Pearls (20 page)

“Not the reaction I expected. Care to elaborate?”

“I remember my mom and dad sitting on the couch holding hands. I’d catch them staring at one another with soft smiles on their faces. Then Dad would wrap his arm around Mom’s shoulders and pull her close. She’d snuggle against him, and he would sigh with contentment. I loved seeing them like that.”

“Sounds like a nice memory.”

“Yeah. They taught me that love doesn’t have to be flashy or exciting. ”

“You were fortunate, Isabel. God put parents in your life who modeled a healthy, loving relationship. Not everyone experiences that.”

“Guess I never thought of it that way. I only knew that I wanted that kind of love for myself.”

“I think everyone does, but it’s hard to find what’s missing in your life when you don’t know what to look for.”

Isabel paused. “Maybe you’ll think I’m crazy but I want Raúl to know that kind of happiness and satisfaction in a relationship.”

He shrugged. “Noble, considering what he put you through.”

Heaviness tugged at her heart. “It’s hard to blame him. Raúl had an unhappy childhood. His mother never knew true love or a happy marriage, and Raúl never had the love of his father.”

“It must be hard for him to understand God’s love when he’s had such poor examples.”

Isabel sighed. “I never talked to Raúl about God. Not much anyway. Whenever I mentioned anything related to my beliefs, he would change the subject. I could tell he didn’t want to hear about it, so I never pressed the issue. Now I wish I would have said more.”

Manuel slid his arm around her shoulders and gave her a gentle hug. “Don’t beat yourself up over it.”

“But maybe I could have done something or said something to help him understand.”

The corner of Manuel’s lips curled into a smile. “I think God will find a way to get the message across. If not through you, then He’ll send someone else. Let Him deal with Raúl and you quit worrying about it.”

She thought about his words a moment and realized he was right. It was time to let go of the past, leave Raúl in God’s capable hands, and move forward. She tilted her head and smiled up at Manuel, liking the way the moonlight touched his hair with a gentle glow. “You’re pretty wonderful, you know that?”

He gave her a roguish wink. “I thought you’d never notice.”

“I noticed.”

He bent and brushed her lips with a kiss. “Now, don’t forget it.”

When he gave her shoulder a gentle squeeze, she winced.

“Sorry, did I hurt you?”

She rubbed at the ache. “That guy plowed into me pretty hard. I guess it’s still a little tender.”

He frowned. “That reminds me, what did that paper say? You promised to tell me later.”

She dug the note from her pocket and smoothed it against her leg. She held it up in front of them and let the bright moonlight illuminate the message.

“I’m watching you.”

Isabel felt Manuel stiffen.

Her own body iced with fear at seeing the sinister message again. “I think I recognized him.”

“Who?”

“The man who ran into us. I only caught a glimpse of his face, but I think he may be the one from the pictures.”

Manuel’s eyes narrowed. “What pictures?”

She sucked in a breath. They’d never discussed the details of her police interview. Unsure who to trust, she had kept her suspicions to herself. Now she felt the time had come to share the burden. “The police showed me photos of the man suspected of burning my apartment building. He’s connected to an organized crime ring the police are investigating. I saw him again as we drove out of Caracas, sitting by the roadside. Now this. It was too dark to be certain, but I think he might have followed me to Santo Domingo.”

Manuel stared at her with disbelief. “And you’re just now getting around to telling me? Isabel, do you realize how much danger you could be in? Why would you keep this a secret?”

She looked away, not wanting to admit the reasons. So much had changed between them in recent weeks that now her reservations seemed silly.

He cupped her chin and forced her to face him. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

The genuine concern written on his face coerced a confession to the surface. “I wasn’t sure I could trust you. If this has to do with the journal, then someone told them about it. The list of possible conspirators is pretty short.”

Disappointment registered in his eyes, but he didn’t pull away. Instead, his thumb traced hypnotic circles over her cheek. “I didn’t realize what you’d been through in the last month. I’m sorry, Isabel.”

“It’s not your fault. I just wish I knew why a criminal would be interested in me?”

“I’m not sure.” He took the note from her hand and slid it into his pocket. “But I intend to find out. I think we should consider contacting the Caracas police about this incident.”

Isabel shook her head. “It was dark, and he moved so fast. I couldn’t be sure I recognized him, not enough to justify alerting authorities.”

“Well, I can still have a talk with Raúl in the morning. Maybe he can give us some answers.”

Isabel tried to laugh. “Listen to us, sitting here fretting like a couple of scaredy-cats. Some clumsy stranger bumps into us on the street and suddenly we’re certain an organized crime ring has us in their targets. Why should we automatically assume the worst? Now that I think about it, maybe that waitress slipped the note into his pocket. This might be her way of flirting or something.”

Manuel’s sober expression didn’t change. “That’s possible. Don’t worry about it any more, Isabel. I’ll take care of everything tomorrow.”

Isabel faked a smile, but his reassuring words didn’t penetrate the unease in her gut. The matter had grown more complicated than she ever expected, and she was tangled in the center.

Manuel turned off the jeep’s engine and took a moment to collect himself. The forty-five-minute drive had done nothing to abate the irritation he felt, and he didn’t want to unload his frustration on Isabel. Maybe he should be relieved Raúl hadn’t showed up this morning and that he failed to answer their repeated calls to his phone. Manuel had no desire to endure his sponsor’s peevish behavior on another excursion. In fact, he preferred that Raúl find something else to occupy the time, but he could have sent word instead of letting them wait and wonder for hours.

And the one time Manuel actually wanted to see Raúl and speak with him, the man managed to be conveniently absent. Leaving a heated message on Raúl’s voice mail hadn’t felt nearly as rewarding as blackening an eye would have. But Raúl would turn up sooner or later.

Isabel’s jeep rolled to a stop behind his, and the engine fell silent. He watched in his rearview mirror as she slid from her vehicle and cast a glance about the area. As she approached his jeep, the look on her face questioned his reason for stopping. Fumbling with the door handle, he stepped out to explain.

“We’re not there yet, but the jeeps can’t take us any further. We’ll have to hike the rest of the way, backpacking our supplies. It might take several trips to get it all, but we can take our time if we want.”

Isabel nodded. “Let’s get the camping gear first. We can set up our tents and rest before we come back for more.”

Manuel sorted through the back of his vehicle, pulled out items he wanted to take on the first trip—including the GPS system he’d need to navigate the jungle—and set them in a pile off to the side. As he prepared for the trek, the thrill of exploring the wild and unknown pulsed through him. It had been years since he’d hiked so deep into untamed wilderness like this. He wondered if Isabel felt the same sense of anticipation.

When they had assembled all they could carry, they began the vigorous hike through thick forest jungle to the site of an ancient village. Able to see no more than ten feet in any direction, they stumbled over the uneven terrain, blazing a trail through the thick underbrush that competed for space in the rich soil beneath their feet.

Leafy plants and thorns snagged at their clothes as they pushed through; roots rose up to catch at their feet, as if trying to keep them from secrets hidden deeper in the wilds. The area offered a good place for Rodrigo and Karwa to hide from the slavers. The vegetation was so thick, a man could be hiding in the brush ten feet away and would not be visible.

Then without warning, they stepped out of the vegetation.

Smoothed by centuries of weather and use, gray stones crowded together to form a meter-wide path that stretched out a winding line in either direction. A two-foot-high retaining wall formed from the same gray stone ran along one side of the path, holding back a rise of land.

Manuel stepped onto the lichen-coated rock and studied the handiwork of ancient Indian tribes, admiring the imprint they’d left on the land. He threw a glance at Isabel and smiled at the wonder written on her features. Yes, exploration definitely appealed to her.

He looked at the GPS he carried and pointed to the left. “We want to go this way.” Digging his thumbs under padded shoulder straps, he adjusted the weight of his pack to a more comfortable position before continuing the hike. Isabel traipsed behind him, the sound of her labored breathing reminding him to temper his eager stride.

The path sloped gradually for a time, curving and undulating with the flow of the land, but soon they reached the foot of a mountain. The stone path did not end, but simply compensated for the incline, forming a crude staircase that climbed the side of the mountain.

“Let’s leave our packs here and see how far a climb it is to the terraces. We might be wiser to camp down here closer to our water source. And we won’t have to lug our gear 1,000 feet up the mountainside.”

She wriggled the pack off her shoulders and lowered it to the ground. “Fine with me. I hate the stair climber at the gym.”

He dropped his pack beside hers and flashed a grin. “Race you to the top.”

Manuel ran toward the stone stairs, slowing only to glance back and ensure she was following. Their rubber-soled sneakers created a muted clatter as they rushed up the incline. Manuel defended his lead, pushing to stay a few feet ahead. After a few dozen steps, he felt the effects of the exercise. A minute more and his leg muscles burned with strain. Their ascent slowed to a walk then a painful crawl. He heard Isabel’s ragged breathing close behind him.

“Manuel,” she groaned.

He glanced behind him and noticed she’d stopped moving.

“I concede. You win.” She dusted off a stone step with her hand and sat down, panting.

Manuel bent over, his hands on his knees, giving his lungs a moment to catch up. When his heart rate slowed and his breathing evened out, he went and sat beside her. “Quite a workout, isn’t it?”

“How much further?”

“I think we’re less than a quarter of the way up.”

She moaned and dropped her face into her hands. “Did I volunteer for this job?”

“As I recall, you insisted on coming along. Are you sorry?”

“My thighs are sorry that I’m going to have to climb this hill every day, but overall, I’m really glad I came.” Her expression sobered. “Your work is fascinating, Manuel.”

He brushed a loose strand of hair off her cheek. “Just my work? What about me?”

Her gaze flicked over his face, and she laid her hand on his. “Let’s just say I’m liking each new discovery I make.”

“The thrill of exploration is the best part.”

She leaned closer to him. “I don’t know about that. This part is pretty exceptional too.” Her lips brushed over his, and his senses jumped to full awareness.

He reached out to pull her closer, but she slipped through his grasp.

Laughing, she darted up the steps. “Look who’s in the lead now!”

He jumped up to follow. “No fair. You conceded defeat.”

“All’s fair in love and war.”

He paused on a step and stared at her retreating form, wondering if she realized what she’d just said. Did she love him, or was this another American cliché? He wished he could see her face, search her eyes for the answers to questions he was afraid to ask openly. She still acted skittish at times, as if frightened by the thought of letting him close to her. Maybe he didn’t have the right to expect more than a warm friendship, but the better he got to know her, the more he wanted to know. His resolve to stay single was crumbling as his heart plunged forward, intertwining itself with hers beyond hope of retrieval.

The path led Isabel up to higher altitudes of the mountain where the air seemed thinner, making each breath more difficult. She was considering asking Manuel if they could take another rest stop when the trees opened up, and she stepped onto a terrace like the ones she’d seen in pictures. Centuries ago, Indians had cleared a section midway up the mountain and transformed the rough slope into a series of circular platforms that ascended like giant steps. A stone retaining wall fortified the edge of each grass-covered level. Stone-lined ditches and underground sluices ran along the ridges to keep the water from eroding the terraces.

The place had a timeless quality that captivated her. Bending, she touched one of the rocks and felt the warmth of the sun radiating from the smooth pink-tinged stone. A tap on her shoulder made her glance up.