Intercepted Read online

  J. Q. Anderson

  This book is a work of fiction. All references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  Copyright© 2015 by J. Q. Anderson

  All Rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever.

  Cover design by Okay Creations

  Formatting by Michael Stegen

  To my family,

  for their unconditional love and support of my wicked, naughty and endless imagination

  Table of Contents

  Chapter 1: Natalia

  Chapter 2: Jake

  Chapter 3: Natalia

  Chapter 4: Jake

  Chapter 5: Natalia

  Chapter 6: Jake

  Chapter 7: Natalia

  Chapter 8: Jake

  Chapter 9: Natalia

  Chapter 10: Jake

  Chapter 11: Natalia

  Chapter 12: Jake

  Chapter 13: Natalia

  Chapter 14: Jake

  Chapter 15: Natalia

  Chapter 16: Jake

  Chapter 17: Natalia

  Chapter 18: Jake

  Chapter 19: Natalia

  Chapter 20: Jake

  Chapter 21: Natalia

  Chapter 22: Jake

  Chapter 23: Natalia

  Chapter 24: Jake

  Chapter 25: Natalia

  Chapter 26: Jake

  Chapter 27: Natalia

  Chapter 28: Jake

  Chapter 29: Natalia

  Chapter 30: Jake

  Chapter 31: Natalia

  Chapter 32: Jake

  Chapter 33: Natalia

  Chapter 34: Jake

  Chapter 35: Natalia

  Epilogue: Natalia

  Other titles by J.Q. Anderson

  Acknowledgements

  About J.Q. Anderson

  Kings Of Midnight: Book One of the Midnight Saga (Read Chapter One!)

  The wind brushes the snow into a cloud of dust. I squeeze my eyes, my blood pulsing in my ears.

  I'm cold, so cold.

  The restraints on my wrists bite into my skin as I use the last of my strength to try to break free. It's pointless. This is how it ends.

  I'm going to die here.

  It's depressing that the sum of the broken parts of my life has added up to this. I couldn't save Tango. I couldn't save Mom.

  I can't even save myself.

  I surrender to the darkness that pulls me down and let numbness invade me.

  And the pain that envelopes me, begins to drift away.

  Chapter 1: Natalia

  I scan the room listlessly and my eyes lock with his. A corner of his mouth curves up like he knows something. I immediately look away. Rule number one: No getting involved with the guests.

  Dani snaps me back to the present as she slides a tray filled with glasses and beer bottles on the bar. Zack, the bartender, immediately clears them away and starts on the next order.

  Zack, Daniela and I met during our first year of culinary school. Every summer, winter if you are in the northern hemisphere, we take a break from our lives in Buenos Aires to spend three months in Aspen where we cater to America’s wealthy after a day on the slopes.

  Zack and Dani are my best friends. My only friends.

  After that night two years ago, I keep it simple: work and money. The only two things that matter now.

  All in all it’s pretty sweet. Wake up. Ski. Work. Smile. Split the tips with Zack and Dani. Ski again at night. We scored this gig because Zack knows the owner of the resort, so we get to live here, too, even though we are not full time. The three of us always get the same shift, which leaves us a couple of hours to go skiing on the one chair that’s open till midnight. We’ve been doing it for four years. The pay is not great, but we make more money on tips than we would in three months in Buenos Aires working any other job. This is my last round. I graduated last month and after this season I am planning to get a “real job.”

  “The guys on six are loaded already. The one on the left practically eye-fucked me while I was taking his order. Boludo.” Dani checks her hair in the mirror paneling the back of the bar. My eyes dart to the guy.

  “Ew. He’s like fifty.”

  Zack shakes his head and Dani shrugs.

  “Yeah. Well he needs to hit the gym if he wants a twenty-three year old ass.”

  “Dani! Gross.” I nudge her with my elbow. She chuckles and refills the tray with the new drinks Zack made.

  Dani is a hopeless flirt. She doesn’t really discriminate by age as long as the guy is good looking and sexy. All she has to do is flick back her sandy, waist-long hair and her victims are doomed under those glacier blue eyes. She also works out diligently, so guys hit on her non-stop. She loves it.

  “The guy on twelve keeps staring at you. What’d you do to him?” She laughs.

  My eyes go up and once again I’m struck by the intensity of that look. I blush furiously and turn around to pick up my own tray, now filled with new drinks. I’ve seen him at night on the slopes, always by himself. He’s a good skier and sort of… ugh, insanely good looking. My cheeks warm up again.

  “Nothing,” I mutter defensively. Zack looks at me from the corner of his eye and chuckles.

  I’m not like Dani. I’m here for the money. I’ve applied for a hotel management internship in a hotel in San Diego, but the cost of living in the U.S. is unreal. I almost have enough for the first four months of rent, and after this ski season I’ll have enough to carry me over until the internship ends. If things go well and I play my cards right, they will hire me afterwards and I’ll have a good paying job under the tutelage of one of the best chefs in the country.

  I secure the tray on my hand and set off toward my section. Without really meaning to I glance over at the guy to see if he’s still looking. He is now focused on the people at his table. I can’t help noticing everyone’s expression as he speaks. He’s got their full interest and seems at ease with himself. I stop at my table and smile absentmindedly as I hand out the drinks. My attention is still with the guy. I’m standing no more than two feet away from him, but he is facing the opposite way. I’m relieved by the fact that he can’t see me because by now I’m pretty much staring. For the first time I notice he’s not… alone. A perfectly groomed hand with scarlet fingernails threads in his hair at the nape and stays there, playing with the rebellious, faded strands at the end. I feel an inappropriate pang of envy at the much older woman getting his attention.

  Apparently Dani is not the only one dismissing the age barrier.

  He leans over casually and kisses her, but doesn’t linger.

  A question from a girl at my table yanks me back to the now. I blink at her in a daze because I have no idea what she just said.

  “Did you get all that?” She repeats. Thank God she’s not one of those stuck-up brats that are all over here. She smiles and repeats the order of food and I write it down this time.

  By the time my shift ends it’s after eight and I’m dog tired, but can’t wait to get on the slopes. This week seemed endless and I’m still getting used to the change in altitude. But none of it is enough to stop me from my second passion after cooking, which is skiing. To me, the best time to hit the slopes is at night, alone.

  We finish cleaning up and I tell Dani I’m going to ski a quick run, then bed. She and Zack will stay up with some of the crew playing poker, which will soon relocate to someone’s room and turn into strip-poker.

  I yawn as I wipe off the last table before calling it a night. There’s still one more group of guys tucked in a corne
r. They are loud and the drinks keep coming, but it’s Dani’s section. She’ll make good tips.

  “You made it through another night.” I snap my head around at the husky voice behind me. My heart momentarily freezes at the pair of golden-brown eyes that are locked on mine with a familiar intensity. It’s the guy. On cue, I blush and look down at my table, wiping it again.

  “Yup,” I say, and I’m ridiculously uncomfortable all of a sudden.

  “Do you like your job?”

  I look up and this time I meet his eyes dead on, because the question seems a bit too personal for a complete stranger, then frown and push the chairs so they are flush against the table.

  “I’ve seen you here every night,” he says as a way of explanation. “And all the guys that hit on you. Must get old.”

  WTF? I still for a sec, absorbing the words, then shrug and pick up the rag I was cleaning with. “It’s a job.”

  “I know the feeling,” he mutters.

  I glance at him and his mouth is pressed hard, his eyes lost somewhere in the pale blue glimmer of the snow outside. His features are very masculine, the straight lines of his face blending harmoniously. A slight stubble covers his face. It’s kind of hot. His eyes suddenly meet mine and I curse myself inwardly for being caught staring.

  “Have a nice evening,” I say, tucking the tray under my arm. I dart to the bar and down the glass of water Zack always leaves for me there. My heart is pumping in a weird way. Like I just ran suicides. I resent it and will it to settle. It doesn’t. Dammit. I don’t need this.

  “Got yourself a date?” Zack chuckles without making eye contact, because he knows better. He is busy loading clean wine glasses on a rack.

  I make a show of rolling my eyes and slide him the empty glass.

  “Later.”

  “Later. Don’t feel obligated to show up at the poker game. I may have a shot if you are out.”

  I smile as sweetly as I can manage. “We’ll see.”

  Back in the room I share with Dani, I go straight to the closet and retrieve my ski boots, dropping them by the bed. They were a gift from Marc along with ridiculously expensive ski pants and jacket. I’m not really into clothes or expensive stuff, but I have to admit having good boots makes a huge difference. Skiing in Aspen is the ultimate treat. Zack is an instructor in Argentina during the winter, and over the last three years taught me everything I know. Now I go pretty much everywhere in the mountain, including double diamonds. All except one. The Women’s Downhill. Not since the accident. The thought makes me shudder and I immediately close the door on it. I slip into my UGGS-those I bought for myself- and head out for a well deserved late-night run.

  Chapter 2: Jake

  It’s eleven and Tamara is already asleep. Stretching out on an armchair by the window of the suite she paid for, I watch the trail of glimmering lights outlining the ski slopes while I nurse my scotch. I glance at my watch. The night chair will be open till midnight. I consider going for a quick run, then decide against it when a sharp stab on my quad reminds me of the fall I took last night. I’ve been skiing after Tamara goes to sleep every evening, and yesterday the moon was full, so I ventured off the trail and into a path of virgin powder. It was incredible. The feeling of almost floating, every muscle in my legs burning, every part of me alive. I caught an edge towards the end and it earned me an almost torn quad. Tamara doesn’t know because she thinks I was here, sleeping next to her. I told her I strained it the next morning when we were skiing together and she believed me. She always believes me and doesn’t ask any questions.

  I glance in her direction and watch her sleep for a moment. She looks peaceful, young, even though she is more than a decade older than me. Like most women I’m with, Tamara takes good care of her body. She’s got incredible legs and a pair of tits that would put any twenty year old out of the race in a second. I look back through the window and focus on the lift, which has now stopped.

  I down the last of my scotch and shrug into a jacket, determined to find a way to pass the next few hours, cause I know sleeping is off the table. Earlier I heard one of the waiters talk about a late poker game within the hotel staff, so I’m gonna find out where it is.

  I follow the hallway into the main lobby, which is now deserted save an employee behind the front desk doing paperwork. Without letting him see me, I head to the bar I was in with Tamara a few hours back, but the lights are dim. The room looks cavernous. Through the black windows the moon bathes the snow outside. There are a couple of guys at a table in the back and they look drunk as fuck.

  I amble through the main areas, but there are no signs of anything. Maybe I should go ask the guys running the ski lift. I dart a look outside and see they’re packing up. Grabbing my beanie out of my pocket, I slide it over my head and push the side door that leads out to Needle, the night chair. Arctic air claws my face the second I step out and I take a big pull of it, welcoming the burn in my lungs. It’s tinted with tobacco and I turn my head toward the source of the smell. A guy in his early twenties flashes me a quick smile before taking another puff of his cigarette. He’s wearing a heavy jacket over a bell uniform. His face looks vaguely familiar.

  “Want a smoke?” He pulls a packet out of his pocket.

  I don’t smoke, but this guy may be my ticket to that poker game, so I reach for it and put a cigarette between my lips. He pulls a lighter and flicks it, cupping the flame with his hand.

  “Thanks.” I take a drag and immediately regret it. How people can be addicted to this shit is beyond me.

  “You’ve been up in Needles?” He gestures to the lift with his chin. His black hair covers most of his forehead. He flicks it with a quick snap of his head.

  “Nah. Not tonight. Taking the night off.”

  He nods, then extends his hand. “I’m Shane.” He has a broad, easy smile.

  “Jake.” I bring the cigarette to my mouth to free my hand and shake his.

  “I’ve seen you around. You’re the one with that… blond gal.” The corner of his mouth curves up as he says it.

  I shake my head and chuckle. “Yeah.”

  The sound of packing snow saves me from that conversation when two guys from the lift walk in our direction. I recognize one of them from the last couple of nights when I went skiing. He makes quick eye contact with me and nods, then flashes a smile to Shane.

  “Ready for me to kick your ass again? Hope you made good tips today, man. You’re gonna need them.” He grins.

  “Kiss my ass, Derek. I’m gonna get it all back and go home with your tips, too, asshole.”

  Derek chuckles loudly and gives him the finger as he shuffles to the entrance.

  “Can you guys use one more?” I put out my cigarette pretending I don’t really care either way. But for some reason I do. I need this. Derek stops in his tracks and locks eyes with me, then looks at Shane. Shane shrugs.

  “Fine with me.”

  Derek darts one last look at me. “Private game, sorry,” he mutters.

  “Wouldn’t you rather make more money? I’m not very good.” I do my best to sound unaffected. He meets my eyes dead on.

  “Look, man, you’re a guest. Your kind don’t mix with ours.” Something dark crosses his eyes. He’s about to head for the door when I lift my hand, so he stops.

  “I’ll give you two hundred bucks each if you let me in. Just for tonight. It can still be a private game. I’d rather keep it that way anyway.” What the fuck. Did I just offer these two assholes four hundred bucks for a fucking poker game? I clench my teeth. I guess I fucking need this more than I thought.

  Shane scoffs. “Seriously?”

  “Yeah,” I answer without looking at him. My eyes are still locked with Derek’s.

  “I’m in, Derek.” Shane takes one last draw of his cigarette, then steps on it.

  Derek gives me a quick nod. “Just for tonight.”

  Chapter 3: Natalia

  When I unlock the door to my room, it is after midnight. Dani is not here. I a
m guessing she’s already at the poker game. I send her a quick text asking her where it is and she responds almost instantly with a room number. I don’t really feel like staying up, but I can use the money. Poker is one of those things I learned when I was young. I’m good at it. While other girls hung out in their lame little clique groups, I sat behind the gym building with Tango acquiring valuable poker skills.

  Tango was my best friend and by far the smartest person I’ve ever met. His dad was a mean drunk, so most days he hung out at our apartment. Mom always found excuses to make him stay. She loved him as if he were her own and I know for a fact she would have adopted him if we could have afforded to. The memories churn in my chest and I shut the door on them.

  I knock on room 244, in the wing of the hotel assigned to the staff. While I wait, I make sure nobody’s around. These games are obviously not permitted in the hotel premises, which is why they change locations every time.

  Shane from the bell department opens the door and lets me in, flashing an easy smile. He looks so much younger in street clothes. I give him a quick hug as I walk in. Dani waves from the other side of the round table where the game is already in full swing under a cloud of smoke. Zack is sitting next to her. His eyes meet mine and he groans, mumbling something about his chances going out the window. I do a quick sweep of the faces. Two guys I don’t know, then my breath hitches when I see Hot Guy from the restaurant sitting next to Dani. He looks up and smiles broadly as recognition crosses his eyes. Fuckdammit. I no longer remember how to breathe. In. Out. In. Out. Come on, Natalia. You’ve done this all your life.

  Shane defrosts me when he tells me I can take the spot next to Derek, who’s sitting opposite Dani. Hot Guy’s eyes don’t leave mine as I take a seat across him. Something in my stomach flutters. I don’t know why his presence makes me so uneasy. I work with lots of guys, my first friend was a guy, and as far as flirting I am not even on the market because I’m engaged. Maybe that’s it. The way this guy’s eyes are locked into mine seems… indecent.