by Matt Lincoln
“You mean like, she’s scared and only pretending to be interested because some strangers rescued her, took her to a foreign country, have cut her off from everything she’s ever known, and refuse to let her go anywhere alone?” Doc was making the right points.
“Exactly like that. Let’s get her alone, or rather, get Rosa to talk to her and find out what she’s feeling and what she wants to do. If she knows that we’re not forcing her to stay, maybe it can be resolved easier.” It was certainly worth a shot, and I was ready to try it immediately.
“We're all here,” Doc added. “Maybe we could send Xavier on a beer run, or a… something techie for the condo that you need. He’ll jump at that, and we’ll coax Mia to stay here and relax with us. Take her down to the beach, or go swimming or something. Just separate them long enough to talk to her without him.” Doc’s plan was solid, and I liked it.
“One of us may have to go with him to stall it. I vote for you.” I slapped him on the back.
“Why me?” Doc looked a little affronted.
“My house, my rules.” I grinned at him. It was all in good fun. “Say that you need to pick up something back at your hotel, or… want to invest in a new laptop and that you need his expert guidance.” I had every faith that he could pull it off. “Take one for the team, Doc, and go entertain Xavier. Rosa and I will confront, or converse with, Mia. Deal?”
“Deal, but you owe me, Header.” Doc gave a reluctant last look out at the beach and heaved himself off of the railing. Together, we headed back inside.
Rosa was setting up my cabinets even though I hadn’t asked her to. She was organizing for me, as she was known to do.
I walked up behind the couple and tapped Xavier on the shoulder. “Hey, Xavier. I have a giant favor to ask of you.”
“Sure,” he shrugged as he turned to face me. “What’s up?”
“I’m going to need an entertainment setup in the two bedrooms before we all settle in.” I watched his eyes widen in excitement as I spoke. “And as the only guy I would trust with this, I was hoping that you wouldn’t mind doing that for me?” I hoped that he could see that this wasn’t an order or anything like that. It was more of an earnest request.
“Sure, I can do that for you,” he replied cheerfully. “Did you have anything specific in mind?”
“I mean, go wild and get everything we’re going to need,” I assured him. “I’m paying for everything, obviously, right? And don’t skimp on anything. I want the works here.” Then, I played it as an afterthought, “Oh, and take Doc with you.” I turned to him to sell it. “Your laptop was acting up, right? Get Xavier to teach you what to look for this time.”
Doc nodded his agreement, and I then turned directly to Mia.
“Mia?” I asked. “I figured that you and Rosa and I could go down to the beach to get some sun. I haven’t even been down there myself yet. And we all need to stretch our legs a bit. What do you say?” I started to close up the pizza boxes, calling the meal done. “Also, I could use some trusted women’s advice for a nice gift for Eve. I’m going to see her this afternoon, and I don’t want to go empty-handed.”
How about a balloon that says, ‘Sorry you got shot on our date,’ or maybe ‘please don’t sue me for endangerment’? Rosa barely contained her laughter as she signed this.
“You are a riot,” I smirked at her. “Seriously, though. Look at this place. It’s not even a decent bachelor pad. So, Xavier, you and Doc get me a couple of TVs and all that goes with them and find him a computer. Here,” I pulled out my card and gave it to Xavier, “Pretend that I don’t have a credit limit, okay?” Then I turned to Mia. “So, how about it? Ready for a little stroll with Rosa and me?”
Mia nodded her head and said, “Yes, please. I would like to see the sun and sand again.” She chuckled a bit to let us know that she was joking around and then turned to smile back at Xavier. “Have fun with your friend. I will see you when you get back.”
While I had been talking to Xavier, Doc had been privately signing the plan to Rosa behind Xavier’s back. Once she got it, she was all in. She came over to Mia and gestured for her to come with her. Mia didn’t understand ASL, so Rosa made basic symbols to get her ideas across.
“Rosa? Top drawer by the front door.” I motioned and acted like I was writing something. She got the hint and found the pad of paper and pen I kept there.
She started to scribble notes ferociously to Mia and practically smashed them into her face. Mia was taken aback, but once she realized what Rosa was asking, she nodded and followed her into the bedrooms to discuss redecorating them.
Xavier looked after her, and I noticed that he looked a little deflated and saddened about this. That made me feel bad about having to separate them with an underhanded plan, but I needed to keep my team safe and on top of their game, especially for what I assumed might be coming up. We all needed to be ready and focused on finding and retrieving Arik at a moment’s notice.
Once he saw Mia and Rosa start off down the hall, Xavier started to go along. Doc cut him off, blocking the way so that he left the front door as the only place left to go. “Let the ladies have a moment. Header needs all the help he can get with this place.” Doc looked around, mockingly. “Besides, it will be good to see Miami without him mentioning all the things he’s already done here and who he’s done them with.”
I knew Doc was throwing me under the bus for a good reason, so I didn’t respond too harshly. “Just wait until I’m all set up here. I’ll take you guys out every night and leave you wanting more.” I was pushing them toward the door as politely as I could. “Don’t come back until you’ve helped fix Florida’s economy, okay?”
The door closed behind them, and I locked it. It was maybe an unnecessary gesture, but I didn’t want to take any chances. I found Rosa and Mia going through the closet spaces and pointing out things to enhance or improve the area to one another.
“Please keep in mind that I’ve never been one for interior decoration. If there’s something here that you think needs to be fixed, then, by all means, add it to the list.”
This caused Mia to smile at me and nod. “Did Xavier already leave for the store? I wanted to tell him goodbye.”
“Yeah, he and Doc are already gone. But they shouldn’t be too long.” Actually, I was planning for them to be absent for a few hours, at least. Rosa and I needed time to ease Mia into trusting us enough to tell us about her feelings, or non-feelings, for Xavier. And that was not going to be an easy thing, what with the fact that we’d hardly even spent any time together except with a crowd of other people. I was still determined to try, though.
Once Rosa was finished analyzing my closets and the bedrooms, I gestured toward the full windows. “Hey, so how about we go down to the beach in a minute and talk about Eve’s gift? The fresh air will help stimulate some ideas, you think?” I was teasing, trying to come off as endearing and a little hopeless when it came to romance. And if that didn’t work, well, I was practiced in the big brother vibe of heartfelt talks and friendly advice. I thought I was, anyhow. “And besides, I bet that you’ve never slipped your toes into the Miami sand, have you, Mia?”
“I would like that. Thank you. May I use your restroom first, though?” She was almost too passive for her own good. I wondered if that was why she was succumbing to Xavier so quickly. Not in a bad way on his part, just an overlapping of emotions and kindness that could easily be misunderstood by someone.
“Sure. You can use the master one if you want. It’s better stocked.” I watched her go, and we heard her close the door. I turned to Rosa quickly. “So, the plan is to ask her about her future and if she wants to go back home and anything like that. Once we know what she wants, we can work toward it.”
Sounds good. You’ll have to do all the talking, evidently. I don’t think writing it all down is the best way to have a heart to heart, you know? She joked.
A few minutes later, Mia reemerged. I smiled as we headed for the front door. I led the way o
ut of the condo and into the elevator. After the walk through the lobby, I tried to engage Mia in a little more diverse conversation. “I hope that while you are here that you get to hang out and see some of the more entertaining things Miami has to offer. Is there anything you’ve found to pique your interest yet?”
“Oh, I haven’t looked around, honestly,” she replied shyly. “This is the first time that I’ve been out much. Everything here is so… different. I don’t know where to look for things.” She was probably feeling small, confused, and overwhelmed. I wished that I could do more to make her feel welcomed around us.
We walked out into the mid-afternoon sun and took it all in, including the beach, the people, the air, and the ambiance. There was a path lined with sun-baked ceramic steps that started at the condo lobby side doors that wound all the way down close to the shore until the sand obscured them. There were lounge chairs and large umbrellas placed here and there in the sand, along with people, dogs, and sandcastles we had to avoid colliding with as we walked.
I kept my eyes on Mia. On the one hand, I wanted to make sure she was enjoying herself, and on the other hand, I was trying to judge her reactions to what she saw here. “What do you think, Mia? Could you get used to the Miami lifestyle?”
It was a simple question that would open up to a lot more.
“I don’t know. It’s so busy and wild here. Everything is so loud.” She smiled politely up at me. “It’s good. I’m just not used to it.”
“Understandable. Does it make you miss home?” I hoped that that didn’t upset her for me to ask. I was just trying to find out more about her, to gauge how best to help her, and also to see if we could trust her. “Are you excited to be going back pretty soon, or have you made up your mind about that yet?” I glanced at Rosa, hoping that we’d get a solution or even a hint at an answer. I wasn’t trying to be rude, but Arik was our main focus now, and I wanted to keep that in mind. I mostly wanted to see if having Mia around would be an asset or a hindrance to Xavier and the team as a whole.
If I had to judge her right this very moment, I thought that she was a genuinely sweet person. And if things were different, I would probably champion her and Xavier getting to know each other better. But the circumstances were just too weird and complicated, and that made this all disorienting. It wasn’t a good basis, and I had to protect my team.
“I don’t know yet,” she replied thoughtfully after a moment. “Xavier says he wants me to stay here in America, but I am not sure. The other woman, Kippy? She says that I am a good nurse and that maybe I could find a job in this country. There is a lot to think about.” Mia reached down and took up a handful of dry sand. She let it slip through her fingers, and I noticed a smile from her.
This was good information to learn. I glanced over at Rosa and saw that she seemed to think the same.
“Is that something that you’re thinking about?” I asked as casually as I could muster. “Being a nurse here in the States? Not back home in the Azores?” I hoped that she wouldn’t take my meaning too harshly. I wasn’t trying to force her back into something she wasn’t ready for or didn’t want.
“I can’t go back to that job. I made too big of a mistake with Arik. I was very foolish to follow him.” She stood up and looked back at me. Her face was that of a young woman with some serious stress and worry weighing her down. “If I do go back home, I will have to find work, and not as a nurse. I will miss that.”
I looked to Rosa for guidance, and she signed, Ask about Xavier.
We continued down the shore, taking our time as people ran past, laughing, and having much less meaningful conversations than we were.
“So, if you don’t mind me asking, where does Xavier fit into your plans about your future? Is he okay with you maybe not staying here?” This was an odd way to go about it, but I didn’t want to upset her or push anything onto her.
“Xavier is very kind…” she started off with, but seemed to get distracted by her own thoughts. She did smile when she mentioned him, though, so it couldn’t all be one-sided, I felt. “I don’t know if his world is one that I want to be a part of, though.” She looked up at me with searching eyes. “He’s told me a little about what you all do, and it seems very dangerous.”
At least we were getting somewhere. Yet, now I was wondering just now much she was aware of when it came to our lifestyle and work. I trusted Xavier to never knowingly compromise the team, but even he was prone to slip up now and again, although rarely. “It’s a different kind of life, I agree. We travel a lot, and we have to hide things from our families and friends at times. There’s not a lot of stability if you or anyone is looking for that.” That was as gentle and uncomplicated as I could put it for her.
Rosa was nodding behind us, agreeing with everything I had just said.
Mia stopped and stared off at the water. Her hand went up to her face quickly, and then down again. She had tried to wipe away a tear without us noticing it. Her voice was a little weaker. “I recognize this. It is a hard decision to make. What to do, where to go…”
I wanted to reach out but thought better of it. “At least you have some time to consider your options. Nothing has to be decided right this very second. Right?” I hoped that this would make her see that we weren’t against them, either Xavier or her. We just needed them to understand what they were up against.
Mia sniffled and then turned to face Rosa and me. “I think I will listen to that Kippy woman and try to get a job in this country. I liked being a nurse. It was a good life.”
There it was. There was no mention of Xavier. So, maybe Kippy was good for something, after all.
While I was thinking that and kind of congratulating myself on getting something resolved, I saw Mia’s color drain from her face. Her bottom lip started to tremble, and she began to shake all over. Rosa also saw this and got close to her, putting her arm around the girl’s shoulders. I turned around to see what had freaked her out so badly.
There was a small group of beachgoers looking out at the water at a surfer. Some were taking pictures as tourists do. Nearby there was a couple building a sandcastle or something. A couple of little kids were having a water gun fight as their father read a book from a lounge chair, but he was watching them closely. I could tell by the way his eyes moved and the smiles he gave. The beach here was busy enough to keep us from standing out too much, as we were all dressed in street clothing still.
We weren’t alone in that, though. There was one man that stood out significantly, even to me. He was wearing cutoff shorts and an old, ratty tee-shirt, and he was talking on his phone, not filming anything like so many others on the beach. The surfer was out of his line of vision. His attention was instead focused out far into the ocean, in the shipping lanes. There was one ship visible and only one.
I looked back to Mia, who Rosa was supporting now to keep her from falling to her knees. I got in between Mia’s line of sight and the guy. “Mia, do you know that guy?” Of course, she must, since she reacted like that.
She nodded her head vaguely. “He… he was one of the men on the boat.”
“The boat where you were held? That man is one of the kidnappers?” I turned to get a good look at him. “Mia, are you sure?”
“Yes,” she sobbed, and Rosa had to hold her up as Mia’s knees buckled. “I need to… I need to go. I have to leave here.”
“Wait a minute. Rosa, do you have a piece on you?” I had left the condo without a weapon, and I was going to be kicking myself for that.
Rosa shook her head, apparently also upset at not being prepared for a gunfight on a Miami beach.
“Okay then, let’s just get her up to the condo, and I’ll get what I need and come back down.” Then I had another thought. I asked Rosa, “Do you want to stay here and keep an eye on him, and I’ll take her up? Or the other way around? We can get a weapon and switch places as long as we keep him in view.”
That’s no good. If he runs, I can’t tail him. She indicated at her leg. T
he crutch may have been left behind, but she wasn’t going to run after anyone today.
Mia was dissolving into a heap of sobs in the sand and would soon be getting all the wrong kinds of attention. “We have to get her upstairs. If he sees her…”
I know. Rosa heaved Mia up, and together we supported her enough to get her back inside.
A kind older lady stopped us to ask if she could help. I tried to cover nicely. “She’s not used to that much sun. She’s from out of town.” It was stupid, but it worked, and we moved along quickly. I hated losing sight of that guy, but at least we now knew that the kidnappers were in the area.
Once we got her inside my place, I dashed to my room and grabbed the Ruger. I looked out the window to see if that ship was still visible. It looked to be getting closer, actually. I rushed out, calling for Rosa and Mia to stay behind, and I got to the stairwell in record time.
I was quicker jumping, sliding, and running that I would have been in the elevator. I made it out and back to the beach to see the surfer watchers starting to break up. But my guy was still there. He had his back to me and continued on his phone call. I checked my weapon at my waist and covered it with my shirt. I got up within a few feet of the guy, walking gingerly and trying not to draw undue attention to myself as I tried to listen in without him noticing my actions.
“Yeah, he’s on his way,” he said into the phone. “I’ll check it out tonight.” There was a pause. He had a very slight accent that was hard to pin down, but if I had to guess, it was probably Mexican. “Yeah, I see it now.” Another pause. “Not a problem. I’ll let them know.” The guy ended the call and turned to look at the crowd thinning out around him.
He had dark, short hair and a scruffy, days-old beard. His eyes were black and narrowed like he wasn’t used to being out in this kind of sun. His arms were tattooed with skulls and daggers and flowers. There was a bunch of ink on his neck, too. He was barefoot, and I didn’t see any shoes nearby. I didn’t make eye contact, but I could feel him watching the crowd in general.