Midnight Fever (Men of Midnight #5)(81)

He rolled time back in his head. He'd been sort of awake for about ten minutes now, and ten minutes with no sounds in the bathroom was weird.

He opened his eyes and confirmed that Kay wasn't with him or anywhere else in the room. Dirty dishes from last night's late meal were still on the table. He could smell the steak and potatoes and a hint of the wine. There was still a finger in both their glasses.

He was hungry but the smell of food sparked a curdle in his stomach, because he was starting to get suspicious.

Nick threw the covers off and walked naked to the only place she could possibly be if she were still in the hotel room. He rapped a knuckle against the bathroom door.

"Kay?" he called softly.

Silence.

Goddamn.

He jerked open her closet door. She'd gotten her suitcase back. She'd mentioned it last night. He had a good memory for what had been in it, and there was a suit missing. It was emerald green and it wasn't there. It was on her, wherever the fuck she was.

Snatching his cell, he punched in Kay's number. It went to voice mail. Then he punched Felicity's number, on videochat. It was Sunday morning and she was pregnant. 

Tough shit.

She had to know where Kay was.

The cell rang a couple of times, then he saw Metal's sleepy mug. "Dude," he slurred. "The fuck? It's Sunday."

"Ask Felicity where Kay is."

Metal's eyes popped open at Nick's tone. He never allowed anyone to speak with disrespect to Felicity, not that anyone at ASI ever would. Felicity was a goddess. But right now, Nick was pissed at everyone, and that included Felicity.

Metal's eyes narrowed when he saw Nick. "Cover up, man. You're not talking to Felicity naked."

Nick looked down at himself. Yeah, he was naked, not that Metal could see Nick's good parts. He kept the cell aimed at head and shoulders. Still. He put the cell face down on the bedside table and pulled on a tee shirt and briefs. Picked the cell back up, still royally pissed.

"Kay isn't here," he said bluntly. "Where the fuck is she? Does Felicity know?"

Metal scowled. "Kay's not where?"

"In the hotel room. We spent the night here and I woke up and she's gone. She wouldn't go somewhere without telling me, unless she was kidnapped or decided to walk into danger. So, you can see I need to talk to Felicity."

"Yeah. You must be freaking." Metal leaned closer to the screen. "You are freaking. Can't say I blame you."

Nick's teeth ground together. "Put. Felicity. On. Please."

"Can't." His face pulled into painful lines. "She's busy projectile vomiting last night's dinner. Maybe yesterday's lunch, too. You have no idea-"

A slender hand appeared on his shoulder. "Give me that," Felicity said, and her face appeared. She was paper white, including her lips.

"Felicity, I am so very sorry to bother you," Nick said, all of a sudden feeling like a shit. "But Kay's gone and I have no idea where to find her."

Felicity bit her lips.

Metal's head swiveled. "Honey?"

She sighed just before Nick would have growled at her and Metal would have challenged him to a duel. Nick was a really good shot, but so was Metal. They'd have killed each other.

"She, ah …  She figured out who else was involved and emailed him to meet her this morning."

Every single hair on Nick's body stood up. "She what?"

Felicity nodded and swallowed heavily. "Yeah." She checked her Green Lantern watch. "She's meeting him right about now."

Nick was struggling into his jeans. "Where?"

"The hotel, the conference center. But don't worry because … God. Sorry Nick, gotta go."

Nick jammed his sockless feet into his boots, picked up his gun and holster and ran.



"So." Frank smiled into Kay's eyes. "Do you have a problem I can help you with?"

Blue eyes affable. Good guy, good boss attentively listening to valued employee. And underneath, a monster.

She remembered every word of the email she'd sent him.

Frank, I have some data Priyanka left me. She was working on something before she died and was very worried. I'm going through her data now and there are some anomalies. Do you think we can talk about this tomorrow? I'll be at the conference around ten.

Kay looked around. The Rose Bar was a good choice. It was on the north side of the building and the morning light was dim. Though she could hear the voices of hundreds of people out in the corridor, it was quiet inside the cocktail bar. They had complete privacy.

She looked into Frank's eyes, watched them carefully. The skin around his eyes was taut and smooth. No bags under them, the sclera clear and white as a baby's. Treason and crime on a massive scale clearly did not disturb his sleep at night.