INVITING FIRE (A Sydney Rye Novel, #6) (10 page)

He bit his lip and turned away from me, looking out at the foliage. "I may have mentioned something about my feelings."

"May have?"

"I included a poem," he said.

"A poem?"

He nodded, his eyes searching through the jungle, seeming to ache for what they could not find.

"So you think she's just ignoring you?" I asked. "After you sent her a romantic poem."

He sighed. "Or something bad has happened to her."

"Did you send her another message? One just saying please respond."

"Yes. I've written her a dozen times. It is possible that the internet is down at the Tai Chi Center. But," he looked down at his hands, interlaced in his lap. "I am afraid that something has happened to her."

"You have to go."

He nodded. "I will, but I have responsibilities here." He turned to me. "There is a lot that is about to happen." He paused and made eye contact. I nodded, and turned away from him, dropping my hand from his arm. "You have to decide if you want to know more," Merl said.

I nodded again, looking through the branches of the trees, peering into the depths, testing how far I could see. "If you decide to join the council, and help make the decisions, really lead this organization," Merl continued, "you won't be able to go out on missions. This mission will be your last. We've all agreed not to let ourselves be put in danger." He paused for a moment. "After Malina."

"Right," I said.

"And we agreed that it made sense not to have more than two of us in one place at the same time."

I looked over at him, recognizing how many decisions were being made without me. "So, I'll never get to have a beer with you and Lenox again?"

"Not if you’re on the council, not any time soon. Maybe things will change but it's what makes the most sense now." He smiled. "Sydney, you've already committed your life to this, and I get that you don't feel like you’re worthy of leading but you are. Your spirit inspires people."

"Inspires them to get themselves killed, Merl."

He shook his head. "No. To live for something." I didn't answer. "Think about it," Merl said. "It's a big decision. And our offer will stand. If you're not done with the trenches, I can understand. I think Mulberry is struggling with that."

"He's struggling?" I asked, my voice low, not wanting it to be true. The idea of him hurting tugged at a part of me so breakable that I hated to acknowledge it.

"With something," Merl said, raising his eyebrows.

"What?" I said, breaking eye contact.

"Are we going to play that game?"

"He's never said anything to me."

"You might make it a little hard."

"That's pretty rich coming from the man who refuses to fly to China to express his sentiments of love and adoration," I said, trying to make it sound light and jokey.

"I have responsibilities here," Merl said, his voice tight.

"Well, maybe it's something like that for me, too," I snapped.

"How?" Merl asked, his voice calm, curious.

"I have a responsibility not to hurt him."

"You'd have a responsibility to try not to get killed if you were with him."

"It wasn't like that with Dan," I said.

"I don't think this would be the same."

"I loved Dan," I said, looking over at Merl who cocked his head in question. "Just a bit."

"Just a bit? I didn't know you could be in love just a bit."

"In that moment it made sense but we both knew it wouldn't go on. That it was too easy."

"You both thought that? That it was too easy? Are you sure Dan felt the same?"

"He kept Joyful Justice from me."

"So did everyone else."

"I'm saying, we kept each other at arm’s length but that doesn't mean there wasn't deep affection there."

"But you don't want to be with him now. You can't see it?"

I laughed. "Oh, I can see it. I can see it perfectly. We live in his house in Key West and we go to the beach and we go to the market and we sleep and we read and he gardens. Maybe we even have a baby. And we lay in each other's arms and feel at peace."

"Wow," Merl laughed. "That sounds really nice."

"And painfully boring, wouldn't you say?" I asked leaning into him, knocking him with my shoulder.

"You could never be boring," he said, knocking me back.

"Neither could Dan and that's why it would never work."

"What do you mean?"

"We do boring really good together," I said, leaning back onto my elbows and looking up into the tree. "But it does not actually suit either of us."

"So no fiery fights?"

"I would just walk out."

"You didn't care?"

"I didn't care to fight with him."

"But Mulberry?"

I laughed. "All right, you've successfully scared me off the roof," I said as I turned to climb back toward the window.

"3 p.m. Sydney, don't forget," Merl said as I made my way back inside. "We have a lot of work to do."

T
he moisture in the air turned heavy enough for gravity to pull it to the ground as tiny droplets. They turned the surface of the pool cloudy with their constant, gentle assault.

Lenox's form moved through the water, dark against the pale aqua bottom. His shaved head turning with every other stroke, his powerful arms diving into the water, slicing smoothly through. I stopped and watched. The way his legs kicked quickly, tightly together, further propelling his form through the water. Elegant, powerful, steady. There was no flash or wasted energy.

As Lenox approached the end of the pool I stepped up, crouching down by the edge. His fingers, the pads the color of light coffee, brushed the wall. Water rolled with him as he came to a stop, letting his body float down while he looked up through the misty rain at me. Lenox smiled. The gold chain around his neck floated off his chest. It was so delicate. I wanted to reach down and touch it, run it lightly against my fingers.

"Thanks for telling Merl you thought I was ready," I said with a smile.

He nodded. "I think it's true."

Blue moved to the edge of the pool and placing his front paws wide, leaned down, lapping at the water. The rain was beginning to penetrate the top layer of Blue's coat and made him look smaller.

"I was going to get some food," I said, gesturing with my chin toward the mess hall. "Want to come?"

Lenox smiled. "I'd love to, but I have to go."

Grabbing onto the edge of the pool he began to haul himself up. I watched his shoulders bunch, forearms tighten, and finally his biceps and the muscles that wrapped around from the backs of his arms came into sharp relief as his chest rose out of the water. The water streamed down, following the force of gravity, but seeming to take the most luxurious ride down his form, before returning to the big empty pool.

I backed up, giving Lenox space as his leg came up and he hopped into a standing position, drops of water shaking off him. I felt them on my face and bare arms. He didn't reach for a towel, just stood in front of me, the soft drizzle joining with the lingering streams slipping down his body. "I'm looking forward to working with you," he said. His gold chain rested against his neck again, short enough that it barely brushed his collarbone, but long enough that when he was on top of me it could fall against his lips.

I cleared my throat. "Me too," I said. Lenox smiled at me and I realized what all his clients were really paying for: the acknowledgement and admiration he showered so generously on you. Beyond companionship and pleasure lies the deep need to be accepted.

"Do you mind if I get you wet?" he asked.

I laughed. "What a rude question."

"Yes, well," he said in that delicious voice of his, as he closed the distance between us. "I can be a very rude boy."

A
t 3 sharp I walked into the conference room across the hall from Merl's dojo and found him waiting for me. He was seated on the far side of the table. The tinted windows behind him overlooked the garden paths. His dogs sat around him, watching Blue and me as we walked in. Chula's tail nub tapped rhythmically. Merl looked more relaxed than this morning. "Sit down," he said, motioning to the seat across the table from him.

Blue moved under the table.

In front of Merl, on the glossy blonde wood table, sat a keyboard and mouse as well as a small black thumb drive. Merl pushed it over to me. "Copies of everything we're going over today."

I reached out and pulled it closer to me.

"You're going to be making a delivery." I made a small motion with my head toward the thumb drive. "No, it will be paper. Good old-fashioned paper. An electronic version will be placed on Juan Carlos's hard drives."

"Juan Carlos," I said smiling, pleased to know we were going after him and I was a part of it. "But won't that clue him into the fact that we are on his computer?" I asked.

"It doesn't matter. No one can keep Dan out. Besides," he smiled, "we are trying to scare him, Sydney. We'd much prefer that he follow our instructions so that we don't actually have to destroy him."

"What happens if he doesn't do it?"

"We think it best to leave the consequences up to his imagination."

"Or mine," I said with a smile.

"Perhaps," Merl acknowledged before turning to the screen. He navigated with the wireless mouse in front of him and brought up a picture of a yacht. Silver and black, it had a helicopter on its stern and the name
Goldilocks
embossed on its side. The picture was taken from the air, a pin up shot, luxury porn. "We've been debating how much to tell the mailmen."

I laughed. "Is that what you're calling me? A mailman?"

Merl smiled. "Deliverymen sounded more ominous. And you are not supposed to hurt anyone, or even be seen. Just leave the package and get out."

I frowned. "Not hurt anyone?"

"You're delivering a list of demands." Merl said. "It's a blueprint of how Juan Carlos," Merl clicked his mouse again and the image of the man came onto the screen, "can change his organization to avoid Joyful Justice's wrath."

Juan Carlos was in his mid-50s. Black hair receding from his brow, Hispanic features, double chin, and dark, deep-set eyes with large bags underneath. In the picture he was reclining in a wicker chair, his ample belly bulging in front of him, a scowl carving deep lines into his cheeks. He looked unhealthy, like a man who had a lot on his mind and didn't take care of himself.

“Wrath?" I said. "How biblical. So, you want me to deliver a package to Juan Carlos, a blueprint of how he can avoid our 'wrath'. What does that mean exactly?"

Merl shook his head. “Sydney, one of the reasons I'm sending you out on this is because I need you to prove to me that you can stay calm and not kill Juan Carlos. He is more use to us alive."

"What about Malina?"

"He didn't kill her."

"But the guy who did worked for him. That's like taking out the soldiers and leaving Hitler alive."

Merl sat back in his chair, lips tight. "Well, if you want a say in how we do these things, join the council."

I turned back to the screen and looked at the man's picture. Merl continued, "Juan Carlos moves people across borders to work in restaurants, hotels, people's homes," Merl said. "He makes it impossible to pay off their debt, but for them to keep paying, they need to be alive and relatively healthy. The incident you were involved in is unusual and pointed to a troubling shift in his business model. We want him to shift it again."

"To what?" I asked, looking over at Merl, interested.

He smiled and cocked his head. "Join the council."

"I thought you were going to give me time."

"I thought you were ready to be a good soldier."

I took a deep breath and closed my eyes. I heard Merl click the mouse and looking back at the screen saw an image of ship schematics. "You're going to leave the demands on his desk in his office. It's three levels up from the main deck.” Merl zoomed in so that I could see the lines representing the man's office. "You're going to come up the side of the ship, but I want you to learn these schematics in case you need a different escape route. Hopefully, you'll be able to just get in and out." He used his mouse to point to the balcony off the office. "You'll come in here."

"How am I going to do that? Fly?"

Merl shook his head. "You'll climb. That is one of the things we will be working on over the next six days."

"My ability to scale yachts?"

Merl laughed. "Don't worry, I have a plan. We will go over it after I get you up to speed on this."

He clicked again and a photograph of an office interior sprung onto the screen. We were looking straight at a large wooden desk, behind it was a leather chair, dimpled with buttons. Built in bookcases, filled with leather-bound volumes, the titles embossed in gold, flanked the chair. In the space between the bookshelves, centered with the desk, hung a blade, forearm length and curved. It had a gold hilt decorated with jewels that reflected white in the camera flash. "You'll leave the package on his desk." Merl moved his pointer back to the schematics. "It's here," he said, pointing to the stern-side wall of the office. It was on the opposite side of the room as the balcony. "You'll have to pass through a seating area."

"Should be a snap after scaling a mega yacht," I said.

Merl clicked again and a photograph of balcony doors behind a seating area came to life. The glass was similar to the tinted windows behind Merl. "Where did you get these photos?" I asked.

"We had someone on board."

"What happened to him?"

"After what happened at the bunker, Juan Carlos changed up his staff and security protocols. Moved everyone around."

"Do we know the new ones?"

"We think so," he said with a smile.

"More mystery, you worried about facts being tortured out of me?"

"Something like that," Merl said, keeping his eyes on the screen.

"But I want to make sure that if there is someone on that boat working for us that they are safe," I said.

Merl smiled. "Don't kill anyone and it will be fine." He turned to me. "In fact, this may be a good way to keep you from hurting people. Imagine that someone on that ship is on our side."