Secret Guardian (10 page)

That got her moving. She dressed quickly and he laughed as she struggled to put her clothes back on in the confined space. It was too close of quarters, so he had to wait until she was fully dressed to slip on his own clothes.

“Are we really going to have to go through customs? How are we going to explain—?”

“Hang on with all the questions until I get my pants on.” She tried to help him slip his legs into his pants, but she only ended up making it worse. By the time both his legs were in his pants, they were both laughing very hard and he had sweat rolling down his back.

Three hours later, they were still in the box and he could tell she was starting to worry. They’d been moved several times, once by a large forklift, the other by two men who were speaking Spanish. They made sure to hold still while the two men pushed the crate into the back of a large truck. They’d been driving along for almost a half hour when the truck finally came to a stop and the back was opened.

“Señor Knight, Señorita Rhodes, are you still breathing in there?”

Ethan laughed. “Raul, get your skinny butt up here and let us out of this damn box.”

“What do you mean they aren’t in Rio anymore?”

He wanted to throw the phone across the room, but it might cause too many heads to turn. After all, it was a black tie affair. He was standing off in a dark hallway, trying to keep his voice down.

“Where the hell are they?”

“Well, as far as we can tell they are still in South America.”

“Can you narrow it down any further?” He was losing his patience.

“Not at the moment. Is there anything you can find out on your end that might help us?”

He looked around and thought about it. “I’ll get back to you.” Then hung up the phone and went to join the crowd again.

A
nn wondered how many people Ethan knew and how he knew so many in the places they were going. She knew the kind of jobs he’d done. Most, she had assumed, were like the one he’d done for her father.

After being released from the box, she’d been shocked to discover they were in paradise. Everything was so green, it almost hurt her eyes. When she’d stood up, Ethan had taken her arm to steady her since her legs were asleep.

“Walk a little, you’ll get the feeling back in your legs.” He hadn’t even looked fazed by spending almost twelve hours in that crate. She, on the other hand, could use a long, hot shower and a change of clothes.

When she started walking to stretch her legs, she ended up near the rim of a large cliff overlooking the ocean. She could just make out the city far off in the distance. She’d never been to Peru before, and since Lima was a new experience, she was amazed at the fact that the city appeared to sit right on the edge of the cliff. It was almost as if it were going to spill out into the water from the cliff’s edge. The greenness of it all almost overwhelmed her. It was still early morning and she could see the mist and fog clinging to the tops of tall buildings.

Ethan walked up beside her, smiling. “We have the place to ourselves for two days, then we head out. Raul has assured me everything is in order to leave on Tuesday.” He waved as the truck started driving away with his friend in the cab. “What do you say to a hot shower and some new clothes? Or would you rather eat breakfast first?”

She couldn’t help it, the thought of being clean and eating some real food made her jump into his arms as she squealed like a school girl.

He spun her around a few times and then set her back on her feet, smiling down at her. “Come on then, let’s go get cleaned up and eat.”

He walked her towards a large glass house which sat near the edge of the cliff. The blue metal roof mixed with the tall walls made the place shine. She couldn’t get over the fact that she could see right through to the back of the place. There was a large sunken living area with tan couches and bright red throw pillows. The large tile-top dining room table had chairs of the same tan and a large wooden bowl set on it.

She saw a large, frosted glass wall and thought that the bedroom and bathroom would be behind it for privacy. Through the back of the house she could see a large wooden deck and a blue tiled swimming pool with a huge fountain in the middle. Palm trees lined the back of the pool area and surrounded the house. The house took up most of the cliff, but there was a large chunk that housed a four-car garage that had an apartment above it. Looking around, she didn’t see any other homes nearby. She stood there and admired the architecture of the place.

“Do you like it?” Ethan asked as he stood beside her.

She didn’t know what to say, so she just nodded her head. It was the most beautiful thing she’d ever seen.

“I’m glad. I had the same reaction when I bought it seven years ago.”

She was shocked. She turned and looked at him. He owned this place? Why did he have a house in Lima? So many other questions ran through her head.

“Shut it down for a while, Princess. Let’s go get some grub and clean up, then
I’ll explain everything.”

When she’d walked into the large bedroom, which was indeed behind the wall of frosted glass, she haw a small silver bikini. So after hitting the shower quickly, she rushed out to the large stone tiled pool. There she floated in the cool, blue water until Ethan came out in a pair of swim trunks and joined her. He was carrying an ice blue fruity drink and a beer. Her drink even had a slice of pineapple on the rim of the crystal glass and had a cherry floating in it.

“I could get used to this,” she said as she floated on her back with her dark hair pooling around her face. She stopped to take a drink and moaned with delight when the sweet and tangy drink hit her mouth.

“Where did you learn to make this?” She held up her drink.

He chuckled. “I had to go undercover as a bartender in Cancun for a few months. You wouldn’t believe the tips you get there. Actually, that’s how I bought this place,” he said, smiling.

“Yeah, right.” She chuckled at his joke. “Why Lima?” They were wading side by side as she held her drink close, taking a few more sips and enjoying the icy drink.

“It seemed right. I’ve been to South America so often, buying a house here was just the natural thing to do. It was between here and Rio and I have better connections here. Besides, Raul is a very close friend who looks after the place. He actually stays in the guest house above the garage year round. I saved his mother and sister once, so in his mind, he’ll never work off the debt he thinks he owes me. Of course I pay him very, very well, which keeps his family happy and healthy.”

She smiled at him, “Do you own any other property?”

He nodded, and she could tell he was trying to avoid answering.

“I have a condo just outside of Austin that my mother left to me when she died.” She felt the alcohol in the drink relaxing her entire body. Normally one fruity drink wouldn’t have affected her this much, but it had been almost twenty-four hours since she’d had anything substantial to eat.

“I’ve got two other places. One by my parents’ place in Washington, so when I visit them I don’t bug them too much. The other is in the south of France. What do you say to a cook out? I noticed Raul had stocked the fridge with some steaks. I’ve got a state-of-the-art grill and some mad skills as a chef.” He smiled and she noticed how his eyes lit up.

Later, as they sat around the outside pa
tio eating grilled steak and vegetables, they finished talking about his travels. It seemed to Ann that he’d been everywhere. He’d also had as many fake jobs as he had different names. She giggled at some of the names and laughed at some of the jobs. Her favorite was when he’d been a male stripper in Vegas under the name of Sergeant Pecker.

“The worst part of that gig was that I had to wear this stupid police outfit, but I made really good tips.” He smiled and she couldn’t help falling a little more for him.

“How about the worst job?” she asked still laughing. She didn’t realize the kind of hardships he might have with his jobs, until after she watched his face fall. Then she thought, really thought about what it was he actually did.

“Ethan?” She reached out and took his hand.

“No, it’s okay. It is part of my job, losing someone. It just hurts more when it’s a kid.” He took a swig of his beer. “It was almost a year before I took the job for your dad. This little girl had been snatched from day care. Her father was a diplomat in Kenya. And well, when things got ugly a few years back… Anyway, that was the hardest I’ve had to deal with, seeing her… after…” She could tell he was having a hard time with the story. He took another sip of his beer. “They let a pack of wild dogs have her.” He closed his eyes and her heart broke. “She was only four and they treated her like she was meat. All because her daddy wanted change for his country.”

She reached over and took his hand. “Ethan, I’m so sorry.”

“But then there are the good days.” She could see he was trying to remove that image from his mind. His eyes flashed to another scene, a happier scene. “A few years back I did this job for a friend of the family. Actually, it was one of my new brother-in-law’s friends. I didn’t know the connection at the time, but I can still remember this young girl’s face. She is an artist, very talented girl. Her family was one of the most influential families in the Middle East. They had oil money that went back a couple generations. She was engaged to a prince at the age of six. The wedding was to be in the spring after her eighteenth birthday. But because she wanted to pursue art, her family decided to punish her. She was to undergo female circumcision. It’s rarely done on someone her age in the Middle East anymore. When she contacted Mitchell Kovich—he’s my brother-in-law’s friend—Mitch contacted me directly. I’d done another job for him a few years back when I was still in the forces.”

She watched Ethan lean back in his chair and realized she could imagine sitting here years from now, listening to his stories. He took another sip of his beer and when he realized it was empty, leaned over and grabbed another from the small fridge under the outside bar.

“What happened to the girl?” She leaned on the glass table; she couldn’t stand the suspense.

“Oh, she’s fine. She’s safe somewhere in the States. It took some doing, and I don’t think I’d ever try to go back into certain parts of the Middle East again, but she’s healthy and happy. Or so my sister tells me. She and her husband own the art galleries that sell her art. I can still remember the smile in her eyes when I showed up the night before her punishment was to take place. I was hanging from the banister outside her window, and when I showed up, she didn’t even scream. It was like she was dead inside. She’d actually thought I’d come to kill her. When I told her I was coming to take her to Mitch, her eyes…” He paused and Ann thought she saw something close to pride on his face. “She was wearing her hijab, the heavy, dark robes they wear, and all I could see was her eyes and I swear, I’ve never seen eyes light up like hers did that night. I guess I decided then and there that this job is what I was made to do.”

“You are amazing,” she said then drank the last of her second drink. “Is there anything you can’t do?” She smiled over at him while resting her chin on her hand.

He looked over at her and smiled slowly. “I can’t seem to keep my hands off of you.” She smiled back and slowly rose to her feet. Then started walking backwards towards the pool.

“Why even try?” It came out as a whisper. She saw him stand up quickly and start to follow her towards the water. She knew she wouldn’t make it to the edge of the pool before he was on her. He grabbed her around the waist as they went sailing across the empty space and landed in the deep end of the pool. Their bodies tangled, their lips found each other’s and within seconds, her slick silver swimsuit was floating on the surface of the cool water.

When they surfaced again, she pulled back and had to gulp for breath. “You super-agent types may have super-sized lungs that can stay under for minutes, but us mere mortals have to have air once in a while.” She smiled at him. Then he moved his hands and the smile fell away, and she was left gasping for air for another reason.

She’d never made love in a pool before and at first she was trying to figure out just how they would accomplish the task. As he ran his hands over her slowly, he kicked his legs until he was able to stand on the tile bottom. He moved so her back was against the pool wall and her head rested on the tiled side. She quickly pulled his shorts down and he kicked a few times before he finally got them loose from his feet. Then he was kissing her again, his hands on either side of her head, holding her to the wall. Even though he wasn’t touching her with his hands, she could feel the heat from his body as his skin rubbed against hers. Her chest rubbed against the light covering of hair on his chest, causing little tidal waves of pleasure.