Footsteps could be heard coming through the front door as Eduardo called to Micah to stop running.
“Poppa, you don’t think she is still in bed?” Micah wanted to know.
Ryanne called out, “I am in the kitchen.”
“Something smells delicious,” Yuńior commented.
“I made some fried chicken,” she said with her eyes focused on Andres. “I thought I would cook you a meal before you headed back to school.”
Eduardo’s eyes scanned the kitchen. “Where is Margherit?”
“She had an accident when she was cleaning the chickens. Her husband took for her medical attention,” she told Eduardo. She pulled plates from the cabinet and handed those to Andres who was licking his lips. The silverware she handed to Micah and Ryanne put Yuńior in charge of the glasses. “Set the table guys so we can eat.”
Eduardo had not moved from where he was rooted in the kitchen doorway. He watched her carry platters to the dining room table. Each dish smelled as delightful as the next. The biscuits, perfectly shaped, were buttered and Eduardo grabbed one from the plate. Ryanne took it from his hand and placed it back on the tray. “Not until you bless the food.”
He was torn between checking on his housekeeper and sampling the mouth-watering biscuit. Eduardo grabbed the biscuit and bit into it. “For this I am thankful,” he said. His eyes rolled up into his head as the feather light biscuit hit his taste buds. “I did not know you could cook,” he said as the kids took their seats at the table.
“My sister can’t cook. I can do almost everything,” she told him as she walked around the table pouring sweetened ice tea in cups and glasses.
Eduardo blessed the meal and not a sound could be heard as mouths were stuffed and bellies began to bulge. Yuńior, who often said little, held a chicken drumstick in his hand, “I have never had fried chicken and biscuits. This is incredible! Thank you Dr. Dobbins!”
Andres spoke up, “I have always seen fried chicken in American black movies. I wanted to try it and this is delicious! Thank you for making this for us.”
Micah who had said nothing, rose from his chair to come around the table and embrace Ryanne. “I love you already too Mama,” he whispered in her ear.
It was too much for Ryanne. She gnawed on her bottom lip to stave off the tears. Eduardo watched her face as she rose to clear the table. It also did not escape his notice the stiffness of her movements. He pulled his phone from his pocket and made a call. “Don’t worry about the dishes, it will be handled.”
“Children,” he said loudly. “It is time. Get washed up, grab what you need and be outside in 15 minutes.”
“Where are they going?” Ryanne wanted to know.
“It is time for them to head out for school tomorrow,” he said to her. A small woman slipped into the kitchen door and began to clear the dishes.
“I don’t understand, Seňor Delgado. Angel is too small for school. They are going to travel to Argentina by themselves without you?” Ryanne asked him.
“We can’t all fly together. If the plane is shot down, it will wipe out my entire line,” he said. “The children will be met at the plane by their grandparents, where they will stay the night and then taken on to the school in the morning. The plane comes back for them on Friday. Angel and Micah stay with them during the week.”
“Oh!” she said softly. The tears were back as the children filed down the stairs. Yuńior and Andres shook her hand, while Micah and Angel both gave her a kiss. She stood behind Eduardo as he bid farewell to his children. He did not linger as the black SUV rolled down the drive towards the airfield.
“Come with me,” he told her as he climbed the stairs to his room.
“Should I go into the guest room and wait to enter through the pocket door?”
“No, please follow me,” he said.
The door in his bathroom she assumed was a closet opened to a room with a sunken tub. A tub full of water and bubbles. “You need to soak away some of the soreness. Please undress and get in,” he commanded.
Ryanne stood dumbfounded for a minute. He was on the porch with me - how did the tub get filled. I want a set of these magical people who show up and do all this work.
Eduardo turned to leave but Ryanne called after him, “Aren’t you going to join me?”
The smile which covered his face warmed her all the way to the fine hairs on her big toes. “I was hoping you would ask.”
It was all for show, she knew it. Tomorrow she would ask more questions about his actual life. Right now, she was doing everything in her power to not cry. He had rolled out all the stops. The sexy date on Friday night, the ride through the fields on Saturday, and the children...even though they would be back on Friday, she was going to miss those children.
Isadora Casanova, Argentina
The large leather chair squeaked in objection under the weight of Elizondo Renteria as he seated himself across from Miguelito Castanza. He knew the man well. More importantly he knew how the man processed his thoughts, any comment about his nephew would put him on the defensive. Elizondo also knew this would play right into his hands.
“You know why I am here Miguelito,” he said as he puffed on a very expensive cigar.
“I have no idea what prompted this visit from you Elizondo, although I am certain it has something to do with my nephew Eduardo,” he spoke with more than a tinge of irritation in his voice.
“There is no need for us to be coy about my distaste for Eduardo, but my concerns are not unfounded. I understand he sent his plane to the US to pick up some woman who is employed by the American Justice Department. Was this visit sanctioned by the Cartel? You know how venomous those vipers can be about such matters...”
Miguelito wasn’t aware of a woman from the US staying at Las Tierras Verdes, but he knew Elizondo didn’t fly all the way from Mexico to make a polite visit. He pretended he was aware of the stay. “Yes, she will be at the farm for a few days,” he lied.
It was the way Elizondo leaned forward with his arms resting on his knees which made Miguelito know the man had set into motion a nasty plan. His brow crinkled as he spoke, “I have notified the cartel of this infraction. There is a surprise visit to the ranch in the morning. I do hope that you won’t ruin the surprise of us popping in, since you will be accompanying us to Eduardo’s estate in the morning.”
“I assure you, there is nothing circumspect about her stay,” he told the man.
“Well, we will find out for ourselves in the morning won’t we?” Elizondo said as he rose from the chair. “I would hate to see someone behead your favorite nephew!”
Miguelito hated this man more so than he ever let on, but theirs was a cruel business and weakness was not permitted. He leaned back in his chair, interlacing his fingers allowing them to rest on his belly, “Heaven forbid that happens and someone sends his head to me in a box! I can honestly say that, mi amigo, would really put a pepper in my day.”
“Until tomorrow...again, I can’t wait to see his surprise at our arrival,” Elizondo said as two very large men escorted him to the door.
He could not call Eduardo to warn him, the others would know. His nephew was a careful man. She had to be someone of importance for Eduardo to fly her to his home and on the weekend when his children would be there. It bothered him that Elizondo knew who the woman was and he did not. Whoever she was, this made his longtime enemy feel as if he had an upper hand.
“Damn it Eduardo!” He cursed under his breath. “I hope she is worth it because she is going to get you killed,” he whispered.
Chapter 11. You wash my back...
Ryanne leaned against the side of the porcelain tub. It was sunken into the floor with small stairs that led down in the warm soapy water. It reminded her of a Japanese bathhouse. This is a real bathroom. The room was the size of a second bedroom in a mid-sized American home. The left wall was covered with a tile mosaic of a farmer in the field with the hand of God touching his land. The intricate detail of the tile piece
s and chips to make the mosaic fascinated her. The right wall was even more spectacular. Those mosaics were of a man in the fields, sitting on a cart pulled by a donkey loaded with coffee beans. What truly caught her attention was that the man was enjoying a morning cup of coffee. He was parked by a well, which sat next to a fire that was tended by a family cooking over the open flame as a child pulled milk from the teats of a cow.
“Morning coffee has been done the same way on Las Tierras Verdes for generations. We eat what we grow and the land is our life. Each family takes pride in the sections of the green valleys which has been entrusted to their care. I am very proud that I am able to continue the tradition and our way of life,” Eduardo told her as he pushed away bubbles from his torso. The placement of the suds made the fangs of the serpent on his chest appear to be frothing at the mouth.
Ryanne pulled more suds to her, using them to shield her breasts as they bobbed in the water. She gazed at the last wall which was a very large picture window. The sun was setting over the horizon and the green valleys nearly stole her breath. The mosaic of the man in the field was an exact replica of what she was currently seeing.
She said softly to him, “Isn’t it dangerous to have a glass window...I mean, considering who you are and all...”
“The glass is bullet and shatter proof. Besides, there are no vantage points for a sniper to get a good shot. Las Tierras Verdes is a no fly zone, and nothing lands here without my permission or knowledge. If anything is flying over that I don’t know about, it is shot down,” he told her.
This is what she desired to learn. This is the part of his life that she needed to understand. “Ah finally, I get to spend some time with Eduardo Delgado. That is the man I need to know, although I have enjoyed the whole dog and pony show,”
His eyebrows shot up and he leaned forward in the tub. “I know this one!” he said with enthusiasm. “The dog and pony show!” He clapped his hand in satisfaction as he leaned back again, his arms resting on the outer rims of the tub.
“I saw one of those at a circus with the three rings when I was but a boy. The small pony trotted around the center ring while the little doggy would jump on its back, then down to the ground. This was done several times as the pony ran around the circle, the little doggy would jump on and ride,” he said with a huge grin. “I remember it well. It was mildly amusing.”
A look of confusion covered his face as he squinted his eyes with head cocked to the side. “Wait...I am not understanding how this applies to us...am I the pony or the doggy in this scenario?”
“Oh dear Jesus!” she exclaimed.
“What? Am I also not understanding your American expression again? Ryanne, you must cease with these complexities of conversation which I do not grasp and say what is troubling you!” His brow was crinkled when he spoke to her.
Ryanne picked up a large sponge and dunked it in the warm water. “Turn around,” she told him. She used the sponge to wash his back. Her fingers lingered over the scales of the snake that were etched into his skin. Her hand rubbed the lump inside of the snake which rested above his butt cheek. “What I am saying is that you went out of your way to make a good impression of your life here. Dinner, the helicopter, morning coffee, your children, all of it is a nice show. You are the dog and you have to do the work. I want to see the rest of what you do. I want to know Eduardo,” she told him.
His arms were folded and his head rested where his wrists connected as he spoke, “Eduardo is a ruthless man and a cartel leader for an entire country. While his children were in church this morning, he was in Bucaramanga cutting off a man’s hand who stole from him. To make certain it never happens again, Eduardo cut off the hands of three other people who knew of the man’s dishonesty but failed to report it to their cartel leader,” he turned in the tub to face her. “I am certain that had you not been here, Eduardo would have killed them all for such a blatant transgression. Yet with every life, there is also death.”
She touched his cheek with her wet hand, asking him, “You did not kill them because I was here?”
“I could not come back and look in your eyes knowing I had taken four lives before the mid-day meal...” he told her. “...maybe before dinner...it may not have troubled me.”
His head turned so that he could see her face. A face for the first time which showed worry.
She asked him, “What is worrying you?”
“You,” he said. “You are the unknown variable and someone will always try to solve for X. I cannot help what I feel for you, but you will probably cause my death.”
She turned so fast in the tub that water splashed out, depositing suds on the beautiful tile floor. “I am such a dumb ass and I am probably going to be tortured and sold for body parts or something after they kill you in the worst possible way,” she said with a pinch of fear in her voice. “I fancied myself in love and took off to a foreign country to be with a man I thought loved me,” she said as her eyes teared up.
“You are right. You are a dumb ass,” he said as he pulled her into his arms. “If you think for one minute that I am going to let any harm come to one hair on this lovely head, you are mistaken. I guess we are going to die together because here you are in a foreign country, taking a bubble bath with a drug czar... I guess if you wash my back, I will need to wash yours...”
Tears had started to run down her face. “...And the last part Eddie?”
He planted a small kiss on her shoulder. “Stop being silly and asking asinine questions for which you already know the answers Ryanne. If I did not love you, there would have never been an opportunity for you to meet my children or be in my home.”
She turned again to face him. “Are we going to die?”
Never one to mince his words, “Yeah, probably. If not, someone is thinking of something really shitty to do to us to make us both suffer.” He started to laugh really loud as if it were funny.
“I am not finding the humor in this,” she told him.
“I am finding it damned funny, because I will probably kill them before they get me, because I need you,” he held her close. “If a beautiful soul such as yourself can find something redeeming to love in a man like me, then I am not lost. Nor do I plan to lose...” his words were cut short as his eyes were drawn to a blinking red light embedded in the mosaic.
He pushed away from her in the tub, placing his finger on his lips urging her silence. His lithe body moved with precision as he climbed out of the tub without one single ripple of the water. On the wall where the hand of God was reaching down to the fields, Eduardo pushed the fingertip and the cart the man sat upon, opened, pushing out like a cuckoo clock, a 9 mm weapon. A towel was wrapped around his waist as the weapon was held low. He pointed at her to get out of the tub slowly. His eyes told her to make as little noise as she could.
Ryanne’s heart was hammering against her breast plate as she climbed the stairs to get out of the water. Her thighs covered with suds that clung to her skin as she moved against the wall. “Get dressed...quickly,” he mouthed to her.
A light tap came at the door. “Seňor, it is me Tonda.”
“Que Cuentas?” Eduardo asked. His eyes were still on Ryanne, donning her clothing.
“We just received word from the tower that six planes have requested clearance to land in the morning,” he told him.
“The countries of origin?”
Paper could be heard unfolding outside of the door, while Ryanne slipped on her shoes. Tonda read the countries, “Argentina, Venezuela, Bolivia, Uruguay, Ecuador and one with a Mexican registry, Seňor.”
Eduardo was at her side. On the wall of the mosaic of the green valleys, he pushed the head of the farmer which opened a side door that lead down some stairs. He pulled Ryanne by the hand towards the opening.
Tonda called out, “Seňor, should I check on Dr. Dobbins, to make certain she is okay. We have not seen her since the children left.”
“Go to the kitchen, get a banana and come up the front stairs...slow e
nough to pass him on the way down...rapido...” Eduardo whispered.
She did not question but headed down the back stairs and ended up in the kitchen. She grabbed a banana from the stand and began to peel it as she made her way to the living room and waited to hear Tonda’s steps.
Eduardo opened the bathroom door. “I am not certain how the lady would feel to have you knocking on her door after everyone has gone, Tonda. She may think you have ill intentions...”
The big man was embarrassed. “Lo siento...Seňor...I did not mean...”
“It is not a problem with me Tonda, but please keep these things in mind while she is here this week,” he told his guard.
“Are you retiring for the night Seňor?”
“I am. Have a good evening Tonda.” He said as he removed the paper from the hand of his guard. “Give the tower clearance to allow the planes to land.”
“Good night Seňor,” he said as he made his way from his boss’s bedroom and out the door. As he started down the stairs he saw Ryanne coming up eating a banana. She stopped on the stair below him.
“Did you get the plate of dinner I left for you with my famous fried chicken Tonda?”
The big guy was blushing, “Si, Dr. Dobbins. You are a good cook.”
“Thank you,” she told him as she bit into the banana. “Good night Tonda”
“Buena noches La Doctora,” he said as she passed him. It did not escape his notice that she had suds in her hair and she smelled exactly like the soap his boss was just using.
“Hmmmpf,” was all he grunted as he made his way down the stairs.
Chapter 12. That is not funny...
Ryanne returned to Eduardo’s room through the sliding door wearing a set of the sexy lingerie she had purchased in Houston. Those days with Grandma Patsy seemed so far away in her mind. Tomorrow, she was likely going to die. Tonight she would spend the evening in his arms.
Loving the Czar (The Blakemore Files Book 6) Page 7
