Chapter 17

Hours later, Holly hovered in that warm drowsy state midway between asleep and awake. She slowly became aware that there was an arm wrapped around her waist, a leg draped over her own, and warm breaths ruffling the top of her head. She stretched slightly, causing the other occupant of the bed to stir and tighten his grasp on her. Holly snuggled back into Robert's embrace, making a little happy sound at the same time.

"'Morning, beautiful," Robert nuzzled her neck as he spoke.

"Mmm, morning," replied Holly as she pulled Robert's arm closer around her. "How are you?" She half rolled over to look at him.

"Great. Slept like a baby." Robert grinned at Holly, then began to frown as he noticed her expression change. "What's wrong?"

"There is nothing I would like more than to freeze time and stay in this bed with you. Last night was so wonderfull, I had managed to shut out any thoughts of anything else. But I just remembered that any time now, we'll probably be hearing from Faison." Holly shuddered as she said his name.

"Everything will turn out fine, luv."

"How can you be so optimistic? We're talking about a man who killed his own mother here."

"Let me remind you that he was actually shooting at you, Holly."

"Oh, thanks, you know exactly how to make me feel better."

"Well, I think I do, actually," replied Robert with a suggestive smile as he leaned in closer to kiss Holly.

Holly and Robert had finally managed to untangle themselves from the bed and get dressed. "I'm hungry," announced Holly, "weren't we supposed to meet Luke for breakfast?"

They went downstairs and knocked on Luke's door. Receiving no response, Robert looked at his watch. "It's pretty late. He probably got hungry and went by himself," suggested Robert as he knocked again, "I'm sure it's nothing more interesting than that. Unless he's sleeping off a hangover."

Flashback to the previous night:

While Robert and Holly dined at a romantic little restaurant, Luke found himself at a neighborhood pub a few blocks from the hotel. This one happened to have an excellent kitchen, fortunately. He sampled feijoada, a Portuguese traditional dish, and tucked back a few beer. Stomach full, Luke headed back to the hotel. He travelled only a few feet before noticing that he was being followed. He had barely turned around to confront his pursuers when he was grabbed from behind by two burly men and dragged into an alley. Once there, they bashed him on the head and pulled him into a van waiting at the other end of the alley.

Having eaten breakfast and looked for Luke again, Robert and Holly returned to their hotel room. Holly spotted the note slid under the door first. She picked it up and started reading. Robert snickered as he noticed her holding it at arm's length. Holly raised an eyebrow at him. "And here I thought you were aging so gracefully," said Robert.

"Remember what I said about you being a charmer? I take that back," retorted Holly. She continued to read the letter "Oh no," she stated.

"What?" asked Robert worriedly.

"It's Luke. Faison has got him. He wants you to meet him in an hour. Alone," she finished.