But after they'd weathered the excitement of plunging into unknown territory together, after he'd proved himself a worthy traveling companion as they navigated their way down to South America, then she might be ready to accept the truth. She might even be in love with him by then.
If she'd only trust that he was capable of making this decision for himself, then they'd have days to work through their differences, whatever they might be. He didn't think they'd be significant. They had shared values, similar intelligence levels, and incredible sex. She might want to minimize the importance of that last thing, but he didn't, not for a minute.
She certainly didn't object to the idea of making love again after dinner. And she didn't seem to mind indulging again once they'd positioned the mattress in front of the door for the night. Once he'd accomplished that, he was able to finally go to sleep. The next morning they'd be docked at Vista Verde, and when she left, he'd go with her. There was really no way that she could stop him.
GILLIAN SLEPT VERY LITTLE. TOMORROW WAS THE most important day of her life. She hoped it didn't turn out to be the last day of her life. Her tummy churned every time she thought about what she had to do.
Then she'd think about leaving the man who slept so peacefully beside her, and her heart would start to hurt. On one hand she wanted to get this over with. On the other she wished the night would go on forever, so she'd never have to leave the man she loved so desperately.
Eventually light began to trim the edges of the curtains, although the ship's engines continued to thrum steadily. Gillian climbed out of bed and walked over to the window to peer out. The ship cruised quite close to land, and she could see volcanic outcroppings and crescents of sandy beach. Birds wheeled in the bright blue sky.
"Are we almost there?"
She turned to find Lex sitting up and watching her. "Looks like it."
"Then we'd better get ready. I think we should plan to be the first ones off the ship."
"Right." She would be, but he wouldn't.
"I've been trying to decide if it would be better to hire somebody to drive us, or see if we could buy a car."
"I'm not sure." She'd decided not to lie if she absolutely didn't have to, but she might neglect to say a few things.
"Me, either, but I'm thinking hiring someone might make the most sense. That keeps things more flexible." He stood, magnificent in his nakedness. "So is that the plan? Skip breakfast and get off the ship ASAP?"
"Sounds good to me."
"Okay, then." He leaned down and tipped the mattress up against the closet. "Let's get ready."
"Yes, we need to." She wasn't sure when her opportunity would come. She only knew her timing had to be perfect.
As they shared the bathroom and got dressed, Lex talked about what he should take in his backpack. "I don't want to make it look too bulky, because then someone might get suspicious. I can take a few things of yours, though, because I'm sure you can't cram very much in your purse."
She couldn't, indeed. Mostly she was counting on the money that Cora had given her, plus some essentials like a toothbrush, deodorant, and some basic makeup. A change of underwear, one extra blouse—and that was about it for her. She would love to have her passport, but that was gone. The business card for Cora's lawyer was tucked in her purse, though, so she could get her duplicate from Cora eventually.
The ship's engines slowed, and a series of thumps and scraping noises told her they were docking at Vista Verde.
"We're here," Lex said. "Don't forget your nametag. We'll need that to disembark."
"Got it." She lifted the cord over her head and settled it around her neck.
"Are you about ready?"
"Close." Bustling around as if she had more to accomplish, she tried not to seem as if she were watching Lex, although she was aware of his every move.
"Me, too. I wonder if I should take my shaving stuff. Ah, I'll just buy it later on. Or maybe I'll let my beard grow. Do you like beards?"
"Sure." She picked up his walkie-talkie from the night-stand. While he was taking his razor and shaving cream out of his backpack, she was able to set her trap without him noticing a thing.
"Are you going to call Dante?" she asked. Her heart twisted as he looked at her with such an open expression of gratitude.
"Damn, I almost forgot. Thank you for reminding me.
That would be crummy, if I didn't let him know we were leaving." He glanced around. "Have you seen my walkie-talkie? I thought I left it on the nightstand."
"Believe it or not, I think it's in the bathroom."
"Huh. I must be really distracted if I put it in there."
She held her breath as he stepped over the sill into the tiny bathroom. How she loved him. And she would never see him again. She closed the door quickly, and as he yelled in surprise, she flopped the mattress down, blocking the bathroom door, but not her exit.
"Gillian!" He threw his weight against the door, but it held. "Gillian!"
"I love you," she whispered as she grabbed her purse, opened the door, and fled down the hall.
The crew was just lowering the gangplank as she arrived at the double doors leading off the ship.
A young crew member smiled at her. "You're up early."
"Lots of shopping to do." She gave him her nametag to swipe.
"Have fun." He handed it back to her. "Don't lose that. It's your entry back on board. We sail at four-thirty this afternoon."
"Thanks." She hurried down the gangplank. By four-thirty she'd be far away from this ship ... far away from Lex. Her chest hurt as she walked quickly along the wooden dock toward the tiny cluster of buildings and shacks that made up Vista Verde.
As she walked, she took her own walkie-talkie out of her purse and punched in Cora's code.
Cora didn't answer. Gillian remembered the morning before, when she and Lex had found Cora and Little Ben snoring away in a couple of deck chairs, oblivious to everything. That seemed like years ago.
She'd wanted to tell Cora good-bye and thank her for all her help. So much for that idea. Turning off the walkie-talkie, she took aim and threw it into the water.
So that was it, her last contact. The cruise had been a piece of cake compared to this. Now she was officially on the run. Alone.
Twenty-eight
LEX GULPED IN AIR AND GRABBED THE WALKIE-talkie. At least she'd left him that. Cora had a key to the room. But Cora wasn't answering her walkie-talkie. Shit. Lex pictured both Cora and Little Ben dead to the world after a night of margaritas and other activities he didn't want to think about. Starting to sweat, he punched in Dante's code.
He should have seen this coming, should have known she'd figure out a way to keep him from following her. Damn it! Why wasn't Dante answering?
Finally Dante responded, sounding very sleepy. "Italian Stallion, here." In the background, someone giggled.
"Dante, she trapped me in the bathroom and left! Over!"
"Yikes!" Dante sounded wide awake, now. "How'd she do that? Over."
"Who cares? Cora's got a key, but she's not answering her walkie-talkie! Hello? Are you there?"
"Yeah! You're supposed to say over. Over."
"To hell with that. Do you understand? She's gone and I'm stuck! Over, damn it!"
"Okay, okay. Calm down, buddy. I'll get the key from Cora. I'll be there in two shakes of a lamb's tail. Don't worry. We'll find Gillian. Over and out." The walkie-talkie went dead.
Lex stared at himself in the bathroom mirror. A complete idiot stared back. He'd known Gillian was smart, had known that she was determined not to let him sacrifice himself for her cause. But it was no sacrifice. Without her, life would be one miserable day after another, filled with regrets for what might have been.
He should have told her he loved her. Whether she'd believed him or not, she might have realized how serious he was about going with her. She would have had to deal with a declaration of love. But he'd let her off the hook on that one, and now ... now she was out there, alone an
d unprotected.
Picking up the walkie-talkie, he tried Cora again. Still no answer. With nothing else to do, he kept trying her over and over. He could easily go crazy trapped in here, knowing that Gillian was wandering around some unfamiliar village looking for the best way to escape into the countryside.
She needed someone with her. Lex wasn't convinced he was her best bet, but he was currently available, or he had been until she'd shut him into the bathroom. He'd made it so easy for her with his mattress program. Then he'd walked right into the trap she'd laid. She'd put his walkie-talkie in here to lure him inside.
If he weren't consumed with worry, he'd admire the way she did it. He wondered when she'd come up with the plan, but he suspected she'd had it for quite some time. She'd made love to him all night long, allowing him to believe that she'd been lulled into an agreement that had existed only in his sex-besotted brain. All along she'd meant to leave him. That had taken nerve.
After what seemed like hours, the stateroom door opened. "Lex, buddy! The cavalry has arrived!"
"Cut the drama, Dante! Just move the damned mattress, okay?"
"You got it." Some scuffling ensued. Then Dante opened the door. He was unshaven and dressed in wrinkled shorts and a plaid shirt that was buttoned up wrong. "Let's go."
"I want to go, too." BJ came through the door, looking as disheveled as her sweetheart.
"We want to go, too." Cora, uncharacteristically rumpled, crowded into the room, followed by Little Ben.
Lex stared at the group with growing horror. "No. You can't all go. There's no telling what will happen. We're dealing with the Mafia. They could have accomplices here in Vista Verde, for all I know."
Dante shivered. "You never brought that up before."
"I didn't think it mattered. I was going to be the only one dealing with them." He stared hard at BJ, Cora, and Little Ben. "I mean it. Don't follow us. You'll only slow us down, and we'll have to worry about your safety."
"He's right," Dante said. "Stay here."
BJ lifted her chin. "I'm going. You need me. I'll bet I can guess how she's thinking. I'll help you find her."
"BJ could be right about that," Dante said. "She's magna cum laude."
"So am I," Lex said.
"You are?" Dante's eyebrows lifted. "How'd I miss that?"
"I don't go around with it on a T-shirt." Lex was out of patience. In other circumstances, he might have worked harder to make certain everyone stayed safe, but right now, the only person he cared about was Gillian. Short of locking everyone in the bathroom, he didn't know how to keep them from following him.
"Okay, I'm leaving," he said. "I can't stop you from coming along, but I'm not waiting for anyone. Either keep up or get left behind." Pushing past the bodies clogging the door, he started down the hallway at a trot.
"I'm right on your tail, buddy!" Dante caught up with him before he got to the elevator, and BJ joined them a second later.
"You young people go ahead," Cora called after them. "We'll cover your flank!"
Lex groaned and plunged into the elevator. This was going from really bad to absolutely disastrous.
VISTA VERDE WAS SMALLER THAN GILLIAN HAD Expected. One unpaved street ran past a group of open-air stalls that were more temporary shacks than permanent structures. Each merchant had cleared away a section of prickly pear and cholla cactus, nailed together some boards and plywood, and declared themselves in the tourist business. A few vendors were starting to take down the front panels in order to sell the wares stored inside to the cruise ship full of passengers.
The only substantial building in town seemed to be the cantina, an adobe building located at the far end of the dusty street. The scent of fried tortillas hung in the air, and a couple of chickens ran squawking across in front of Gillian as she walked briskly toward the cantina. That looked like the only logical place to find a telephone and someone with a car.
She fought panic at the rural character of the town. She'd expected more of an infrastructure—a train station, maybe, or even a bus depot. This looked like little more than a byway to satisfy the tourists on the cruise ships.
A few rickety-looking houses painted in pinks and blues sat up on a hillside at the far end of the street. A couple of them had rusty trucks parked next to the house under the shade of scraggly mesquite trees. The trucks didn't look as if they'd make it down the street, let alone to a village with more options.
On her way into town, she'd passed a few fishing boats moored at the dock, and she supposed leaving by sea was always a possibility. But she hated the idea of going back in that direction. She'd made it to town ahead of the other passengers, and that's the way she wanted to keep it.
A vendor called out to her as she walked past. "Senorita! Come look! I give you good price!"
Turning, she waved at the man who was selling sera-pes and large straw hats with Mexico stitched on the crown. "Maybe later!" Then she glanced up at the banner strung across the front of the cantina and wondered if the passengers would be insulted by a sign that read welcome, geeks!
The door to the cantina stood open, and she walked into the dim interior. "Anybody here?" The place smelled of cigarettes, beer, and refried beans. She'd bet they served good ones here, but she'd never have the chance to find out.
Empty tables and chairs were scattered about, some made of wood, some made of slats and oiled pigskin. She imagined by noon the place would be jumping with tourists eager to down as much blue agave tequila as they could hold.
"Can I help you?" A short woman with her dark hair in a bun came through a curtained doorway. She dusted flour from her hands. "We're not open yet."
Gillian was grateful the woman spoke good English, but she shouldn't be surprised. Obviously this town existed because of the cruise lines. They would need to understand the language of those bringing the money. "I know. I need... a telephone." She'd start with the first order of the day and move on from there."
The woman gazed at her. "You have a calling card?"
"Yes."
"This way." The woman beckoned her back behind the battered wooden bar and pointed to a black phone that looked like it had been manufactured fifty years ago. It had a rotary dial.
Beggars couldn't be choosers. Gillian smiled at the woman. "Thanks. I won't be long."
'Take your time." The woman waved at the phone. "Nobody ever calls." Then she disappeared into the kitchen.
Gillian had her calling card ready and the receiver in her hand when she noticed a movement by the door of the cantina. She ducked down. It was probably only one of the vendors, but she didn't want to take chances.
Then she heard footsteps on the wood floor of the cantina. She wondered if a hunted person developed special instincts, because she knew without looking that the person standing in the cantina was searching for her. She was just as sure it wasn't Lex. Lex would have called out her name.
Whoever it was walked out again. Gillian peeked over the edge of the bar and saw a man with his back to her standing in the arched doorway of the cantina. She began to shake. Hector Michelangelo.
Crouched there gripping the edge of the bar, she waited for what seemed like a lifetime until Hector moved away and started back down the street. But he was sauntering, not walking as if he intended to return to the ship. He must have seen her walk into town and had followed. It didn't take much imagination to figure out why.
Slowly she replaced the receiver of the phone. She could call later, once she was away from this place. One day wouldn't make a difference, and she'd probably been foolish to think she had to call right away. Either foolish or unsure how long she'd be alive to accomplish that. She'd go with foolish.
Quietly she slipped through the curtained doorway. Obviously startled, the woman in the bun looked up from the table where she was making tortillas. The kitchen smelled of onions and chili peppers, and Gillian wished she could be just a tourist looking forward to lunch at the cantina.
"Did you make your call?" the woman a
sked.
"Yes." Gillian decided she needed to get used to telling lies. No matter how she disliked doing that, it would help her survive. "I'm trying to meet up with a friend. Is there anyone around here who could drive me somewhere?"
The woman gazed at her with suspicion. "Where?"
"To the next village."
"That's three hours away. Your ship sails at four-thirty. You might miss it."
"I know." Gillian reached in her purse and pulled out her wallet. "I can pay."
The woman studied her for a long, agonizing moment. "Wait in the cantina. I'll see what I can do."
"But couldn't I wait here?"
"No." The woman didn't seem to want Gillian and her problems invading this kitchen. "In the cantina."
Left with no choice, Gillian walked back through the curtained doorway. Then she peered out into the street looking for Hector. He'd stopped by the vendor selling serapes and large straw hats. Maybe he was planning to take home a souvenir to commemorate getting rid of her.
LEX, DANTE, AND BJ HAD STARTED DOWN THE GANG-plank when Dante pointed at someone walking along the dock toward town. "Isn't that Nancy teetering along on a pair of stilettos?"
"Looks like it." Lex continued at a brisk pace down the dock, which creaked as the waves rolled underneath. The air smelled of fish and rotting wood.
He didn't like this place. It was too remote. People could be eliminated here, and there would be no trace. Number one, there was the ocean for hiding evidence, and number two, there was all the open desert. God, why hadn't he figured out Gillian's trap and stopped her from taking such a foolish risk in such alien territory?
"I wonder what Nancy's doing out here so early?" Dante said. "You'd think a party girl would wait until the cantina opened for business."
"Call me paranoid," Lex said, "but I'm suspicious of anyone who's out here right now, considering that Gillian's already left the ship."
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