Bitter Spirits
Page 53
Perhaps she was just lucky. Very, very lucky. She certainly felt that way, with Winter’s face hovering over hers. A mussed lock of hair rakishly fell in a dark slash over one eye. “Still with me?” he asked.
She squeezed his leg between her knees.
“Is that a yes?”
“Yes,” she croaked. “I’m just . . .”
“Yes?”
“My God.”
He smiled down at her, clearly pleased with himself. “You,” he said between kisses, “are a joy”—she tasted sex on his lips—“to satisfy.”
“And I am satisfied. Was. Am. Utterly. I . . . loved it.”
“I could tell. You are vocal.”
“I couldn’t help it.”
“I know.”
“Oh, God,” she murmured. “You think anyone heard?”
“I certainly hope so. Makes me look good.”
She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him closer. “You, sir, are no gentleman.”
“Aren’t you glad?”
“Delighted,” she admitted.
He started to kiss her again but held still, listening to something. She heard it, too, out in the hallway. Loud knocks on nearby doors. People shouting. Next to the bed, the telephone rang, startling both of them.
“What the hell?” Winter mumbled, pushing himself up to reach the nightstand. He growled an agitated, “What?” into the mouthpiece. Every muscle in his face tightened as he listened for several moments. He hung up without responding. A stream of curses spilled from his mouth—half of them in what she could only assume was Swedish—while he gripped the massive bulge in his pants as if he were trying to will it away.
“What is it?” she asked.
Aida got her answer from a shouted word that shot through the hallway outside their door.
Raid.
Winter pulled her up and said, “Get dressed. Feds have already secured the restaurant and the ballroom.”
“Can’t we just wait it out up here?”
“They’re sending agents up to search the rooms.” He snatched his shirt off the floor. She watched him slip it on over his undershirt as she pushed her dress down and struggled to tie her gown’s golden cords over a shoulder. “The hotel sends booze up to rooms when guests call the front desk and ask for a ‘birthday treat,’ or some other such nonsense code.”
“But we didn’t.”
He stopped dressing for a moment and gave her a hard stare. “No, but I’m the one who supplied it to the hotel.”
“Right.” She tied one shoulder of her dress into place and twisted to find the second set of cords.
“And I’d prefer that our photograph doesn’t end up on the front page of tomorrow’s newspaper, no matter if all they did was question me—which they will, if they catch me.”
“I wouldn’t think anyone would bat an eyelash over a bootlegger caught in a hotel room with a speakeasy performer.”
He lifted her chin with one knuckle. “I couldn’t give a damn about myself. It’s your reputation I’m worried about.”
Perhaps he was a gentleman after all. She ran her hand down his stomach, pausing over loose shirttails. “I’m sorry. We weren’t finished.”
“I’m not happy, either, believe me. Rain check?” She nodded, and he kissed her briefly before returning to dressing and strapping on his gun. He didn’t bother tying his bow tie. “Don’t leave my side,” he said calmly as he herded her out the door. “And don’t panic.” She barely had time to snatch up her coat and handbag as they left the room.
Out in the hallway, guests talked excitedly as they breezed past, headed for the stairs behind another couple. Near the elevator, Aida nearly bumped into a half-dressed man who was hunched over a potted palm, turning up a gurgling bottle of gin into the potting soil. Toilets flushed behind doors on either side of them as other guests got rid of their own incriminating evidence. Winter and Aida might’ve been the only people on the whole floor who hadn’t ordered a birthday treat from the front desk.
They clattered down several flights of stairs, others joining their exodus along the way. Winter guided her away from the small crowd and took her on a circuitous route around the Palm Court. When two men with shotguns appeared around a corner, he ducked into a pair of doors, pulling her along, before they could be seen. They found themselves inside a ballroom where a private party was in the middle of hysterics. Tuxedoed guests were emptying champagne glasses when cries broke out near the front of the dining area. Several men in suits charged into the room, brandishing guns.
“Federal agents,” the leader shouted. “Everyone stay where you are. This is a raid.”
Chaotic shouting broke out. Tables toward the back of the room emptied as diners joined several waiters who were fleeing out a back door. A Fed stepped into the doorway, blocking their retreat. He raised his gun in warning and the line reversed direction.
Winter yanked them against the wall and surveyed the mounting chaos, looking for an alternate escape route. “There,” he said, nodding toward a shadowed door hidden behind a standing screen, where pitchers of water sat on a console table. They slipped around the edge of the anxious crowd and made their way there.
It may have taken a minute, but it felt like an hour to sneak toward the unwatched door. She kept her eye on the Feds as they went. When they were a few feet away, one of the younger agents looked their way.
She squeezed his leg between her knees.
“Is that a yes?”
“Yes,” she croaked. “I’m just . . .”
“Yes?”
“My God.”
He smiled down at her, clearly pleased with himself. “You,” he said between kisses, “are a joy”—she tasted sex on his lips—“to satisfy.”
“And I am satisfied. Was. Am. Utterly. I . . . loved it.”
“I could tell. You are vocal.”
“I couldn’t help it.”
“I know.”
“Oh, God,” she murmured. “You think anyone heard?”
“I certainly hope so. Makes me look good.”
She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him closer. “You, sir, are no gentleman.”
“Aren’t you glad?”
“Delighted,” she admitted.
He started to kiss her again but held still, listening to something. She heard it, too, out in the hallway. Loud knocks on nearby doors. People shouting. Next to the bed, the telephone rang, startling both of them.
“What the hell?” Winter mumbled, pushing himself up to reach the nightstand. He growled an agitated, “What?” into the mouthpiece. Every muscle in his face tightened as he listened for several moments. He hung up without responding. A stream of curses spilled from his mouth—half of them in what she could only assume was Swedish—while he gripped the massive bulge in his pants as if he were trying to will it away.
“What is it?” she asked.
Aida got her answer from a shouted word that shot through the hallway outside their door.
Raid.
Winter pulled her up and said, “Get dressed. Feds have already secured the restaurant and the ballroom.”
“Can’t we just wait it out up here?”
“They’re sending agents up to search the rooms.” He snatched his shirt off the floor. She watched him slip it on over his undershirt as she pushed her dress down and struggled to tie her gown’s golden cords over a shoulder. “The hotel sends booze up to rooms when guests call the front desk and ask for a ‘birthday treat,’ or some other such nonsense code.”
“But we didn’t.”
He stopped dressing for a moment and gave her a hard stare. “No, but I’m the one who supplied it to the hotel.”
“Right.” She tied one shoulder of her dress into place and twisted to find the second set of cords.
“And I’d prefer that our photograph doesn’t end up on the front page of tomorrow’s newspaper, no matter if all they did was question me—which they will, if they catch me.”
“I wouldn’t think anyone would bat an eyelash over a bootlegger caught in a hotel room with a speakeasy performer.”
He lifted her chin with one knuckle. “I couldn’t give a damn about myself. It’s your reputation I’m worried about.”
Perhaps he was a gentleman after all. She ran her hand down his stomach, pausing over loose shirttails. “I’m sorry. We weren’t finished.”
“I’m not happy, either, believe me. Rain check?” She nodded, and he kissed her briefly before returning to dressing and strapping on his gun. He didn’t bother tying his bow tie. “Don’t leave my side,” he said calmly as he herded her out the door. “And don’t panic.” She barely had time to snatch up her coat and handbag as they left the room.
Out in the hallway, guests talked excitedly as they breezed past, headed for the stairs behind another couple. Near the elevator, Aida nearly bumped into a half-dressed man who was hunched over a potted palm, turning up a gurgling bottle of gin into the potting soil. Toilets flushed behind doors on either side of them as other guests got rid of their own incriminating evidence. Winter and Aida might’ve been the only people on the whole floor who hadn’t ordered a birthday treat from the front desk.
They clattered down several flights of stairs, others joining their exodus along the way. Winter guided her away from the small crowd and took her on a circuitous route around the Palm Court. When two men with shotguns appeared around a corner, he ducked into a pair of doors, pulling her along, before they could be seen. They found themselves inside a ballroom where a private party was in the middle of hysterics. Tuxedoed guests were emptying champagne glasses when cries broke out near the front of the dining area. Several men in suits charged into the room, brandishing guns.
“Federal agents,” the leader shouted. “Everyone stay where you are. This is a raid.”
Chaotic shouting broke out. Tables toward the back of the room emptied as diners joined several waiters who were fleeing out a back door. A Fed stepped into the doorway, blocking their retreat. He raised his gun in warning and the line reversed direction.
Winter yanked them against the wall and surveyed the mounting chaos, looking for an alternate escape route. “There,” he said, nodding toward a shadowed door hidden behind a standing screen, where pitchers of water sat on a console table. They slipped around the edge of the anxious crowd and made their way there.
It may have taken a minute, but it felt like an hour to sneak toward the unwatched door. She kept her eye on the Feds as they went. When they were a few feet away, one of the younger agents looked their way.
