Black Mamba

by Tierney James

  Tessa withdrew her hand from his arm, but he pulled it back and stroked it. “I’m sorry. You actually have a right to know. She duped your husband, by the way. His only mistake was trying to get something for little to nothing from a woman like Reeva.”

  The man might be lying in order to give Tessa a reason to forgive her worthless husband, especially when Handsome cut his eyes to him to see his reaction. It wasn’t something out of the question, of course, since Robert liked to save a buck where he could and cut corners in order to accomplish the goal. Even if Handsome was a semi-good guy, it didn’t erase the fact he’d left them stranded with no way out of a bad situation. Chase also suspected Handsome had a soft spot for Tessa.

  “Thank you for telling me that, Handsome. But why you? Why Robert?”

  “Robert was in the wrong place or law firm at the wrong time. Turns out your son liked to snoop with his computer and access things he didn’t understand. Those pranks led Kaplan to you and eventually your husband. I’m hoping that problem was resolved.”

  “Yes.” Tessa squeezed his arm. “But why you?”

  “Have you heard of Camelthorn?”

  “We met the owner at Baboloki’s when we were in Gaborone,” Chase offered.

  “They have always believed in the stories of the Kifaru and the power it has among the people of the Okavango and Kalahari. They want that diamond in order to put the person in power who can best represent their financial interests. At this time, it isn’t clear if that would help these people. Baboloki and Camelthorn seem to be at odds for some reason. Rumors are, they believe Baboloki has become too powerful. The army listens to him, and he pays them very well. He visits them often and even, at his age, goes with them on training missions.”

  “A good ole boy, as we say in Texas,” Carter chuckled.

  “Something like that.” Handsome removed Tessa’s hand so he could rest his arm on the back of her chair, a movement that drew Chase’s attention.

  Chase hadn’t decided if the man was developing a crush on his Tessa or wanted to keep him on edge. Chase arched an eyebrow at the man, but he didn’t react.

  “Baboloki understands the meaning of the Kifaru diamond. He wants it, but he also wants to find out if a relative of the man they called John, my birth father, still exists. That could change his comfortable lifestyle and make his army think twice about their support. Even they have family away from Gaborone, and in many parts of Africa, we remain a tribal society.”

  “Meaning?” Carter took his and Chase’s cups and placed them on the tray.

  “You don’t go against your tribe, and you certainly don’t turn on your clan. If they find out who I am, then all may be lost, depending what the president has promised the one who finds me. Financial security for the ones you love is a powerful motivator.”

  Darkness sank toward the horizon when Handsome returned to the wheel and started the engine. At a loud splash behind them, everyone turned to look. A large bull elephant moved out into deeper water and shook his head. Tessa gasped then rose to her feet, but the thrust of the engine pushed her clumsily back down.

  Handsome smiled, turning to her. “That is Rambo who usually has a couple of other males with him. He likes to come into camp from time to time.”

  In about ten minutes, lights from a settlement appeared out of the swamp. He piloted the boat to the dock where several natives waited with warm greetings and secured the lines then helped the guests disembark.

  Laughter filtered down to the group as they walked up a small hill toward a large open-air pavilion. Chase held back until Handsome came alongside him, aware of how much bigger he was. They glared at each other until Handsome spoke offhandedly.

  “Did you buy any of that story I told, Captain Hunter?”

  “No. Sounded a little rehearsed to me.”

  “I want my diamond. You’re on my turf, and it is a dangerous place. I wouldn’t want you wandering into a dangerous situation out here in the back end of nowhere.”

  “As you previously said, Enigma agents have nine lives.”

  “Hopefully, you haven’t used yours up.”

  Chapter Eight

  “Welcome to your first dinner with us at Camp Kubu.”

  The camp director stood before a blazing fire facing his guests, who were seated on cushioned rattan chairs arranged in a circle. He looked like a character from a Charlton Heston movie dressed in his olive-colored clothes with his pant legs stuffed in scuffed hiking boots. The pencil-thin mustache seemed out of place on such a wide, weathered face creased with wrinkles around the eyes and cheekbones. Salt-and-pepper hair and a toned body made it difficult to guess the age of the man who stood with his hands behind his back.

  Besides the Enigma team, Chase counted six others. An older couple and a married daughter with her husband from the UK, along with two men in their late forties with German accents. Including the team, that made ten guests.

  “I’m Peter Morgan. We are never strangers here at our little slice of heaven,” the speaker began, pointing to the Okavango behind them. Even though darkness engulfed the landscape, everyone dutifully turned toward the intended scenery. “Let’s introduce ourselves before dinner. Our American guests arrived, so we’ll hold off serving until they have had a chance to refresh themselves in their quarters.” He nodded toward Sam. “Why don’t you go first?”

  In their introductions, the Enigma team sounded like nondescript Americans who had planned their vacation months ago. A mining conference in Johannesburg and some work for the United Nations coinciding with their trip helped them choose Botswana over Kenya. The mature British couple asked some questions about the kind of work that brought them here, but Chase dumbed it down, explaining they were gathering statistics on the impact of the recent drought on the Okavango Delta.

  With introductions concluded, the camp director insisted Handsome escort the team to their tent lodgings. He remained silent as he lumbered down a worn path, swinging his two-foot flashlight in search of danger in the brush on either side.

  On a raised platform of about six feet, a white tent with a mess-screen door that zipped from top to bottom, reminded Chase of something featured in an adventure movie. A canvas camp chair sat on each side of the door next to small rattan tables the size of five-gallon buckets. The deck of their new home extended six feet with a railing formed from crude branches nailed together to look as if someone had thrown them together. All part of the charm, he guessed. At the top of the steps a lantern blazed, as well as another on one of the tables.

  Tessa unexpectedly took his hand as they moved through the darkness. Surprised at her gesture, he stole a glance at her and got a timid wrinkle of her nose. Was she blushing? When they stepped up on the deck, she released his hand.

  “Is this where Sam and I will stay?” she asked, walking to the tent. Silence greeted her words, and she paused to look back at them.

  “No,” Handsome announced. “You two are in a relationship and Carter”—he raised his chin at the other two Enigma agents— “has already made it clear he and Sam are an item.” Sam elbowed Carter to move away from her.

  “This is inappropriate.” Tessa sounded a little more relieved than she probably would admit.

  “It’s me or Carter,” Chase snapped, unzipping the door.

  “Don’t you girls go fighting over me, you hear?” Carter chuckled. “There is plenty of this”—he motioned up and down his body— “to go around. Hell, I’ll take both of them.”

  Sam bristled. “You never cease to amaze me, Carter.”

  Handsome motioned for Carter and Sam to follow him to the next deck some ten feet from theirs. “Dinner is in an hour. I’ll be back for you. There are flashlights in the dresser. Don’t go out without taking one. Leave the lanterns on all night, even if the light bothers you. You can always drop one of the door flaps. Last week two college kids from Italy turned theirs out, and Rambo and his buddies pushed a tree on top of their tent.”

  “Sure. Thanks, Handsome,
” Chase said pulling back the door for Tessa before asking, “What’s it going to be, Tessa?”

  “Take a hot shower while you can,” Handsome went on. “The workers built a fire under a large drum of water for you. In the morning, it will be cold. Only at night will you have hot water.”

  Handsome led Sam and Carter into the darkness as Tessa rubbed the sides of her capris and moved to go inside. Chase could sense her nervousness at being alone with him once more. A whiff of her body lotion touched his nose when she pushed by him, causing another one of those nagging pains in his chest. Having her alone for several nights might be a bigger challenge than keeping track of President Baboloki and Handsome.

  Light spilled into the tent from the lantern outside their door. He stepped inside and zipped it back down before turning to watch Tessa inspecting their new abode. The tent interior was roughly fourteen-by-sixteen feet. Long, screened windows with outside awnings on each side of the room would keep the cool night air flowing. She stopped in front of the beds piled with white comforters and pillows.

  “Twin beds,” she sighed as her hand trailed across the comforter. “Soft.”

  Maybe the twin beds might help her relax and feel more secure with him. But the beds were butted up against each other in spite of being made up separately. There was a dresser in one corner of the room that might have been an antique. She found the flashlights and laid them on the bed. One nightstand on each side of the bed with a basket of various soaps and shampoo. She lifted one of the bars and sniffed it.

  “Nice that they brought our bags,” she said walking to one of two laden luggage racks. “I’m covered in dust and Okavango spray.” She felt nervous and forced a laugh. She pulled out some clean clothes.

  Chase went to his own suitcase and dug through his clothes. “Shower together or separate?” he asked casually. She took a step back and gasped. His resolve to be hard-nosed evaporated as she held up a clean blouse when a lacy black bra fell to the floor. Before she could snatch it up, he rescued it and handed it to her on one finger. “I vote together. Save water. Save the planet.” She opened her mouth to speak, but he unzipped the back door and stood aside. “I know. I’m despicable, rude, a Neanderthal, sexist, obstinate, and, on a good day, I’m arrogant.”

  Her eyelashes batted, a nervous tic she displayed when unsure of herself or of him. In the last two years, he’d learned to read her body language. “On a good day, you like to be a hero.”

  There wasn’t a possibility he hid his surprise at her comeback. “Yeah. There’s that. Come on. Let’s see how this shower thing works.”

  He grabbed one of the flashlights before exiting. He led the way through an open space leading ten feet back, framed on each side with an eight-foot bamboo wall. In the rear, they came to an open-air bathroom with walls but no ceiling, divided into three cubicles. On one side was the toilet, the middle a sink, and on the right, a shower. He turned the handle on the copper faucet, and water sputtered then flowed.

  “I’m laying the flashlight on the sink. Can you see?”

  “Yes. Thanks.”

  “I’ll go get my things. Don’t use it all up or next time—”

  “I know. We will shower together.”

  Chase wanted to order her to use it all up, but suspected he’d shared enough clever insinuations for one evening. Scaring her into a snarky, unruly attitude wasn’t what he wanted. It didn’t take him long to gather his things.

  He realized Tessa hadn’t taken a towel. If he’d concentrated on the task at hand instead of a naked Tessa in the shower this wouldn’t have happened. Once again, he pondered the possibilities out of his reach. They were working. If he remembered that, then maybe he wouldn’t make a fool out of himself.

  The squeak of the water faucet reached his ears. He guessed Tessa had finished.

  “Chase?”

  He snatched one of the robes folded on the ends of the beds. He didn’t answer until he stood outside the bath enclosure.

  “So help me if you used all of the hot water—"

  “No. No. There’s plenty. I-I forgot my towel.”

  “I guess I could dry you off with mine,” he forced himself to be nonchalant.

  “Or I could file a sexual harassment suit when we get back to the States.”

  He reached around the shower partition and tossed her a towel. “Here. I brought you this, too.” He dangled the khaki colored cotton robe with the Camp Kubu logo. Grabbing for it, her damp fingers touched his.

  “Okay. Harassment suit dropped.” She stepped out and shivered. “Lordy, it’s getting cold.”

  “Probably warmer in the tent.” He handed her clothes to her. “You can dress there. I’ll be out in a couple of minutes. Did you leave the soap?” She handed him her bar and hustled toward the tent.

  The night orchestra of mysterious sounds created a surreal joy mixed with trepidation. Tessa hurried to dress in her jeans and sweater. The dappled lantern light from outside cast large shadows to further engulf her in a sense of in-over-her-head. Why hadn’t she protested harder about sharing the tent with Chase?

  Eventually, the man would shed his officer-and-a-gentleman cape and take advantage of the hero worship she’d found increasingly harder to hide. Admitting the truth could potentially close the gap between them. This alarmed her the most. His ethical line in the sand glowed with danger, throbbing and beckoning her to explore something she had no business even considering.

  His reputation with women paralleled Carter Johnson’s. Carter’s cavalier attitude, however, didn’t suggest there would ever be more than a one-night stand. Something about Chase hinted at a rock-solid catch who could be molded into a husband and father. Intelligent, ruggedly attractive enough to suggest he’d gathered a few battle scars in life, a quiet demeanor for the most part, and a wide mouth that drew her eyes at the most inopportune time, gave the man ample dating opportunities, if you wanted to call it that.

  But Tessa knew other things about Captain Hunter, things that might scare all those doe-eyed brainy bimbos from the university away. She’d seen him shoot a man in the head after pretending to take advantage of her to lure him into a dark alley.

  There were times she’d seen him use his fist like a pile driver to pound a terrorist into a bloody pulp. He had no qualms about torture or mayhem, if it helped him meet his goals. Life lessons he’d experienced had turned him cold, callous, and left him standing on the edge of disaster more times than she could remember.

  Never been in love. Never cared to be. Loyalty to his country unquestionable, his belief in God needed some work as did his patience with those, like her, who failed to follow orders. But Tessa couldn’t imagine her life without him since she’d experienced life at Enigma.

  Sitting on the edge of the twin bed nearest the back door leading to the shower, she propped her foot on a small stool. She recognized the squeaky faucet turn off. She tried tying her boot laces over and over as she stole glances toward the bathroom enclosure until Chase emerged. His strides, although hard to make out, were not unfamiliar to her so she closed her eyes to envision him.

  “Are you all right?” he asked as he unzipped the door and pushed inside. Barefoot and wearing faded jeans, his open bathrobe revealing a muscled chest still damp from the shower. Maybe she imagined the damp part.

  Tessa sucked in her breath and mumbled, “I’m going straight to Hell.”

  “Anytime soon?” he quizzed then turned away and dug through his duffel bag.

  The heat of embarrassment creeped up her throat and face. He heard that. “I’m good.”

  “What were you staring at when I came in? Something spook you?” He pulled a San Francisco Giants sweatshirt over his head before putting his hands on his hips in that stubborn stance he sometimes took.

  “If I’d known you were going to wear that ridiculous sweatshirt, I would have brought my St. Louis Cardinals one,” she huffed trying to change the subject. Unfortunately, he didn’t bite and continued that penetrating gaze that made he
r swoon and shiver at the same time. “Listen.” She pointed to the screened window and stood up.

  “Sounds like a bunch of puppies complaining.”

  “Fruit bats sound like puppies. They’re hanging in the trees. I was concentrating on that sound is all.”

  “And how do you know they’re fruit bats?”

  “Haven’t you ever read Stellaluna by Janell Cannon? My kids loved that book.” His dark eyes narrowed as a cocky expression played around the corners of his mouth. “It’s about a fruit bat.”

  “Oh. I’ll be sure to put it on my reading list. Maybe you can give me a summary when we get back from dinner. It’s been a while since I’ve had a bedtime story.”

  “I’m not surprised,” she quipped in her most impatient voice. “I’m starved. Can we go?”

  “When Handsome comes for us. What’s your hurry?” Chase checked the back door then locked their luggage before turning back to her. “We could sit outside and wait if you like.” When she plowed toward the front door, her foot caught on the metal leg of the bed, sending her into a clown-like stumble. Chase grabbed her and spun her body around. She landed smack against his chest.

  Chapter Nine

  Chase’s rock-hard body pressed against her chest. His jaw clenched as Tessa stared up into his face. The friendliness in his expression immediately changed to simmering interest, his hands splayed on her back. A dignified retreat might appear clumsy at best. The warmth of his body took the chill away from her own. She tried to convince herself this was a normal reaction.

  Who was she kidding? If she were a pan of cookies coming out of the oven, his hands would have third-degree burns. She tried to pull up the image of her devoted husband waiting patiently back home. Considering his shenanigans in the last few months, that wasn’t going to work.

  Before she could do anything foolish, Chase gently pushed her away, letting his hands slide to her arms. “You’re trembling.”