by Donna Hill
It was about three a.m. when Eva heard a faint knock on their hotel door. When she went to answer it, Rita literally fell into the room. He’d beaten her unconscious, taken the cash she had left in her purse, and dropped her body on the beach. When she’d come to, her clothes tattered and her purse gone, she’d somehow been able to make it back to the hotel.
Her beautiful face was a mass of dark bruises. Both her eyes were swollen, her lip was busted, and they didn’t learn until they’d gotten home that one of her ribs was cracked.
Eva wanted to call the police. Rita begged her not to, saying it would only make things worse. He had friends. Eva didn’t even want to know what that meant. Besides, Rita added, if they reported it to the police, they’d be forced to stay in Jamaica a few days at least, and all she wanted to do was go home.
Stomping down on her temper, thinking through the ramifications, Eva finally agreed not to call the police.
After tending to Rita’s bruises and getting her settled in a hot bath, she contacted the airport, rearranged their flight, and had them on the earliest plane back to New York.
They never spoke about Jon and Jamaica ever again. Rita stayed closeted away in her apartment until her bruises healed. No one was the wiser. And the lie she told her doctor about falling down the stairs accounted for her cracked rib. It was a secret that they kept between themselves and left behind in Montego Bay.
That same look in Rita’s eyes that was there for Jon had come back, for Xavier Suarez, this time. Jon was nothing compared to Suarez. If what they said about Suarez killing his own sister was true, he wouldn’t think twice about doing the same to Rita if he found out that she’d set him up or crossed him in any way.
Rita needed to start thinking straight, and in a hurry.
Eva emptied an overflowing ashtray as she continued to survey the room and its occupants. All the reminiscing about steamy Jamaica had her a bit worked up. She put her tray down on one of the many serving tables and headed back to her cabin.
Maybe Jake was up for a little romp to christen their quarters.
“Rita, I’m going up to the cabin for a few. Any changes, let me know.”
“Sure.”
She knew she was supposed to stay on post, just in case and especially knowing what she did about Rita. The excitement of the hunt was getting to her, building like a slow boil, and she couldn’t help herself.
But when she returned to the cabin and saw the look on Jake’s face, she knew her plans would have to wait.
* * *
She shut the door.
“What is it”
“Ingram just called.”
“And”
“She wants to change the drop-off location.”
“What! She can’t do that. It’ll screw up everything.” She crossed the room to the small bar, took a glass, and fixed a quick drink of rum and Coke. She turned to Jake. “What are we going to do”
“We don’t have too much choice.”
“So if not Miami, then where”
“The ship is scheduled to dock in Mexico for a day. That’s where she wants to make the exchange.”
“That cuts our time down by two days.” She took a swallow of her drink and sat down in the chair near the bar. Immediately she got back up and started to pace, the reason for her impromptu return to the cabin pushed aside. “How are you making out with the codes”
Jake was morose. “Close but no cigar.” He looked up at Eva.
She tugged on her bottom lip with her teeth. “And we still don’t know what room Suarez is in.”
The ship began a gentle rocking that grew more violent as the waves picked up.
Color drained from Jake’s warm brown complexion, giving him an ashen look. His eyes became glassy.
Eva approached slowly and sat next to him. “Babe. It’s cool. We probably hit some bad weather.” She rubbed his back.
Jake licked his dry lips and fought to keep from throwing up. He kept seeing waves and then nothing.
The ship lurched to the left then right.
Jake clenched his teeth. Sweat beaded across his brow and upper lip.
Eva stroked his cheek and then wiped the sweat away from his forehead with the pad of her thumb.
“Try to relax. I’m sure it will pass soon.”
Jake lay back against the pillows and closed his eyes. He’d never wanted anyone to see him like this, especially not his wife, especially not now. He couldn’t afford to fall apart. So much of the plan hinged on him. He had to get a grip.
“It was a freak accident, Jake,” Eva said softly. “There was nothing you could have done. It wasn’t your fault.”
“But it was.”
Eva flinched. “Of course it wasn’t. You all were just playing by the water. It was an accident.”
Jake slowly shook his head. “Me and Jinx … we dared him. Dared him to go farther out. He was afraid. We told him he was just being a baby.”
The ship rocked a bit then settled.
“He didn’t want to do it.” His voice cracked. “But we kept taunting and teasing him. He was crying, but he went. And then he … was gone.” He swallowed hard. “We never told anyone what really happened. Never.”
Eva squeezed his hand. “You were kids. How could you have known You couldn’t.”
“I can still see the look of shock and grief on his mother’s face.” He squeezed his eyes shut, the images of that day racing through his mind.
“Jake … part of your guilt has been holding on to this secret all these years. It’s not a secret anymore. You’ve finally faced the demon that’s been haunting you by sharing it with me. You can get through this. But you have to let it go. Nothing you will ever do can bring him back. You must accept that and accept the fact that it was an accident.”
Jake looked at Eva, letting her words sink in. His soul did feel a bit lighter. The weight that he’d been carrying around for so long was not so heavy anymore. He shared the burden, and she accepted it without recriminations. She didn’t see him as weak or evil.
His words emerged slowly, coming together in bits and pieces. “For years I’d been living on the edge, a part of me wanting to get caught, as if by doing so, I could pay for what I’d done. I’ve spent my whole life taking things from others, unsuspecting victims, repeating what I’d started years earlier on that beach, hoping to get caught, hoping to pay.”
He sat up, as realization struck him. “Lenora Ingram is no unsuspecting victim. She’s no innocent bystander who doesn’t know any better that could be manipulated into doing what we wanted. She was the one who for the first time turned the tables on me.” The right corner of his mouth jerked upward. “Forced me to face my fears, unwittingly, but she’d done it. Underneath it all, that’s what scared me the most, Eva, that I’d be the unsuspecting victim, and wouldn’t hold the winning hand.” He paused, looked Eva in her eyes. “But I do.” He tapped the side of his head with his index finger. “It’s all up here.”
She leaned forward and kissed him. “I was waiting for you to say that.”
He grinned then pulled her down on top of him. “That’s why I love you,” he said, brushing his lips against hers.
“Oh, really.”
“Yeah, really.” He frowned for a minute. “Now that I think about it, what are you doing here I thought you were supposed to be keeping an eye on things in case Suarez and his boys headed back to their cabin.”
Her grin held a hint of mystery. “Well … while I was standing there thinking about everything at stake, the pieces coming together and all…” She began unbuttoning his shirt. “I started thinking … got a little warm all over.” She ran her hands across his bare chest. “And I realized…” She leaned down and ran her tongue across his nipple.
“What did you realize, baby” he asked, his voice growing thick. He pulled the black wig from her head and tossed it on the floor.
“I realized how badly I wanted you.” She worked at unfastening his belt.
“How bad”
He pulled her vest off and unbuttoned her blouse. His palms cupped her breasts.
Eva moaned, her lids fluttered closed. She ground her hips against his hard-on.
Jake flipped her onto her back, unfastened her pants, and pulled them down. He didn’t bother with her thong, merely pushed it aside and slid into her heat.
The gentle sway of the ship only intensified their own push and pull, and Jake let go of his fears for the first time in his life, letting Eva’s loving wash them away.
* * *
“I better get back,” Eva murmured in a dreamy voice.
Jake held her close. “Yeah,” he said without much conviction. He draped one leg over her body.
“You’re making that kind of difficult.” She giggled.
“Oh, am I” he asked, feigning innocence.
“Yes.” She pushed against his chest, and he fell back onto the bed. She sat up and looked down at him. His eyes were closed, and he smiled softly. “You have work to do, and so do I.”
“I thought I was working, and doing a damn good job, by the sound of things.” He chuckled and opened his eyes. “But you’re right.” He pushed himself halfway up. “We need to get busy.”
Eva got up off the bed, stretched, gathered her clothes, and walked toward the bathroom. “Gonna take a quick shower.” She closed the door behind her.
Jake yawned loudly just as Jinx’s voice came through the headset. “He’s on the move.”
Jake put the set on. “Keep an eye on him until Eva gets there.”
“Where the hell is she”
“Taking a shower,” he said, the simple words full of innuendo.
“Hope it was inspiring.”
“Always is. She’ll be there shortly.”
Eva came out of the bathroom, the towel wrapped around her body.
“Jinx just chimed in. Suarez is on the move. Hopefully, he’s headed back to his cabin. Jinx will keep an eye on him.”
Eva dressed as she listened. “I’m pretty sure a man like Suarez is in one of the suites.” She buttoned her blouse.
Jake nodded. “And his bodyguards are going to be close by.”
She put on her pants and vest. “We’ll take care of our end; you finish up on the codes.”
“That’s the plan.”
She crossed the room, leaned down, and kissed him lightly. “I love you, Jake Kelly.”
“Back at ya.”
She grinned and then headed out.
Jake went immediately back to his computer. The software that he’d installed was running a sequence program against the ship’s security system. The probabilities were being narrowed down. When he checked again, the sequence was finished, the final screen was flashing EXECUTION COMPLETED.
Jake hooked up the computer to the portable printer and printed out the results. As he read over the report, his smile grew. “Houston, we no longer have a problem.”
19
“Where is he” Eva asked as she walked the corridors back to the restaurant.
“We’re getting on the elevator going up. I’m turning off my set,” Jinx said as he boarded the elevator.
Eva arrived back at the restaurant. Rita was nowhere to be seen. Eva’s heart jumped. She looked around. “Rita I’m at the bar. Where are you”
Several moments passed with no response.
“Rita, can you hear me”
“I was getting bored and was beginning to look suspicious sitting at the bar. When I saw him leave, I went in the opposite direction. I’m in the casino near the roulette table.”
Eva’s heart began to slow to its normal rhythm. “Okay. I’m waiting to hear from Jinx.”
“What’s going on with Jake”
“He’s working. Listen, stay put. I’m coming to you.”
Eva wound her way around the passengers en route to the casino. It was apparent that after all the travelers were fully settled in their cabins, they were hell-bent on seeing the sights of the ship. People were everywhere. Some towns didn’t have as many people as this ship. The casino was packed. It took Eva a while to find Rita.
“Everything cool” Eva asked, standing to her cousin’s right.
“Sure.”
“You had me worried.”
“Don’t.”
Eva moved around the throng of observers as the diehard gamblers and those who felt lucky played at the table.
Jinx’s voice popped in her ear. “He’s on the eleventh level. Room 1176. He has an outside cabin.”
Eva turned her back to the table, looked out into the crowd. “Did they go in with him”
“Yeah, all three of them. Wait. Two of them just came out. Going down the hall. They went into room 1170.”
“Thanks, Jinx. That leaves one with our man. Meet me at the base. I’ll get Rita.”
Eva walked past Rita and murmured for her to come back to base. Rita waited a reasonable amount of time and headed to Jake and Eva’s cabin.
* * *
“Okay, so we know they’re using at least two cabins,” Jake began once everyone was settled. He brought up the schematics of the eleventh level on the television screen that he’d hooked up to the computer.
“More than likely, one of his men is staying in the room with him,” Eva said.
“If that’s the case, it may be because the stash is in his room,” Rita offered.
“Could be. Somehow we have to get into that room before we dock in Mexico.”
“Why Mexico” Jinx asked.
Jake brought them up to speed.
Jinx let out a stream of expletives. “That fucks up everything. I have stuff set for Miami. Everything.”
“I know, I know,” Jake said. “You’re gonna have to work your contacts. Let them know there’s been a change in plans and location. Everything is going to have to be moved and in place in the next couple of days.”
“Shit!” Jinx paced the room.
Rita asked the question that was on all of their minds. “What if Ms. Girl changes locations again”
“She wants to ensure that we don’t have enough time to screw her,” Eva said.
“Exactly. So we need a plan C,” Jake said.
“Which is” Jinx asked.
“That’s what we’re going to sit here and figure out. The one thing on our side is that there are only so many stops. She has to know that we need time to pull it off. It can only be Mexico or the final stop in Miami.”
Jinx snapped his fingers. “I can find out exactly where she’s going to be.”
“How” Rita asked.
“All the agents have to be reachable. If she’s leaving town, she’s going to have to log it in.”
Jake nodded, seeing where Jinx was going with his train of thought.
“I’ll tap into the FBI files, see what I can dig up.”
“And what about the husband” Eva asked. “He’s another thorn in our side.”
“Yeah, he said he wanted in,” Rita said. “So what do we do about him”
“Let his wife worry about him. I’m pretty sure that he’ll be with her if he wants his end,” Jake said. “In the meantime, Jinx, you get busy with the FBI files. Rita, get ready for this evening. Knowing what I know about Suarez, he’s a hard gambler. He’ll be in the casino.”
Rita nodded.
“Eva, you keep an eye on the rooms, let us know the comings and goings. The minute it’s empty, let me know.”
“What are you planning” Eva asked.
“When they come out, I’m going in.”
* * *
Rita returned to the cabin she shared with Jinx to prepare for the evening ahead.
Jinx came in behind her, closed and locked the door.
“Things are kinda sticky,” he said, pulling off his vest.
“Hmmm.”
He glanced at her. “You okay”
“Fine.”
Jinx crossed the room, sat down on the chair, then took off his shoes.
“Something on your mind, Rita”
She turne
d, looked at him for a moment. How could she tell him that she was having wild fantasies about Xavier Suarez, that looking just once into his eyes had stirred up the beast in her, clouded her thoughts Of course she couldn’t.
“Just everything, I guess,” she finally said. “So much could go wrong.” You have no idea.
Jinx got up to stand in front of her. He pushed a stray lock of hair away from her cheek. “It’s gonna be cool. We’re gonna be rich, and then … me and you are gonna live large.” He grinned, that same devilish grin his older brother had perfected.
She forced a smile. “I know you’re right.” She kissed him lightly on the lips. “I better shower and change.” She turned away and went into the bath.
Moments later, Jinx heard the rush of water. He sighed heavily. How long had he carried a thing around in his heart for Rita He knew the kind of woman she was. She was a chameleon, changing at will. Not only her appearance, but her emotions as well.
Some days he honestly believed that he was the one who could settle her down. Other days he didn’t know who she was. He’d see that faraway look in her eyes, like she was staring right through him. It was the look she had now—as if he didn’t really matter, as if he were just another mark.
He’d been around when Rita had taken many of her romantic spills. He’d been the one to pick her up and put the pieces back together again. Like that time she and Eva went to Jamaica. He didn’t know what actually happened; they never said. But he knew it was bad. She’d stayed away from him for weeks after her return. And when she resurfaced, she offered no explanation. She was quiet and reserved, often crying in her sleep. But he’d stayed, told her that whatever it was they’d get through it together.
Then one day she was the old Rita again, full of fun and laughter, looking for her next adventure.
The shower water cut off. When she stepped out of the bathroom, barely noticing him, his bad feeling only intensified. And his gut told him it had to do with Xavier Suarez.
Rita dressed in silence while Jinx worked on getting into the FBI daily logs. Periodically he glanced her way, hoping to catch a glimpse of what was going on in her head. But if there was one thing he knew about Rita, it was that you couldn’t push her.
She turned, putting the diamond stud in her ear. “I’ll see you later. I’m going to head up to the casino. See what I can see.” She picked up her beaded purse from the top of the dresser.
