Around the World in 80 Men Series: Boxed Set 21-30 (102 page)

With
another twenty in her hand, she smiled and continued. “Is that
his home?” The boy nodded and the look on his face told Morgan
that he wondered why she was asking such a silly question. Of
course, the look suggested, that's his home.

The
boy shoved both bills in his pocket and waited to see her next move.
He smiled widely when Morgan produced another twenty. “One more
question.” She looked at the house again and spoke without
looking away. “I saw him coming out of a very expensive house,
then followed him here. Do you happen to know who lives in the
mansion?” She turned her head and watched his reaction. When
he began to laugh, she did as well. “What?” He covered
his mouth quickly, but she could still see the smile in his dark
brown eyes.

“His
brother is very rich. But Julius isn't. He visits his rich brother.
That is the house that you speak of.” Morgan nodded, and
handed the money over. She looked at the small house again, and the
green beast. The boy waited for several moments, and realized that
Morgan had gathered all of the information that she needed. He
stepped back and began to turn away. When Morgan heard the slight
scraping of gravel under his feet, he had her attention again.

“What's
your name?” He turned his head to see her, but continued to
walk away.

“Carlos.”
She nodded and reached into her bag one last time.

“I
can't thank you enough, Carlos.” He was still walking. “This
is for you if you can do me a favor.” She held another bill in
her hand, and he finally stopped. “My shoe is broken and my
jeans are ripped. Can you tell me where the nearest clothing store
is?” Carlos shook his head and walked to her side, then
dropped to one knee beside her.

He
grabbed her calf firmly and grabbed the gaping rip at her knee, then
tore the jeans away from there down. Then, he took the material, and
tore it again to form an eight inch band, and grabbed her foot. With
the material, he tied her sandal securely to her foot, so that she
wouldn't have to touch the ground in her bare feet. As he stood, he
nodded at the work.

“There.
You don't need to spend more money.” She looked down at
herself and smiled.

“It
would appear not.” The hundred dollar bill that she had in her
hand was handed over anyway. “Take it, you just saved me twice
that amount.” Of course, she would still buy new jeans and
shoes, but he didn't need to know that. His face brightened as if it
were Christmas morning, and Morgan giggled as she watched him shove
the last bill into his tight jeans.

“Thank
you!” He waved quickly and ran in the opposite direction. It
would be nice to think that he would get new shoes, or maybe some
clothes, but she already knew that he was running the money back to
his family with a tale about a crazy American and the man with a rich
brother.

Chapter
Eight

Morgan
sat on the edge of the bed and let her upper body fall the rest of
the way. Her hotel room was spotless and she giggled at the thought
she'd barely spent any time in it since arriving in Peru. It was a
nice change from sitting in a room, and sightseeing on her own terms
was fun.

The
sun had already disappeared beyond the horizon by the time she'd
returned to her hotel. Stalking and shopping took a lot out of a
girl, but she knew her day wasn't over yet. Morgan kicked off her new
sandals, rolled over, and sat up, propping her back against several
pillows along the headboard. It was time to call Julianne.

She
grabbed her phone off the night stand and pressed the button that
would make a call to her boss. On the fourth ring, Julianne's voice
sounded through the speaker.

“Yes,
Dear?” Julianne sounded tired.

“Hi,
Julianne. I, uhm, have a problem. I'm sorry if I woke you, I just
know you'd like to hear this.”

“You
need not worry, Child. What's happened?” She sounded a bit more
awake. Morgan knew Ohio was only one hour ahead of Peru, and Julianne
wouldn't be sleeping at eight, so she wondered if she was in Sweden
again.

“Well,
I came to Peru early, and I...” Morgan didn't want to tell on
Cade, nor herself, so she told a white lie, “I saw my client in
town and I...”
I followed his rusty green car all the way to
his house.
“I thought something was a little weird, so
I...well, I followed him,” she admitted. “Julianne...he
isn't who he says he is. I mean, his picture is him, and it's his
name, but I think someone made his profile for him. But, I don't know
how Julius got through as a previous client...” Morgan
remembered his profile being verified, and it was something she'd
thought about since finding out about his brother.

“Interesting.”
It was the only word Julianne spoke.

“I
met a kid, who said that Julius had a brother...I think he's the one
who made the profile,” Morgan added.

“Manuel,”
Julianne spoke again, and Morgan was sure she heard the sound of
typing in the background. “Manuel is a client.” More
typing. “It's showing me that he changed
his
picture a
few weeks ago, I didn't notice.” That didn't explain how Manuel
became Julius.

“So
how did he change his name?” Morgan knew that changing the
picture wouldn't be that noticeable, clients do it all the time and
with the two being brothers, they probably looked alike.

“I
see that he changed his middle name to 'Manuel', and added 'Julius'
as the first name.” More typing in the background “I'll
remove
both
of them from the database. This is unacceptable
and strictly forbidden!”

“I...no...I
want to meet him.” The words fell from her lips before she
spoke them.

“Morgan,
Manuel and, this... Julius... have played a game with the system and
have gone against the rules entirely! He could have easily made his
own account and...”

“He's
poor,” Morgan blurted.

A
heavy sigh was heard from the other side. “I see. And you said
his brother, Manuel, made the profile?”

“I
think so.”

“I
can not tell you no,” Julianne began, and Morgan knew very well
that Julianne
could
forbid it if she wanted to. “I do
not suggest going through with this, as we spoke, Julius is not a
verified client, but the choice is yours.” Even if it was
forbidden, setting up his brother was actually a pretty kind thing to
do.

“I'm
going to meet him, at the very least,” Morgan began, “and
we'll go from there.”
If he's a douchebag, I won't do it.
Simple.

Julianne
sighed again. “Keep me updated.” With that, they said
their goodbye's and hung up.

Julianne
removed him anyway, as she would never allow a client to deceive her
and put her girls in possible danger. As far as Morgan, Julianne
knew that the young girl had much to learn, and allowing her to grow
on her own was all she could do.

“What
am I getting myself into?” Morgan squirmed her way down to
almost flat on the bed and stared at the ceiling. She'd had clients
in the past that needed a little extra attention, but she wasn't sure
about Julius.

Morgan
had been poor most of her life, but she still longed for love and
affection just as any other person would. A big bank account didn't
make anyone more human than another. It was the idea that Julius'
brother would pay for a woman, at top dollar, instead of helping him
in other ways that he obviously needed, that stumped her. “He
could buy a car or a nicer home, why a girl?” She closed her
eyes and tried to shake her thoughts, or she would end up staying up
half the night with her mind racing. She even thought of calling
Angel to get her mind on something else, but the thought was quickly
dismissed. Angel was working, and she understood how bothersome it
could be to deal with people when you're trying to be professional.
“I'll just wait for you to call me, my Angel.”

She
did allow one more thought about her next client, and that was
whether or not she would force their meeting the next day, or wait a
few more days until it was supposed to happen. That, she soon
realized, she also didn't have the answer to. It was also still on
her mind when she closed her eyes, still dressed and surrounded by
shopping bags, and fell asleep.

Her
Angel did finally call, but it wasn't until nine o'clock the next
morning.

“Shit!”
Morgan rolled over quickly when she heard her phone and managed to
get a shoe box to her side. It wasn't the box that did the most
damage, it was her reaching behind her to get it that caused a pain
in her elbow to shoot through her entire body. “Okay! Okay!”
She held her arm and rolled the rest of the way off the bed, and
tripped slightly until she got her footing. Somehow, her phone had
landed on the floor during the night, and it was right then buried
under a few bags that she had also knocked off the bed.

By
the time she found it, it had stopped ringing. “Figures.”
Morgan huffed and pushed her long bangs from her face and carried
her phone to the coffee maker. She opened her messages and there he
was, her best friend. She smiled and started her coffee before
checking it, and also plucked an orange from the courtesy basket on
the counter. With breakfast and coffee in hand, several moments
later, she returned to the bed and opened the message.

Stick!
Your ass is probably still in bed. Call a bitch, because I'm about to
go full out ninja and kick that tramp in her boney ass. I'm not
playin', Stick... that little girl is stressing the curls right out
of my mothafuckin' hair.

Morgan's
head shook back and forth and she giggled. “Nope, I'm not
getting in the middle of that train wreck.” She dropped her
phone and continued to enjoy her coffee.

*****

Morgan
had spent the rest of the week doing what she loved most. She had
returned the scooter and did her sightseeing by foot and taxi, and
took more pictures than the memory card in her digital camera could
hold. She watched horror movies that she'd seen dozens of times, she
went through a whole box of popcorn, and worked on her scrapbook. It
was exactly what she needed, and it was her desire to relax that
pushed the need to meet Julius to the time she was supposed to meet
him, instead of forcing an awkward meeting.

A
few days of uninterrupted sightseeing and relaxing, had also eased
her mind over Tanner, and all she did was enjoy each moment as the
gifts that they were. It also didn't hurt that she collected more
beautiful memories for her scrapbook, and her heart.

The
The Museum of Anthropology and Archaeology in the Plaza Bolivar was
one of her favorite places to visit, and was first on a day long tour
that she had taken. It was boasted as being one of the most
interesting museums in all of South America, and Morgan had to agree.
She took dozens of photos of ancient textiles and pottery that were
beautifully handcrafted by Peru's natives. She listened to stories
of Peru's history, and of her many traditions that were carried to
this day.

She
wished she could return in October, to enjoy the Lord of the
Miracles. She wasn't an overly religious person, but to see a life
sized replica of Jesus, being followed by a parade of purple robes,
dancing, burning of incense and days long celebrations, would be a
wonder to be a part of. Not to mention the food, and that was just
as appealing.

Next
on her tour was the Museum of the Republic, which displayed more
modern history and was more politically motivated to show the rulers
of days long gone.

The
business and shopping district of San Isidro was their final stop.
There, she was amazed walking through Parque Kennedy, where local
artists displayed and sold their one of a kind pieces. Morgan even
purchased a painting, The Watcher, for Julianne, and made
arrangements to have it shipped to Ohio. It was a small painting,
not even a foot high nor wide, of a beautiful brunette that reminded
her of her boss. The woman was standing over an ocean, and watching
all the vessels that passed in the night. It was much like Julianne,
watching over her girls, and Morgan knew that it would be perfect for
her.