River of Desire: A Romantic Action Adventure/Thriller (23 page)

In the tight, dark enclosure of the blanket chest, Dylan shifted to make as much room as he possibly could. His legs were bent at an unnatural angle to accommodate the limited space and he had to cram his feet into the side of the chest. The scarce air made breathing difficult.

Outside, he heard feet pound past, then Kimo call, “Doctor, boat dock.” 

“Hurry!” Leah shouted.

Knowledge that the blanket chest was a flimsy hiding place with only inches of wood between him and destiny made Dylan’s heart perform a drumbeat.

He lay still, trying to become one with the wood. If he so as much as moved or made a sound, he was back in the hands of the Peruvian Army. That would put Leah and Kruger at risk for their role as accomplices-a fact that brought him immediately back to Mogadishu. He was forever putting those he loved in jeopardy. A knot twisted his gut in two.

The cuckoo clock sounded twice. Feet shuffled across the wood floor. Silence descended. A pounding at the front door filled his head. The door creaked open and a deep voice resounded in the house.

“!
Holá
! I am Sergeant Jorge Hernandez of the 31st Division of the Peruvian Army. I wish to speak with Dr. Heinz Kruger.”

Heavy footfalls tramped through the house.   

* * *

Fear gripped Leah. She had to concentrate hard to hold herself together. She grasped the edge of a chair with whitened knuckles.

The soldiers’ relentless march down the hall brought them, step by agonizing step, closer to the study. Their boots made the wood plank floors vibrate and echo off the white-washed walls as they stopped to examine every room, every closet, every cabinet. Doors creaked open and slammed shut. By the time they reached the study, she stood stiffly at attention by the window.

Kruger’s voice proceeded the soldiers’ approach. “
Mein
study.”

She turned to see a tall, light-skinned mustached man in a gray uniform with numerous braids and medals parade into the room behind Kruger. He had the arrogant eyes of a man who knew power and cruelty. His stare made her shrink.

“Who is that?” The soldier nodded in her direction.

Kruger walked over and draped an arm over her shoulder. “
Mein
granddaughter, Leah. Leah, Sergeant Hernandez.” He beamed like any proud grandparent.

Was he for real or was this all show? She had no time to wonder now, she had an act to perform. She swallowed hard. “
Buenas tardes, Señor
.”

“
Leah has come from Los Angeles. I am fortunate grandpapa,” Kruger said.  

Behind the Sergeant, two young soldiers in full uniform with automatic weapons entered the room. One of them leered at her and whispered to the other. Uncomfortable, she glanced away from them.

Hernandez watched her suspiciously through narrowed eyes. “And how did your granddaughter find her way here from Iquitos?”

Her heart thumped at the inference she had done something wrong, but Kruger looked nonplused.

“My servant, Kimo, to Iquitos went to transport her here.”

Hernandez spun suddenly and sent his rowdy guards a look of disapproval. They immediately quieted.

“Have you seen a young white man?” he asked Leah. “We need to find him for questioning.”

“
No!” Why had she been so emphatic? She needed to rein in her emotions. She was only calling attention to herself.

Hernandez continued to stare at her through narrowed eyes. “We have reason to believe the young man was wounded and the natives brought him here for medical attention. He may have killed one of our soldiers. We will need to question him.”   

More like murder him
, she thought. “We haven’t seen anyone.” 

Kruger stood beside the desk, an arm against the back of a chair to hold himself erect. With his free hand, he stroked his wattles. “J
a
, I had a wounded American to treat before Leah’s visit. He had to the shoulder taken a bullet. As soon as he felt better, he left upriver to Ecuador.”

“
That was a speedy recovery.” Hernandez’s cold eyes convinced her he was not swayed. He looked her straight in the eyes, but she refused to blink and held her head high.

“
We have nothing to hide, my grandfather and I. There’s no one here but those you see.”

“
We will soon find out if you are truthful, S
eñorita
.” With a wave of the hand, Hernandez gestured the soldiers from the room. “I want to see your parlor.”

“
This vay,” Kruger said as he led the soldiers from the study.

Acutely aware her knees were knocking and would surely give her away, Leah gave them a head start. By the time she entered the parlor, Hernandez leaned against the far wall. One of his men searched the closet while the other rifled through the blanket chest, tossing blankets aside.

“Anything wrong,
Señorita
?

He had caught her staring. “No. I was just helping my grandfather out and realized I haven’t dusted in here. Sorry.” What a flimsy excuse-couldn’t she have come up with anything better? She wanted to kick herself. Sweat trickled down under her sky blue blouse.

The sergeant smiled. “What a treat to have a granddaughter like this one to worry about such matters. Maybe I will have such a granddaughter one day.”

Kruger laughed along with the soldiers, while Leah inwardly sighed with relief. Thank goodness she had hit one of his emotional buttons.

A hollow sound rang in her ears. Much to her horror, the soldier at the blanket chest poked the false bottom with his rifle butt. She hoped Hernandez hadn’t noticed. “Would you like tea?” she asked to distract him.

“
You are so kind,
Señorita. Sí
.”

While she hated to leave her vigil in the room and wanted to be present to intervene if Dylan was discovered, she had no choice. She raced to the kitchen and put water on the large wrought iron stove. The water took an eternity to boil and every second seemed like an hour. She must have checked the pot a hundred times. Finally hot enough, she returned to the parlor and handed the steaming tea to Hernandez, relieved to see that the guards had completed their search of the room without discovering Dylan. 

Hernandez sipped the tea. “
Bueno te. Manzanilla
?”

“
Sí
,” she said, though not at all certain it was chamomile.

Hernandez glanced over at his men who slouched against a wall. “What do you two think you are doing? This is not your tea time. Keep searching the place!”

Leah had a brainstorm and placed herself between the approaching men and the door, hoping her behavior might throw them off track. “There’s really nothing out there.”

One of the soldiers pushed her roughly out of the way. “We do what commander orders.”

When they were out of earshot, Hernandez shook his head. “What a bunch of barbarians,
Señorita.
They do not know how to treat a lady.” He strode over to place his tea on a side table and took a seat on a ladder-back chair, his leg pressed against the blanket chest. “I apologize for inconveniencing you, Doctor. I know you tell the truth. But we must do our job and check to see if the American is still around.”

Leah could barely hear him over the hammering of her heart. She stepped forward. “It seems like you’ve searched everywhere.”

“That may be true,
Señorita,
but we must be thorough.” He tapped a foot against the chest. “Come here and sit next to me while we wait.” He gestured toward a second chair.

Every time Hernandez moved, Leah shivered from a combination of fear and worry that Dylan would move or cough or somehow give himself away. The thought almost sent her into a panic attack. “Thank you, but I’d rather stand.”

“As you wish.” Hernandez patted the chest. “I have never seen anything like this chest. Where is it from?”

Sweat beaded Kruger’s brow. She prayed he wouldn’t reach into his jacket pocket and withdraw a handkerchief to wipe it-and give himself away.

“From Germany,” Kruger said.

Hernandez ran his fingers over the wood. “What is it made from?”

Leah froze. The air fled her lungs. She wanted to speak, but words wouldn’t come.

“
Indonesian teak,” Kruger said. A bead of sweat dribbled down his brow. He leaned heavily against the back of a chair.

Concerned Kruger’s condition might alert Hernandez, she had to intervene. “Grandfather are you over exerting yourself? Is it your heart again?” She turned to the sergeant. “My grandfather’s not well. For God’s sake, let him sit.”

With a gesture, Hernandez said, “Do as your granddaughter wishes.”

They both watched as Kruger slowly took a seat.

Just then she heard a scraping sound and an alarm sounded in her head.

“
Did you hear something?” Hernandez asked.

“
We are troubled by mice, my dear sergeant.” Kruger placed a hand on his chest in a gesture of embarrassment. “Such a nuisance.
Nicht
?”

“
They must be
grande
to make such a loud-”

The roar of a gunshot resounded in the room. Startled, Leah jumped back and looked over at Kruger whose mouth gaped open.

Hernandez sprang from his chair and rushed from the room.

“
What is it?” she mouthed at Kruger as soon as the soldier was gone.

He shrugged. “Perhaps the lock on my safe.”

“What’s in it?”

Before he could answer, Hernandez returned with a sheaf of papers in hand. When he passed her by, the seal of the CIA danced past her eyes.

“What is this?” Hernandez demanded, thrusting the papers in front of Kruger’s face.

For the first time, Kruger seemed flustered. “Business I do vith United States.”

A scowl passed over Hernandez’s face. “I read little English, but this looks like shady business to me. I know about the Central Intelligence Agency,
Señor
. I do not believe my superiors would look favorably on your doing work for them in Peru without authorization.”

Kruger had put his life on the line for Dylan. Leah had to step in to defend him. “He’s just doing research on viruses. It has no bearing on anyone in Peru.”

“I am not certain my commander would see it that way.” Hermamdez’s steady gaze remained fixed on Kruger. “Of course, if you were to tell me the whereabouts of the American, I might not have to share these papers with anyone. But if you do not...”

A silence fell over the room. Leah held her breath. Her skin crawled with anticipation. The temptation for Kruger to reveal Dylan’s whereabouts would be almost impossible to resist.

Kruger’s mouth quivered. “I know not vhere he is. He left day before yesterday for Ecuador.”

It took a moment to penetrate that Kruger had risked everything to protect Dylan. She wanted to cry out in gratitude and throw her arms around his neck, but she contained her impulse.

Hernandez folded the papers and placed them in his pocket. “This is your last chance to reconsider and tell me where the American is.”

“
I told you all.”

Hernandez sneered. “I hope you know what you are doing, S
eñor
. We will be back.”

Hernandez marched ceremoniously from the room. She heard footsteps, then the door open and slammed shut. In the silence, she grasped the nearest chair and steadied herself. “Oh my God. they’re gone. I just pray he’s bluffing and they don’t return.”

Kruger mopped his brow with his handkerchief. “Not to vorry,
mein kinder
. I do everything in mien power to defend you.”

* * *

Dylan ached all over, cramped in the limited space, but he lay as still as he could, afraid the slightest movement might alert the man near enough to knock his foot against the blanket chest every few minutes. His recovering arm had gone numb long ago. He made one attempt to revive it, but, when he did, he scraped the side of the chest. He wanted desperately to slap or shake it again, but resisted the urge. Eventually, he ceased to feel the limb altogether, except for his throbbing shoulder. His legs twitched miserably, but there was no room to stretch them, even if he could.

Voices droned. Doors rumbled open and shut. Drawers creaked and crashed. Footsteps stomped. When the sounds finally stopped, he was hesitant to move. It could be a trap. 

A symphony of metal prying against wood paralyzed him. Light seeped through an opening as the lid was raised. He closed his eyes against the glare, then opened them slowly, half-expecting to see the Peruvian soldiers. To his relief, Leah smiled down at him.

She hoisted the shelf totally out of the way. “You’re safe. They’re gone.”