Around the World in 80 Men Boxed Set 31-35 (9 page)

Tanner
watched her walk through the front door of the bar, and sent a mental
thank you
as he dialed Anthony's number. He imagined that
almost every girl in the place watched Morgan's attacker get hauled
away, and a few most likely saw him escape. Yet, they all went back
to their lives as if nothing had happened.

Some
of the women were dancers, some prostitutes, and some only worked a
few hours a day to clean the rooms. But they all had one thing in
common; they were out of hope for a better life.

“Not
you, Morgan. Not you.” He walked back to his rental car and
slid in, waiting for Anthony to answer. Voicemail. “Why can't
anyone answer their fucking phone?!” No matter, he had the
address and would drive right to the man.

*****

Alrik
had carried Morgan to the lobby, then to the bar. She hated knowing
that everyone was looking at them, so she finally insisted that the
man put her down. “I need my shoes.” She looked down at
her feet, as did Alrik. His loud laughter made the entire bar turn
and look at them again. Morgan was grateful that there were only a
handful of people there at the moment. “Stop it.” Her
small hand came up and covered his lips, in which, he quickly licked
her hand. “Really?” Alrik wouldn't allow her to wipe it
off, and the slight struggle turned into Alrik holding her arm in the
air and licking Morgan's face. A full cheek lick, right in front of
the bartender.

Morgan
stepped back. She narrowed her eyes and dropped her forehead
slightly. The look of danger took over her face, her body tightened,
it...was...war. Morgan broke free of his grip around her wrist, and
grabbed his face with both hands. Her ankle hurt, her ribs hurt, even
her face hurt, but she had more than enough strength to get on her
toes and run her tongue from his left cheek to the right. Alrik's
head moved back and he tried to dodge her, but she was too fast. The
lick was made.

She
stepped back, proud of herself, and carefully climbed on one of the
barstools. Morgan was out of breath, and her whole body seemed to
throb with every beat of her heart, but it was the first time in days
she had felt
alive.
Alrik was still wiping his face when she
got her breathing under control, and she did her best to control her
facial expressions when he finally looked at her again. The
medication still wasn't in full effect, but it made her mind free
enough to enjoy herself.

“
Hey,”
Alrik put a finger under her chin and softly rubbed her cheek with
his thumb. She closed her eyes at his touch, then opened them slowly
as he brought her hand to his lips. “You're okay?”

Morgan
nodded, and smiled weakly.

“
Really?”
He cared about Morgan, and after her outburst upstairs, Alrik knew
she hadn't been able to get out all of her emotions. As he assumed,
everyone was worried about her physical well-being, to the point,
they hadn't even told her about her attacker's whereabouts. She was
too fragile in all of their minds, and they believed she couldn't
handle it. From one man to another, he knew Finlay knew what happened
to Carlos, and to Alrik, that was bullshit. “You want to talk
about it?”

She
loved his accent, the way his words rolled from his lips in that
Swedish wave. It brought another smile to her lips, and she shook her
head slowly back and forth. She
wanted
to talk about it. She
wanted
to get her feelings out. Not then, not there. All she
wanted to do was enjoy her moment of happiness with a friend she had
missed dearly.

“
Okay.”
Alrik smiled back, and his sweet gesture of cheek rubbing, turned
into a finger in her nose.

“
Ew!
You. Are. Disgusting!” Morgan swat his hand away and rubbed her
nose with a bar napkin, but it quickly turned into genuine laughter.
“You stuck your finger in my nose!”

“
Yep.”
Alrick stood quickly, avoiding any retaliation. She was laughing, and
that meant so much to him. And even though she wasn't ready to talk,
it meant the world to her as well that he had offered.

Finlay,
Angel, even Julianne...they all adored her and wanted what was best
for her, but Morgan wasn't a child. She was strong, she could handle
the truth and later, she would demand it. “I think you owe me a
drink for that one.”

“
You
do realize it's nine-fifteen in the morning?” Alrik raised a
brow, but there was no judgement from his end.

“
I
don't mean right now. Ass.” Her eyes went to the wide display
of alcohol in front of her. The bar wasn't open, but the thought of a
cold, hard, drink nearly made her mouth water. “I think coffee
will do for now. But later...when...when I'm better, I'll hold you to
it.” Alrik nodded in agreeance. He would be sure to hold to his
promise.

Morgan's
mental state hadn't been noticed by anyone, not even by Morgan
herself. She was beginning to shut down when she was forced to
feel
or think about things. Her outburst that morning was the last one
that she intended to have. It was easier, she thought, to feel weak
and push it aside. She truly didn't want to deal with her thoughts,
and the fear of the world had began to consume her.

*****

“
Hola!”
Rudy ran as fast as his legs could carry him, across the long yard as
a white car pulled into the driveway. They weren't expecting company,
at least none that he knew about. “Hola!” He shouted
again as Tanner climbed out of the vehicle.

“
Uh,
hey.” Certainly that wasn't Anthony, but Tanner was sure the
old man knew where he was. “I'm Tanner. I'm a...
friend...
of
Finlay. Is Anthony here?” That should do it.

The
short man narrowed his eyes at the Australian, trying to process
everything. After a few moments, Rudy nodded and ran to the front of
the house, yelling for Anthony as he climbed the stairs.

“
There
is a man here. He wants to go tanning? There is a beach right there
and I saw he just...” Anthony didn't listen to the rest of the
sentence as Rudy pointed to the direction of the shore. He opened the
front door, and saw Tanner leaned against the rental car, obviously
waiting for him.

“
Can
I help you?” Anthony took the steps and waited until he was at
ground level to ask the question.

“
He's
escaped.”

Chapter
Nine

Morgan
and Alrik spent the entire morning in the bar. Most of it was Morgan
listening to her friend tell her everything he'd been doing since she
was there. She asked about the staff, the weather, his social life,
and even more about Felix and Julianne. For the hours that they'd
spent talking, and listening, Morgan hardly thought of Carlos at all.

Movements
would bring pain, to the point of Alrik asking twice if she needed
more medication, but even then, Morgan's mind remained free of it
all. It was as if a gift had been handed to her that morning, a gift
of friendship that only Alrik could have given her. No strings, no
deep rooted feelings, and no worries. They were simply two friends
having a wonderful morning. It was, as Morgan would agree, what she
needed and with perfect timing.

“How
long are you planning to ignore my fine ass?” Angel joined them
after two o'clock. He couldn't wait any longer, and if he had to
watch Julianne straighten the cushions improperly one more time, he
was going to start flipping furniture.
Large cushions are
straight,
small pillows at an angle.
Those were the words
that he mentally recited a dozen times before he finally had to leave
the room. His lips would only stay shut for so long, and he was
already past the point of trusting himself alone with her lack of
skills in cushion-placement. “And where the fuck are your
shoes?” Angel's eyes moved quickly between Morgan and her feet,
which made Morgan laugh as her toes squirmed under his glare. Hearing
her laughter pulled at his heart, and he needed more. “I'm
going to go get shoes to cover those things, and stop that shit, it's
gross.”

Morgan's
feet were far from
gross
, but it made her laugh again. “Want
me to order you a drink?” He turned to see her brows dance
above twinkling eyes, and it was all he could do to stop from
bringing her into his arms with happiness. He reached up and twirled
one curl with one finger as he answered.

“Bitch...
that is one question that you don't ever need to ask. The
mothafuckin' answer is always going to be the same.” He turned
then, and his deliberate hip sway made all of them laugh as he rocked
his best
runway
all the way to the elevator.

“God,
I love him.” Morgan and Alrik were still laughing when they
ordered a bottle of wine. They were still laughing when Angel
returned to clarify which shoes Morgan wanted. They were still
laughing when Finlay walked unnoticed through the front of the
hotel, and to the stairs.

“Aye,
go oon then. I'll let ye know when I'm back.” Finlay was on the
phone as he slowly climbed the stairs. It was a long way up, but he
needed to think and he needed to move. Sean had been calling him
several times a day, and finally, Finlay returned the call. His best
friend was worried, as it wasn't like Finlay to leave like that,
especially when Sean knew he'd just landed a huge contract with a new
hospital in Edinburgh. Construction was to begin in less than a week,
and nobody had heard from the man in charge.

Finlay
couldn't answer when he'd be back, nor did he tell his Irish friend
where he'd gone or why. Sean would be on the next flight out of
Dublin, and Finlay knew it. He hated lying to him, but he couldn't
risk it. Sean was capable of handling his crew, and he didn't need
the stress. He would tell him. Eventually.

“
Look
what the mothafuckin' bat dragged in!” Angel had taken the
elevator back upstairs to grab one of the bags of chips, and both of
the men reached the hotel door at the same time.

“
I've
got te go, mate.” Finlay didn't leave another opportunity for
Angel to speak and blow his cover. He hung up on Sean, and turned his
attention to Angel. “Not in the mood.” Finlay had also
enjoyed a liquid lunch after his conversation with Mendez, and
Tanner.

“
Aren't
we just a grumpy boy today?” Angel opened the door and walked
in front of Finlay to go inside first. Angel waited for Finlay to
come in, and made sure the door was shut behind him. “What's
the matter, Boo Boo?”

Finlay
walked through the room, ignoring Angel like a gnat flying around his
head. He'd spent half the morning feeling angry and disappointed with
himself for not stopping Carlos. He never should have put the job in
someone else's hands, and when it came down to it, he had to do it
again. This time, it was Tanner; someone who had been in Costa Rica
the whole time. The last thing he wanted was
advice
from
Angel. “Leave me alone. Please?” Angel followed him to
the couch and sat down next to him. He sat in silence, but his
presence was overwhelming. “Look, I don' want te talk.”

“
Oh
hell!” Angel waved a hand in front of his face dramatically,
wafting Finlay's breath away from his direction. “That's right,
Boo, don't talk. My nostril hairs just shriveled up and ran down my
throat. How much did you drink?”

Finlay
sighed loudly and leaned his back against the couch, then reached
into his pant's pocket. “Give this te Morgan, will ye?”
He had done a little shopping after the bar, to find something nice
for Morgan. He wasn't good with gifts though, and he didn't want to
interrupt a good time that she so much deserved at the moment, so
Angel giving it to her sounded like a better idea.

“
I
ain't your mothafuckin' delivery man. You go give it to her.”
Angel bent down and pulled something from Morgan's bag.

Finlay
shoved the gift back into his pocket and stood. He wanted to lash
out, to tell Angel to go to hell. He was glad he didn't, because in
his hand were a pair of white ankle socks and Morgan's tennis shoes.
Obviously, he could clearly see, Angel was taking great care of
Morgan, and losing his temper on her best friend would have been
terrible.

“Aye,”
Finlay sighed and closed his eyes, “I will.”

*****

Tanner
and Anthony had spent more than three hours in the thick brush along
the road going out of town. It was hot, but the clouds threatened
with a storm that they were sure to get stuck in if they continued to
descend the hill they were currently on. Anthony was almost out of
ideas since he knew the area so well, but Tanner wasn't close to
moving on. “We can go to the bottom of this ridge, but there
are only rocks and a stream down there.” Anthony pointed
downward, then looked up at the darkening sky. “I think we
should call in some help.” Anthony wanted nothing more than to
find, Carlos, but he truly didn't think that the two of them were
going to get too far. Tanner was about to argue when a flash of
lightening lit above them, and the deafening crack followed. The men
looked up together, to see the storm clouds above, and caught sight
of something up the hill. “Who the..?”