by Lisa Harris
She turned around to face him. The night sky hovered above them. This afternoon’s rain had passed, leaving a canopy of brilliant stars above her. She could hear the roar of a lion, sounding as if he was right here when in reality the pride was probably a couple miles away.
She caught the concern in his eyes from the soft glow of the lamppost and felt a stab of guilt for the way she’d behaved earlier.
“I’m sorry.” She shook her head. “I shouldn’t have walked out like that. Tonight… I don’t think I’ve ever been so scared. Oscar was the one who got shot, but either of us could have been in his shoes.”
“I know.”
“All he was doing was defending that rhino’s life. Since when has someone’s access to a drug become more valuable than the life of another person?”
But it was. Ever since Cain had killed Abel over a sacrifice, the lack of justice and evil had been all around them. You could read about man’s sinful choices and their far-reaching consequences in every newspaper and online broadcast.
She stood in front of him, shaking somewhat from the cold but more from the fear that had taken hold. She’d seen death in the wild. It was a necessary part of life. But what had happened tonight was different.
“I didn’t mean to scare you by worrying too much,” he started.
“I know, but maybe you were right.”
She hesitated at her confession. The lights along the path revealed the man standing in front of her. His cowboy gear, blue jeans, belt buckle and a black T-shirt had her mind scrambling to come up for air. But she also caught the concern in his eyes.
She swallowed hard. “I’ve spent most of my life having to be independent. I don’t like feeling vulnerable and out of control. Trust…doesn’t come easy. But tonight, that’s exactly how I felt. Completely vulnerable.”
“Maybe it’s time you depended on someone. Trusted someone.”
She’d never met a man who stirred her the way he did. “Who are you?”
“Your assistant,” he teased. “Your gofer.”
She couldn’t help but smile. “That’s not what I mean and you know it.”
“I have three sisters. I might have been the younger brother, but I got used to watching after them growing up. Any boy who tried to take advantage of them learned to stay out of reach of my shotgun.”
Her smile faded. “So you see me as a sister?”
“Yes—no. That wasn’t my point. My point was simply that I feel an…obligation to make sure you’re safe.”
An obligation. So that was how he saw her. As a weak sister who needed the protection of a stronger, tougher brother. How very paternal of him. She frowned. She didn’t exactly see him as a brother. Instead, he made her think of things like him kissing her—something very, very unbrotherly.
“Meghan—”
“I need to go to bed.” She cut him off before he said anything else. Clearly she was the only one thinking those unfamilial thoughts. “I’ll look at things differently tomorrow once I get some sleep. Nothing is making sense right now.”
“Can I at least make sure everything inside your chalet’s okay?”
She paused outside the door to her chalet. She’d placate him. Not because she thought there was anything to worry about, but because she was too tired to fight. She’d never worried about staying here. She kept her cameras and video equipment locked up in the main lodge. There was nothing of value here. Nothing to worry about.
She unlocked the front door, flipped on the light, then felt her heart plummet. Her normally neat room looked as if a troop of baboons had held a party there. Clothes were strewn around the room, couch cushions thrown on the floor, bedding tangled beside them. Nothing was in its place.
“Alex…”
“What’s wrong?”
He looked over her shoulder, then pulled her behind him. “Stay here.”
She didn’t argue. All her thoughts of independence vanished. She watched from the doorway while he swept the one-room chalet and attached bathroom like a TV agent on some cop show, minus the gun. The kitchen window was open. She hadn’t left it open. Or had she? She must have forgotten and walked out in a hurry without shutting it.
“There isn’t anyone here.”
“Look.” She pointed to the open window. “I must have left it open.”
It was the only explanation that made sense. The fruit bowl lying on the small counter had been knocked over, leaving oranges and bananas scattered across the tile floor. “One of the baboons must have snuck in here. They’re notorious for making messes.” She wanted so badly to believe that that was the explanation. But as her stomach dipped and her heart rate sped up, she couldn’t shake off the sense that something darker had happened here. Something dangerous—and it wasn’t over yet.
*
Alex shook his head, unconvinced at her weak argument. Meghan was meticulous. He’d seen it firsthand in her work. Everything she did, she checked and double-checked. She wouldn’t have left the window open. Maybe this wasn’t tied to the poachers, but there was no way he was going to buy that this was simply another coincidence.
“I think you’re wrong. You’re the one who warned me about leaving windows open. Tourists might forget that rule. Not you.”
She pulled the window shut and locked it. “You have a better explanation?”
Maybe he could start by finding out if she could tell if anything had been taken. “A robbery? Do you notice anything missing?”
“I don’t keep anything of value in here, so unless someone wants a couple pairs of flip-flops and an old safari hat, they’re out of luck.”
“What about your father?”
“My father?” Meghan picked up an orange and set it in the basket.
He was now treading on very shaky ground and he knew it. “You told me your father was an ambassador. Politics can get messy, especially with the corruption that runs deep in many of these countries. Maybe there’s a connection there. When’s the last time you spoke to him?”
“His birthday was three weeks ago. We talked via Skype for about thirty minutes.”
“Did he share with you any problems with his job? Security issues at his embassy?’
“No. He’s never been one to discuss his work. We talked mainly about my documentary. He seemed concerned when I told him about the recent rhino attack, but I assured him that, while it was horrible, the poachers were after rhinos. Not me.”
So her father hadn’t told her about the threats, hadn’t even hinted that there might be a problem. That would make the conversation he’d soon need to have with her harder.
Tonight—baboons or not—changed everything in his mind. Meghan’s life had to come above her relationship with her father. He was going to call her father, tell him what had happened and insist Meghan couldn’t be left in the dark anymore. And then he was going to tell her the truth. But in the meantime… “We’re going to need to call the police.”
“What will they do? Dust for fingerprints?”
“Why not? It would be a start.”
She dropped the rest of the scattered fruit into the bowl she’d been holding, then placed it back onto the small counter that held nothing more than a hot plate and sink. “We’re talking about some stolen bananas? After dealing with a man who was almost murdered, I don’t think they’re going to care.”
“Anything else missing?”
“I was serious about the bananas. I bought a bunch of bananas two days ago. Half of them are gone.”
He rolled his eyes at her attempts at humor.
“Anything else?”
“It’s hard to tell without going through things, but I don’t think so.” She shrugged. “I haven’t heard of any other burglaries lately. I’ll report the incident to Ian. Thieves hit the lodges from time to time, but I’ll let him decide if he thinks it’s worth getting the police involved. He’ll probably agree, though, that it was just animals.”
“Because a bunch of baboons is better than the alternative?”
She wasn’t going to believe the alternative unless he told her the truth. But so far there was no hard evidence that anyone had followed through on the threats made against her. Every incident could be explained away by lack of maintenance, clumsiness or, tonight, baboons.
But if her father hadn’t taken the threats seriously, he wouldn’t have hired Alex to guarantee her safety. Which meant Alex couldn’t assume anything. He was here because her life had been threatened, and it was time she knew the truth. It was time to call her father and put an end to all of the secrets.
TEN
Meghan set the basket of fruit into the passenger seat of the Jeep, trying to squelch the jumbled ball of nerves sitting in the pit of her stomach. The police had ended up returning to the lodge to talk with her about her trashed room, even though she’d assured them she’d accidently left open her kitchen window and was convinced a baboon had snuck in.
But the coincidences continued to pile up and even she wasn’t 100 percent convinced anymore what was behind the incidents. All because of Alex. She’d never met a man who could be both completely charming and downright irritating at the same time.
Charming because he managed to make her heart pound every time she was around him. Irritating because he was so paranoid about the idea that she might be in danger…and because he managed to make her heart pound every time she was around him.
She let out a sharp woof of air. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d let a man get under her skin. The past few years she’d dated a few guys, primarily from church, when she wasn’t traveling. Nothing serious. No commitments.
But no matter how many times she’d told herself she had no plans of falling for Mr. Cowboy, he’d look at her with those dreamy eyes of his and say something in that thick Texas drawl and before she knew it he’d reeled her in once again. Maybe Kate—and her constant teasing that Meghan had a Texas-size crush on Mr. Cowboy—was right after all. Because no matter how hard she tried to pull away, she was afraid she was falling for him hook, line and sinker.
Which was one of the reasons she needed to leave the reserve by herself for a couple hours this morning. She needed time to clear her mind and shake off the conflicting feelings that had her emotions spiraling out of control over the past few days.
“Hey.”
Meghan looked up and frowned. Lost in thought, she hadn’t heard Alex approach the Jeep. The last person she wanted to see at the moment stopped in front of her, wearing his typical cowboy garb complete with Stetson and huge belt buckle that looked so out of place in the African bush and its typical tourist garb and yet so…so Alex.
Her heart skipped a beat.
Meghan turned back to the fruit basket and started aimlessly rearranging the oranges.
“Going somewhere?” he asked.
“Yes, I need to run some errands in town.” She glanced up at him. “Did you get my message?”
“That Oscar made it through the night and is out of critical condition, and we’re going out to film right after lunch?”
“Yeah.” Meghan dropped an orange into the food basket and looked up at him.
“Is everything okay?”
“Kate’s better but asked me to pick up some medicine. I told Ian I’d visit Oscar, and on top of that, I just got a call from a friend of mine who’s sick, so I’m taking him some food.”
Meghan sucked in a deep breath. She was rambling like a schoolgirl. Nervous and edgy. Kate would laugh if she could hear her, tell her she was lovesick or enamored or some other ridiculous word—none of which was true. Meghan glanced up from the fruit basket and caught his gaze. Maybe if she kept telling herself it wasn’t true, she’d eventually believe it.
“Meghan.” Alex dug his hands into his jacket pocket. “After what happened last night, and with the police advising us to be extra careful, I don’t think you should go out this morning by yourself.”
“They didn’t say we couldn’t go out, just to be vigilant.” She laughed as she dug the keys to the Jeep from her pocket. “You sound like my father. Worrying again. I’ll be fine.”
Her father had always worried about her safety. Throughout the years, he’d been known to hire private security details or cancel trips when he felt a threat from his high-profile job was serious. Nothing had ever happened.
“Until we know what hap—”
“I know what happened,” she interrupted him. “Last night I left a window open and a baboon trashed my chalet.”
“But we don’t know that. Not for sure.”
“Listen, I understand your concern, but I’m a big girl. For the past eight months, I’ve worked alongside a pride of lions in the middle of the bush. I know how to take care of myself. Besides, the poachers aren’t after me.”
“No, but I can’t help but think of all the other things that have happened over the past couple weeks that have seemed to be targeting you. The collapsing of the hide, the accident with the Jeep, not to mention your room being trashed now. Even if all those things were nothing but flukes of bad luck, the poachers are real. They shot and almost killed someone, and there is no way to tell when they will be back.”
She studied his expression. “Listen, I’ll admit that last night scared me. A lot. But what am I supposed to do? I can’t worry about every little mishap, and as for the poachers, I highly doubt that they’ll be back. Security’s tighter than it’s ever been.”
“Oscar’s in the hospital because of those poachers. Is it really worth the risk of going out on your own until we know what is behind this?”
“Forget it, Alex.” She climbed up into the Jeep and started the motor. “You’re being paranoid. I’m going.”
His hand still gripped the metal side bar of the Jeep. “Then at least let me go with you.”
Seriously? The man never gave up. The main reason she was going was because she wanted time away from him to clear her head and figure things out. She might enjoy his company—a bit too much—and even secretly liked the fact that he worried about her, but she didn’t need him looking over her shoulder every time she took a step.
She shook her head and revved the engine. “All I’m going to do is deliver a food basket, pick up Kate’s medicine and check on Oscar. I’ll be back in a couple hours.”
“If you don’t want me to come, then take Samuel. I’m asking you not to go alone. Just until we know for sure what’s going on.”
Meghan started to say something, then stopped. He was serious. “Samuel isn’t paid to be my bodyguard. Besides, he left twenty minutes ago with a group of tourists and won’t be back for a couple hours.” She shook her head. Alex’s job description included keeping video-footage records, taking photos when they needed him to and helping them keep up with their social media. It wasn’t supposed to include worrying overtime for her. “Why are you so concerned? Every since you got here, you’ve acted more like my bodyguard than my assistant.”
Alex’s jaw tensed. “I’ll make you a deal.”
“What kind of deal?”
“Let me go with you, and I’ll take you out to breakfast.”
She laughed. “That’s your deal?”
While her heart might long to say yes, breakfast with Mr. Cowboy wasn’t exactly the prize she was looking for at this moment.
“Humor me.”
She folded her arms across her chest and frowned. The man was incorrigible. She was going to regret saying yes, but arguing clearly wasn’t going to work, either.
“You can come, and I’ll take you up on the offer for breakfast, but only if you promise to quit worrying.”
“Fine. I promise.”
She waited for him to climb into the passenger side of the Jeep, hating the fact that a part of her was glad he’d managed to talk her into letting him come. So much for finding time to clear her head. If anything, it was more muddled than before.
He clicked on his seat belt and caught her gaze. “So is he a close friend?”
“Who?”
“T
he person you’re taking the fruit to.”
She tried to read his expression. Jealousy? More worry? She couldn’t tell.
“I guess you could say we’re close friends,” she said. “His name’s is Nathi and he’s twelve years old.”
Was that a sigh of relief? She couldn’t help but smile.
“Twelve?”
She pressed on the accelerator and headed for the front gate. “He comes around to the lodge a couple times a week selling vegetables. His parents died, so he lives with his aunt. Three months ago he was diagnosed as being HIV positive.”
“Wow. I’m sorry.”
“You don’t think about the fact that he’s sick when you’re around him. He always manages to make me laugh. He’s a good kid.”
“Ian told me about the reserve’s involvement with an effort to improve some of the local schools.”
Meghan felt herself begin to relax. “There is a wonderful group made up from the community who help ensure students have the uniforms and supplies they need. I love the filming aspects of my job, but working with them makes me feel as if I’m doing something that really counts.”
“Sounds as if you are.”
Slowing down, she let a flock of speckled guinea fowl run across the road in front of them, wishing she didn’t feel so glad he was with her. She stared out across the open veld, wind blowing through her hair, the crisp morning air filling her lungs, and let the soothing rhythms of the African bush help wash away the uneasiness that had settled over her the past few days.
*
Ten minutes later, Alex stepped out of the Jeep into the small courtyard of Nathi’s compound. A rooster chased a hen across the recently swept yard, past patches of brown grass, rows of colorful plastic buckets and a broken-down car.
Alex followed Meghan into the sitting room of the whitewashed cinder-block house. Being with her underscored the decision he’d made late last night. As soon as he could get ahold of her father, he was going to tell the ambassador what had happened yesterday and insist Meghan be told why he was here.
For the moment, he shifted his focus to the room they’d just entered. The inside walls held traces of previous layers of paint: bright yellow, faded blue and an off-white. An old couch—cracked and worn—sat in the corner with a calendar and several drawings hanging above it.