, I finally reached the boardwalk that led to the beach area. I followed it until my feet hit the cool sand. Twenty or thirty more steps led me to the shoreline. Calm waves slapped against each other and then rushed forward to dance around my feet. The bottoms of my scrubs were soaking wet within seconds.