A Stranger Is Watching

by Linda Randall Wisdom

  Sasha watched her walk away. He had on his face the smile of a man enjoying a lovely sight. He turned back to Riley, his smile disappearing as quickly as it had appeared.

  “You are not what you appear to be, my friend,” he said.

  Riley sipped his coffee before replying. “Oh? What am I supposed to be?”

  “A man and his wife on their honeymoon, like so many others here.” The older man waved his hand to encompass the others seated at nearby tables.

  “Funny, that’s what I thought I was doing,” Riley said easily.

  “I have lived a long time, Ryan. And during that time, I have met many men. Not all of them lived on the right side of the law. There is something about you that does not make me think of a young husband enjoying the nights with his wife.”

  Riley felt the weight of his weapon nestled against his back. A not-so-subtle reminder why he was there.

  He knew Sasha was an old man, but there was no doubt he wasn’t feeble in mind or body. His hands were steady as they held the coffee cup and his eyes clear. He might not know the story, but he did sense Riley and Jenna weren’t exactly who they said they were.

  Now all Riley had to figure out was why Sasha cared about their identity. He wasn’t worried about himself. He worried what would happen to Jenna.

  Sasha hadn’t missed Riley’s quick sideways glance toward Jenna.

  “If I felt the two of you were hiding from the authorities I would have done something about it. But I have a feeling you are here because Jennifer is the one in trouble. And not because she has done something wrong.”

  Riley noticed Jenna carrying a loaded plate and walking back to the table. He only had a few seconds to say what he felt he could to the older man.

  “There’s someone out there who’s as filthy as they come. He wants her dead because she spoke the truth three years ago,” he muttered before she came too close. “He got a little too close once, and I’m making sure it doesn’t happen again.”

  Sasha immediately and smoothly steered the conversation elsewhere.

  It wasn’t until later, when Jenna returned to the buffet table, that he turned back to Riley.

  “Someone tried to hurt her,” he said, with a slight frown.

  “That someone did hurt her, and I have an idea he wants to kill her,” Riley said flatly. “A man she testified against three years ago set this up.”

  Sasha shook his head. “I see what you mean. She is a protected witness someone wants gone.” The older man looked pained. “An innocent caught up in another’s web. Why did you bring her here?”

  Riley smiled wryly. “I didn’t have a lot of time when it came to travel plans. This seemed like a good idea.”

  Sasha smiled back. “Do your superiors know the two of you have become lovers?”

  Riley shifted uncomfortably under the man’s shrewd gaze.

  “We were together some time ago, before her life blew up in her face,” he admitted.

  “So you protect her because of a shared past.” He nodded his understanding. “Do not worry. I will not give away your secret. I am made aware of all our new guests. I cannot imagine that type of man would find you here, but you cannot be too careful, can you?”

  He was surprised by the man’s more-than-generous offer. And a little suspicious. “Pardon me for being blunt, but why are you willing to help us? I could have spun a pretty incredible story.”

  “I’ve lived too many years to know whether a man is lying or not. You are not I left Russia and came here to give my family a better life. Jennifer reminds me of my daughter. She looks as delicate as a flower, but inside she is tempered steel. The two of you complement each other.”

  Riley chuckled. “I don’t know if I’d tell her that. But I have to say, if I’m going to hide out it may as well be somewhere as comfortable as here.”

  Sasha smiled back. “Then we will do all we can to make your stay all you wish it to be.”

  Sasha leaned back as the waiter refilled his coffee cup. “I like your Jennifer. She is a lovely woman. As long as she is on the hotel grounds, you need not worry about her safety.”

  Riley sat there, for the first time unsure what to say. He knew he’d taken a chance, confiding in Sasha, but he felt he’d done the right thing.

  “How do you expect to eat all of that food after the first plate you polished clean?” Sasha teased Jenna as she sat down.

  She smiled at Riley, then turned to Sasha. “There was no way I’d pass up all this wonderful fresh fiuit.” She picked up a strawberry and held it out to Riley, who obediently opened his mouth for her.

  “She has you well trained, Ryan,” Sasha joked. “She appears to have you eating out of her hand.”

  “When she offers strawberries like that one, I’ll definitely bite.” He grinned.

  “Then we will keep you well supplied with strawberries,” Sasha promised Jenna.

  Riley was still realizing what just happened between the two men. A one-sided bargain in Riley’s favor.

  No matter what, no one would be allowed to harm Jenna as long as they stayed here.

  “They’re in Mexico,” he announced to his employer, feeling tremendous relief he had succeeded instead of failed. He feared he would not have been given much more time before the other man grew impatient and replaced him with someone else.

  The man’s eyes were the color of cold steel. “Are you positive?”

  He nodded and went on to explain how he’d been able to find out where Jenna and Riley were staying. Now that he had given his employer the good news, he realized he was going to have to dispense the bad news.

  “Getting to them could be difficult,” he said hesitantly. “It’s a resort that caters to couples. Honeymooners and couples celebrating special anniversaries.”

  The employer’s smile would have frightened a shark. “Nothing is difficult if you have enough money to pay the right people. And I have more than enough money. I want them taken care of by the end of the week.” He lit his cigar and turned away.

  The man was effectively dismissed.

  He walked out of the office and headed for the elevator.

  He’d heard the orders and hadn’t liked them. He was just told to go to Mexico. He never did like the country. He didn’t speak the language, didn’t really have all that many contacts down there, and the last time he was there he’d suffered constant heartburn from the food and there were times he feared even the bottled water was impure.

  He enjoyed his work with the glee of a sadist. But there was a sadist even better than him. His employer was the one who had perfected the art. That was why he enjoyed taking his employer’s money—as long as he didn’t have to face his employer too often. The man scared the hell out of him. And very little scared him.

  Sometimes he wondered if death wouldn’t be a better alternative.

  Chapter 9

  As the days passed, Jenna felt a shift in the air. She sensed the change as surely as if something tangible brushed past her and left its imprint on her skin.

  It didn’t take her long to figure out when she first felt it. She could trace it back to the day she and Riley had shared breakfast with Sasha.

  While she had been picking and choosing at the buffet table, she now sensed the two men had come to some unspoken agreement. An unspoken agreement that had to do with her.

  She told herself she shouldn’t have any complaints. By now they had been here for close to ten days. If it hadn’t been for the mornings, when Riley insisted on teaching her his own brand of self-defense, she would have thought they were there for a leisurely vacation.

  She played the role of a sloth on the afternoons she and Riley spent on the beach, or enjoyed the times they made use of the hiking trails. She especially enjoyed the dinners she and Riley had shared with Sasha and his grandson on more than one evening.

  With Riley’s assistance and Sasha’s amused supervision, Jenna and the little boy spent one morning building an elaborate sand castle complete with a moat
and a dragon standing guard.

  “I’d say that’s one fine castle, little Sasha,” Riley commented, walking up to them.

  Jenna and little Sasha stood back to admire their handiwork.

  “But the dragon cannot breathe fire!” the little boy mourned as he sat back down on the sand. “Dragons are supposed to breathe fire to scare away the bad men.”

  “Perhaps it is just as well your dragon doesn’t breathe fire,” Sasha said to console his grandson as he joined them. “It is too hot a day for a fire.”

  Jenna pulled the boy to her and hugged him. “Our dragon doesn’t need to breathe fire. People will be scared of him just because he looks so fierce.”

  He didn’t look convinced by their words, but he soon perked up and ran for the water’s edge with his frazzled-looking nanny close on his heels.

  “Luckily he swims like a fish.” Sasha chuckled as the adult trio walked back to a row of lounge chairs. “Children are special, but grandchildren are created from the heart,” he added.

  Riley immediately stretched out on a sand lounge. His eyes were covered with his sunglasses, and his dark tanned skin glistened with sweat.

  “Especially when the parents take off for another honeymoon and Grandpa takes over,” he teased. “You can spoil him to your heart’s content then hand him back to Mom and Dad who get to calm him down after all this fun.”

  “That is what grandparents are for,” Sasha reminded him. “What I hope is that they will think of having another child. Sasha should not be an only child.”

  “But he’s obviously loved, and that’s what counts,” Jenna pointed out. For a moment her smile faltered, and the expression in her eyes as she watched the energetic little boy could only be described as wistful.

  Sasha beamed with pride. “He will be a great man when he grows up. I will see to that.”

  Riley grinned. “Then keep him out of politics.”

  Jenna groaned as she felt the shift in the conversation. “No discussion on world politics, please?” She covered her face. “Once you start you can’t stop. And the two of you never agree!”

  “That is why we enjoy our discussions.” Sasha fingered a nonfiction book written about World War II battles in Europe.

  Jenna flopped back on her towel and covered her face with her hat. She thought about applying another layer of sunblock, but she felt too lazy to move.

  “At least your ‘discussions’ as you call them are a great reason for me to take a nap,” she mumbled.

  The last thing she heard as she drifted off into a light sleep was the men chuckling before they dove into their spirited conversation.

  Jenna felt herself float in a soft netherworld of sleep with Riley always present.

  How could a man who displayed the patience of a saint while entertaining a little boy not want children of his own?

  It was a question she knew would always haunt her because she wouldn’t have an answer.

  Her sleep-filled brain started to drift in another direction as she recalled their lovemaking.

  That night they’d made love by the pool turned out to be just the beginning. Each night after that they shared a bed and shared their bodies. And each time Riley never forgot protection.

  It had gotten to where Jenna believed she couldn’t sleep unless Riley’s body was curved spoon fashion around her. Sometimes she felt as if the past three years had been nothing more than a bad dream.

  She asked herself if the idea of their returning to their old habits as if nothing had happened was a good idea.

  Could she tempt fate by thinking of them having a future together? For all she knew, when this was all over, she would be returned to the Witness Relocation Program again and Riley would return to whatever he was doing. And even if he didn’t, she couldn’t think of their having a future together. All she knew was that they would have to sit down and have a long talk when things settled down.

  She wasn’t the same person she’d been three years ago, and Riley wasn’t the same, either. Could they work past whatever differences they might have now and forge something new and even stronger?

  All she could do was tell herself that as long as something wasn’t spoken out loud, it didn’t exist.

  She awoke to find Riley towering over her. “You know, a nap sounds like a good idea,” he said casually.

  “I’m sure it’s necessary for boys,” Jenna said in an equally casual tone. “Probably even more necessary for old men.”

  “Old man?” he scoffed. “I’ll show you old man.”

  Jenna squealed as Riley picked her up and tossed her over his shoulder.

  She was still screaming his name and cursing him as he stood waist-deep in the water with her now held high in his arms.

  “Are you absolutely sure you don’t want to take back what you just called me?” he asked. The devilish twinkle in his eyes told her either way she wasn’t safe.

  She lifted her chin. “I suggest you take me back to dry land before you regret your actions,” she said haughtily.

  Riley pretended to drop her and laughed at her shriek of outrage.

  “Stop it!” she screamed.

  “Okay.” He opened his arms and she promptly fell in the water.

  Jenna shot upward, sputtering and coughing. She hissed a curse at the same time she dove at his knees, easily knocking him off balance. Riley fell backward, completely submerged. Jenna laughed and began a victory dance at besting her opponent. Then she noticed he hadn’t come back up.

  “Riley?” she said tentatively, looking for a sign as she splashed the water with her hands. “This isn’t funny, Riley. Riley!” She started sounding frantic as he still hadn’t appeared.

  She barely had time to draw a breath of air as her ankles were grabbed and she was pulled under the water and into Riley’s arms. His kiss was designed to draw that very air out of her and into him. She relaxed and looped her arms around his neck as he easily slid them into deeper water.

  Jenna could feel Riley’s hardness seeking her out as she lay flat against him. They were both breathless as they floated to the surface. She was surprised to see how far out from the shore they’d gone.

  Riley loosened his hold, and she rolled over to float on her back. Their fingertips touched as they allowed the gentle waves to move them in a slow circle.

  Jenna looked up at the sky and exhaled a deep sigh.

  “What was that for?” Riley asked.

  “It’s just so beautiful,” she replied. She pulled her fingers from his loose grasp and allowed them to drift down to the hem of his trunks. “Think it’s possible without drowning?” she asked.

  Riley cocked an eyebrow. “Why, Miss Welles, I am well and truly shocked.”

  “Since we’re out in deeper water than the pool, I thought I’d at least ask.” she grinned. “Come on, Cooper. Where’s that adventurous spirit of yours?”

  “I may believe in being prepared, but I don’t always think about it if we’re planning to take a swim,” he told her.

  “From what I could see, this swim wasn’t planned.” She passed her fingers across his trunks. “Not to mention, in case you’ve forgotten, I am on the pill.”

  Riley swam away from her.

  Puzzled by his action, Jenna looked after him.

  “What’s wrong?” she called after him.

  “I don’t have to spell it out for you, Jen. Come on, we better swim back in.” He swam toward the shore with strong powerful strokes.

  Jenna swam back at a slower pace. By the time she reached the beach, Riley was already crossing the sand to the two chairs that held their towels.

  “I should have realized you weren’t going to touch me unless you had protection with you,” she said in a low voice, as she picked up her towel and dried off her shoulders and arms. She used her fingers to comb back her hair and squeeze the excess water out.

  He didn’t look at her as he dried himself off. “We got a scare that first time. We can’t afford for anything to happen.”


  “Of course not,” she murmured, picking up her sunglasses and slipping them on. She felt she needed them and not just to block out the glare.

  Riley shot her a narrowed look. “Of course not,” he mocked. “The pill isn’t infallible, Jen. We know that now.”

  She refused to flinch under his accusing tone. “Or maybe your sperm think they’re just too macho to let a pill deter them.” She picked up her towel, sunblock and book. “Don’t worry about going to the bungalow with me. With the mood I’m in right now, I doubt anyone would dare bother me.”

  Riley watched her walk away with her back straight and head held high.

  “Oh yeah, no man in his right mind would take you on,” he muttered. “But then, I’ve never been in my right mind around you.”

  He was positive he was going to die. The bottled water turned out not to be so safe after all. Not to mention the small towns he had to drive through didn’t offer much in accommodations or restaurants.

  His stomach rumbled unpleasantly. Even antacids couldn’t settle it.

  The Jeep he rented didn’t have power steering and had to have been built during World War II. Every bone in his body ached from the rocky roads he had been forced to take to reach his destination.

  Even now he wasn’t close to where he needed to be.

  He was lucky, though. He’d found a man who worked at the hotel as a bellman and the man had many children to feed. A little extra money came in handy, and the bellman was willing to tell the gringo whatever he needed to know.

  He vowed that after this assignment was over, he was taking a nice long vacation where the water was sanitized, the food edible and the beds didn’t have bugs in them.

  With the woman dead, he’d have more than enough money to go wherever he wanted.

  And far away from the man who’d made his life a complete hell.

  A variety of multicolored brochures landed not so neatly in Riley’s lap. He looked up at Jenna, who stood over him.

  “Thank you for the reading material, but I have enough right here.” He held up the book he had been reading.