His eyes meet mine. “It would be much easier to walk away from you if you didn’t.”
He’s going.
My eyes tear up. “Please don’t walk away from me.” The lump in my throat gets really big and I find it hard to speak. “I’m much better when I’m with you. I can try harder.”
“I just don’t need this,” he whispers.
I sit with resignation, understanding exactly where he is coming from, and after a long pause of silence I speak quietly. “When we get out of here, you can go.” The tears burst from my eyes and I wipe them away shamefully. “You are better off without me.”
He continues drinking his beer, void of emotion.
“But at this moment we need to go,” I whisper. “Stace, they are going to find us. We are in danger. You can leave me later.”
He downs the rest of his beer.
“I have our passports and the gun in my bag,” I whisper.
“Give me the gun.”
I pass it to him under the table.
“You walk in front of me. We are more noticeable if we are together.” He thinks for a moment and hands me back the gun. “You keep it.”
I frown.
“I can handle myself without a gun,” he explains.
I nod and put it back into my bag.
“Just remember that we are on land now. If you shoot someone, you are going to jail.” He widens his eyes. “So don’t shoot anyone.”
“Okay,” I murmur, distracted as I stand. “So straight back to the hotel?” I ask.
“Yes, and then we will go.”
I nod. “Please be careful.” I look up into his eyes and I just have to say it. “I love you,” I whisper as I grab his hand.
He squeezes my hand in his as his eyes search mine. “Then start acting like it.”
I smile softly, and in that split second, I know it’s going to be okay between us. Relief mixed with adrenaline starts to pump through my bloodstream. We need to get out of here. Damn this drama. Why can’t we just be in our love bubble somewhere on a secluded luxury island? I stand and make my way out onto the street. I drop my head, and without looking up, I walk fast. I continue without hesitation until I get to the hotel where I turn and wait in the shadows of the trees next to the entrance door. For fifteen minutes, I wait.
Where is he? I glance at the time on my phone. He has been way too long. Something is wrong.
Shit.
What do I do? Do I wait here? He gave me the gun for protection, but who’s protecting him? I slide my hand into my bag to check that it is still there and I feel the cold, hard metal. I blow out a grateful breath. I bite my thumbnail as I stare out into the darkness.
It must be after 2am.
Where are you? Come on, come on.
He’s not coming. I walk to the edge of the curb and stare down in the direction I came from. I can’t see anything odd going on.
Fucking hell. I have to go back to see where he is. I glance back up at our hotel room window. Did he go in another door and I didn’t see him?
There is no other door, stupid.
Shit.
I walk back down the hill toward town, careful to keep in the darkened shadows, and I’m positive this isn’t bloody safe. Forget about Stucco. Who knows who else is here? I become super sensitive to all the sounds around me. I hear a can kick across the ground in the distance and I turn suddenly. My footsteps are magnified from the earlier downpour as I try and listen for unfamiliar sounds. I hear a woman scream in the distance and I stop still as I battle the fear in my throat. I turn and look back up at the hotel, and then back in the direction I am going. I slide my hand into the bag and grip the gun. My heart is trying to escape from my chest.
If you shoot anyone, you are going to jail. Stace’s words from earlier echo in my mind. I don’t want to go through all this shit to end up in a Columbian prison for life.
Don’t shoot anybody. Just don’t shoot anybody, I remind myself.
Where the frigging hell are you? I get to the row of shops and start to look around frantically. The street is still so busy. Why are there so many damn people around? Actually, that’s a good thing. I can’t imagine how frightening this would be if the town were deserted. A police car drives slowly past and I feel like jumping out in front of them and asking for their help, but I know they can’t help us. Nobody on Earth can help us. I walk past an alley between two restaurants and I peer up into the shadows. I frown and stop on the spot.
Three men are up the other end in the darkness, and one of them is Stace.
Fuck.
I immediately slink up against the wall in the shadows near the opening and listen. I strain my ears as hard as I can, but I can’t hear what they are saying. I need to get closer… but what if he gets out of it and then I am here and ruin the whole thing? But, what if they kill him?
That’s it. I’m getting closer. I slowly tiptoe towards them in the darkness, until finally I can hear what they are saying.
“I’m giving you one last chance. Where the fuck is she?” Stucco growls.
Oh God.
“I told you, I don’t fucking know. She took me hostage to get off the ship. I haven’t seen her since we landed.”
“Bullshit. That’s an outright lie.”
“Go to fucking hell. I don’t know where she is.”
“Get him,” Stucco says to the other man.
The other man grabs Stace and a scuffle breaks out.
“Get your hands off me,” Stace snaps.
A punch is thrown and I screw up my face as I slowly get the gun out.
“Vikinos wanted you alive, but I don’t care for that. You are better off dead.” Stucco growls.
“Fuck you,” Stace yells as he connects a hard hit to Stucco’s jaw. He staggers back and then regains composure and runs at Stace and they fall to the ground.
I grip the gun with white-knuckle force.
The other man starts to kick Stace on the ground as he fights with Stucco, and I step forward. Don’t shoot anyone. I step back into the shadows.
Stace jumps up and does some kind of round kick and connects with the man’s jaw and he instantly drops to the ground, out cold.
Good one.
Then he turns on Stucco and goes ballistic. The sound of the hits are so brutal, I have to shut my eyes. Stace gets him on the ground and hits him and Stucco pulls out a gun.
Oh no. I step forward and point the gun at the two of them. “Don’t move,” I yell.
Stucco looks up and the momentary distraction allows Stace the crucial break he needs. He hits him hard and fast four times in succession and he slams his head on the concrete. Stucco falls back dazed and incoherent. He doesn’t move again. I walk over to Stace who has blood running down from his eyebrow.
“Are you okay?” I whisper.
He looks down the alley and nods as he wipes the blood from his lip. Stucco’s phone rings and we look at each other. Panting, Stace bends and retrieves it from Stuccos pocket, he answers it, but doesn’t say anything.
The voice on the other end is loud and clear. “Where are you, we’re coming through town now.”
Stace hits the end button and looks at me. “Run.”
“What?” I whisper.
“Run.” He growls as he grabs my hand. We turn and run as fast as we can to the end of the alley and then stop still in the shadows as we peer around the corner and onto the street.
A cab is slowly coming down the road. “I’m going to try and get it.” I glance at Stace and the blood running down his face. “Clean yourself up or he won’t let you in.”
“Yeah, okay,” he murmurs as he takes his t-shirt off and begins to wipe the blood from his face. I run out onto the road and put my hands up in front of the cab. “Stop, please stop,” I mouth in desperation.
The driver slows and I open the back door and jump in, I gesture a come here signal to Stace and he runs from the shadows and jumps in the back of the cab.
The cab driver frowns and turns to eye us suspiciously. “Is everything alright?” he asks.
“Yes, bar fight,” Stace replies quickly. “Can you take us to the Marriot hotel please?”
He nods cynically and turns and pulls out into the traffic.
I frown. “The Marriot?” I mouth.
Stace shakes his head subtly and grabs my hand in his, the warmth of it instantly calming me. He then lies down and puts his head on my lap and I know it’s so nobody can see he is in the cab. “Come down here and cuddle me,” he says out loud.
He wants me out of sight, too. I lie down across his back and we stay silent for the rest of the trip until it comes to a halt. He pays the driver and we sheepishly get out of the cab. He grabs my hand and we walk across the road in the opposite direction and along the backstreets until another cab goes by and we flag it down. “Now we can go back to the hotel,” he says softly as it comes to a halt. “We climb into the backseat.”
“The Bog Hotel, please.”
“Yes,” the driver responds, uninterested.
We drive a little way and Stace interrupts my thoughts.
“Can you let us out at the side street?”
“In this street here?” The driver gestures.
“Yes, please,” Stace replies. The cab slows and we climb out again.
“What are we doing?” I whisper.
“We will go in through the parking lot. I don’t want anyone seeing me like this.”
I turn to look at him and he’s right, his face is a mess. “Shit, are you okay?” I frown.
“Yeah, that fucker laying the boot in didn’t help.”
I run my hands through my hair as my apprehension rises. “Oh God, Stace. What are we going to do?”
“Let’s just get to the room safely.”
“What if they know we re staying here?” I whisper as we walk down the ramp to the underground parking lot.
Stace slides his key into the scanner and the security doors slowly rise.
“Then we’re fucked.”
I shake my head as my nerves start to really thump. We walk through the darkened parking lot as we both scan our surroundings. This could be the prefect place to murder us. “This doesn’t feel safe,” I whisper.
“It’s not.”
I screw up my face. “Can’t you lie and pretend we are safe?”
He shakes his head and keeps walking. “No.” We get into the elevator and push the button for our floor. “Give me the gun.”
“Why?” I fumble through my bag. “What do you think is going to happen?” My eyes widen. “Do you think they are going to be up here?”
Oh God, shit just keeps getting worse and worse.
He shrugs as he pulls the gun open to check the ammunition, and then he turns to me. His eyes scan my face and he smirks.
“What?” I ask.
He grabs my hair and straightens it. “Your hair is on crooked.”
I instantly grab the wig and straighten it up. “That’s the least of my fucking problems,” I whisper.
The elevator comes to a halt and Stace tucks the gun in the back of his jeans and we slowly exit into the hall. Looking both ways down the long and scary corridor, we walk quietly to our room, and when we get to our door Stace puts his finger up to his lip to order my silence. He then points to the other side of the hallway. “Wait over there,” he mouths.
Oh God, he thinks they are in the room. I take my place over at the far wall and he swipes the key card and opens the door. He peers in as I hold my breath. The room is dark and silent.
Are they in there?
He waits for a moment and then he disappears into the darkness.
“Please don’t be in there, please don’t be in there,” I whisper again and again. He turns on the light and then checks the room and comes back to the door. “The coast is clear.”
I let out a deep breath and walk into the room before he closes the door behind me. We stand still for a moment looking at each other as we process what just happened.
“We are going to have to stay here for the night.” He sighs. “Try and get some sleep.”
“Are we safe?”