Page 34 of Girl in the Water

He politely declined the offer.

Daniela was a ferocious eater. Once she figured out that he put no restriction on food, she ate whatever wasn’t nailed down. But she moved around so much, she didn’t seem to gain an ounce. While he studied the rain forest, wanting to learn this new environment, she spent their jungle trips foraging.

Ian didn’t mind. Not even when she filled her pockets with grubs, then when hers were full, she asked to fill his.

The incredible variety of sounds and colors around him—playful monkeys, noisy parrots, stunning displays of orchids—seemed like the very dance of creation and filled him with a new kind of energy.

It was that energy that drew him down to the Rio Negro before dinner to watch the barges, tugboats, and the tourist boats that carried sunburned and bug-bitten foreigners with their too-large backpacks on the river.

A hundred or so feet from him on the dock, two fishermen were fighting, fists flying, the men shouting in Portuguese too rapid for Ian to understand.

Drunks and fights were pretty common in town. Yet Ian hadn’t exchanged blows with anyone since he’d arrived here.

He could have gotten rough with a couple of pickpockets. He hadn’t.

Maybe his boss in DC had been right. He’d fought as a punishment—punishment and distraction—to numb the pain. He picked up women for the same reason. He’d probably followed Finch to Brazil for the same reason too. And he’d stayed with Daniela because she distracted him.

Because if he didn’t distract himself, then what?

Would he go into the river after Linda and Connor and Colin?

There’d been a time when he’d wanted to. But as he stood on the bank of the dark waters of the Rio Negro, it was just a river, not a solution.

He considered his current situation.

His only clue in Finch’s murder was a guy who wore a white suit and had a scar on his nose. He could be anywhere in Brazil by now. Anywhere in the world.

Maybe the boy Ian had caught watching the house at the beginning hadn’t meant anything. Certainly nothing had come of it. Nobody came.

And Ian couldn’t stay in Brazil forever. For one, his visa would be expiring soon.

But before he left, he needed to fix Daniela up with an honest job that would support her. He decided to buy the house for her as a gift. A steady home would be good for her. Ian had looked into it, and Finch had been paying month by month, was currently past due.

Real estate was dirt cheap here. Ian had combat pay tucked away. He wanted to make sure Daniela wouldn’t be anybody’s victim again. She should have a bright future. She’d gone through an incredible change already. As she learned to defend herself, she gained self-confidence. She smiled more often, and not just because she thought it was expected of her.

So, Ian went back to the house, and, over dinner, he said, “I’ll need to go home at one point. What do you think you’d like to do after I leave?”

She paled and shrank back as if he’d slapped her.

“You’ll be safe,” he promised. “I’m going to get you this house and see you settled. I’ll help you find a job. I’ll teach you how to shoot. I’ll leave Finch’s gun here with you. You’ll be all right. You can make a good life here.”

“I don’t want to, Ian.”

He stopped moving, his fork halfway to his mouth. She saidnoto him for the first time.Andcalled him Ian instead of Senhor Ian.

He was so damn proud of her, but at the same time, he couldn’t understand why she chose this moment to disagree with him. His plans for her future made sense. She’d be as safe as possible under the circumstances.

He set his fork down. “You’ll be fine. You’re strong, and you’re smart. And I’ll always be just a phone call away.” Shit, even to his own ears, that sounded lame.

He’d bethousandsof miles away.

Hurt filled her eyes.

Christ.

“You are not going back to Rosa,” he emphasized.

She lifted her chin. “Rosa couldn’t make me.”

He didn’t bother hiding his smile. “Damn right. You’d ice the old hag.”

Daniela’s voice gained confidence as she said, “I don’t want to live in this house alone.”

“What would you like to do?” If he could, he’d help.

She held his gaze, her clear green eyes steady. “I want to go with you, Ian.”

And then the front window exploded.