“Yeah.” Loup came back to accept the cell phone. “I’d like that, anyway.”
“Very good. My personal number is programmed in the phone if you have any questions.” He pursed his lips. “It would be a terrible thing if your family were to be exposed by extension, wouldn’t it? I understand the U.S. Army is very possessive of their… special… DNA strains. But take your time, consider.”
“Okay.”
She shook Magnus’ hand. Sabine didn’t offer hers. The businesslike young man who’d escorted them to the room appeared to take Loup to meet with Christophe and Pilar. She found them still gazing at the vivid, detailed murals.
“Wow.”
“Hey, baby.” Pilar turned around, eyes shining. “Aren’t these amazing? It’s like the whole history of Mexico from way back.” She pointed at the image of a massive stepped pyramid. “Christophe says these are still there, and we can visit them and everything. So what’s up?”
“Job offer. Secret agent bodyguard. Lots of money. And he kind of tried to threaten me. But I think maybe he had a point, too.”
Pilar looked worried. “You didn’t say yes, did you?”
“Whaddya think?” Loup smiled at her. “I told them I’d think about it. That I wouldn’t do it unless they hired you, too. And you wanted to.”
“Oh.” She looked relieved. “Good.”
Loup looked at Christophe. “You knew, didn’t you?”
“Yes.” He gave her an apologetic glance. “I agreed not to say anything before they had their chance.” His stomach growled. “Maybe we can talk about it over lunch?”
“Sure.”
FOUR
So they asked you, too?” Loup asked, curious.
“Yes.” Christophe methodically heaped spoonful after spoonful of fragrant, steaming paella onto his plate. “I am the oldest of us here, the only one who is eighteen. My father, he was the first to arrive. He met my mother quickly, like your father did.”
“Why’d you say no?” Pilar asked him.
He made a face. “Global Security, they found out about the original kin years ago through contacts at the government. They asked them, too. It sounds nice, yes, but Tío Jean and Tío Daniel, they knew men, ordinary men, who took such jobs after the army. Good money, but stupid stuff, like sitting the babies.”
“Huh?”
“Babysitting.”
“Yes.” Christophe nodded. “Babysitting for famous people. More trouble than it is worth.”
“Did he threaten you, too?” Loup asked.
He shrugged. “A little, perhaps. But I was born in this country. It is different for me and my brothers. I did not take the threat seriously.”
“The original kin weren’t born here.”
“No. But they were not born in the United States, either. They were born in Haiti. And if anyone has a claim to their DNA, it is the Chinese scientists who developed it there.” Christophe grinned. “Anyway, I do not think he would have dared to threaten them. They were… imposing.”
“Mmm.” Pilar rested her chin in her hand. “So if we did this we’d be, like, traveling around the world with celebrities and rich people?”
“Pretty much,” Loup agreed.
“That’s not so bad.”
“Nope.”
“You won’t like it so much,” Christophe warned them. “Very annoying. Also, I do not like this business with the false passports. It gives them a hold over you.”
“Yeah, well.” Loup shrugged. “If it’s illegal, it gives us a hold over them, too, right?”
“I suppose.”
“Anyway, who doesn’t?” Pilar said in a practical tone. “Those guys we talked to today do. They’ve got us on record.”
Loup glanced at her. “So are we thinking about it?”
“Maybe,” Pilar said. “If they want me, too. And I’m, um, not exactly sure I’d make a good secret agent bodyguard.”
“Not as a bodyguard.” Loup shook her head. “More like an assistant. You’d shop for famous people and stuff.”
“Oh, I could do that, for sure. Jesus!” Pilar looked dismayed. “Loup, we don’t even know who’s famous anymore. I mean, everything we know is from shit that’s over thirty years old. How are we gonna know?”
“Money,” Christophe said complacently, shoveling saffron-tinted rice into his mouth. He chewed and swallowed, wiped his lips with a napkin. “If they have the money to pay for you, they will be rich and famous. Do you care?”
“No,” Loup said.
Pilar flushed. “Yeah, kinda. I need more magazines.”
Christophe laughed.
Her flush deepened. “I know you think it’s silly. But you know what? In Outpost, that was one of the only ways there was to see what the rest of the world was like—or what it used to be like, anyway. That the stories that my dad told me before he died were true. It’s how I learn, okay?”
“It’s not silly,” Loup said. “It’s better than watching The Sound of Music for the billionth time. I haven’t ever seen a movie made since I was born.”
Christophe looked mildly chastened. “Okay, so we will go to the movies and start your education. Then we will go buy some of those stupid magazines girls on the beach are always reading. Okay?”
“Definitely.”
They went to see an action film starring a smart-talking Australian guy that Christophe assured them was one of the hottest stars of the day. Loup marveled at the immense scale of the screen, the clarity of the picture, the booming surround sound, the fact that such things still existed in the vast outside world. Pilar clutched her arm and let out a squeak every time someone got shot or a car blew up, which happened a lot. Afterward they went to a newsstand that stocked international magazines, where Pilar selected half a dozen.
“You really think you might wanna do this?” Loup asked her.
“Yeah, maybe.” She flipped through the pages. “I don’t know. That Magnus guy sounds kinda shady, but at least he wasn’t telling us to just stay out of the way and keep our mouths shut. And I know that’s not your style, baby.” She glanced at Loup. “I know, it’s weird. I never had any ambition ’cause I figured I’d never have a chance to go anywhere or do anything. All I wanted was… well, you know.”
“A cute rich boy.”
“I gave up the cute rich boy for you, baby,” Pilar reminded her. “And anyway, it’s all different now. This, all of this.” She gestured at the bustling streets. “That store, those paintings today… it makes me want to see the world, you know?”
“Yeah.” Loup smiled. “I do.”
“And I want to go dancing,” she added. “I really, really want to go dancing. Please, can we go dancing tonight?”
“Okay, okay.”
“Did you not have dancing in Santa Olivia?” Christophe asked.
“Only sort of,” Loup said. “There was always music and dancing on Santa Olivia’s Day. Otherwise, the Salamancas ran a couple of nightclubs that had dancing, but they were for the soldiers. If a girl went, it meant she was for hire.”
“And no, I never went,” Pilar said adamantly. “Well, except for that time you guys used me as bait to get the guy who raped Katya.” She shivered. “Soldiers kinda scare me.”
“I was not going to ask,” Christophe said mildly. “And you are most definitely not the best prospect for a bodyguard. What kind of dancing do you like? Disco? Rock? Salsa? Merengue? Reggae?”
She blinked. “I dunno.”
“Then you have to let me teach you to salsa.” He grinned and executed a few steps, arms extended, hips shimmying. “You will love it. Very sensual, very fun.”
“Okay.”
“But first—”
“I can guess.” Pilar eyed him. “More food.”
“Well, yes.”
They returned to the hotel and charged another massive meal to Global Security’s account. Afterward, Christophe took them to a dance club with live music.
“Ohmigod.” Pilar gazed at the dance floor filled with swirli
ng, twirling couples snaking around one another. “Christophe, that looks really hard.”
“Not so hard.” He took one of her hands, put the other on his shoulder. “Here is the basic step. So… so… so, and back. I lead and you follow.” He pointed at Loup. “You next, prima.”
She studied the dancers. “Okay.”
By the time Christophe led Pilar back, flushed and exhilarated, Loup had a good sense of it.
“Yes!” Christophe laughed with delight, spinning her. “You see.”
“Yep.”
“No fair,” Pilar complained. “You’re… you.”
Loup glanced over her shoulder. “Pilar, I think you have a line forming.”
She looked at the trio of men waiting to ask her to dance. “Oh, good.”
In the late hours of the night or the small hours of the morning, Christophe approached the band with a generous tip. He beckoned to Loup, smiling. “I always wanted to do this. Fast, fast, fast. You think you can keep up?”
She frowned. “Is it safe?”
He gave her a perplexed look. “Yes, of course. Why would it not be?”
It was hard to abandon a lifetime of caution. “Yeah, okay, I guess so. If you don’t get too fancy.”
“No, no.”
The music played fast.
Faster.
Faster.
The musicians sweated under the stage lights, stepping up the time, playing faster and faster. The beat doubled, then tripled. On the dance floor, couples dropped out, one by one, staring at them in amazement and whispering. Christophe’s feet moved in a blur. Loup followed him effortlessly, matching his pace.
“Woo!” He flung up his arms when the song ended with a flourish, then offered Loup his courtly bow. There was a smattering of stunned applause. “Thank you.”
Her eyes sparkled. “It was fun.”
“Yes.”
“It was fucking amazing.” Pilar extricated herself from a would-be suitor and wound her arms around Loup’s neck. The music started again, slower and more sensual. She wriggled her hips. “Think you can lead as well as you follow, Supergirl?”
“I can try.”
They danced together.
“Ohh-kay.” Christophe intervened. “Time for the hotel, I think.”
The hotel was quiet, the lobby empty. Pilar glanced around and sighed. “I’m gonna miss this place. Christophe, are there dance clubs like that in Hucatulco?”
“Huatulco. Yes, a couple.” He held the elevator door for them. “It’s a small place, nothing like a city. Lovely beaches. Tourists, but not so many, not like other places.”
“Lots of fish,” Loup said, remembering.
“Yes.”
Pilar yawned. “And I could probably get a job there, right? If this secret agent bodyguard assistant thing doesn’t work out?”
“Bartending? Oh, yes.”
“Pilar’s a good bartender,” Loup offered.
Christophe eyed her. “I am not sure that matters.”
“I am, though.” She stifled another yawn. “But I guess we’ll just have to wait and see if those Global guys want you bad enough to take me, too, huh?”
“Yep,” Loup said. “We’ll see.”
FIVE
Two days!” Pilar’s eyes widened. “That’s a long drive.”
“It’s a big country,” Christophe said affably, sitting at the breakfast table with a heaped plate in front of him. “You’re lucky I know it so well.”
“How do you?” Loup asked, curious.
“I’m the wanderer in the family.” He shoveled eggs into his mouth. “I had a little money from my father, from the fishing business I told you about. When I was sixteen, I went to explore.”
“Cool.”
He swallowed and grinned. “Yes. I only stopped to help come rescue you when the government contacted me and said they would pay good money. Our lost little cousin.” He twined his fingers and flexed his hands. “I worked with some soldiers. We took shifts, one or two at a time. We had to be very careful, very quiet. I spent more time working in the tunnel than anyone.”
“Thanks,” Loup said.
“Of course.” He turned serious. “I’m glad you’re coming, prima. Everyone has been wanting to meet Martin’s daughter for so long.” His grin returned. “Now everyone will want to make the band play fast and dance with you!”
“So, no girlfriends, huh?” Pilar asked him.
“Me, no.” Christophe shook his head. “Out of the seven of us, only Alejandro has found someone. Paco and the twins are too young. For the rest…” He shrugged. “You know it’s difficult for us?”
Her voice softened. “Yeah, I know.”
“Not so difficult,” he said. “Maybe one in a hundred, two hundred pretty girls I meet feels…” He nodded at Loup. “The way you do about her. Very sexy. But I have not stayed with anyone long enough to fall in love. It happens fast with us, you know?”
“Ooh, a playboy.”
“I am a young man, okay?”
“It’s actually really nice,” Loup offered. “Being in love, I mean.”
Pilar smiled at her. “Thanks, baby.”
She smiled back. “Well, it is.”
Christophe shrugged, unabashed. “Yes, well, so is being a playboy, if you like. So I am the lone wolf. I like it for now.”
“Christophe?” Loup cocked her head. “Are we actually part wolf or what?”
“I don’t know.” He slathered a piece of toast with butter. “The government did tests on the original kin. DNA analysis. If you want to know, you can find out.” He took a big bite of toast, chewed and swallowed. “I never wanted to know.”
“Why?” Pilar asked.
“Me, I don’t care.” He pointed at her. “But you? Okay, maybe you think Loup is a little bit wolf, a little bit leopard. That, you like. What if it’s not? What if it’s a little bit chimpanzee?” He shrugged a third time. “Better not to know.”
“Chimpanzee.”
“It is possible.”
Pilar studied Loup. “Nah. Too cute.”
“So think what you—”
The cell phone that Magnus Lindberg had given Loup rang. “Oh, hey.” She fished it out of the front pocket of her jeans. “Christophe, how the fuck do I answer this thing?”
He showed her. “Push here.”
“Hello? Yeah, it’s me.” She listened. “Yeah? Okay, well, what does that mean?” She listened some more. “I dunno. We’ll talk about it. Yeah, we’re leaving today. Okay. I’ll call you.”
“Here.” Christophe pointed at the button to end the call.
“So?” Pilar asked, anxious.
Loup folded the phone. “Well, they’re kind of willing to go for it. Only you’d have to go through the same training as me and pass. That guy Magnus said they wouldn’t market you as a bodyguard, but they wouldn’t send you out without the basic skills.”
“Like what?”
“Self-defense, surveillance, and stuff. Like army training, I guess.”
“Huh.” Pilar looked dubious. “I don’t know if I’d make it through something like that.”
“Pilar, if you can go dancing for four hours, you can make it through some dumb training. You can do anything if you want it. You just have to decide whether or not you do.”
“Mmm.”
“Well, we don’t have to decide today,” Loup said pragmatically. “So let’s drive down to Huatulco. We’ll meet all my cousins and see if we like it there and want to stay for a while. If we do, you can get a job bartending, and I’ll… I dunno. Do something.”
“Construction,” Christophe suggested. “There are many buildings in need of repair after so long. My mother’s brother has a company. Alejandro works for him. I think he would hire you even though you have no experience. He likes us because we are fast and strong, and we have no fear of heights, and very good balance.”
Pilar shuddered. “Sitting the babies sounds a lot safer.”
They checked out of the hotel after breakf
ast and began the long drive. Christophe made the time pass by telling them stories about his aunts and uncles and cousins and growing up in Huatulco, doing things to terrorize the tourists like jumping from the rooftops into swimming pools. Loup listened wistfully, thinking how very different it was from her childhood, always having to hide what she was.
“You okay, honey?” Pilar asked.
“Yeah.” She nodded. “I was just thinking about Tommy. I remember when he told me that I might not live that long, and I figured out if it was true, it meant my father was probably already dead.” She smiled a little. “Tommy said maybe there were other kids like me. A bunch of little loup-garous running around Mexico. Turns out it was true, huh?”
Pilar stroked her hair. “Such a good guy, your big brother.”
“Loup-garous?” Christophe asked.
“Werewolves,” Loup said. “I guess that’s what they call them in Haiti. My father asked my mother to name me after them.”
He smiled. “Loup Garron. I see. He had a sense of humor, Tío Martin.”
“Yeah?”
He nodded. “They weren’t always serious. The children, we could make them laugh. It made them happy to see us wild and free. Loup, do you know about meditating?”
“Huh?”
“Meditating,” Christophe said patiently. “To take time every day to slow down your body. Even ten minutes helps.”
“No. Why?”
“To extend our life spans.” He concentrated on the road. “They figured it out in the United States with fancy machines and things.”
“Biofeedback,” Loup said, remembering something I-want-to-be-your-friend Derek had said.
“Yes.” He nodded again. “Too late for the original kin, but us, it can help. You don’t need fancy machines, only to slow down for a little while every day. I will show you.”
“And I’ll make sure you do it.” Pilar yanked a lock of Loup’s hair.
[Santa Olivia 02] - Saints Astray Page 4