5 Darkness Falls (11 page)

“
Buenos
Dias,”
one of the men smiled and nodded.

“
Bueno
,” the other added, again smiling and nodding in my direction.

“
Buenos
Dias.
Perdon, pero, que tu haces aqui
?”

“
Estamos remodelando su concina con su esposo
,” the first one, the older one, answered. He was dressed in dirty, paint
-
splattered jeans and a worn blue t
-shirt.
He had a fit, athletic build that was obviously gained from hard work. His skin
was
leathered, a sign of hours
spent outside,
beneath the sun
.

The second one eyed me shyly. He merely continued to smile at me.

I gave him an awkward smile in return
:
at least it felt that way. I wasn’t quite sure what he was looking at. It
wasn’t completely unnerving,
but I wasn’t comfortable either.

Noticing, the first smacked him on the back of the head. “
Dejar de mirar, cabron
.”

“
Su esposo le dijo que estaba embarazada, pero yo no lo veo
,” he explained.

I glanced down at my stomach. I wasn’t showing, so that made sense. “
Cual es su nombre, señors
?”

“
Me llamo,
Pedro.” The older man’s eyes creased in the corners as he smiled. He smoothed his hand down the front of his blue shirt before extend
ing
it towards me.

“
Es un placer conocerte. Soy
Lexi.” I shook his hand before turning to the other man.

The other man took my hand. “Gamo.”

“
Un placer
, Gamo.” I smiled, withdrawing my hand. Kellan turned back to me, having officially installed the oven in place. He gave me sexy smile, his eyes sparkling with something untouchable. “
Tiene familia aqui
?” I asked, focusing on the men again.

“
Mi esposa y tres niños
,” Gamo said with pride.

“
Mismo, pero tengo cuatro niños
,” Pedro stated.

“
Que bueno
.” I smiled warmly.

No wonder Gamo was looking at my stomach
,
with them having wives and three and four children each. I didn’t want to assume anything, but I had to wonder
, judging by the work they did,
wh
y they’re
here rather than working for a major company
.

I scanned the kitchen. They’d worked quickly. I had two more double ovens installed. They’d added another set of vertical cabinets to the left of
the
kitchen, extending into the dining room, for
extra
storage. Coming around the island, I noticed they’d also installed a single oven in the island.

“They’re all ready to use right away?” I studied Kellan.

“Of course. Pedro knows how to wire houses. Gamo is good with carpentry.”

I opened my mind in case the men understood more English than they let on. “
Where did you get them?
”

“
Outside Home Depot.
”

I frowned. “
How did you get them?
”

“
They had a guy there who spoke English. He translated and delegated who went where.
”

“
So, what you’re telling me is they’re probably illegal.
”

Kellan shrugged. “
Doesn’t matter to me. They did good work and didn’t steal anything.
”

I glanced back at the men. They had made themselves busy wiping down the floors and the counters around us. That nagging feeling settled in my stomach. These men were standing outside a Home Depot waiting for work that probably didn’t come every day. And somehow, they had to support their families with that income.

“
How much did they ask for?
”

“
Seven dollars an hour.
”

“
That’s not even minimum wage!
”

Kellan’s eyes softened as he pulled me into his arms. “
You can’t save the world, babe.
”

I wrapped my arms around him. “
I know, but this isn’t right. They’re hard working men just trying to make a better life for their families.
”

“
I’ll give them more.
”

“
Good. We have plenty, so give them a lot more.
”

“
I don’t have a lot of cash on me.
”

I gazed up at him,
chewing on the inside of my lip
as I thought. “
You have to take them home, right?
”

He nodded, eyeing me closely. “
What’s going through that pretty little head of yours?
” He smirked.

“
Stop by the bank, please. There’s an ATM withdrawal limit of a thousand dollars a day on each of our cards. At least give them each that.
”

He brushed his lips against mine. “If that’s what’ll make you happy.” His eyes
displayed his
amusement.

“It is.” I got lost in his emerald eyes for a moment, reveling in the feel of him around me. Abruptly, my mouth started to water and serum rose in the back of my throat. “And, maybe a strawberry milkshake on your way back?”

He laughed. “Weren’t you just out?”

“Yeah, but I didn’t think about
it
then.”

He kissed the side of my neck. “One large strawberry milkshake will be in my hands when I return.”

“Thanks.” I shrieked when Kellan’s hands ventured down and squeezed my rear. “Hey!” I felt my
face redden
as I looked at the guys.

To their credit, they turned away, feigning unnecessary tasks.

“Let’s go.” Kellan released me and nodded his head towards the door as he spoke to the men.

“
Gracias por todo.
” I smiled and waved at each of them.

“
Tenga un buen noche
,” Pedro nodded
, following
Kellan towards the door.

“
Igual
.” Gamo lingered, gazing at me for a moment. There was something in the depths of his eyes. A part of me wondered if he sensed something different about me. Maybe he was sensitive to the supernatural, but then again, he didn’t pay any mind to Drexel on the sofa or Kellan, whom he worked with all afternoon.

“
Tu ‘ta bien
?” My brows dipped as I took him in. His pulse was normal; his heartbeat was only slightly elevated.

His eyes
twinkled
as he analyzed me. His hand shook slightly as he extended it towards me. I placed my palm against his, wrapping my fingers to shake his hand, but he immediately clutched his other hand on the opposite side, enclosing my hand in his. His eyes widened; his irises darkened as he
appraised me.
I felt a strange, warm current run through me.
He
was no longer looking at me, but into me. “
Tu eres especial, nena
.” His tone was reverent; his voice awed.

My lips curled up as I met his gaze. “
Si,
Gamo
. Soy especial
.” I nodded my head, confirming his knowing words.

A wide smile lit
up
his face. “
Tener cuidado
, Lexi.”

“I will.”

He released me. My entire body felt an energetic slap, as if my aura was smacking against me. I watched in amazement as he strolled towards the door, closing it behind him, as if nothing had happened. It was only the glisten of his eyes that said he’d experienced something he’d been longing for.

You didn’t always know why people crossed your path, but little moments like this confirmed it was always for a reason. I wasn’t sure if this experience was for Gamo or m
e,
but I
felt like
we both took a little something away from it, at the very least a mutual respect for one another.

“
Èl lo sabía
,” Drexel casually stated from the sofa, dropping the magazine he’d been flipping through on the coffee table. It made a loud
thud
as it connected with another magazine.

“
Tu habla español
?” I knew my brows were close to my hairline.

“I have all sort
s
of hidden talents.” He winked.

“Watch out Sanders.” I chuckled, dropping down beside him. No sooner had my rear hit the
cushion
than I was back up checking my cell phone on the island. I frowned as I gazed at it. “Nothing yet,” I sighed. “How long typically until they make contact?”

“Depends on the mission, the location. Usually we’d announce that we’d arrived at the property and relay any signs of life. If they ran into trouble the moment they got there, they wouldn’t have time to though.”

My gut tightened. I swallowed hard, pushing down
the
serum as I reclaimed my spot next to him, phone in hand. “I hope that’s not the case.”

“Worrying won’t change anything. You should know that by now.”

I rolled my eyes. “Thanks,
Dad
.”

He cut his eyes at me, but they quickly softened. “I guess I
am
old enough to be.”

“Think there’ll be children in your future, Drex?”

He got a far off look. I knew that look. It was a
one
of longing
…and
of hope. “I’d like that.”

Chapter 10

One month later…

I rubbed my
cheek
as I studied the men and women around my conference table. This was the team my managers had sent in. Drexel sat beside me, helping me lead the meeting.

“How do you keep missing them? How do they keep slipping away from you? Do you realize it’s been a month since Rashik was taken? Do you know what his family is going through right now?” I couldn’t keep the anger from my tone. Every time I thought about it my blood pressure escalated
,
and a faint blue tint touched my skin.

Drexel put a firm hand on my forearm, calming me. “She wants
you to
relay what’s happening in the field. Something is off. You’ve stated that you’ve seen them but can’t describe them. You’ve stated that you’ve been on their tails, yet you haven’t come close enough to fire. Fill us in.”

“They’re quick. I wouldn’t be surprised if they had spies throughout the entire city. You’re right when you said something was off, but the accusation is unnecessary. We’re doing our jobs. We’re doing the best we can out in that fucking mine field.” Jarrod’s entire body tensed, his hands fisting on the table. The frustration
he was displaying
told me this was eating away at him.

The fight left me. “Does it bother you to
not
have caught them?”

“Damn straight,” Jarrod clipped. The other nine murmured something along the same lines.

“Alright. Let’s take a step back. Let’s re-strategize. You feel that Cape Town is rigged with spies. We’ve been playing on their turf for over a month with nothing to show for it. So the new question is
-
how can we lure them away from the city, with Rashik? What would it take to move their entire team?”

Janet smiled wide, her brown eyes
glinting
with mischief and joy. “I like the way you think, boss.” She was tall, athletic and lithe. She was our silent approach
: no
one ever heard her. She was an awesome stealth attacker, even in zones where her white skin didn’t blend in well.

“Hell yeah.” Bobby slapped the table. He was the anxious newbie. He’d been with the squad for a few months before being deployed for this mission.

“I need ideas, guys,” I said.

Jarrod was the leader of the team. He’d headed the mission, and therefore shouldered most of the responsibility. He had the most experience
.
“The only way to convince them to move is if they felt endangered.”

“Alright, so how do we propose
to
do that?”

He pu
ckered
his full lips. His tan skin hinted at his American Indian heritage. His dark eyes gazed off; I could tell his mind was working. “With or without extra manpower?”