Deborah Fletcher Mello - Twelve Days of Pleasure

Layton held up her hand. “Those are your orders. And you need to leave now. We might have a situation.” She held out Vanessa’s cell phone, a text message on the screen.

“That’s my phone,” Vanessa suddenly exclaimed. She took a step forward then stopped.

Kendrick took the appliance from Layton’s hand and read the message quickly.

“What does it say?” Vanessa chimed.

Kendrick lifted his eyes to meet hers. “‘I have eyes on you. You can’t hide,’” Kendrick said, reading the text message out loud.

Vanessa’s eyes widened. She took a deep breath.

“Agent Boudreaux will keep you safe,” Agent Layton intoned.

Vanessa reached for Gabrielle, pulling the toddler into her arms. “I’m not leaving Gabi.”

Layton shook her head. “That’s not possible. Gabi’s going to be fine.”

“You don’t know that,” Vanessa stated. “Her parents trusted me. So until you find her grandparents and I can personally hand her over to them, I am not leaving her,” she said emphatically. “Either she goes with me or I don’t testify, and I don’t care what my father promised you. I can go back to the embassy. It doesn’t matter to me.”

Chatter on all their radios interrupted the moment. Layton tossed Kendrick a questioning stare, their exchange silent. She turned and moved back into the kitchen, Kendrick following on her heels.

“Who’s her father?” Kendrick questioned.

Layton was leaning against the kitchen counter, strumming her fingers against the countertop. She tossed him a look. “Alonzo Braga, the Mexican ambassador to the United States.”

“She doesn’t use his name?”

“He’s very high profile. She said she didn’t want to be associated with his politics. So she uses her mother’s maiden name.”

Kendrick nodded, understanding washing over him. That tiny piece of knowledge suddenly put everything in perspective. “She doesn’t have to testify and legally we can’t hold her.”

“That’s correct. She has diplomatic immunity. But that doesn’t stop Bennett from wanting her dead. So her father is cooperating and he has given us his consent. The business Bennett and Fierro dealt in crossed the border into both our countries.”

“What about the kid?”

Layton shrugged. “The child is just going to slow you down. But if she insists, I don’t know what else to do. We need her to testify!”

He hesitated as he met the woman’s anxious gaze, then he nodded. “I’ll handle it,” he said.

Kendrick moved back into the family room. He crossed the room quickly, lifting the toddler from Vanessa’s arms as he looped an easy arm around her waist. “We have to move,” he said, his eyes locking with hers. “Now!”

* * *

They were strapped into the helicopter before Vanessa could protest. Gabi squealed excitedly, her chubby fingers pointing to the house and grounds below. They spied the caravan of white-paneled trucks that careened through the home’s front gates. And then just like that everything and everyone in Miami was behind them.

Vanessa looked from Kendrick to the pilot and back. Kendrick was seated on the other side of Gabi, a protective arm wrapped around the little girl. The man was breathtakingly attractive, tall and solid, with the most intoxicating eyes. His distinctive features were chiseled, his complexion a rich, warm shade of milk chocolate. Under any other circumstances she would have found his bad-boy aura intriguing.

She turned back to stare out at the landscape below, reflecting on the circumstances that had suddenly thrust them together. The weight of it must have reflected on her face, as Kendrick suddenly squeezed her shoulder. His light touch was gentle and easy. When she turned to look, the man was smiling at her. Vanessa smiled back, just a smidgen of a bend to her mouth. He suddenly said something into the microphone attached to his helmet and she realized the pilot and him were talking back and forth between themselves. Though she wasn’t privy to the conversation, the only sound she heard was the loud drone of the helicopter ringing in her ears.

* * *

“Can you get me a secure line and connect me to Sayed?” Kendrick asked.

The pilot nodded, then seconds later Kendrick’s earpiece clicked in his ear. There was a low hum and then a brief moment of silence.

“Problems?” Zak Sayed asked when he answered the line.

“I hate to bother you,” Kendrick started as he explained the situation he was in.

“Have you had a chance to talk with the witness yet?” Zak asked when he was done.

“Not yet.”

“Let me make some calls and see what I can find out but I think you’re right. Something about this doesn’t feel right.”

“I’m glad we’re still in sync with each other.”

Zak chuckled softly. “You know my wife is going to kill us both, right? I’m thinking all of your sisters might have some issues with this.”

“Might?” Kendrick laughed. “We’re talking about the Boudreaux women, man. You’ve met them, haven’t you? Maitlyn, Katrina, Kamaya, Tarah? Especially Kamaya and Tarah. They’d be mad at your funeral and you’d know it! I guarantee Maitlyn’s going to be furious as hell!”

Zak laughed with him. “We’ll worry about that when we have to. Until then, what do you plan to do?”

Kendrick shrugged. Vanessa was staring out at the land below, her brow furrowed with worry. The little girl was wide-eyed, excitement shining in her bright eyes.

“I’m going to keep her safe,” Kendrick said matter-of-factly into the microphone.

* * *

An hour later Kendrick had checked them into a motel in Mobile, Alabama. Vanessa and the baby had sat in a rental car while Kendrick had leaned across the counter in the motel’s office flirting shamelessly with the desk clerk. Vanessa watched him intently as he dazzled the young woman with his charm. She could only begin to imagine what he had to be saying to her. The girl giggled as he took the room key from her hand, winking an eye as if they shared some special secret.

As he stepped back into the car she tossed him a look, annoyance furrowing her forehead.

“What?” he questioned, eyeing her curiously.

Vanessa shrugged her shoulders. “Nothing.”

He smiled. “Oh, it’s something.”

She rolled her eyes, tossing her gaze to the parking lot outside the window. “Is this where we’re staying?” she questioned.

He shook his head. “No.”

“Then why are we here?” she asked as she turned back to stare at him.

He didn’t answer. Instead, he steered the car to the back of the building and parked. Exiting the vehicle, he unlatched Gabi from the car seat in the rear, lifting the child into his arms. She’d been sleeping since they’d picked up the car and Vanessa hoped that she was tired enough to sleep for just a little longer.

Kendrick then gestured for Vanessa to follow him.

Their room was on the second floor of the motel; the front door faced the balcony that looked over the parking lot. Inside, the space smelled like mildew—musty and dank. The rancid odor had them both frowning as they moved inside and secured the door. The room was decorated with two full-size beds, a desk and an old television set. The carpet and bathroom had both seen better days. The walls were thin and a television blared from the room next door.

As they moved inside, Vanessa shot Kendrick a look to show she was not pleased. She suddenly felt spoiled and pretentious, but if she needed to take a shower there was no way she was doing it in that bathtub. She took a deep breath, looking for the right words to voice her displeasure. Biting her tongue instead she dropped her luggage and Gabi’s diaper bag onto the first bed and moved to the wooden chair in front of the desk and sat down.