9 Ways to Fall in Love

by Caroline Clemmons

  “I’m the lucky one.” Isabella wrapped her arms around his neck when he stepped in front of her to slip her panties up her legs. She pulled him against her chest and breathed in his spicy shave lotion, musky maleness, and the evidence of their love making. Nuzzling his ear, she whispered, “You are the only man for me.”

  He groaned, captured her head, and drugged her with a deep passionate kiss. Dizziness buoyed her head when he pulled back and continued dressing her. Her movements were fluid but her mind saw it all in slow motion. She never wanted to leave the altar chamber. She wished her life could remain this unfettered always.

  “Come. We need to find a safe place for you, and I need to radio my contact.” He grabbed the lantern, slipped his hand in hers, and they walked out of the chamber.

  Isabella glanced over her shoulder at the drawing fading in the waning light. She’d experienced a life-altering event this night—being loved by a man who cherished her—and something more, something that had to do with the drawing. Warmth started in her middle and spread to her extremities. The chamber no longer caused her fear or unease. It welcomed.

  Tino continued through the main chamber and stopped inside the door of the dig. His hand tightened on hers and his body stiffened when she placed a hand on his arm.

  “What’s wrong?” she whispered. To peer past him she had to move her body into the light illuminating the opening.

  “Don Miguel just came out of Virgil’s tent.” Tino slid deeper into the dig.

  “He came to see Virgil after kidnapping me?” Conversations spun in her head. Virgil’s. Don Miguel’s. Virgil asked if she was a virgin. Don Miguel wanted her unblemished.

  She was the sacrifice.

  Her heart raced. Did she tell Tino? Could they use her if they didn’t have the ceremony translated? Her thoughts were spinning so fast it took a minute before she caught on Tino was talking.

  “My guess is he is telling Martin he has you and not to cause trouble looking for you.” Tino kissed her knuckles. “You will stay with me. Don Miguel had to have headed here right after capturing you for him to have made it here this quickly without using the tunnel. Once he discovers you are missing he will come back here.” Tino sidestepped to the opening and peered out. “He is gone. We will tell Pedro you are with me and ask him to listen in on conversations. We will gather my things and hide out in the jungle for a couple of days.”

  Isabella didn’t mind being with Tino for a couple days, but she didn’t like leaving the rest of the group vulnerable to Virgil. Were any of the other women virgins? “I fear Virgil may figure out the ceremony on his own if I’m hiding out in the jungle. If I remain here, I could stall—”

  “You cannot stop the inevitable. If you keep stalling him he will find another way to translate the ceremony. If you are with me you will remain safe.”

  “But what about—”

  Tino pressed her against the wall with his body. His seductive lips covered hers in an open-mouthed kiss that fevered her body as his hands roamed up her sides under her clothing. Her body slid down the wall, resting on Tino’s leg bent between hers. Her hands fisted in his shirt, both wanting to push him away and fearful he would pull away and she’d lose the heat and exhilaration of his touch.

  He drew his head back, tugging on her bottom lip with his teeth. “Mi pichón. If you were not the target of Miguel, I would leave you here so we could both accomplish our missions.”

  She started to protest. His lips covered hers with a short brief kiss.

  “No. Do not argue. He has plans for you and I will not allow him to take my woman.” He buzzed her lips with another quick kiss. “You are my woman now and I will protect you.”

  Isabella wanted to object to his chauvinistic attitude, but she couldn’t argue with the fact she was now and forever his. If his acceptance of her intelligence and physique weren’t enough, his making love to her had wrapped the chain around her heart and bound them together.

  He drew her along the edge of the compound staying to the shadows under the trees until they sprinted for the back of the cook tent. She ran into Tino’s back when he stopped abruptly inside the tent flap.

  A click resounded in the dark enclosed area like a clap of thunder.

  “It is Tino and Ezabella,” Tino hissed in a whisper.

  Chapter 24

  Tino gulped and waited what seemed as long as the presidential term of Juan Vicente Gómez for the cook to pull the pistol barrel from his gut.

  “Isabella is with you?” Pedro asked in Spanish.

  “Here.” Isabella stepped out from behind Tino.

  “Seño, you have been disappearing so much lately, no one knows what to expect, no?”

  The gun disappeared from Tino’s stomach. He let out a quiet breath of relief and clung to Isabella’s hand.

  “Come. Sit.”

  Isabella moved forward and sat on something. He reached out and found the edge of a cot. Tino sat beside her.

  “Can you turn on a lantern?” Isabella asked.

  “No.” He and Pedro responded at the same time.

  “A light would draw attention to this tent and eventually to us.” Tino squeezed her hand hoping it gave her reassurance.

  “I should know that. Sorry.”

  “Hiding is new to you, querida. Do not apologize.” He leaned over and kissed her temple.

  “Who are you hiding from now?”Pedro asked. “I heard the narcos have moved on.”

  Pedro’s knowledge of the narcos sent Tino’s senses on alert. How did the cook know something he just found out himself?

  “How did you know?”

  “The locals talked about it at dinner. Who are you running from?”

  “Don Miguel kidnapped Ezzabella this evening. Luckily, I was snooping around in the tunnel and followed them. She is not safe here. Miguel has already been to see Dr. Martin. We do not know why, but it was after he captured Ezzabella and before he discovered her missing.” Tino hated telling the cook everything, but they were running out of options and people to trust.

  “I will keep an eye on Dr. Martin and don Miguel the next time he comes.” Canvas and wood creaked. The cook must have sat down. “What are your plans?”

  “I need to radio my contacts, and then I will take Ezzabella away from here.”

  Her body stiffened next to him and she released his hand.

  “I can’t leave without stopping Virgil.” Her voice rang with authority.

  “You cannot stop him or anyone if you are hurt or dead.”

  She sucked in air and remorse slapped him like a rain-saturated palm frond.

  “Mi pichón, these men are desperate. You do not know what don Miguel wants with you. You said Dr. Martin must not learn the translation. Without you he may never. You will go with me, and when I am done we will come back and confront Dr. Martin together.”

  “That’s it? I don’t have a say in my own life?” Frustration seethed in her words.

  “Isabella, Tino is wise in the ways of these people. Do as he asks and you can return.” Pedro’s calm fatherly timbre reminded Tino of his own father’s soft spoken words. They sunk in far better than a demand or order.

  The chair creaked. “Take good care of her.” Pedro’s hand slapped down on Tino’s shoulder and squeezed.

  “I will. We will sneak back in a few days to see if you have learned anything.” Tino stood, drawing Isabella up beside him.

  “I will see what I can find out about don Miguel and Doctor Martin.” Pedro gripped Tino’s upper arm. “I have a pack of food I keep prepared.” Pedro disappeared and returned, pushing the pack into Tino’s hands.

  “Gracias.” Tino walked to the tent opening, leading Isabella behind him. He peered into the compound. Nothing moved. The usual nocturnal choruses in the canopy around the compound meant nothing out of the ordinary lurked in the jungle perimeter.

  He tugged Isabella’s hand, ducking into the shadow of the tent and following it to the corner. Twenty feet of open area, illuminated by
a three-quarter moon, was between their sheltering shadow and the forest.

  “We have to make a run for the forest,” he whispered in Isabella’s ear. She nodded and he took off at a run. Ten feet into the trees he stopped. Isabella stood beside him, her hand gripping his tightly.

  “Now what?”

  “We make our way to the cave entrance where I stashed my gear.”

  She pulled back, dropping his hand. “But that’s where they’ll be!”

  “Maybe. They could still be out looking for you. We will know when we get there, but that is where we have to go.” He recaptured her hand. “Come on.”

  “Can we at least get my pack? I mean if we’re going to be in the jungle for days, I could use clean clothes, the mosquito net…”

  “I thought you had everything you needed in your vest?” he joked. But retrieving her pack was a good idea. If anyone searched for Isabella and found it missing, they would be more likely to think she had either headed back to civilization or wandered into the jungle alone.

  “I do, but there are other things I’d like to have with me.”

  “It is not a bad idea. If your pack is missing, they might not look so hard for you.” Tino backtracked to the edge of the camp and moved through the trees to a point close to her tent. There shouldn’t have been enough time for don Miguel to return to the dig after finding Isabella missing.

  His heart raced at the thought of sending her by herself to the tent, but there was no other way to make it look as if she planned to head out alone.

  He grasped her hands. “In case someone is watching, you need to go to your tent alone and get the pack. Hurry, get what you need and get back here.” He pulled her into his arms and kissed her. “I will be right here if you need me.”

  She nodded and gently pushed out of his embrace. Watching her walk out into the open and duck into her tent where he could not see if anyone lurked plucked at his nerves and twisted his gut. Until she was safely out of Guatemala, he would not be able to rest easy.

  *~*

  Isabella slipped into her tent and hastily pulled down the mosquito net, wadding the gauzy material and stuffing it and her toiletries into her pack. The idea of slipping away and leaving the other women here vulnerable to Virgil’s and don Miguel’s scheme nagged at her mind. She’d help Tino accomplish his tasks, then she’d return and what... By then maybe she’d have formulated a plan. Until then she prayed Virgil didn’t decipher the ceremony and find a stand-in for her.

  She slung the pack on her back and peeked out the tent flap. Her heart stuttered to a stop. Two men, one with a bandage on his head, stalked out of the dig. They’d followed the tunnel, no doubt, looking for her.

  “Psst. Querida, come.” Tino held the back of her tent up.

  Isabella spun and dived for the exit. His strong hands gripped her upper arms and pulled her from the tent. Hand-in-hand, they ran for the forest and didn’t stop until she couldn’t breathe any longer. She released his hand and doubled over, sucking air.

  “We-can’t-keep-run-ning,” she pushed out between gulps.

  “We walk from here. Running makes too much noise.” Tino brushed a hand over her cheek and started walking.

  She fell into step behind him, glad for the slower pace. The night sounds grew in volume the farther from the dig they traveled.

  “How do you know we’re going the right direction?” Something fluttered by her head. She ducked emitting a squeak. Bats.

  “I have the coordinates of the cave in my GPS.” He stopped when she didn’t follow. “Why are you covering your head?”

  “A bat flew by. I can’t…” She couldn’t what? Standing in one spot was as useless to warding off bats as walking.

  Tino spun her. A zipper rasped open; he rummaged in her pack, jostling her body. The zipper rasped back and her canvas hat plopped on her head.

  “Most people fear the bat feet tangling in their hair. This way if a bat touches your head, which rarely happens, you are protected.”

  He kissed her cheek and walked ahead of her.

  “Is there nothing in this jungle that scares you?” She hustled to catch up with him.

  “I fear coming upon a jaguar with her kits, a caiman that has gone hungry for days, don Miguel getting his hands on you again, and ants.”

  She stared at his wide back and thought about all the times she’d witnessed his strength and intelligence. His barely audible last word rang as loud as a shout. “Why ants?”

  He glanced at her over his shoulder. “You do not think it is silly a man could fear ants?” His tone scoffed at himself.

  “No. Everyone’s fears have a justification.”

  He stopped and she caught herself seconds before smacking into his back.

  “You truly do not find my being scared of ants humorous?”

  She couldn’t see his features in the darkness, but the awe in his tone rippled through the air between them and settled in her heart.

  “Fears aren’t unfounded.” She placed a hand on his arm. “Some may seem so, but each person has a reason for his fears either from a real situation or one that was witnessed or dreamed. The mind is a powerful thing.”

  He pivoted and started walking again. To catch his soft spoken words, she double-timed her feet to stay close enough to hear.

  “When I was a boy I witnessed the devastation a swarm of ants wreaked on a lizard. It was …” His voice faltered and his steps quickened. “It was something a small child should never see. I have had a fear of ants ever since.”

  “My point. One never knows what puts fear into a person.” Isabella could sympathize with what Tino, as a small boy, had witnessed. She could also sympathize with his fear. This also explained the wide berth he took around an ant hill when they traveled to the dig.

  “How far is it to the cave entrance?” The running had tightened the muscles in her legs and with each step they grew tighter.

  “We are getting close.”

  She hoped he was right. “Where are we going to hide or go?”

  “I figure we will head down to the settlement and see if I can learn anything about where the shipment went.” Tino held up his hand and crept forward.

  Isabella wasn’t sure if she was to be quiet or stay put. When he started to disappear in the darkness, she moved forward. The vegetation grew sparser and tentacles of moonlight sliced between the trees. She found Tino hunched at the base of a tree. He pulled out a large backpack and a smaller one.

  “My gear.” He handed her the pack from Pedro. “Come on. There’s a knoll not more than twenty minutes in the direction of the river. We will go there and see what my contact knows.”

  Isabella dug into the food pack and pulled out two bananas, while Tino shrugged on his packs. She held one out to Tino and peeled the other one.

  The thought of walking another twenty minutes didn’t relieve her aching legs, but she didn’t utter a word, just fell in step behind Tino, relying on his knowledge to keep her safe. She ate the fruit and listened to the forest begin a new day. The howler monkeys’ deep morning chorus vibrated through the canopy. Birds squawked and called. The shadows lightened and soon disappeared as the sun rose casting filtered light like a frosted twenty-watt bulb.

  Her legs trembled as they began a gradual climb. This could only mean rest would soon follow. The light brightened. Isabella peered up at the snippets of blue sky and sunshine. The undergrowth began to thin.

  Tino stopped. “You can rest now, pichón.” He slipped the packs from his shoulders and opened the small one.

  Finally. She was used to little sleep while working digs sites, but the added hiking was kicking her butt.

  Isabella slathered mosquito repellent on her neck, face, and hands watching Tino remove a radio from his small pack.

  Ticking noises grew louder as he swung the radio toward her. His forehead wrinkled in a frown before his eyes met hers.

  “Do you have anything electronic in your pack?” he asked.

  “No. The only
thing electronic I have is my watch.” She held up her wrist and the ticking sped up.

  “That’s odd. I use this to track the transmission devices on jaguars.” He set the radio down and captured her hand. “May I?” He slipped the watch from her wrist before she could answer.

  Isabella watched him pop the back off the time piece and with the tip of his knife plucked something from the workings.

  “Don’t ruin it. My father gave it to me when I graduated.” She snatched the watch away from him.

  “This is very close to the type of transmitter I put in jaguars.” His dark eyes stared at her. “Someone is following you everywhere you go.”

  Isabella stared at the small cylinder-shaped device the size of a match head and shook her head. No. Who? Why? “I don’t understand. Who would care where I go? And mostly why?” Fear gripped her insides and twisted. Someone had been monitoring her movements for…how long?

  Tino rubbed a hand up and down her arm. “We must think. When have you taken the watch off?”

  “Every time I take a shower I put it in the pocket of my vest.” She thought back to her two encounters in the shower. “Professor Walsh and Virgil both came into the shower and had an opportunity to take my watch, but I doubt they had the time to install a transmitter.” She couldn’t see either one needing to keep track of her, but Virgil was the most obvious. Why? Why would he need to know her whereabouts? She shivered remembering he planned to use her in a sacrifice ceremony.

  Chapter 25

  Tino pulled out his pliers and crushed the transmitter. Whoever monitored Isabella’s travels would no longer follow her movements. Could it be Martin or Walsh? They both had motives. With Walsh’s connections to the narcos, he could have told them Isabella was in the cave when Tino escaped. Or Virgil could have had her monitored to not lose her. In which case, he would have known where she was and not sent people out randomly searching for her. The whole thing didn’t add up.

  Isabella watched him, her eyes wide and full of worry. He pulled her into his arms and held her to his beating heart. Her only safety rested with him. It was becoming clear they had no one they could trust. His mind wandered back to his first conversation with Pedro. He’d said he was watching Isabella and Martin. Could the cook be the one monitoring Isabella? If so, why? Did he do so for the doctor?