“Love me?”
“Yes, I loved you. I felt it that first day we met, but I wouldn’t admit it, not even to myself.”
“And now?”
“And now I know I’ll never stop loving you. I love you, Blue.”
We were lying on our backs, both naked. I moved up to lie atop him and stared into his eyes.
“I love you too, Ramón.”
He hugged me to him, my breasts flattening against his chest, as our lips became one. Then we lied there like that, as one, and drifted off to a peaceful slumber.
Lawson called us the next day. They had tied the man from the luggage store to Natalie Stone. That meant that the two of them had been working together all along.
“How did you make the connection?”
“Prints found on the luggage shop cash register matched an unidentified set of prints we found in Texas. He probably recognized you two the moment you walked through the door. That also marks him as one of Natalie Stone’s inner circle. We’ve intensified our search for him.”
“So, she’s known all along that we’ve been here? That means that they weren’t trying to kill Ramón, but they were trying to abduct him again.”
“It looks that way, yes, but we were able to wire The Keep today, for pictures and sound. We’re in a Mobile Command Center that’s disguised as a motor home, watching, waiting.”
“I hate watching and waiting, but for now, I guess it’s our best bet. Keep in touch, Lawson. We really want that bitch.”
“I hear you, stay safe, Lawson out.”
I put the phone down and leaned back on the sofa.
“It’s a waiting game now.”
Ramón stood. “I’ve an idea.”
“What’s that?”
“Do you remember what Knutson said, about Stone living well? As long as we have nothing to do, why don’t we stake out luxury hotels? I know she won’t be staying anywhere under her own name, but maybe we’ll get lucky and spot her.”
I thought about it, thought about the endless hours of waiting and watching, and dreaded it, but then, I realized that we had no other leads.
“We’ll do it. While Lawson’s people are watching The Keep, we’ll be searching for Natalie.”
We made out a list of four and five-star hotels in London. When the list was a hundred names long, we stopped.
We then spent our days sitting in hotel lobbies, and our nights gazing through the windows of restaurants hoping to spot her. Had I been alone, I would had gone out of my mind with boredom, but Ramón kept me laughing with his commentary about the people we saw coming and going. On the evening of the ninth day, we got lucky.
I pointed to a woman walking out of a Hotel in SoHo.
“That’s her, isn’t it?”
Ramón adjusted his binoculars. We were sitting in a rented car. He did all the driving, because I nearly killed us the first time I tried driving on the left side of the road.
“That is her and look who’s driving the car she’s getting into.”
I trained my binoculars on the driver and saw the man from the luggage shop.
“Two for the price of one,”
“How do you want to play this?” Ramón asked. “Should we call Lawson?”
“Not yet, let’s follow them first. We already know what hotel she’s staying in, now maybe they’ll lead us somewhere without a lot of people around. If they do, then we’ll strike.”
It turned out that they were going to dinner, and the restaurant was only a few blocks away.
Ramón stared through his binoculars.
“Cheese Soufflé, do you think she eats like this every night?”
“Yes, judging by the size of that butt.”
Ramón made a cat sound, and we both laughed, but then we both sighed at the same time.
“We have to kill them,” I said.
“Yes.”
“We’ll do it when the valet leaves to get the car.”
“Right here, out in the open? There will be cameras?”
I reached in my purse and pulled out a gun.
“She nearly killed you in Texas just to make you talk, and almost abducted you again here. She’s out of chances and so is he.”
We watched as they exited the restaurant and sent the valet off to fetch their vehicle.
They were kissing when we came up on them from out of the shadows of a nearby doorway. Despite the darkness, we both wore sunglasses, while our hats obscured our faces.
I shot Natalie Stone in the stomach, while using the silenced pistol that was left behind during her last attempt to harm my man. While I was doing that, Ramón silenced her lover with his knife.
As she collapsed to the pavement, I saw a look of incredulity in Stone’s eyes, for she had never expected prey to become predator.
With the man lying dead beside her, Ramón stood next to me and gazed down at Natalie. I placed a bullet between her eyes, dropped the gun atop the knife, and walked twelve paces to a waiting car.
Lawson spoke to his man. “Drive!”
I took off the hat and sunglasses. “Are you sure the cameras were off?”
“Yes, courtesy of a very grateful MI5. A man named Ahmed Kalheed entered The Keep yesterday. The Brits have been searching for him for years. We’ve also gained other valuable information and learned about two other similar terrorist safe houses. You two may have come here for just Natalie Stone, but by discovering that terrorist retreat, you’ve done immeasurably more.”
“Happy to help,” I said.
We arrived at the airport and Lawson shook our hands as we prepared to board the private jet that would take us home. It seemed as if we now rated a touch of luxury.
“We know about the rental, but is there anything you’ve left behind that you’ll want back?”
I thought about it, looked down at my turquoise boots, and remembered that I had the pictures we took of Paris in my purse.
“I’m good.”
“If you two ever want a job, contact me through our mutual friend, or maybe I’ll contact you.”
“I’ve had enough international intrigue to last a lifetime.”
“Same here,” Ramón said.
We climbed onto the plane, buckled up, and held hands.
“Are you all right, Blue?”
“I was just thinking of Natalie Stone. Terrorism and bank robbery aside, she just wanted to get her daughter back. On that level, I could understand her. Ramón, is the little girl really safe?”
He gazed at me for a moment.
“I think it’s time you met my family.”
“But I thought that you weren’t in contact with them anymore?”
“Not my real family, my true family.”
“I don’t understand?”
“You will once you meet them; we’ll go when we get back.”
“All right, and speaking of family, my mama knew that you loved me before I did. She said that any man who would risk his life to save me must be in love with me.”
“She sounds like a wise woman.”
“She is, and I’d like you to meet her.”
“We have all the time in the world now, and something much better.”
“What’s that?”
He smiled. “We have now, right now.”
I lay my head on his shoulder as the plane climbed into the night, and even in my dreams, we were together.
Santuario, Texas, Population 278
Walter Calvin welcomed me with open arms and gave me a heartfelt hug.
“My boy Ramón has finally brought a girl home to meet me; that makes me very happy.”
“Blue is special, Walter.”
Walter smiled at Ramón like a proud father.
“Well then, that makes two of you.”
Walter Calvin was about sixty, lanky, with a receding hairline and crinkly blue eyes.
“Ramón, I hope you’re going to visit while you’re here, several people have asked about you lately.”
“I am, in fact, Bl
ue and I are going to take a walk about town.”
Walter looked surprised by that, but then smiled.
“I see; she truly is special.”
Ramón nodded. “Yes.”
“Blue,” Walter said. “I look forward to our dinner tonight. I’d like to get to know you.”
I smiled.
“I’d like that too. Ramón has told me how you changed his life.”
Walter brushed that aside. “My boy changed his own life, and mine. This was nothing but a retreat with tents when he came here. He’s the one who turned it into a town and a community, but I’ll let Ramón explain that to you.”
We left Walter’s small home and strolled about the picturesque town. A town that was surprisingly diverse for West Texas. I saw Venezuelans, Germans, and even Ethiopians. They all greeted Ramón as if he were family. They all also asked one question. They wanted to know if I was going to be a new resident. When Ramón told them no, they then beamed at me with knowing smiles.
Ramón led me into an ice-cream parlor. We were going to bring some back for dessert. It was there that I met the charming Irishman with the daughter who bore a striking resemblance to the late Natalie Stone.
As we left the shop, I whispered to Ramón.
“That was Natalie’s daughter, wasn’t it?”
“Yes, along with her husband. They’ve been here five years.”
I stopped suddenly, and my mouth opened in shock as the truth hit me.
“This, this town, this is your witness protection program, isn’t it? Is everyone here in hiding?”
“Everyone but Walter, and others like me who left the gang life. These people protect each other, safeguard each other’s secrets, while minding their own business. If Natalie had broken me, if I had told her about this place, she would have been facing an entire town, hundreds of people. I’ve no doubt that they would have fought, and they would have won.”
I stepped back from him and gazed about the town, the town that he had made, this town of Santuario, this town of sanctuary.
“Oh my God.”
Ramón stared at me. “Blue?”
I caressed his face.
“I love you, and if I didn’t already love you, I would fall in love again. Do you know what you’ve done here?”
“I’m keeping people safe.”
“It’s even better than that; you’ve given them a second chance.”
“I’m only repaying the second chance that Walter gave me.”
As we strolled back to Walter’s house, with ice cream in hand, I marveled at the changes and turmoil my life had recently undergone. Then, I came to a realization.
I was happy, truly happy… even if my name was Blue.
BLUE RETURNS!
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This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
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