by Dale Mayer
Vanessa stared at him.
He just grinned and got ready to hop into the powerboat. She stared over at Matt’s body. “What do we do with him?”
“Right now, we’re not doing anything,” Shawn said. “We’ll cover him up so nobody can see him, and then we’ll have to make a decision. He lived as a river rat. I highly suggest we let him end his life as a river rat.”
It was hard to argue with that, but she would struggle with the whole concept of dumping his body overboard. For all she knew, he would sink to the ocean floor, and his family would never know. There would be a mother or a sister or a wife who would never know what happened to him. She struggled with that. “That’s hardly fair,” she said. “I’m not sure what the better solution is, but I hope we find one.”
The men were ready to go. She gave Vince a hard kiss, hugged Johan and said, “Make sure you both get back here.”
They hopped into the powerboat.
Shawn said, “I’ll turn on the engine and idle this one closer while they take off. We’ve got the timing down to a split second.” He faced Dr. Walker and Jasper. “Both of you go down below. We can’t have you seen.” He stopped and looked at Tony, still unconscious. “We need to get him below deck too.” He picked Tony up and gently carried him below.
Vanessa went to the bow and stood staring forward as Shawn eased the boat toward the wharfs.
She didn’t know how the mooring system worked, but surely they could tie up to an empty one. They needed to find out where Dr. Sanchez was and stay as close as they could.
On that note, she sent a text to Levi. We’re at the marina. Where is the Princess Marianna? We’re coming in on the sailboat to get as close as we can for the pickup.
He sent back a GPS location.
She told Shawn, who was piloting the boat.
He nodded. “I know exactly where that is.” He shifted directions slightly to come around the end of the wharf.
As they came around, she could see it. “Is that it?” she asked an awe.
He nodded. “It is, indeed. She’s a beauty, isn’t she?”
She watched as one sentry seemed to walk along the deck on her side. Worried, she chomped on her bottom lip, wondering how close Vince and Johan were. It seemed as if she had glanced away for only a second; then, all of a sudden, there was a splash. She looked back and saw no sentry. She frowned, but Shawn chuckled. “What are you laughing about?”
“Did you see that?”
And she shook her head.
“That was your man. He tossed the sentry overboard.”
She watched hopefully, but she never saw Vince.
Shawn pulled up, cut the engine to just idle. They were about twenty feet away.
“Is there a place we can pull in?”
He pointed to a berth. “We can come right up beside them.”
And that was what he did. He pulled closer and closer, and then grabbed the ropes, killed the engine and nudged it forward. She took the rope from him, hopped onto the wharf, and tied it up.
A man from the yacht ran toward them. “Hey, you can’t stay here.”
Shawn asked him, “Why not?” He pretended to ignore him.
“You can’t be so close to the Marianna.”
“We’re just picking up a few people,” Shawn said. “We’ll be here an hour tops.”
The man hesitated, then heard an odd sound. He turned and bolted back toward his yacht.
The Marianna rose above Vanessa. It wasn’t a superyacht, but, wow, it was gorgeous. She couldn’t even imagine how long it was. Eighty feet maybe. It was like a damn house on the water.
She heard the rapid sounds of a gunfight, and then, all of a sudden, there was dead silence. Vanessa looked at Shawn.
He nodded with a finger to his lips. “Pretend to be enjoying the sights. Don’t even look at the Marianna. Sit there by the rope as if we’re waiting for somebody. As soon as you see them coming, you’ll unhitch that rope, and we’ll pull out of here. You got that?”
“What’ll stop them from coming after us?”
“First, we’ll make sure none of them are available to come after us,” he said calmly. “The second thing is to make sure we’re the hell gone from here.”
She did as he said, trying not to stare at what was happening beside her. She sat by the rope tied to the dock, nervously wrapping it around a hand and unwrapping it, wrapping it up again, then unwrapping it. Ten minutes passed. Fifteen minutes passed. She kept glancing at Shawn nervously. But he sat on the side with a cigarette and just enjoyed a smoke.
Suddenly came some cheerful whistling, and Johan came up with a couple big bags in his hands. He hopped onto the boat, tossed the bags to Shawn and said, “Are you ready? Let’s get this thing fired up.”
Shawn hopped over and turned on the engine.
Johan gave her a hand back onto the sailboat, stepped down onto the deck and untied the rope. As he did that, Vince came toward them with his arm wrapped around a woman. She was hunched over, wearing a big poncho. He helped her onto the boat. Vanessa could see it was Dr. Sanchez.
In no way did she show she recognized her, and Vince immediately took her down below. At the same time, Johan pushed the boat away from the dock, the engine already picking up speed as it pulled steadily out and away from the marina.
It hit open water thirty minutes later. She sat on the side, waiting to see if anybody came to join her, not sure if she should go down and see for herself if that was Laura or not. They were powering at a decent speed, putting miles between them and the docks.
When Vince came back up, he went to her side and asked, “Are you okay?”
“I’m scared to hope,” she said. “Please tell me that was Laura.”
He asked, “Didn’t you recognize her?”
She nodded. “I did. I just can’t believe it.” She opened her arms, and he picked her up, sat down and placed her on his lap.
“It’s over.”
She shook her head. “No, it can’t be over. Not until we’re home.”
He nodded in understanding. “That’s one of the things we were discussing down below. We can still try to make the airport and all your regular flights if you think that’s what you want to do. We can go to another marina. It’s about ten minutes away. We can grab cabs and head for the airport.”
She took a deep breath. “Will they be waiting for us at the airport?”
“The embassy has been alerted, and they’re waiting for us at customs.”
She’d nodded and said, “Please. Yes. Let’s just go.”
Thirty minutes later, they stood at customs, clearing their way through. Somehow Levi had managed to get their bags from the hotel, and they were waiting for them as well. They were cleared right through customs. With everybody, including Johan and Vince, boarded, the door to the plane closed behind them as they took their seats.
Vanessa sank down beside Vince. She hadn’t even had a chance to say anything to Laura. She could see her with the poncho still wrapped around her, fear and pain on her face.
Jasper was a mess. Dr. Walker had yet to say anything, was so subdued, as if everything in him had been knocked out. Tony was awake and had said something to her, but she’d been so frozen, waiting to see if this would all work out.
But soon the plane taxied down the runway. She knew there was still a huge chance they would be stopped before they lifted up. What they had to do was get in international airspace.
Vince squeezed her fingers and said, “This is where you have to trust Levi.”
“Does he have any pull with governments?”
“He’s got our government engaged with their government. Believe me. Everybody wants to see us out of here.”
At that, a laugh burst free. She squeezed his fingers and said, “So now that we’re heading home, where’s home for you?”
“I live in Texas. At Levi’s compound.”
“Right, and, of course, that’s near our university. I think I’ll stick to research out of
Galveston from now on,” she said with a laugh.
“No more Galápagos?”
“Not for a while,” she said. “Who knows what’s in the future? But right now, hell no.”
“We’ll be landing in another few hours,” he said. “Lean back and sleep. I’ll make sure you’re fine.”
And she believed him. “Hey, are you going back home right away?”
“Don’t have to,” he said. “Why?”
“I was thinking that maybe we started something,” she said. “Maybe we need a day or two to figure it out.”
He leaned over, his breath warm on her face, and kissed the tip of her nose. “What do you have in mind?”
“I have in mind more than a stolen hour—a weekend at least,” she said.
She closed her eyes, curled up, her head on his shoulder. “Wake me when we land.”
*
He did that. He could see the relief on everybody’s faces. But he had meant it when he had said it was in everybody’s best interests to have them leave the country. More chaos had ensued than anybody wanted.
As they cleared US customs, Dr. Sanchez lifted the poncho off her head and took several deep breaths. “I’m telling everyone right now. I’m never leaving American soil again.”
Vanessa walked over and gave her a gentle hug. “I’m so happy you’re alive and well.”
With tears in her eyes, Laura whispered, “Thank you so much for saving me.”
Vanessa nodded toward Vince and Johan. “It was them,” she said. “It was all them.”
Taxis awaited them. Dr. Sanchez turned, shook Vince’s and Johan’s hands and said, “Thank you so very much.” She got into the first taxi and took off.
Dr. Walker walked over to Vanessa and said, “I know you don’t believe me when I say this, but I’m sorry. I didn’t realize what I was bringing down on myself or on you or the rest of the team.”
She felt sorry for him. This proud, arrogant man had been humbled by the circumstances. He’d taken a hell of a beating and realized he’d turned in his friends and had brought them even more trouble.
She smiled at him. “Go home to your family, Dr. Walker. It’s been a long journey, but we finally made it here at last.”
He nodded slowly, got into a cab and headed home.
Jasper and Tony took the next cab. Tony looked at her and asked, “Do you need a ride?”
She shook her head and smiled. “I’ve already got one, thanks.” She turned to look at Johan. “Thank you, Johan. I don’t know if you’ve talked to Vince or not, but I’m kidnapping him for a couple days.”
Johan grinned and then chuckled.
Vince just glared at him.
Johan held up his hands and said, “Hey, I’ve got a Jeep waiting for me. It’s a rental, but I’m starting to really like American vehicles. I’ll head to the compound. I presume you’ll catch Levi up at some point? Or do you want me to do it when I get there?”
“We caught up lots already. I’ll see you in a few days.” Vince reached out a hand, snagged Vanessa’s hand in his. “Do you have wheels here?”
She shook her head. “I took a cab.”
“Good,” he said, “because my truck is here.” They headed to his vehicle. He helped her get in. “Okay, directions?”
Before they were twenty minutes on the road, he pulled up in front of a small brick house. He smiled as he looked at her. “This isn’t exactly where I thought you would be living.” He hopped out and grabbed their bags.
She exited the truck. “I just rent it,” she confessed. “I never cared about putting down roots.” A big laugh poured from her. She walked to the front door, unlocked it, stepped inside, dropped the bag she was carrying, waited until he was inside and closed the door behind him.
He dropped his bags here too. They stood for a moment, just looking at each other, then she launched herself at him. He laughed and picked her up in his arms. “Which way?”
“Down the hall on the left,” she said, kissing his face frantically. “I can’t believe everything we’ve been through.”
“Neither can I,” he confessed in between kisses. As she wiggled and moved in his arms, it was all he could do to carry her.
Finally he found the bedroom, walked in, and dropped her on the huge queen-size bed. He fell down on top of her, a lot of his weight on his arms. He lowered his head and kissed her for real. Heat flashed and pleasure seared through him as he captured this woman with so much energy and so much passion and so much vigor. He was blessed to have her for this time. Blessed that he had met her.
“Did all that really happen?” she asked as she pushed on his shoulders until he rolled onto his back. She sat up, straddled him and looked down. “I can’t believe these last few days.”
And, while he stared up at her in amazement, she unbuttoned her shirt, tossing it onto the chair at the bedside. Sitting in only her jeans and a bra, he felt himself responding to this incredible woman.
“You are something else.” He pulled her toward him and kissed her hard.
She wiggled free. “Oh, no you don’t. You’re wearing way too many clothes.”
She hopped off and went to work on his shoes. But she was taking way too long, so he kicked them off, hopped to his feet, stripped down until he stood in front of her completely nude.
And she was too.
He stopped and stared. She was tiny, and yet, so damn curvaceous. Small plump breasts that would fit perfectly into his hand, a tiny waist, beautiful rounded hips.
He shook his head. “Oh, my God, you’re beautiful.”
She chuckled. “Hell no, I’m not. But, as long as you think so, I’m totally fine with that.” She knelt on the bed and opened her arms.
He took her into his embrace, for the first time realizing just how tiny she was. He wanted to be gentle, but she wouldn’t have anything to do with it. He wanted to be careful, and she wouldn’t let him. He wanted to take his time, and she argued about that.
As she pivoted him onto his back, straddling him once again, she looked down and said, “We’ll have time for this all over again soon, but right now I need you inside me.”
And, without warning, she lowered herself onto his shaft and plunged until he was seated right at the heart of her. She cried out, his hips lifting until he supported her in the air. Her hands on his ribs held her atop him.
Slowly he groaned at the feeling of being completely sheathed inside her warmth.
She leaned forward and kissed him gently. “It’s okay, big guy. I’ll be gentle.”
He laughed and then groaned again as she started to ride him, her hips lifting and lowering, sliding up and down his shaft, driving him higher and higher. He watched as this Valkyrie—her hair flowing with her every movement, her body moving rhythmically to a musical sequence in her head—pounded herself up and down him.
He grabbed her hips and lunged harder and harder inside. She cried out again, her body arching as she reached her climax. He groaned and lifted and plunged with the thrust of his hips until finally his own body exploded beneath her.
She collapsed, and, after a moment, she chuckled.
He was too exhausted to do anything but gaze at the ceiling and wonder what the hell had just happened.
She smiled and said, “Well, I’m ready for round two. How about you?” She lifted her head until her hands were crossed on his chest and stared down at him.
He stroked her hair off her face and said, “You’ll have to give me a minute.”
Immediately she counted down the seconds.
He burst out laughing. “Are you always this energetic in bed?”
She shrugged. “Why not? Sex is fun.”
He nodded. “It is, indeed.”
“But this isn’t just sex,” she said, slowly sitting up. He was still deeply embedded inside. “This is something else instead.”
“What is this?” he asked.
“This is the start of something special.”
“Oh, is it?”
She nodded. “Yep. You see? I’ve come close to death several times, and I’ve killed a man. I have friends who were beaten and tortured, and a woman I admire deeply was kidnapped because of some power play. It makes you reassess your view on life.”
He stared up at her, his hands gliding along her hips up to her ribs to cup her breasts. “In what way does it change you?”
“Makes me appreciate this more.” Her fingers slid over his lips, gently stroking his cheeks. “It makes me realize what I’m missing. And, when I find something I want, that I don’t make the same mistake everybody else is making and lose it. I don’t want to lose something like this because I didn’t tend to it, because I didn’t water it, because I didn’t feed it, because I didn’t help it and nurture it so it would grow.”
“This?” he asked, a smile in his voice.
She kissed his lips, first the bottom one, then the top one, the corners and his nose. “This,” she said. “Us. I don’t know what we have. I don’t know where we’ll go. But I’m willing to take that step to find out. What about you?”
He smiled, reached down and held her hips firmly. “I’m here, aren’t I?”
“Yes,” she said hesitantly. “But it would be very hard if this is all you wanted.”
“I’m not a one-night-stand type of guy,” he said gently. “When I find somebody as special as you, … I know it. I might not have seen it the first day, but it didn’t take me long to wake up and to realize what was happening.”
“Are you sure?”
He nodded and smiled. “I’m also sure of something else.”
“And what’s that?” she asked.
“You talk too much,” he said with a chuckle, and he lifted his hips, plunging his ready erection deep inside her again.
She gasped and cried out as her body responded. Her nipples peaked, and a warm flush rolled over her face as passion once again seared through her. “You’re right,” she said on a groan. “We have much better things to do. We can talk later.”
“We can talk now too,” he said, “but I’d much rather enjoy what we have. There will be time for talking afterward.”
“There will be time for this too later,” she said on a laugh, then moaned. “Oh, dear God. I hope there will be.”