Las Vegas Savior

The young officer didn’t dilly dally but came right back out. It had been obvious to him that they were not sharing a room since she had not been anywhere to be seen as he walked through the room. The door to the living area had been wide open and he hadn’t even seen her in there but had noticed that the adjoining door on the opposite room was closed.

“The guy must be nuts because she sure is a looker.” He thought as he let himself out the door and told John “Thanks. I drink the coffee to keep me awake but then I have to go.”

“I understand. Been there too many times myself. Have a good night and don’t forget to honk your horn if anyone comes around either of the two doors.” John told him “Goodnight.”

“Goodnight, sir.” The officer said then walked back to his vehicle. John felt for him because this kind of stake out can be the worst. You have to sit for hours with nothing to do. It made it hard to stay awake and John hoped that the young officer was going to be able to not only stay awake but stay alert.

John re-entered his room and went into the living room. He put the ice packs in the freezer portion of the fridge and then decided to get a shower while he had the chance. He walked back into his room and began stripping out of his clothes.

He grabbed his toiletries bag out of his suitcase and turned on the water in the shower to get the right temperature before he stepped under the spray. He quickly bathed, then shaved and brushed his teeth.

He didn’t normally have to worry about it but realized that he didn’t have any pajamas! He normally slept in the nude but he couldn’t very well run around in his birthday suit in front of Emily! He pulled on his underwear and found his work out shorts and an undershirt and looked in the mirror.

“This might be okay to wear around in front of another man but I can’t let her see me in this!” He thought as he looked around the room. He spotted the robes the hotel provided and breathed a sigh of relief as he pulled one on. “There! This is decent enough.” He said as he crossed the room and went into the living area, expecting to see her sitting on the sofa but the door to her room was still closed.

“Maybe she’s still enjoying her bath.” He thought and sat down on the sofa and grabbed the remote. He channel surfed for a while before he began to get worried about why she was taking so long. He stood up and knocked softly on the adjoining door and waited for her to answer.

After almost a full minute of standing there, waiting and not hearing anything, he tried the door knob. He eased open the door and the lights were off in the room. He pushed it open some more and saw that the bed was occupied.

He stepped closer and saw that she was fast asleep and looked so peaceful, curled up under the covers, her hands up under the pillow and her lovely dark hair fanned out behind her. She looked so beautiful with her dark lashes fanned over those beautiful high cheekbones.

Her mouth was slightly open and those full, lush lips looked so kissable that John wished he dared but was afraid he would not only wake her up but probably scare her half to death. He could have been perfectly content to stand here and watch her sleep all night but knew that tomorrow was going to be a very busy day so he went back to the living room and pulled the door almost closed behind him, leaving it open just a crack so that he could hear if she called out.

He turned off the TV and went to his room. He turned on the TV there and threw his robe across the foot of his bed. He pulled back the covers and gathered up the pillows and propped himself against the headboard as he settled down to watch the evening news.

He tried to concentrate but all he could think of was Emily. How she had looked today as they had walked along the strip, window shopping and of how she had let some of her natural personality show through as she slowly started to relax around him. Her face had been so animated as she had dug through the piles of t-shirts looking for the right size in the ones she wanted.

It had touched him when she found one with a cartoon character of what she claimed was “Bobby’s favorite character”. At first he had been extremely jealous of whoever this Bobby was, until she had explained that Bobby was her friends’ 7 year old son.

He had enjoyed watching her people watch as they sat and had ice cream cones from a street vendor or talking over silly everyday things. He had discovered that they had similar taste in music, food and entertainment. They both were big Robin Williams’ fans and thought Roseanne was hilarious.

Emily was down to earth and open and honest and he admired her for the way she looked at things. Her life had been rough but she still tried to be positive and hopeful, when most people would have turned hateful and negative. He hoped he would never forget the musical sound of her laugh or the way she smelled.

John forced his mind off of thinking about today and Emily but there wasn’t anything spectacular happening in the area on the news so he turned it off. He had hoped to see a report of the two men in the black SUV being arrested or at least being chased but he was out of luck. He got under the covers and tried to get comfortable but it was a long time before he went to sleep.

The next morning, he woke up as the sun began to peek in around the edges of the curtains. He wondered why hotels always thought they were blackout curtains when the sun always managed to creep in around the edges because they were never hung high enough to keep out the light.

He rolled out of bed and used the bathroom then got dressed. He wondered if Emily was up when he smelled coffee. “Oh that smells so good.” He said as he walked into the living room to find her fully dressed and sitting at the small dining table drinking coffee. “Is there enough left for me to have some?” He smiled at her.

“Sure. I was surprised that there is a full sized coffee pot. Most of the rooms I’ve been able to afford usually have a one cup machine bolted to the vanity in the bathroom.” Emily grinned at him.

“How did you sleep?” John asked. His night had been filled with dreams of her. He had imagined her getting undressed and stepping into a steamy hot bubble bath and then of the two of them in a hot steamy shower together. He had woken up with a major case of morning wood and wishing to find her all pruned and pink skinned in bed next to him.

“Amazingly well as a matter of fact. That hot bath did wonders. I think I was asleep before my head hit the pillow last night.” Emily said. “I barely remember getting into bed.”

Just then a knock came at John’s door and he told her to stay put as he went to answer it. He looked through the peephole in the door to see two police officers standing outside. He opened the door and said “Good morning gentlemen. Care for some coffee?”

“Good morning. I just wanted to let you know that we are changing shifts and Officer Williams here will lead you to the FBI office whenever you are ready.” Officer Maxwell said. “Do you mind?” Office Maxwell asked as he pointed to the restroom.

“No, not at all. Come on in Williams and I’ll introduce you to one very special lady.” John said as he led the officer into the living room.

“Miss Emily……Um, I just realized that I don’t know your last name.” John said, feeling like he had dropped the ball. He had spent the better part of the last 24 hours with her, had given his heart away to her, and he didn’t even know her last name. Those two things had him looking at her with a strange but funny look on his face.

Emily smiled at him and said “Brewer. Emily Brewer. Nice to meet you, Officer?”

“Adam Williams. Nice to meet you.” The handsome young man smiled at her as they shook hands and John wanted to step between them and tell him “She’s taken.” But he didn’t have that right.

“Coffee?” Emily smiled at the young man. “Help yourself. There are more cups in the cupboard.”

“Thanks but I’ve got a large coffee from Starbucks in my patrol car. We just wanted to let you know that we are doing shift change and I’ll be ready to escort you to the local FBI office whenever you are ready. They open at 8 am so there’s time for you to get some breakfast, if you would like.” Officer Williams told them and then left to go back outside.

“Sure. I could eat. How about you?” John said, as he looked at her with a smile. She really was feeling better, if her attitude was anything to go by.

“Sure. I woke up hungry.” Emily said and stood up to rinse her cup in the sink. John glanced around and realized that she was all packed and ready to go. He had seen her do it last night. That pack was always ready to go at the drop of a hat.

“Give me a minute to pull the rest of my stuff together and we’ll go down to the restaurant and have breakfast.” John said. John was almost embarrassed that she had to wait for him and it was a good thing that they had checked in late last night and he had not really had time to “dirty” his room. He quickly gathered up his shaving supplies, tucked them back in his suitcase and quickly folded the clothes he had been in yesterday and put them in on the top and zipped his bag closed. He unplugged his phone charger and put it in the pocket on the outside of his duffel bag. He glanced around to make sure that he wasn’t missing anything that belonged to him and then picked up his duffel bag and carried it through to the living room.

“All set?” He asked with a smile. Emily smiled back and pulled the strap for her purse over her shoulder, then picked up her pack and followed him out the door. “Let’s put our bags in the car. We can pull up closer to the restaurant so we don’t have to walk out in the open.” John said as he glanced around. The hairs on the back of his neck had stood straight up as he stepped out the door.

Someone was watching them besides Officer Williams, who was sitting in his car right outside their doors. Emily felt it as well but she also felt protected as John kept his body between her and the street as he walked her over to her car.

Thankfully the parking area was surrounded by high hedges so when she was seated in her car, no one could see her from the street. The hedges were planted as a sound barrier for the street noise but they were going to work in their favor to protect Emily from someone trying to shoot her from a distance. John considered leaving his rental car and driving with her to the local FBI office.

As they parked at the office, John went around and got his bag out of the backseat and walked to her window and said “Open your trunk, please. I’m going to turn in my car here and go with you. I can’t protect you in a separate car.”

“Okay.” Emily said and hit the button on the inside of her door to open the trunk. John stowed his suitcase in her trunk as Emily got out of the car. She was parked between his rental and Officer Williams patrol car.

Officer Williams got out and walked slightly behind her on one side and John did the same on the other. It didn’t escape Emily’s attention that they were both watching her back, in more ways than one, as she walked towards the hotel lobby. Officer Williams said he would wait for them in the lobby as he had already had breakfast.