Guarding Hearts (Living Again #3) (14 page)

He continued his perusal of her body as she realized that he was next to her and she could reach him again. Without opening her eyes, she found him, stroking him harder, rubbing her thumb on his tip.

“Sammi, my god,” he moaned. She opened her eyes and looked at him, then pulled his face to hers. Biting his lip gently, she opened her mouth and slid her tongue along his bottom lip. Sealing his lips over hers, he entwined his tongue with hers again as they both continued touching and caressing each other.

Bang, bang, bang!
A loud pounding on his door made them both shoot up out of bed.

“Ellis! Are you in there?” It was Brian. Sam looked at him wide-eyed.

“Yeah! What’s up, man?”

“Let me in! Where the fuck is Sam? She’s gone, and her room is destroyed!”

Ellis looked at Sam, whose eyes were round as saucers. Tears began dripping down her face as she realized what he was talking about. Someone had been in her room.

“Hang on, Bri. It’s okay. She’s right here.”

Sam looked at him wildly, then jumped up and started throwing her clothes back on. “Ohmigod,” she cried. “Ohmigod.”

“Sammi,” Ellis put his hands on her shoulders. “It’s okay. We’re right here.”

“B-but if I hadn’t been in here with you…” He knew exactly what she was going to say, because he was sick to his stomach over that, too. Someone had been in her room.

Once they were dressed, Ellis let Brian into the room.

“You’re okay?” Brian said, relief apparent in his voice.

Sam blushed. “Yes, I’ve been here the whole time. How did you know something happened in my room?”

Brian turned back to Ellis, a question in his eyes. “Well, I tried calling you on your hotel phone and your cell phone. When you didn’t answer, I started worrying. I knew you couldn’t be asleep yet, because you had just come up here. I gave you a little bit in case you were in the shower or something, then I had them let me into your room. When you were gone…”

“Sam!” Her mom burst through the door. “Oh thank God you’re okay.” Samuel followed behind, his eyes scanning the room. Ellis felt awkward with everyone crowded into the same room he had had Sammi naked in just minutes before.

“Tell me what the hell was in the hotel room,” Ellis said, trying to keep everyone on task. “And are the police coming?”

“Yes, I called them. Thankfully it isn’t a missing person like I originally thought. Sam, thank God you were in here.”

“What happened in my room?”

“It looks like someone went through all of your stuff. The dress you wore tonight was slashed with what looked like scissors or a knife. There’s a note with a picture, too.”

“What does it say?” Sam’s voice was shaky, and she was sitting on the couch, her knees up to her chin. He hated seeing her like that.

“It’s a picture of you and Ellis,” Brian said. “Backstage, it looks like. Maybe right before you went on?”

Sam looked at him, and he knew exactly what moment this sick bastard had caught. “This has to be someone who works behind the scenes. This is all just too coincidental.”

“What did the note say?”

Brian looked over at Sam, then sighed. “This one was the most disturbing of all.”

“Tell me, Brian,” Sam cried.

“It was written in red over the picture. Ellis’ face was scribbled out, and the note said, ‘He’s dead for touching you. You’re only mine, and I’ll be there to get you very soon. Don’t you ever wear an outfit like this again for him.’”

Sam’s wild eyes met Ellis’. “Ellis,” she breathed, putting her hand over her mouth. He went over to her and sat next to her on the bed. She curled her body into him, sobs wracking her.

“It’s going to be okay,” Ellis said, looking at Brian. “We need video from the hotel, and the arena. Now. I don’t think we’re leaving in the morning. You may want to see how late you can get to her next tour stop, or have her fly in.”

“You can’t go home,” Sam cried, tears staining her cheeks. “I need you, Ellis.”

“I’m here,” he said. “For as long as you need me.”

Ellis rubbed his face, exhaustion settling in his bones. It was three o’clock in the morning, and Sam was passed out on his bed, having cried herself into a deep sleep.

The police had just left, after telling the hotel manager to get video from the lobby, hallways, and elevators. They wouldn’t have that for a few more hours. They hadn’t even let Sam go into her room, but Ellis was worried for what might be missing. Whoever this was would obviously go to any length to get to her. This creep was right next door to them, and they never even knew what was going on.

“Ellis,” Samuel called, walking back through the door. His eyes were bloodshot and his clothes rumpled. He knew that they all felt the same way right now.

Ellis looked at Sam, who was still sleeping. His heart constricted at the sight of her. Her eyes were puffy, her face streaked with red. He hated this for her, but he knew one thing. He would be making a phone call to Andrew, and soon. He wasn’t leaving. Not until they caught the bastard.

“I’ve never been so glad in my life that Samantha was with you, in your room.” Ellis tried hard not think about what had been happening when Brian pounded on the door. He wondered how far he would’ve let it go, but he already knew. He was gone over her, and he didn’t think she would’ve stopped him, either.

“Me too,” Ellis said, his voice thick with unshed tears. He had no idea when the last time was that he cried, but he felt the foreign feeling now. What had she done to him? “I’m not leaving, Samuel. Sam asked me to stay, and I’m staying. I’ll put a call into Andrew as soon as it’s morning.”

Samuel smiled. “Thank you, Ellis. We would all feel so much better if you stayed. This person is escalating, and the police feel that whoever it is came here with the intention of taking her. If she had been in there, she’d be gone now. I’m so thankful she was here with you instead of in her room. Until this guy is caught, she’s not to be alone for a second. On our next stop, we will get a suite so that you or Brian can stay in the same place with her.”

Ellis nodded, his head swimming. He had gone from thinking he was saying goodbye to her to being assigned to stay with her indefinitely.

Even though it was very early, he knew he had to call Devin to tell him not to come get him. Picking up his phone, he tapped Devin’s name.

“El,” Devin answered. “I was just finishing feeding Chance and I was going to head out. You ready early? I thought you’d be hanging on to Sam as long as you could.”

“Well, actually, that’s why I’m calling. There’s a change in plans.”

“That’s crazy,” Andrew responded after Ellis told him what had happened the night before. It was eight o’clock in the morning, and Ellis was nursing another cup of coffee. He wouldn’t rest until they saw those tapes. They were still waiting. “So there’s nothing so far?”

“Nothing,” Ellis said. “We’re waiting on tapes from the hotel manager, who wasn’t here overnight. That should give us more information than anything else. The police have shaken down the entire floor, checked her room, nothing. Whoever this is, they’re good at covering their tracks.”

Sam had woken up and was now sitting next to him, clutching his hand. For such a small hand, it sure was strong. She hadn’t said much of anything, looking up at him every once and a while with her big, watery brown eyes. Her parents were alternating between pacing, talking to detectives, and making phone calls.

“Stay as long as you need to,” Andrew said. “We’ll be fine. Let me know if we can do anything to help you.”

Samuel came in and indicated for Ellis to join him. “Thanks. I have to go, Andrew. I’ll keep you updated.” Sam stood as he did, still holding his hand.

“Stay here, Samantha,” Samuel ordered, indicating for Brian to stay with her. “I need Ellis for a few minutes.”

Ellis turned to Sam when she still didn’t let go of his hand. “It’s okay, Sammi,” he whispered so just she could hear. She smiled slightly at the use of his nickname for her. “Nothing will happen to you.”

Sam’s eyes left his and scanned the room. He could feel her shaking, and he hated it.

“I’ll be right back.” Ellis nodded at Brian, and he came over to Sam.

Ellis followed Samuel into the hallway. “The manager is here and wants us to go look at the video. The detectives are already down there with him.”

“I hope to God that bastard is on those tapes,” Ellis growled.

“I can’t see how he couldn’t be,” Samuel said. “There are cameras everywhere in here. Even if he was disguised, this has to be the trip up that we need to find him. They will plaster his face all over the country. This shit stops here.”

“Agreed.”

“I don’t understand,” the manager shook his head, looking back at the screens.

“You
don’t understand?
” Ellis wanted to punch something. “How do recordings of a few hours of time just
disappear?
”

The manager, Jose Rodriguez, looked back at Ellis, then Samuel and the detectives. “I don’t know.”

“Well, we know,” one of the detectives, a mid-thirties guy named Spencer, spoke up. “Someone tampered with them. I need a record of all of the people that were working last night, as well as their personnel files. If any of them have as much as a speeding ticket, we’re going to interrogate them.”

“We aren’t going to find out who this was, are we?” Samuel asked.

“We’re going to do everything we can,” Spencer answered. Ellis couldn’t talk for fear of losing control.

“So let me get this straight,” Ellis seethed. “We have a guy, presumably, that walked into a hotel, into an elevator, and somehow got into someone else’s hotel room, yet we have no idea who that person could’ve been. He had every intention of doing something to Samantha Kerrigan. From our estimations, he probably was going to take her with him. So, he had to have had a plan or someone to help him. Yet,
no one
in this hotel saw anything out of the ordinary, and we have nothing to go on at all.”

“My thoughts exactly,” Samuel agreed. “Mr. Rodriguez, if we have to interrogate every member of your staff, we will do it.”

“I will cooperate with anything you need in order to find out what happened, Mr. Kerrigan.”

Ellis, Samuel, and the two detectives left the room and walked to the elevator bank. Ellis scanned the area. The elevators were right out in the open, and the only way he could’ve gotten in was the front entrance, where any number of people could’ve seen him. He had to figure out who it was, and how the guy was smart enough to make a few hours of time completely disappear from the video system. He wouldn’t rest until Sam was safe again. This asshole was going to get her over his dead body.