***

The phone flew out of Bruce’s hand as he stumbled, falling over the chair beside him. The heel of her shoe to Bruce’s temple with all the force Valerie could conjure up had done the job. Somehow, he’d known about the taser gun in her purse and had disarmed her the moment they stepped into the elevator. He’d even taken her cell phone from her. The only other thing on her person she had was her soft leather purse. She knew that wouldn’t make the impact she needed.

From her past experience with him, Valerie knew that playing nice was the only chance she had to buy her time. She’d cozied up to him just as they entered the room. He’d been so spellbound when she seductively removed her shoes, he didn’t even catch that she held on to one of them. The moment he got busy being cocky on her phone with Alex, she took advantage of the distraction, struck him with it, and ran.

Unwilling to take a chance and wait for the elevator, she was now running down the stairwell. Her heart threatened to pummel through her chest. The room had only been on the third floor. She was already halfway down to the first when she slipped and fell hard on her behind. It wasn’t until then that she even heard the footsteps coming down fast from the stairs above.

“Valerie!” His voice was crazed. “Valerie I’m warning you! Moreno’s is going down if you don’t stop!”

Her heart nearly gave out, and she was tempted to stop, but she thought of what Alex would want her to do in this instance. There was no other option but to run. Struggling to catch her breath, she reached for the rail and pulled herself up. She pushed the door open and ran right into the arms of a firefighter in full uniform.

Startled and barely able to breath, she tried getting past him. She had to get to a phone and warn Alex about the danger at his restaurant. But the fireman stopped her from going any further.

“You need to evacuate, ma’am. There’s a possible bomb in the hotel.”

“I know who planted it! He planted another one somewhere else at a restaurant!” she said, realizing how frantic she actually was.

The firefighter stared at her, wide-eyed. “Come with me.”

*

Alex tried calling Valerie several times as Sal drove them to the hotel. Romero had already arrived. He’d called Alex only to tell him he couldn’t get anywhere near the inside. They had the place surrounded with enforcement. There was no way around it.

The only way Angel and Sal had agreed to let Alex leave was if Sal drove him. Even some of the cooks had stepped in to hold him from storming out of there, the damn traitors.

The news updates on the radio about the hotel evacuation only served to further his anxiety. He still had no word on Valerie. The police had blocked off all the streets around the resort. Traffic was a mess. At this point, either he sat patiently or his only chance of getting close was to walk. Since patience had never been his virtue, even though they were in the middle lanes of the street, he opened his door and hopped out.

“Where you going?” Sal demanded.

“I’m walking.”

“Damn it, Alex. Just wait.”

“I can’t.” He closed the door behind him and leaned in. “Call me if you hear anything.”

He hurried across the street and onto the sidewalk, cutting across a few other streets before dialing Romero. “What’s the word? Anything new?”

“Nothing on Valerie yet, but…”

“But what?” Alex shouted. This was no time to stall.

“I just heard on the scanner, someone’s been shot.”

Alex stopped sharply. “What?”

“It could be unrelated, Alex. Don’t freak out. They haven’t even mentioned if it’s a woman or a man or how bad it is. I’m still listening.”

The other line on Alex’s phone beeped. He checked to see who it was, Angel. He was probably just trying to get an update or to give him one about the wedding. He’d have to call him back later. Nothing else mattered anymore. All he could think of was getting to Valerie. If anything had happened to her he didn’t know what he’d do. He hurried almost to a run, the lump in his throat increasing with every stride.

Someone else was calling now. A number he didn’t recognize. There was no way he was cutting the only connection he had to finding out about Valerie. He let the call go without answering.

“It’s a male that’s down, Alex.” Romero said then added. “But there are others injured. Hold on.”

Alex finally came to the barricade in front of the resort. They weren’t letting anyone in. There were dozens of police cars and several fire engines parked along the entrance to the resort. A ton of security and uniformed officers along with plain-clothed cops walking around. The press had arrived as well.

“I need to get in there.” He loomed over the security guard at the barricade, still gripping the phone to his ear. “My wife is in there.”

“I’m sorry sir, no one except the police and rescue workers are allowed in at this time.” Romero said something, but the siren of an arriving ambulance just behind Alex was so loud he couldn’t hear. Just as the ambulance flew by he heard the beep of his other line again. This time it was Sal. He couldn’t know any more than Romero.

“Where are you?” Romero yelled.

“Right in front of the place. They won’t let me in.”

“I’m gonna answer my other line, Alex. It’s Angel for the third time since I’ve been talking to you. This might be important.”