I Hope You Find Me by Trish Marie Dawson Page B

a small bar
took up the furthest corner. The main desk itself was the most
impressive thing in the room to me, with a large rugged marble top
and a back-splash of colorful blue tiles.
    Once outside I could smell the smoke in the
air and it seemed the wind was shifting, blowing the airport fire
in our direction. I silently chided myself for not wearing
something warm on my arms since at 6:00 a.m. it was nippy
outside.
    Fortunately we didn’t have to walk far from
the hotel entrance before finding a patch of grass for Zoey to do
her business. While she scouted for the perfect spot I walked to
the corner of the building and glanced down the street. The sun
hadn’t yet reached the cars and most were still covered in frost. I
squinted my eyes at each of the building windows looking for signs
of life, but nothing moved, nothing breathed. Zoey sniffed behind
me and together we passed back through the lobby and headed up the
stairs.
    On the fourth floor landing, when I was
talking to the dog about breakfast and being polite to our host,
one of the hall doors below us opened with a loud squeak and
promptly slammed shut. The noise startled the dog enough to send
her dodging up half a flight of stairs. I froze in place. I wasn’t
sure if I should call out, or stay hidden. Eventually I leaned over
the railing enough to see down the spiral but it didn’t appear like
anyone was climbing the dark stairs below us. Suddenly Zoey barked
loudly, causing me to jump so badly I bit my lower lip. The air
went heavy and the already cold stairwell dropped in temperature
causing my arms to break out in goose bumps.
    “Damn dog!” I hissed at her,
“ Ssshhh.”
    She stopped barking but stood nervously at
the railing above me, looking down below…her hackles up, her tail
tucked stiffly between her legs. I no longer felt the need to know
who had opened the door and I burst out into a full on run up the
stairs, taking two at a time. We made it to the fifteenth floor
before I had to stop and catch my breath. I had a stitch in my side
that hurt like hell and Zoey was panting heavily but whined at me
to catch up as she ascended to the next landing and sat down,
waiting.
    “Hold on.” I was practically panting
myself.
    We took the next few flights a bit slower,
but still made it to the twentieth floor in good time. I was
sweating when I leaned my back against the hall door. Zoey stood,
nosing the crack of the door, waiting for me to open it but I
wanted to make sure we hadn’t been followed before starting down
the hall. Again, I leaned over the railing and saw nothing below,
and heard nothing either. If someone was down there, they weren’t
paying attention to where we were on the stairs, so they shouldn’t
know which floor we got off at. I decided to risk it. We left the
stairwell quietly and jogged down the hall. Once inside the room,
both the dog and I relaxed.
    Connor was up and drinking his coffee. He
nodded at us, and whistled at Zoey, leading her into the kitchen
where he had a bowl of food out for her.
    “I figured the dog needed a potty break,” he
said. His hair was disheveled, like he literally just rolled out of
bed. “Morning.” His voice was still husky from sleep. Daytime
Connor was sexy, but Early Morning Connor…there were no words to do
the man justice.
    “Hi.” I was out of breath still. He handed me
a bottle of water and when my chest stopped heaving I told him, “I
think there’s someone else in the hotel.” I chugged at the water
bottle till half of it was gone.
    Connor didn’t respond but he was looking at
me curiously. I traded my water for my still warm mug of coffee,
and relayed the happenings in the stairwell. He raised his steamy
mug to his mouth again and listened without commenting. What he
said when I was done surprised me.
    “I think you might be right,” he said
quietly.
    “Really?” I thought he didn’t believe me,
like he didn’t believe me the night before when I felt someone try
and cuddle