Doranna Durgin - Survival Instinct

She moved swiftly to Dave’s room, bypassing the closed laptop to reach for his overnight bag. She knew much of the contents were in the bathroom, but she was willing to bet-

Ah, yes. Her hand closed around cold metal. His Ruger DAO. Very nice. It wasn’t what she’d come for, but she didn’t hesitate to take it or his extra magazines. She rifled his laptop case and headed for the small dresser.

Oh yeah.

His wallet looked back up at her from the top drawer, ripe for the taking. And she might have done it, had she not wanted to keep him off balance. She wanted him wondering what she was up to and wondering what he should do about it, not raging after her in a fury. So she grabbed a few twenties to help cover immediate cash expenses and then hesitated over his credit cards. Yes. It’s what you came for. No time to get flinchy about it. She pulled them out of their little card slots, assessing them, knowing which company was more likely to call immediately about what they felt were unusual purchases and which wasn’t. Karin tapped a finger on the one he’d used to buy their clothes the previous day and almost plucked it from the batch.

And then she saw the card behind it. Oh ho! This time, she didn’t hesitate. The card bore not only Dave’s name, but the imprint of the Hunter Agency. The family business credit card. She’d bet anything he hardly ever used it; he might not miss it at all. And an agency like Hunter had expenses pouring in all the time. A few more would hardly be noticed-at least, not until it was too late.

She pulled the card, tucked it away in her jeans pocket and replaced it with another of his second-layer cards. He might not notice if a different card sat behind his preferred AmEx, but he’d sure notice if there wasn’t anything there at all.

That done, she gave the room a quick look to make sure she hadn’t left anything out of place, and returned to her bedroom with silent steps.

It could have been nice, the two of them working this job together. She already knew they partnered well; she’d been looking forward to riding the jazz with him beside her. And all for a good cause-the best of causes. No beating that.

But looking back meant she wasn’t looking ahead. Karin dumped her thoughts at the threshold to her room and quickly packed what little she’d pulled from her snazzy von Furstenberg carry-on. She wasn’t quite through when she heard bumping-around noises that could only mean Dave was on his way up. She stashed the case and sat on the bed, pulling out her journal as she followed his progress.

By the time he made it upstairs, she was writing to her sister. Dear Ellen, you’re gonna love this…

I’m sorry. Dave said the words in his head one more time. He hoped they sounded better out loud. The truth was, learning about Karin’s life…about her stepfather…about her warrant…

It had done a number on his head.

He told himself-again-that a warrant wasn’t the same as a conviction. He told himself she’d come here to help. That she’d started a new life in her sister’s name, working that little homestead with dedication. He reminded himself how he had been the one to shove her back into the middle of things, and of how he’d admired her grit the night she’d gone over the cliff. He recalled the shivery feeling of locking gazes with her, from his nape all the way down his spine to tingle through his-

Halfway up the stairs he stopped short, closed his eyes to tell himself what an idiot he was and moved forward with a determination to forget that part.

No, not to forget it. Some things…you couldn’t. But to put it aside long enough to get through the next moments, the next days.

To catch Longsford.

He found her sitting cross-legged on the bed, writing in her leather-bound journal. Small, precise writing. “Still more than just a diary,” he commented, leaning in the doorway.

“Letters to my sister.” She spoke without looking up, her tone so matter-of-fact that Dave was taken aback. She’d been so private about it before…

Of course, at that point she’d been calling herself Ellen.

Karin straightened her shoulders, still looking down at the book. “Dear Ellen,” she read. “You won’t believe where I am. Or what I’m about to do.” She looked up at him for the first time since his arrival in her space and he blinked at what he saw in her eyes. He couldn’t quite name it, but it struck him deeply. Those smoky gray eyes had a confident intensity that momentarily left him without words.

“What would she say?” he asked her.

“She’d worry. She’d say to tell her about it when it was over. But she’d be glad I was doing it,” Karin answered easily, and then laughed a little at his surprise. “I’ve been having daily conversations with her for over a year. You think I don’t give her a chance to talk back?”

Not much to say about that. But plenty left to say. “About what happened downstairs-”

She looked straight at him. “You mean, when you were snide and rude to me?”

Ouch. “I’m sorry,” he said. “Things have gotten…complicated.”

“You don’t say.” She didn’t seem in the mood to be forgiving. He supposed things had gotten complicated for her since he’d arrived in her driveway. But there was no anger in her voice, seemed to be none on her face. Just determination.

“We okay?” he asked.

She shrugged. “Sure.”

He didn’t quite believe it. But he figured he’d pushed her as far as she’d go for one day. “I’ll go change. You wanted the suit?”

“What I’d really like are the codes you use to get outside.”

That took him by surprise. “The point is that you don’t go outside. It’s a safe house.”

“Right,” she said. “But if someone’s out there watching us, we’re blown either way, don’t you think? And I’d rather not feel like a prisoner. Unless maybe I am?”

“If you wanted to get out,” he told her drily, “I’m sure you’d find a way.”

“Ah. Another dig?”

“I just meant you don’t give up easily. And I’m doubly sorry about this morning if it means you’ll hear everything I say to you through a snide filter.”

She was quiet on the bed. Quiet in body, quiet in voice. “It’s easier to put that particular filter on than it is to take it off. And I’d really rather just use the alarm code.”

So he gave it to her, and she closed the book and set it aside. “I’ll get dressed,” she said. “Go do something with your hair.” And as his hand went up to check his hair, she grinned. A small grin, but better than no grin at all, and much better than a snide filter. “It’s fine,” she told him. “It just needs to be a little more conservative for the morning’s work.”

“Can do,” he said, and went off to see to it. Her door was shut as he passed by on the way back, and he went on to his own room to dress the part of the boy-toy chauffeur. When he came back out the door was still shut and he knocked; no answer.

The knob turned under his hand, and the door opened wide to an empty room.

Karin moved quickly, cutting through a manicured yard to reach the next street over, heading south to reach Duke Street and then west toward the small business center. There she found a public phone, a phone book from which to tear a few key Yellow Pages and a place to lurk out of sight until the taxi she’d called arrived. Dave’s unmistakable Maxima drove by twice.

Too bad it worked out this way. I’d have liked to see you in that suit again.

But she’d done the right thing. He was too conflicted to pull off this scam. When she’d gathered enough information to sink Longsford, then maybe she’d see Dave again.

Or maybe not. Maybe she’d take her new nest egg and head off to Alaska. Or maybe to one of the little Caribbean islands that didn’t have extradition. They had plenty of jobs for a woman who knew how to work people, how to keep them happy. For that was what it was all about-that was what a good long con did. Kept the mark happy. Some of them never did realize they’d been taken at all…just chalked it up to bad luck when their big opportunity didn’t come through.