"Yep, there's a text message with the warehouse address and a call just before that. Want me to bring the phone to you?"
"I'll get a cab and come to you. The police abandoned the surveillance after they grabbed Pauli. I don't want to take a chance that the real drug lord comes while no one's watching."
Ben called for a cab. He checked the time, eleven o’clock. He wondered if Lane had left the hospital yet. He decided to take a chance and call her while he waited.
"Ben. You must have ESP." It was weird, but he often called when she was thinking about him. "I'm just leaving the hospital and realized I don't know where the Navigator is parked."
"Hey, Red. You know I'm always at your disposal." He gave her the information on where he’d parked the SUV. "Did you get a chance to talk to Jeff? Did he tell you how he happened to end up in Saint Louis?"
"Yes, it seems he was kidnapped by and I quote here, a really hot blonde."
Those were almost Pauli's exact words. While the world was full of hot blondes. Ben would bet it was the same girl. "Listen, I know it's late but I really need to talk with you tonight. I can meet you at the hotel in an hour. Will you wait up for me?"
"Sure, since we're in adjoining rooms, you know where to find me." Lane clicked the remote access to unlock the SUV. "I'm at the SUV now, I'll see you later."
Chapter 10
A tale of two guys and a girl
It was almost three hours before Ben was able to get to the hotel. He opened the door between his room and Lane's and wasn't surprised to find that the door on her side was already open. She was sitting in bed and had was reading her e-reader, but looked up when she heard the lock on his side click.
"You're a little later than you expected. Did you run into trouble along the way?" She patted the bed indicating a spot for him to sit.
"Not trouble exactly." He sat next to her, leaned over, and gently brushed his lips against hers.
"I have a little story to tell you. It's a tale of a couple of twenty something hormone charged guys being duped by a really hot blonde." He reached over and took her hand in his.
"The police staked out the warehouse and arrested a guy when he entered the door. The guy was my youngest brother Pauli." He paused giving Lane time to let that tidbit soak in.
"Pauli's in med school at Saint Louis University. He was in a clinic earlier today, well yesterday now, when, and I quote here, a really hot blonde came in with her uncle. Apparently, through some flirting, he gave her his number. She called him tonight, said she was in trouble, and needed his help. Then she texted him the address for the warehouse. When he showed up, there was no blonde in sight and the police grabbed him. When you told me Jeff said a really hot blonde had kidnapped him, it seemed unlikely that there was another girl. I retrieved Pauli's phone and gave it to the police. That's where I've been."
"So, they used the phone to what, track the girl? Did they find her?"
He gave her hand a squeeze and turned to look at her. "They sure did. Turns out her uncle was more a sugar daddy drug lord than he was a relative. I don't mean to be a sexist, but apparently, she really is a dumb blonde. Good thing she wasn't smart enough to use a burner phone to call Pauli. They tracked her location and found her and her sugar daddy "In flagrante delicto." Legally speaking, in the act of doing something illegal, not colloquially in the sexual act. They were loading up an SUV with what appeared to be all clothes and drugs they could carry."
"Was it the drugs from the warehouse?"
"No, those haven't been picked up yet. Apparently, meth from the same batch and cook has a unique signature and once the forensics team is finished, they'll prove the drugs they were loading came from the same cook as the ones in the warehouse. Not only that, but the drug lord should have chosen his girlfriend better. I understand she's singing like a canary. She has already admitted to kidnapping Jeff because her boyfriend thought Jeff might have seen something at the meth house. She lured Pauli in so they could see if the police had the warehouse staked out. She's hoping to make a deal, but she'd already confessed to kidnapping Jeff before she lawyered up. At least Pauli changed from being a suspect to being a material witness, so the police released him. Mama would have killed me if he'd been arrested."
"So, where's Pauli now? Did he go home?"
"No, he's in my shower washing off the police station smell. I'm not letting that kid out of my sight yet. He already picked the girl out of a line-up. I'm sure they'll want Jeff to confirm too. They'll either do a photo line-up for him or have him go to the station tomorrow if he's out of the hospital. Of course, if she is able to cut a deal, maybe neither Pauli nor Jeff will have to do anything else."
"Yo, Ben have you got something I can put on?" Lane looked up to see the back of a naked Pauli Bellini standing in the middle of Ben's room with a towel over his head. Lane reached up and covered her eyes with her right hand.
"Pauli. Cover yourself, we aren't alone."
Pauli moved the towel from his head, wrapped it around his waist, and turned around. "What do you mean we aren't alone?" He looked up to see his brother in the adjoining room sitting on a bed next to a really hot red head. He needed to take lessons from his brother. How had Ben found a woman, so hot, so fast? How long had he been in the shower anyway?
Ben looked at Lane. "Lane, may I present my brother Paolo Raffaelle Bellini. Pauli, this is my friend Lane Parker.
Lane held out her hand thinking washboard abs and dark curly chest hair must run in the Bellini family. Pauli approached the bed.
"That's Dr. Bellini." He said as he flashed a smile not unlike the one she called Ben's perfect smile. He shook her hand. "I apologize for my appearance. Ms. Parker."
Lane smiled. "Think nothing of it Dr. Bellini; I've often met doctors not wearing much more myself. I must say it's nice to finally have the tables turned."
Ben laughed. "Let me get some clothes for you." He said as he got up and urged his brother to follow him.
"Ben, I've got two queen sized beds in here, and you've just got that king do you want to trade rooms?"
The truth was what he really wanted was to share her bed and leave Pauli alone. But, he was sure that even if they had been sleeping together that she wouldn't have shared his bed under the circumstances. He pulled some clothes from his suitcase, shoved them toward his brother, and motioned him toward the bathroom. He turned back to Lane's room. She'd gotten out of bed and stood there in a nightshirt that barely covered her ass. He covered the distance in three strides, pulled her to him, and kissed her. She had her arms around him in a nano-second and her hands in his hair a heartbeat later.
Which is how Pauli found them when he emerged from the bathroom wearing a pair of Ben's sweats as he pulled a t-shirt over his head. He heard Lane moan. He'd never had a woman moan just from kissing him. He really did need to take lessons from his older brother. Ben was the oldest of five children, four boys and a girl in the middle. The brothers had grown up knowing that Ben drew beautiful women like flowers drew honeybees. Pauli had never witnessed his brother in action though. While he felt like he was intruding, he couldn't look away, nor did he want to make any noise to disturb them but he turned away and cleared his throat.