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Chapter 30
Doug slipped out into the hall, shutting his door behind him. His feet whispered softly on the carpeted hotel floor as he headed toward the lobby. His ears were open for the slightest sound that was separate from his own. He almost felt as though a pair of eyes were boring into his back, just between his shoulder blades. He knew he was just being paranoid. He'd been paying too much attention for someone to actually sneak up on him. But after a day like today, it was hard not to be paranoid.
He moved reluctantly into the lobby, taking a quick glance at the glass double doors. The parking lot was filled with parked cars. The night beyond appeared to be empty and actionless. It didn't make him feel any better.
He was in a lousy mood in the first place.
The secretary looked up the moment he stepped into view. She smiled at him automatically with her best customer service glance. He smiled back briefly and made his way toward the vending machines humming against the far wall. The desk clerk moved back to her work.
Doug felt guilt churn in his stomach. This girl probably had no idea why all these families suddenly needed admittance into her hotel—unless their story had made it to the breaking news already. She had no idea what kind of danger they were putting her in by staying here. He only hoped that Rollson wouldn't make an attack on a public place. But Rollson had been known to do so before. Besides, he hadn't had much choice in the matter. Once the adults had made their minds up, that was it.
He rummaged through his pockets and pulled out some meager change, feeling his stomach rumble loudly. He hadn't had anything to eat all day and it was nearly six o'clock at night. He pushed the coins in through the slot and heard them clink loudly. He selected a back of chips.
He would have gone out to buy some food from the grocery store if he had wanted to get out in the open. But whenever he went outside, he felt as though he was exposed. Rollson's men could be waiting anywhere. So he was stuck with what was available at the hotel. It really was too bad that the hotel didn't boast a diner connected to its side.
Doug opened the small bag and shoved a handful in his mouth. To be truthful, he didn't really have time to be out shopping. He needed to spend some time thinking up a viable plan. What he had so far was a mess. Most of his army had just quit on him so he was left with the four families he had been fighting against last fall. It was strange to suddenly have his former enemies on his side.
The people who were sticking with him were all out of sorts and frazzled. No one seemed to know what they were doing or even if they'd be able to handle it. Doug knew he hadn't been much help either. He'd spent more time mulling over the fact that Leigh hated him than thinking up a real strategy.
He knew one thing: they wouldn't be able to go for brute force. They had a small group. This is why he'd asked for the explosives. They were going to need to do some damage because it was the only way they were going to make this work. Rollson had the upper hand in able-bodied soldiers and equipment.
There was another problem too. Even if Doug managed to scale the electric fence and reach the other side; the moment his head could be seen over the top of the fence the apartment complex would be on alert. Rollson had video cameras and other gadgets covering practically every square foot of that building. He knew he was exaggerating, but only slightly.
The biggest problem would be planting the bomb in a place where it could detonate before anyone found it. He wasn't thinking about the problem of getting out alive. That was a given for him. He knew he was going to die and so he was trying hard not to think about it as much as possible.
The important thing was that then Jamie would be safe—and Leigh. As mad as he was with her at the moment, he still cared about her. Even loved her. He wished he didn't. It would make her rejection of him so much easier.
He had already tried to tell himself that he didn't give a crap what she thought. Her opinion didn't matter in the least. But the more he told himself that, the more he knew that he did care.
Doug moved over to a little table against the wall that held an orange juice machine, a coffee kettle and a stack of styrofoam cups. He poured himself a glass of juice and sat in one of the lobby seats with a weary exhale of breath. He rubbed his droopy eyes wishing for nothing better than a good night's rest.
He noticed as an afterthought that he had unconsciously chosen a seat that wasn't in direct view of the glass-paned double doors. It had been so ingrained into his head that he didn't even have to think about it.
He downed the orange juice and finished off the bag of chips within a matter of moments. His stomach was still held an empty and dissatisfied dull ache. He placed his elbows on his knees and leaned forward, propping his chin on the palms of his hands.
He wracked his brains for every memory he had of stepping into the complex. He'd been there several times in his life and had always noted the security features with a practiced and almost jealous eye. But he hadn't been studying the place with the thought that he might have to break into it some day. He tried to think of where there might not be a camera.
Rollson's room for one, he decided. Rollson didn't like being spied on. But he rarely left his office. How could Doug get in there and plant the explosive without anyone stopping him?
The swinging of the front door alerted him from his thoughts. He immediately jumped to his feet, readying himself to move in any direction at will. He let go of the breath he was carrying when he saw the Amber step through the door, juggling several paper bags with the Burger King logo on the side. The smell was intoxicating to his empty stomach.
She spotted him immediately, flipping her curls out of her face as she smirked at his posture with amusement. After the disaster this morning, he would have expected her to be moping around like everyone else. Instead, she was dressed in a tight pair of hip hugging jeans thanks to Leigh's collection and a shirt that didn't really look like it was her style. It was a loose, tourmaline colored top. She'd taken the time to tease her hair into soft curls and doll herself up. No one would have expected that she was in a crisis situation not too long ago.
"Just like your sister," she observed with a mocking smile. She still didn't seem to have forgiven him for his words to her this morning. "Always ready to believe the sky is falling. Relax."
Doug snorted in return as she sauntered toward him, her hips swaying. "Take a page for the book. It just might save your life. Do you really think you should be running around out there?"
Amber shrugged her gaze a little icy. "What do you care?"
"I care," Doug responded and seated himself back down now that he knew there was no danger. "I don't like it when you try to use me, but that doesn't mean I want to see you get hurt."
She let out a tinkle of laughter and moved to sit down beside him, her shoulders relaxing slightly. She deftly handed him one of the bags that she was holding, which he took gratefully. He opened it to find two burgers and a basket of fries.
"I'm not about to change my lifestyle just because a bunch of lunatics want me dead. I have the right to enjoy my teenage years."
"Your funeral," Doug replied and added a bit grudgingly. "Thank you."
Amber shrugged, setting aside the extra bags and leaving one on her lap. She dug inside and pulled up a hamburger, picking at the wrapper uneasily. She sent him a sideways glance as if she were contemplating something. She said finally, "I'm sorry about this morning."
Doug frowned. "You're apologizing?"
Amber's face screwed up in irritation. "Don't be like that! This isn't easy, you know. You could just take the apology instead of making it hard on me."
Doug lifted his hands up in a calming gesture. He understood…it was just that for a moment he had been really surprised. He hadn't taken Amber for the sort of girl who would apologize to anyone. She was headstrong and always determined to be right. Apologizing meant she was actually admitting that she'd done wrong for once. "Sorry," he responded. "Apology accepted."
"It's just…" Amber picked at her wrapper some more. She seemed to be festering with inner complaints that she didn't know how to express. Her words finally poured out in a torrent. "I just get so mad sometimes! Alec makes me so mad. He's always flirting with other girls just because he knows it bugs me. And I just want to get back at him. Sometimes I really want to make him hurt."
Doug wasn't sure how to reply to this statement so he bit into his burger instead. He thought it would be best just to let her vent. He took another bite, taking his sweet time chewing up his food.
He could feel the irritation and the pent up anger flowing off her in a torrent. It was always weird to be able to sense the other 'wolves emotions. Leigh's emotions were second nature to him—like his own; but feeling emotions from the rest of them was just weird and different. It was strange to think that Leigh had bitten him only last night. So much had happened since then that it felt like forever ago.
"And, well," Amber was going on. "I'm sorry that I tried to bring you into the whole mess. It wasn't fair of me."
"It's okay," Doug replied even though it really wasn't. He knew what kind of concession she was making and he didn't want to hold grudging feelings.
"No, it's not," Amber replied automatically, eying him with a reproachful expression. "You don't know how to block your mind very well. I know it's not okay. What's wrong anyway? Why isn't my apology good enough? And you think I'm high maintenance!"
"I'm not!" Doug protested, noting that Amber was getting into a real excited state.
And Amber wasn't about to leave the situation alone. She was like a bulldog once she had sunk her teeth into a situation. She had to have the answer or she wouldn't let up. She folded her arms across her chest. "Why don't you tell me the truth?"
Doug
sighed, setting down the rest of his burger. "You can't fix
what's bothering me so why don't you leave it alone?"
"Stop being so stubborn!" Amber growled. "I have a right to
know why you're bothered."
"It's not you!" Doug finally said in a snappy tone. "What's bugging me is that Leigh's mad at me."
Amber frowned. "Leigh? What's this got to do with me?"
Doug sighed, feeling lousy and irritable. He didn't really care to share any information with Amber, but Amber would pester him until he did. He said flatly. "She thinks I'm the one who kissed you."
"What?" For a moment Amber just sat their looking nonplussed. Then her expression shifted as her mouth dropped in an 'Oh!' expression. "I had no idea. I would never…I mean—what I mean is that I didn't know you and Leigh—I never would have done that otherwise! You know I wouldn't do anything to hurt Leigh, right? We've been friends forever."
"Well, you just did something to hurt her," Doug replied in a lousy voice. He wished that Amber would leave him alone for a while so that he could mull but he didn't want to be rude. He couldn't exactly tell her to just leave.
"I'm sorry," Amber said again, looking helpless.
Doug didn't respond.
"Fine," Amber glowered at him after a short period of time. "Be like that. Thanks for nothing."
She got up and stalked away. Doug sighed and closed his eyes briefly, trying to block the world out for a moment. But reality would not be deterred.
