Page 17 of The Hero
She refused to think about what would happen when they got back to the States. How she’d have to watch him walk away. She was just ajob to him, nothing more. She had no claim on the man. But every time she held him as he drove them through the night, he surefeltas if he belonged to her, just as she belonged to him.
They hadn’t kissed again, and with each day that went by, Marlowe longed more and more to feel his lips on hers. She was beginning to think she’d imagined the feelings that had coursed through her the first time.
Kendric knocked on the back door, and it opened almost immediately. The woman at the door had a smile on her face—but as soon as she saw them, it faded. Her gaze flicked past Marlowe’s shoulder, as if looking for someone else, before returning to them.
“Marlowe and Bob?” she asked in accented English.
“That’s us,” Kendric said.
“You are male and female,” the woman said, still frowning.
“Yes,” he agreed.
The three of them stood there staring at each other for a heart-stopping moment before the woman gestured for them to enter. They walked into a kitchen, and once the door was shut, the woman wrung her hands together as she spoke again. “I believed you were two men. You married?”
“No. Does it matter?” Kendric asked.
“Yes. Hiding space, it is small. One bed. Man and woman cannot stay together unless married.”
Marlowe tensed. Everything on their journey had gone pretty smoothly. She wasn’t sure what would happen if they couldn’t stay here.
Kendric looked down at her, then back at the woman. “Customs are different in America,” he said. “It’s not necessary. We are friends. We just want to rest. Eat. Get clean. That’s it.”
But the woman stubbornly shook her head. “No. Not allowed to sleep together if not married.”
“I can sleep on the floor in a different room,” Kendric tried.
But the woman continued to frown at them. Marlowe had a feeling she wouldn’t relent.
And no way did she want to be separated from Kendric. He’d literally saved her life. She could already feel the panic welling inside her at the thought of not being near him while she was sleeping and vulnerable.
Kendric sighed. “All right. We’ll go. Find somewhere else to stay until tonight.”
Marlowe’s heart sank. She’d so been looking forward to a shower. And her butt hurt from sitting on the scooter all night. And she didn’t know what this change of plans would do for their schedule. How difficult it would be to find somewhere else to hide during the daytime.
Instead of looking relieved, their host actually seemed more distressed. “My sister, she in next village. She tell me police are looking for escaped prisoners. Searching houses, roads. Jungle. If you leave, they maybe find you.”
Kendric frowned, and Marlowe’s head spun with worry.
Their hosts at the previous safe house had told them that Thai authorities had widened their search for the women who’d escaped the prison, that very few had been recaptured so far. There was a long list of every name, along with each woman’s picture, on the news and in the papers.
That was why she’d continued to wear the wig, even though they were now less than fifty miles from the border. Monetary rewards were being offered, enough to convince almost anyone to turn them in if they were spotted. They might not be in the city anymore, but they were still in danger.
“Marry now,” the woman said suddenly.
Marlowe’s eyes widened at her words. “What?”
“Marry now. Here. Then can stay in safe place under floor. Together. Even if police search, they will no find you. I can make arrangements. Now.”
“Give us a minute?” Kendric asked the woman, already putting his hand on Marlowe’s arm and pulling her to the side of the room. “Thisisn’t necessary. I’ll find us somewhere else to hunker down. You’ll be safe. I promise.”
“But she said the police are searching the area. And before we got here, you saw a police car and took that shortcut through the jungle so we wouldn’t be spotted. Where else would we go?”
“I don’t know. But I refuse to force you into something so drastic, not with everything you’ve already been through.”
Marlowe blinked—then suppressed a hysterical giggle. “I can’t believe you’re comparingmarriageto being falsely accused of selling drugs, being thrown into a foreign prison, breakingoutof said prison, then driving through the night, through pitch-dark jungles and on roads that are more ruts in the ground than actual roads,” Marlowe huffed.
Kendric’s lips twitched. “Well, when you put it that way ...,” he said sarcastically.
