Chapter 4
MELANIE
MY HEARTBEAT WAS STILL IRREGULAR WHEN I FLAGGED A TAXI
It wasn’t the job. Nah, that had been surprisingly easy and I wondered why they had made such a big deal out of it.
It was the man I’d glimpsed at the airport and immediately recognized.
There was no way I’d forget that body.
Dark hair, green eyes and six feet of lean muscle, the man looked like sin himself and tasted even better..I would know. He was the man I’d spent one evening with in Rome. But what was he doing here in Puerto Rico?..
He’d locked eyes with me and my body was rooted to the floor for all of live seconds before I remembered I held stolen property and 1 had to hightail it out of there before someone noticed,
“What is up with this taxi system?“, 1 thought
I’d been standing here for five minutes and not a single one had stopped.
With my luck, Enrico would decide to check in on the jewels before he got to wherever it is he was supposed to go and then it would be game over.
I ran a hand through my newly dyed platinum–blonde hair as I recalled the past hour.
It hadn’t been difficult to run over to the airport terminal in tears and spin some story to the sympathetic lady behind the desk about needing a last–minute ticket to Puerto Rico because I thought my husband whom I had two kids with was
cheating on me.
The lady, bless her poor heart, had said I was lucky because a spot had just opened up and I’d simply smiled, knowing it had nothing to do with luck.
Then, before boarding I told the flight attendant that although we’d boarded at different times, the matching luggage belonged to my husband and me, and could she kindly make sure to put them together so we wouldn’t lose them?
It was a harmless request which she had quickly agreed to. From then on, it was just a matter of waiting at the baggage claim and stopping Enrico with an apologetic smile as he reached for the luggage.
“Disculpe. Senor. That’s mine.”
He’d apologized profusely and I’d taken the bag and been on my merry way.
That until encountering the hindrance that was Puerto Rican taxi drivers.
One finally pulled over. The driver smiled at me with blindingly white teeth and asked where I wanted to go. He stored my luggage in the trunk and 1 opened the backdoor to slide in.
Just as I was about to enter, my now brown eyes from the contact I was wearing shot up and locked with a pair of furious
emerald ones and stiffened in surprise.
“Why was a sexy stranger striding towards me with murder in his eyes?”
sa
I didn’t know, but I sure wasn’t sticking around to find out.
I entered the car and asked the driver to drive off.
JORDAN
THE TAXI PULLED OFF THE CURB AND DROVE AWAY
I stared at its tail lights and resisted the urge to throttle somebody.
“What now?” Blaine asked, all playfulness gone. He might be a pain, but at least he was competent. Which was more than
They say if you want something done right, do it yourself
Lord helpe employees
I was starting to believe it. But then. Fcan’t be in ten different places, which is the whole point of having
Chapter +
“Send word out to security that there’s been a Code Red, A high–level security breach, Tell them to scour the hotels, motels, hell, even the sewers. She can’t have gone far“, I instructed calmly as we walked back to the car.
I got in the driver’s side this time while Blaine made the calls, adjusted the rearview mirror and grinned mirthlessly at Enrico’s unconscious body.
“You and I are going to have a little fun together, amigo”
“You realize that sounds gay as fuck right?” Blaine smirked and I leveled a glare at him.
“Do you want to join him?”
“Point made.”
We drove off in relative silence until Blaine glanced back at Enrico “Aw. Ile’s bleeding all over the leather“, Blaine pointed
QUL
“He’ll lick it off” was my cold response that could have passed off as a joke, but I definitely meant it! I was furious.
We had barely gotten back to my offices when my phone vibrated with an incoming call. At least someone else was
efficient
I answered “Speak
“We’ve got eyes on her, sir.”
I gripped the steering wheel so tight my knuckles went white.
“Send me your location.”
MELANIE
I WAS BEING FOLLOWED.
I knew it as soon as I stepped out of the hotel room where I’d dumped all of Enrico’s clothing, including a stack of baseball cards (what was he, 9), transferred the jewels into the satchel currently hanging from my shoulder and left the room. My tail was a tall muscular man who definitely did not blend in. He moved from the doorway, sometimes stopping to “admire the buildings, sometimes conversing with random people.
All the while talking quietly into his earpiece.
It wasn’t my first time being followed, so I scanned the surrounding streets, mentally sketching out the path I’d take him off
shake
It was clear that the heist had been discovered, so I had to abandon my plans to spend the night in this charming little place and leave now.
Just as I turned into a relatively empty side street, I spotted a flash of movement from my right side and turned to see another poorly disguised man walking on the opposite side of the street.
The first tendrils of apprehension made their way down my spine. They were closing in now. Not good. Not good at all. My unfamiliarity with these streets was against me. I quickened my pace and turned the next corner, only to find myself at a dead–end
“God, My life was turning into a cliche“, I thought to myself.
The two the
turned the corner and stopped.
At the sight of me standing and facing their direction with my
my arms crossed.
“I don’t suppose you gelemen have been following me because you think I’m pretty?” I called out.
They exchanged a look and started towards me. I sighed.
Worth
guess I’m going to have to fight my way out of this one. I crossed the sateliel over my body to reduce the chance of it falling and decided against pulling out my knives seeing as all four of them were bare–landed.
Wait. Four?
1 blinked, and they morphed back into two.
Chapter 4
Shit. Shit. Shit.
The jet lag was kicking in. I was going to die here, in a nameless street in Puerto Rico, over diamonds I was never g
wear anyway.
going to
This was crazy!!!
I managed to dodge and swipe at the first guy, but my movements were sluggish now, and he hit me in the stomach.
I kicked him in the balls, a fail–safe that never disappointed, and ducked just as the second guy struck out at me. He followed up with a kick that swept my feet out from under me. I landed hard, smacking my head on the concrete and my vision faded into nothingness.
I heard voices before my eyes opened. Images and blurred shapes swam in and out of my vision before it focused with such razor–sharp clarity that I immediately realized I’d been drugged with something.
I concentrated on taking deep, measured breaths to clear my head as I slowly took in my surroundings. I guessed I was underground somewhere due to the damp, earthy smell of the air.
My hands were bound behind the chair I was seated on in classical interrogation mode.
“Well this is awfully familiar” 1 muttered, deciding to sit back in my chair and wait for whoever to show up.
1 heard a groan and my head snapped to the side too quickly making my head swim again. I waited for it to settle before squinting into the darkness, trying to make out where the sound came from.
A grin spread over my face as I realized who it was.
“Enrico, my man! Fancy meeting you here. We’re roomies now? How fun”
“You–you’re the witch who stole from mel“:
I asked, a reproachful look on my face “Now now, Rico, no need to bring up the past. “We’re friends, aren’t we?”
He muttered something in Spanish about always being unlucky enough to be stuck with the crazy bitches.
“Stop talking to me before they think we’re working together. You have no idea what you’ve done. Mr Alonso will rip your head off, put it on a flagpole and mount it in front of his headquarters.
“Mr. who now?” I thought aloud.
Before he could answer, the door opened and a man and a woman entered…
