Midnight Jewels

one attempt to shake the clerk awake and gave up in disgust. The guy had obviously found a surefire cure for insomnia. He wouldn't wake for hours.
    Croft crossed the room and stepped behind the counter. The ancient safe stood on the floor of the small office, a hulking shadow in the darkness.
    Croft opened only three desk drawers before he found the combination taped to the inside of one. Clearly security was not a major problem in this neck of the Colorado woods.

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Chapter SIX

    Mercy awoke with a racing pulse and a chilled feeling that seemed to be centered in the pit of her stomach.
    For a moment she struggled to orient herself. Her mind refused to identify the strange surroundings and the uncomfortable bed for several vital seconds. Two facts were stark in her mind: this wasn't her apartment and something was very wrong.
    Mercy lay still under the covers as the shadows of the motel bedroom gradually took shape. Slowly she regained control over her quickened breathing. This was ridiculous, she thought. She had lived alone much too long to wake up tense and afraid of the dark. Nothing was wrong. She was simply in a strange room. All she had to do was calm down and get her bearings. There was nothing to worry about. Croft was right next door, after all. One small scream would easily penetrate the thin walls.
    Sitting up slowly, she clutched the sheet to her throat and wished that Croft were closer. She wouldn't have minded if he were right there in the room with her. There was something very comforting about the thought.
    Her pulse had slowed but still hadn't returned to normal. What on earth was the matter with her? she wondered. This wasn't like her.
    The faint scratching sound outside her window instantly set her blood pounding again. The cold feeling washed over her. Now, at least, she knew what had awakened her.
    It must be a tree branch brushing against the side of the building, she told herself. With a great effort of will, Mercy forced herself to climb out of bed. Damned if she would let herself be terrorized by a tree branch. A single woman living alone couldn't afford to have anxiety attacks in the middle of the night because of a tree branch.
    Mercy marched determinedly toward the window. This sort of thing had to be faced squarely. A woman alone got used to getting up in the middle of the night to investigate odd noises. It was the only way to insure peace of mind. She would lean out the window, locate the troublesome branch and impress her overly active brain with the stupidity of its manufactured fears.
    She was less than three feet from the window when the dark, distinctly human shadow glided into view on the other side of the glass.
    There was a time for investigating strange noises and a time for being brave. There was also a time to call for help.
    Mercy screamed blue murder.
    The intruder outside froze as if he had encountered an electrified fence. But he came back to life before the echoes of Mercy's shriek had faded. The shadowed figure slid rapidly away along the window ledge and disappeared.
    The pounding on Mercy's door sounded seconds later.
    "Mercy! Open the door or I'll break it down."
    Mercy leaped for the door. Croft didn't make threats, he made statements of fact and she didn't feel like compensating the motel owners for a broken door.
    She flung open the thin door and almost got trampled underfoot as Croft surged into the room. He not only moved very quietly, Mercy thought, he also moved very fast.
    "What's going on?" He scanned the room as Mercy flipped the light switch.
    "There was someone outside the window. A man's shadow. When I yelled, he disappeared."
    Croft was already at the window, shoving it open and leaning out to examine the ground below. "He's gone. Headed for the trees, no doubt. If he knows what he's doing he can lose himself in that forest in six seconds flat. Probably has a car waiting near the highway."
    "But what was he doing outside my window? Damn it, he's getting away. We've got to do something, Croft."
    "What would you suggest? That I run after him barefoot while he escapes in a car?" He slammed the window shut with a controlled energy that spoke volumes about the level of his physical tension.
    For the first time Mercy realized he was wearing only a pair of snug-fitting briefs. As he walked back across the room she saw the fluid slide of muscle under his sleek skin. Hazel eyes gleamed a dangerous gold. Croft was a frustrated predator who had just missed