Page 25

A sudden grip on my arm was followed by another hand placed over my mouth. My instinct was to fight, but his harsh words kept me from doing anything.

“Don’t make a loud sound, Charmaine. We’re just going to walk.”

A rush of relief replaced fear from hearing Maddox’s voice. I nodded and he removed his hand.

“Don’t look back. Just act like we’re talking. You’re going to do what I say,” he said quietly.

“We’re being followed.”

“By three soldiers. One was inside the bakery you just needed to go to.” He glanced down at what I was holding. “Jar the box in your hand as lightly as possible.”

“Why?”

“Just fucking follow my orders.”

“Okay. Okay. I’m sorry,” I whispered as he guided us away from the bakery and the apartment where we were staying. “Do they know where we are?”

“That remains to be seen. It’s possible you were recognized.”

“How?”

“Because that’s what they do. We need to get back to the apartment.” As we passed a trashcan, he gently took the bakery items, tossing them into the trash, backing us away immediately.

When he grabbed my hand, I didn’t hesitate. He took long strides and I did my best to keep up with him. He made several turns, but when he took a sharp right, he pushed me against the building, immediately cupping my face with his palm. “Breathe for me, Charmaine. Everything will be alright.”

With his head lowered, he acted as if he was going to kiss me, his lips hovering just above mine.

I darted my eyes to the side, trembling the entire time I searched the street. “I don’t see anyone.”

A sudden explosion almost forced a scream. He covered my mouth with his, also preventing me from fighting him. He was warm and possessive, so protective that for a few seconds I wasn’t thinking about what had just happened.

There’d been a bomb in the box of pastries. Oh, my God.

People were running, several yells coming from all directions.

I tried to push him away, but he refused to allow me, even thrusting his tongue inside. When I stopped struggling, he finally pulled his lips away.

“Stay calm,” he whispered. “Just breathe for me.”

After taking a couple of breaths, I sagged further against the stucco exterior. “They knew I was inside.”

“Looks like it. They might not know where we’re staying, but we need to get the hell out of here.”

Thudding footsteps caught our attention.

He spun me around until his back was against the exterior of the building, this time wrapping his arm around me and pulling me tightly against his body.

Several people ran by and sirens sounded in the distance.

“We’ll use the chaos to get away.” His command was dark, predatory. He was used to doing this. I wasn’t.

He kept us in the same position on purpose and the feeling from the night before was now a caustic reminder he was my protector, not my lover.

His chest rose and fell, the snarl on his face highlighting his fury. He’d obviously hurriedly left the apartment. His hair was disheveled, the three-day shadow soon to be a full beard. The rich color of his eyes was now filled with darkness.

The man was furious with me.

After a few seconds had passed, he let me go, but not without shaking his head. “You could have gotten yourself killed.”

“I wasn’t thinking.”

“No, you obviously weren’t. We’ll talk about this later. Come on. There’s a back way into the apartment.”

He’d obviously scoped out the area, the plan in motion before he’d rescued me.

People were everywhere, smoke still rising from the trashcan, billowing into the sky from where the building behind the trashcan had also caught fire. Glass had been tossed yards away, at least one vehicle damaged.

From an explosive that had fit into a pastry box.

Mercury Fulminate or something else? Did it really matter? Alfaro would stop at nothing to hunt me down.

With my hand firmly in his grip, he swept across a crossing street, finally moving to the side where the apartment was a block later.

Now there were dozens more people milling in the popular area, cars lining the roadway.

We did our best to blend in and while I followed his orders, chattering away about crap, he continuously scanned the street, often pulling us into alcoves of a store’s entryway so he could take a better look.

I recognized the apartment building, finally breathing another sigh of relief when we jogged across the street to the other side.

As soon as he stepped onto the sidewalk, I noticed the shape of the weapon under his shirt behind his back. It was another hitting home moment. I’d once again placed lives in danger because I hadn’t thought the consequences through.

The knots in my stomach had grown and by the time he swung open the back door, pushing me inside, I was nauseated.

He didn’t say a word as he led us up the stairs, still looking one way then the other.

The lock was engaged and I walked away from him, holding my breath.

His grip on my shoulder was painful and he immediately pushed me against the wall, crowding my space with his huge body. “What the fuck were you doing?” His words were said between clenched teeth, his jaw tight and his eyes full of fire.

“I’m sorry, Maddox. It was just across the street. I was trying to do something nice.”

“What you did was stupid. Irresponsible. You know better. If you don’t, then you shouldn’t have been placed on the assignment. This is for qualified people to handle, Charmaine. Not some goddamn journalist with a penchant for being Nancy Drew.”

“Okay. I get it.” Tossing out barbs was making me angry even though I realized I’d underestimated Alfaro’s reach.

“Do you? Do you not understand that whatever you managed to get yourself in the middle of is more dangerous than some story you were doing on orphaned kids? Or even the women who’d been kidnapped.

Don’t you get it? You can’t play games with someone like Fernando Alfaro.

He’s out for blood, Charmaine. The man has been vying for full control of several countries and the drug trade that comes with them.

He’d slaughtered hundreds of people, some of which will never be found.

He has near total control of the military in El Salvador, almost all law enforcement as well, and six months ago he eradicated the competition in Guatemala.

He’s already made inroads in Nicaragua and heading south. He is a fucking monster.”

His vehemence grabbed my breath. “It sounds like you know more than I do.”

He huffed, shaking his head as he did so. “You could say that. Although I’m certain you’ve done your research. He took out the son of the Honduran president. Do you know how that happened?”

I took a deep breath, nodding.

“Then tell me.”

“A small bomb that had gone undetected through several layers of security. It’s possible he used cocaine laced with Mercury Fulminate. I remember reading about it. It was a big scandal since the president ran on the reform of eliminating drugs in the country.”

Now he grinned, but his eyes weren’t losing their fire.

“Very good. That would be my guess. Alfaro has made overtures into a half dozen other countries and is supposedly responsible for several other assassinations using the same compound in various formats including a goddamn birthday gift sent to a child for her sixth birthday. The little girl was blown up in front of her father. Also, the burned body of the wife of the Venezuelan president was found just outside their front door, their young son finding her. Do you understand at all why I’m telling you this? ”

“Yes, okay? I get it.” The horror of what I was hearing he’d told in more graphic detail.

He shook me by the shoulders, his entire body tense. “They infiltrate businesses, Charmaine. That’s how they gain control. There is nowhere safe in this country, not completely. Stay away from the windows and doors. We need to wait until nightfall.”

“How did they know the area we were in? We could have gone anywhere. We could have caught a flight from here or headed out on a boat.”

His heavy sigh was an indication he’d already thought about that.

“That’s what I’m going to find out. Be ready to leave at a moment’s notice if necessary.

I am going to get us the hell out of here.

And Charmaine, if you do that again, so help me God, I’ll shackle you to keep you from hurting yourself or anyone else. ”