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  “I forgot about those. I felt a few when I was last here but nothing major.” I felt vibrations in the front of my body and braced myself for another tremor. Christian stopped pacing again and both men looked at me. “What?”

  “That’s your cell phone,” Christian said with a grin.

  “Oh, right…” I reached in the front pocket of my skirt and pulled it out. “Hello?”

  “Everything okay?” Aloysius asked when I closed and re-pocketed my phone.

  “Yes, of course. Kalia called to make sure we were okay and enjoying ourselves. They send their love,” I explained.

  “Then why do you look so worried?” Christian asked.

  “It’s probably nothing, but Maia is gone again. She didn’t tell them where she was going.” Maia seemed to be trying to make amends before we left for Peru but something inside me screamed that something was still very wrong.

  “I wouldn’t worry too much about it. She’s probably in Europe again, looking for a new man,” Christian took my hand and pulled me from the sofa. “Why don’t we change and go for some dinner?”

  “That’s a good idea, and remember what I told you, stick to La Perla and Rimac,” He started down the hall toward the spiral stairs. “I’m going to get packed. I have to leave sooner than I thought.”

  “Why didn’t you tell him what actually happened?” Christian stood facing me.

  “I didn’t think it was important and besides…I couldn’t.”

  “Not important? How can you say that, unless…you don’t believe me! That’s it, isn’t it? You don’t trust me.”

  “Christian, I never said that…where would you…” I walked back to the window and away from him so he couldn’t see my face.

  “You’re doing it again.”

  “What am I doing? I don’t know what you are talking about.” I didn’t hide my irritation.

  “That brick wall that I slammed into in the beginning, the one I finally thought was coming down from around your heart…you’ve been putting it back up lately, brick by brick.”

  I spun to look at him. “That’s preposterous! I don’t have a wall around my heart. If I did, you wouldn’t be here.”

  “You don’t see it, do you?” He stood behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist. I stiffened without meaning to. “I’m not Ian. I would never do the things he did. I would never use you or manipulate you and I most certainly would never intentionally hurt you.”

  I turned in his arms and pushed him back so I could look at his face. “I never said that! I never compared you with Ian.”

  “You don’t have to say it. I’m in tune with your mind, remember? Whatever happened today, it was not my fault. I would never do anything like that. You’re my wife,” He held a hand out to me. I hesitated for a moment but when I looked at his eyes, the hurt in them melted my dead heart. “We’ll figure this out, one way or another.”

  “I know…you’re right. Let’s go to dinner.”

  The taxi driver raised his eyebrows when I asked him to take us to La Perla but, wanting to earn the outrageous fare he quoted, didn’t object as he shoved his way back into traffic. Though it was very late, Lima’s streets were still bustling with people walking arm in arm, their laughter heard as we sped past. Traffic wasn’t even that much lighter at this hour but Christian ignored the chaos and relaxed at my side, his fingers intertwined with mine. He glanced down at my ring once in a while as if making sure it was real.

  “Right here is fine,” I said in Spanish as the driver approached an extra dark corner. His surprise was visible in the rearview mirror but again he did not argue. I handed him the money and slid out of the car.

  “We’re still close to the ocean, aren’t we?” Christian asked as I led him up a dark street that smelled unmistakably like urine.

  “Yes. We’re not far from the naval academy. On the beach, in La Punta, there is no sand until you get further into the water. It’s all smooth rocks that don’t really hurt your feet when you walk on them. There are gorgeous old houses along the beach too, where the aristocratic society once lived. Maybe we can go there after we feed,” I suggested as I paused to decide in a direction. I listened for voices but heard nothing. “We’ll have to come back during the day too so we can take a boat ride.”

  We continued up the narrow street and turned a corner. Christian yanked my hand and made me stop. “Do you hear that?”

  “What?”

  “I hear footsteps when we walk and when we stop, they stop.” He motioned behind us with his head.

  Let’s walk again…

  We took a few steps and, sure enough, I heard them this time. Keep walking until we get somewhere where they can’t hide…I didn’t know if there was a place like that considering all these old, dilapidated houses had long corridors next to their doors but it was worth a try.

  As we rounded another corner, Christian stopped. He leaned forward, both hands clutching his forehead.

  What is it?

  My head feels like it’s going to explode…like when…you know…

  I knew all too well. When he was kidnapped and taken to Ireland, the woman who took him kept causing him constant headaches so she could keep feeding him pills and keep him drugged. I didn’t think it could happen now that he was not mortal but I guess I was wrong. I helped him to the dusty cement wall of a building so he could lean against it and the footsteps started again, but faster.

  “Do not move!” A young man wearing a black jacket with the hood tied tightly around his head, so I couldn’t see his hair, aimed a gun at us. A laugh escaped my lips before I could stop it.

  “Do you really think a gun is going to help you?” I asked incredulously. I could see the kid’s hand shaking as he tried to stand taller to make himself look tougher than he obviously felt.

  “She said to shoot him.” He motioned to Christian by aiming the gun in his face.

  “Who said?” Christian dropped his hands from his forehead and pushed me behind him. The kid said nothing but continued aiming the shaking gun.

  “Why him?” I asked, trying to see around Christian who was acting as a shield.

  “Because, how do you say? He is new and weak.”

  “Wrong! He is as strong as I am. Who sent you?” I demanded, making my way out from behind Christian. The kid jerked his hand to aim the gun at me now, his wide eyes darting back and forth between our faces.

  “I cannot say the name.” The gun was aimed at Christian again but the kid’s hand was shaking even worse, as if he was struggling to hold on to the weapon. I looked at Christian and his eyes were locked on the gun, his forehead scrunched. A moment later, the gun floated in the air out of the kid’s reach. The kid turned to run but I grabbed the back of his jacket. He snapped back toward me so fast he collided against me and we fell to the sidewalk. Flipping him over and jumping on top, I straddled his waist to keep him down.

  Christian grabbed the gun out of the air and knelt next to us. “It’s the kid from the beach and the show.”

  I pushed his hood off his head to reveal greasy black hair. “So it is. You’re getting to be a pain in the ass, kid.” I shoved his head back to the pavement with a thud. “Who sent you?”

  He swallowed hard and tried to turn his head. I grabbed a handful of greasy hair and made him face me. His eyes widened with terror.

  “Lily, you’re hurting him,” Christian said, placing a hand gently on my shoulder. I didn’t know how he could stay so calm when all I wanted to do was bash this kid’s head on the pavement for all the trouble he was causing.

  “Lady, please. I no want to die. She will kill me or they will.” His eyes filled with tears.

  “She? They? Which is it?” I demanded through clenched teeth. This was supposed to be our honeymoon and already we had nothing but trouble.

  “I cannot tell you. Please let me go. I will go away. Por Dios,” he pleaded.

  “God isn’t going to help you now!” I shoved my knees into his chest.

  “Lily,
please. Let’s take him with us. Let’s try to help him. Maybe he’ll talk then,” Christian said.

  “Why should we help him? He’s been nothing but trouble. Why shouldn’t I kill him right now?”

  “Because I know you better than that. You wouldn’t be able to live with yourself if you killed him without reason,” he explained, trying to coax me off the boy.

  “He pulled a gun on us! That’s reason enough for me.”

  “But he didn’t pull the trigger. He had an opportunity and he didn’t take it.”

  He was right. He had the chance to shoot us in the back or shoot Christian when he stood in front of me. He hesitated and that cost him.

  “Fine. We take him but we take him unconscious.”

  What?

  A snack…not enough to kill him…just knock him out for the ride.

  ~ Eighteen ~

  The boy curled up on his side on the guest room bed while I looked through my suitcase for something to tie his wrists and ankles. I had put Christian in a cab before I took to the air with the unconscious boy in my arms. The front door opened and slammed shut as I pulled a scarf out of my bag. It would be best to at least tie his arms up for now.

  “What the hell are you doing?” Christian threw the bedroom door open, letting it slam against the wall.

  “What are you talking about?”

  “Do you realize we are now kidnappers? What were you thinking, Lily? I said help him, not tie him up like some prisoner!” His voice was harsher than ever and I froze on the spot.

  “It’s not like we kidnapped some innocent! This kid has been following us around since we got here: first, on the street when we were walking to the mall, then at the mall, at the beach, at the show, and now this. Do you honestly mean to tell me what I’m doing is wrong? As soon as he’s conscious he’ll run. I won’t let that happen until I get answers.” I went to work tying his wrists. He groaned a bit but didn’t open his eyes.

  “It is wrong, Lily. Someone’s going to be looking for him. He’s just a boy. He must have family,” Christian sat on the bed next to him to examine his neck. “Is he going to be okay?”

  “Of course, he is. We didn’t take much. He’ll sleep it off for a while.”

  “We need to get him out of here before he wakes up. That’s best, I think.”

  “No! I want to know who he is. I want to know who sent him. He’s not going anywhere until he talks.”

  “Is it that important? Are you willing to get in trouble over this?” He came to stand behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist.

  I pushed him away and turned. “I’m tired of this, Christian. I wanted normal! This isn’t normal! We’re on our honeymoon and we’re being pursued. Why does it always have to be us?”

  “Maybe they’re after us for money. They can clearly see we’re tourists. If they know anything about Aloysius then they know he has money, plenty of it,” he reasoned. I shook my head.

  “Then why not wait until we’re out and rob us? Why go to all this trouble to follow us everywhere we go? That kid was not only spying on us, but he even admitted he was sent to kill you. Why?”

  “I don’t know.” He sat on the edge of the bed and looked at the sleeping boy’s face. “I guess we will have to wait to get our answers.”

  “Christian,” I sat next to him, took his hand, and stared at my lap. “I’m sorry I’m so on edge, but I wanted this trip to be perfect and it’s been nothing but problems.”

  His hand, gentle on my chin, drew my face toward his. “It is perfect. You’re my wife for all eternity now. What more could I ask?”

  “I guess you’re right. We’ve dealt with worse already, haven’t we? I’m really worried about something, though.”

  “What’s that?”

  I swallowed hard, exaggerating my point. “What will Aloysius say when he gets home to find we have a tied-up teenager in his apartment?”

  “I don’t even want to think about it. Hopefully we’ll have him out of here before he gets back.”

  We watched the boy sleep, tossing and turning, and listened to him mumble unintelligibly. Though we listened intently, we could not make out what language he was mumbling in. After about three hours of our vigil on him and the front door, though we both knew Aloysius would not be back so soon, the boy finally tried to open his eyes. I ran over to sit by his side.

  “Agua…agua…”

  “I know that one. He wants water,” Christian jumped up from the foot of the bed and went toward the door. “Is that okay?”

  “Of course. We’re not torturing him; at least, I hope we don’t have to.” Christian shook his head and left the room.

  “Can you hear me? Do you speak enough English to talk to me?” I started talking as soon as Christian left so he wouldn’t go back to sleep.

  “Yes, but go slow, please,” he replied with a heavy accent through dry lips.

  “Good. We have questions – lots of questions. I’ll wait until you’ve had a drink first.” After all, I wasn’t completely heartless.

  Christian hurried in with a glass of water and handed it to me. He slipped his arm behind the boy’s head and I tilted the glass to his lips. He kept drinking until he had emptied half of it and then turned his head, his eyes fluttering, trying to focus on the room. I grabbed a tissue from the nightstand and wiped his wet chin.

  “Where are we?” he asked.

  “Don’t worry about it. You are somewhere safe,” I answered.

  “What is your name?” Christian asked with a gentle tone.

  “Jose Luis. Where did you bring me?” he insisted.

  “Don’t worry about that right now. You’re in no danger. We only need to talk to you,” I explained.

  “Why are you following us?” Christian asked. He propped Jose Luis’s head against a pillow. His head lolled to the side as he struggled to hold it up. Christian looked at me with fear. Did we take too much? I shook my head hoping I was right.

  “I cannot tell you.”

  “Why not? Did someone send you?”

  “I cannot say. I be dead if I say.” His eyes widened.

  “That’s not going to happen while you are with us, but we need to know why you are following us.”

  He shook his head and closed his eyes. I grabbed his shoulders and shook him but Christian placed his hands on my shoulders and shook his head.

  He’s obviously afraid…working for someone…what if we offer him protection – long-term?

  Are you kidding me? Protect this little rat? I clenched my hands on my lap, fighting the urge to shake Jose Luis to his senses.

  I looked at Christian’s eyes and saw his desperation to protect this kid. It was so like him to want to protect someone no matter what. Always thinking of others first. I nodded.

  “We won’t tell anyone we spoke with you. That’s a promise,” I told Jose Luis, who had opened his eyes and was staring at me.

  “You are pretty.”

  “Um…thank you…” I answered. I looked at Christian but he just smiled. “So, who sent you?”

  “I cannot…she will know.”

  “Again she? Who is she?” Christian’s tone was much gentler than mine would have been so I let him continue the questioning. I wanted a chance to get answers my way.

  “I cannot. Please. She will kill me.”

  As soon as I tried to invade the boy’s mind, it was like slamming my head against a brick wall at full speed. I grabbed my forehead as I felt the physical pain. How could he do that when he should be weakened from blood loss and also human?

  “Stay out of my brain.” He tried to sit up but didn’t make it far before flopping back on the pillows. “What did you do to me?”

  “Don’t worry about it. It was nothing life-threatening. You’ll be back to normal soon enough,” Christian explained.

  “If you tell us who she is, we’ll tell you what happened,” I urged. Christian looked at me and shrugged. I guess he wasn’t going to argue my methods. “After that, we’ll give you exac
tly what you need to get better.”

  “If I say, then I have to leave here. I cannot stay here and not be dead.”

  I can’t wait to hear this. What does he need to get better? I shrugged and took Christian’s hand. He would have to wait too.

  “We will find you a safe place to go. We promise. We won’t let whoever she is near you.”

  He sat up against the pillows again. He licked his dry lips and looked nervously from Christian to me. “Her name is Melinda.”

  I looked at Christian who looked as confused as I felt. He shrugged.

  “What is her last name? What does she look like?”

  “Melinda. That is all I know. I not know what she looks like. We only spoke on the telephone,” Jose Luis said and held his bound hands toward the glass of water. Christian held it to his lips and Jose Luis drank greedily.

  “I’ll get you more. Are you hungry?” Christian asked from the doorway.

  “No! He gets no food, just water for now,” I answered, not wanting Jose Luis to get too much from us before we could get what we needed from him.

  “Who were the people you led us to on the beach?” I asked as soon as Christian was gone.

  Jose Luis closed his eyes and turned his face away from me. Christian came back with the water but Jose Luis did not move.

  “Please, tell us something. We won’t hurt you. We already promised you safety.”

  He turned back to us with tears rolling down his face, his hair hanging in his eyes. Christian set the glass down and sat next to him, gently wiping the hair from his face, trying to give him the encouragement and comfort I couldn’t give.

  “They are my family now. I live with them, on the mountain. They are all I have.” He swallowed back more tears before turning his eyes to me. “Please, no hurt them.”

  “We will let them live if they leave us alone,” I said avoiding Christian’s face. I knew he didn’t agree with my methods – much too hard.

  “I want to sleep,” Jose Luis said as he sniffled and dried his eyes with the scarf around his wrists. “I need…bath.”