Page 29 of Rough Choice

“Es un muy buen,” Grier replied. He hadn’t been exaggerating. His Spanish was flawless, and he spoke it like he’d been born and raised south of the border. Just another element to his mystery, Eliana thought. “Cuando podemos esperar irnos?”

“I feel completely lost,” Eliana said quietly, turning her back to the other men and looking up at Kye. He was dressed in a sexy white silk shirt with black embroidery, white slacks with dressy, but practical, shoes. His straw fedora was charming, and she saw her reflection in his sunglasses.

“He’s asking when the pilot thinks he’ll be ready to leave,” Kye said, wrapping an arm around her. Eliana was comfortable in her light and airy red cotton dress that flowed around her ankles. When she placed a hand on Kye’s shoulder, she caught sight of the beautiful opal charm bracelet he’d insisted on buying her.

“Cual es tu prisa, no te gusta Monterrey?” Alberto asked, and he and Diego laughed. Eliana sighed. She’d never been ungrateful for taking Latin and German for her foreign language credits until this moment. Though Latin was the root of many languages, she’d primarily studied the law terminology and somehow ‘habeas corpus’ didn’t seem applicable at the moment. At least she hoped not.

“He’s asking what our hurry is and if we don’t like Monterrey,” Kye translated in her ear. Though she hadn’t heard him speak it yet, Eliana found it immensely sexy that Kye could speak the language.

“Mi esposa esta ansiosa por ver el oceana, Senor. Yo estoy ansiosa por complacera,” Kye said in accented but wonderful Spanish. Alberto laughed again and looked at Eliana with a crooked smile.

“That was sexy,” she whispered, and he smiled down at her.

“I told him you were eager to see the ocean, and I was eager to see you pleased,” he told her, and they both pretended not to watch as Grier opened his bag to pay Alberto.

“You wanna see me pleased?” she asked, looking at him over the top of her sunglasses. “Speak a little more of that Spanish and we can join the mile-high club.” Her wink and suggestion sent a jolt of arousal through him, and Kye had to force his mind to stay focused on their task. He pretended to stretch and take a few steps away from them as he surveyed the landing strip.

It wasn’t a fully private airport, but it definitely wasn’t run by the government. He could see inside the hangar several charter planes, small passenger jets, and a few turbo planes for crop dusting were housed, but at the moment there were no aircraft flying overhead. The fact that the place wasn’t too busy was both a blessing and a curse. While it would likely afford them an earlier departure time because they wouldn’t have to navigate air traffic, it would also be easier for someone to track down their flight if they were looking for them.

“We’re all squared,” Grier said, walking over to him. Alberto and Diego were chatting and laughing like the best of friends, probably elated to have found such stupid Americans to pay so much for a four-hour flight. “He said it’ll take a few hours to refuel and have the plane emptied, but we should be able to leave before nightfall.”

“That’s good,” Kye said with his arm still protectively wrapped around Eliana. “It’s been twenty hours since we left the bus on the side of the road. I want to be out of town before tomorrow. Do we have somewhere we can lay low until the plane is ready?”

“I say we arm up, get a hot meal, and get back here just before he leaves. The longer we linger the more attention we draw,” Grier said, noticing the way the airport workers all stared at the wealthy-looking Americans.

“Good idea. Can Diego give us a ride back to town?” Kye asked, knowing they were thirty minutes from the downtown district they’d left.

“I’m sure he can, he already offered to bring us back when Alberto is ready. I have a feeling they don’t want us seeing what they’re unloading or loading,” Grier stated. Eliana felt a shiver run down her spine at the thought.

“It’s okay,” Kye said, sensing her fear. “In two hours, we’re out of here. Did Alberto agree to fly us on to San Pedro?”

“He was ready to fly us to the moon for more money,” Grier said dryly. “Come on, I’m famished, and I need a drink.”

“When do you not need a drink?” Eliana asked sarcastically.

“When I have a full one in my hand,” he retorted, and she snorted out a laugh.

* * *

“This is taking too long,” Eliana said nervously as she wrung her hands in her lap. They were sitting in the back of Diego’s town car, and though they’d been promised a departure before sunset, the burning orb was low on the horizon, and they hadn’t heard anything from the pilot since that afternoon.

“I’m going to check,” Grier said from the front seat and stepped out of the car. Diego had picked them up at the restaurant they’d eaten at, and though all three of them were secretly armed, Eliana didn’t feel safe in that moment.

The airport had been buzzing with activity earlier in the day. Workers running to and fro with fueling hoses, cleaning equipment, carts of luggage and crates, and even a few guys with those light-up sticks that helped direct traffic. Now the whole place was dead. Only the plane they knew belonged to Alberto was sitting in wait for liftoff, and the only lights they could see were the blue runway lights, a red flickering one from the tower in the distance, and the flood of light from inside the hangar that was nearly fifty yards away.

“There they are,” Kye said, pointing. Grier was only a few steps outside the vehicle when Diego and Alberto were seen walking toward them from the hangar. As they drew closer, Kye stepped out of the car first and signaled for Eliana to wait. The four men exchanged handshakes quickly.

“My apologies,” Alberto said in hurried Spanish. He seemed flustered, and that immediately sent Kye and Grier into hyperawareness. “It took longer to refuel than expected. The engine is warming up, and we will leave soon. My cousin can show you onto the plane.”

“Thank you,” Kye said and turned to wave for Eliana to join then, but Alberto stopped him.

“Before we go, I must ask that you allow me to search your belongings.” Kye froze.

“Why?” he asked in a stern voice.

“Please, I am responsible for whatever items come onto my plane. If you have any weapons or contraband, I need to know about it,” Alberto defended. His forehead was sweaty, and neither Kye nor Grier figured it was because of the sweltering heat.

“Only our guard is armed,” Kye said, gesturing to Grier he patted a hand on the gun he openly wore on his hip. “I don’t carry, and my wife hates guns.”