The Gambit (48 page)

I bashed myself for being so naïve.
They
were still out there. I escaped by the skin of my teeth today. We were only three hours north of Miami…

“
Ay Dios mio!
” Rachel’s aunt squealed from the living room. Out of concern, I walked around the corner to see what made her say that. The news was on. I covered my mouth in shock.

“…Vicenzo Flores was arrested on two counts of vehicular manslaughter. Authorities have now informed us he was driving the Hummer that assisted Owen Marina is his escape. Three of the five bikers have been arrested, and his brother, Luciano Flores, was turned in by one of the bikers. Now that the FBI has apprehended almost everyone involved, the pressing matter is finding their cousin, Rachel. Owen and she are still on the run. Please, if anyone knows of their whereabouts, please call the FBI’s anonymous tip line. There is a hundred-thousand dollar reward for their capture…”

The footage of Vinny’s Hummer plowing into the side of the Tahoe replayed over and over. Glass exploded and scattered on the asphalt. The Tahoe rolled three times from the impact. I rubbed the scrapes on my forearms, wondering why I wasn’t in the hospital. Maybe it hadn’t hit me yet. I couldn’t comprehend that I even survived such an impact.

I felt someone beside me, and I looked over my shoulder to see Grey standing a few feet behind me watching the same thing. His dark, beady eyes were cold. Sometimes I wondered what was going on in his head. He was so quiet, and he always had been. Actions spoke louder than words for him. His intellect did all the talking. I was still curious to what he did in the airport.

“…Once again, there is a hundred-thousand dollar reward for Owen and Rachel’s capture. Please contact the FBI’s anonymous tip line at 1-888…” The words faded out. They made my stomach flop. How predictable, the government enticing the American People with money to turn me in. All the odds were against me, against us. A fog hung over my brain; it felt fuzzy. I was enveloped in it. Being
here
was the cause. It was a temporary escape from reality. Nausea overtook me every time I thought of where we would go tomorrow and what we could do. My road was becoming shorter by the day…but where would it
end?

“Shit, they got Vinny
and
Luke?” Briana asked from the other side of the living room. She stood beneath the arched opening which led to a hall and the master bedroom. Her hair was wrapped up in a towel.

“
Si
,” Rachel’s aunt answered.

She turned around and went back down the hall. I heard muffled voices. She was probably telling Rachel and her mom. I looked over my shoulder again. Grey had sat back down at the dining room table. I walked over and pulled out a chair to join him. He looked at me, blinking. His lips pressed into a line, and I couldn’t tell if he was zoning out or just waiting for me to say something.

“So, I was curious…” I began. “What did you do at the airport?”

A childlike grin emerged. He actually started to chuckle.

“I used my ticket to execute a code in the existing system. All calls in and out of the airport wouldn’t work. Then, I posed as an employee and hacked into the mainframe. I turned off all the security cameras and set their override clearance to wartime status. Only the President could intervene.”

He was so casual about it.

“No shit!” I coughed, patting him on his back. “Fucking incredible, you’re unreal man.”

He smirked. “It was pretty badass, I’m not gonna lie.” We laughed and continued for quite some time. It was empowering, reliving our day. Grey’s plan worked, Briana’s passport worked, it was just that goddamn air marshal. We were so close it made me sick. I was in the fucking plane for crying out loud. How much closer could I have gotten? I would never know.

“No wonder you didn’t want to tell us. I wouldn’t have wanted to jinx that shit either!”

“Yeah, you’re telling me…” He said. “I knew how important it was that it worked. I wanted you to be safe, man.” His statement was heartfelt. I could feel it, and it was good to know I had a friend like Grey, who had risked his life from the beginning to keep me safe. I would have never made it out of Virginia if it wasn’t for him.

“Thank you, man. You have no idea how much it means to me that you’ve helped me from the start.”

He shook his head. “What else was I gonna do? You were framed for a crime you didn’t commit. It’s right and wrong, man—black and white. There is no other way to see it in my eyes. I knew I had to do what is right, and that was helping you. I wouldn’t change a thing.”

I nodded. “Thanks, man.”

“No, don’t thank me,” he countered.

My eyebrows quirked. “Why not?”

“Because man, I know we go way back to before you had your title, but still, I never thanked you for what you have done for this country.”

My breath shuddered. He almost made me tear up. Not because I hadn’t been thanked before, because I had, many times. It was because it was from him. The longest friend I had in life.

“If Cole wouldn’t have badgered me for weeks on end back in our Camp, we wouldn’t even be having this conversation right now. He managed to convince me.”

“How?” Grey asked. I didn’t expect him to question me further. I drew the memory from the recesses of my mind…and it was painful.
Very
painful. It was the question that changed my life forever.

“He said, ‘The real question for you is, once you’ve left this world…how do you want to be
remembered?
’”

I stirred from my sleep and let out an obnoxiously loud yawn. I stretched out my arms and legs, accidently kicking a throw pillow off the sofa. I pushed myself backward to slide up in a sitting position, and I rubbed my eyes. Mrs. Flores was sitting in a recliner, staring at me with a warm smile. I jumped in shock. She hadn’t been sitting there when I dozed off, or at least I didn’t think she was. I pulled the blanket over my body more because I felt exposed, even though I wasn’t. I glanced around the dimly lit living room. No one was with us. Was everyone asleep?

“Why are you looking at me like that?” she asked.

“Like what?”

“Like I’m disturbing you,” she chuckled. Her voice was a tad raspy, but it had that silky tone that Rachel’s did, and I couldn’t handle the similarity. It was too weird.

“Sorry…” I mumbled. She held the remote in her hand, but she wasn’t changing the channels. The TV was turned to a reality show from what I could tell, and the volume was muted.

“You know…” She began. My heart sped up. Where was everyone? I was afraid of where this was going. I had watched way too much porn in my life to not know what happens next in situations like these. The hot, middle-aged woman was away from her husband and couldn’t resist but to watch the young stud toss and turn in his sleep…

What the fuck am I even thinking? What is wrong with me?
Where is Rachel?

“My daughter really likes you…a lot.”

I didn’t know what to say. I just nodded in acknowledgment.

“She has always been naïve with men and her relationships.”

“She told me,” I responded.

“Did she?”

I nodded.

“I guess she just picked the wrong ones, for the wrong reasons. She’s only twenty-three, you know.”

I knew she was a few years younger than me, but I had never discussed Rachel’s age with her before. Hearing it out loud made me realize she was probably only a year or so out of college. I was pushing twenty-eight. Her maturity masked her youth.

I nodded. I didn’t know what Mrs. Flores was getting at. I got the sense that she was trying to feel me out, like any good mother would of a new man interested in their daughter.

“She tells me you are one of the best guys she has ever had the honor of meeting.”

I couldn’t help but smile. I heard Rachel’s voice in my head telling her mom what she thought of me.

“The honor is all mine, Mrs. Flores. Like I said when I met you earlier, she has helped me get this far. Her connection to Ian was the reason she approached me in the first place. It is the only hope I have left. There isn’t much anymore.”

My words felt cold—empty. It was a difficult truth to acknowledge.

“Thank you, Owen, for your kind words. She is the brightest star in the sky…and the last one that I have remaining, in an all but dark world.”

I stayed quiet.

“Seeing my daughter on the news with you was indescribably painful. I don’t think you’ll ever understand the feeling until you have children of your own. I haven’t been eating much because I have been worried sick about her.”

“I’m sorry…” I mumbled.

Mrs. Flores pressed her lips together and sighed. She adjusted her legs and turned more in my direction.

“Don’t be,” she said flatly. “From what she explained to me, you didn’t ask for this to happen to you. You were just trying to do something good.”

“I was, and I still am.”

“Also,” she continued, “Rachel always looked up to her father so much, and when he died, it only made her emulate him more. She was a great writer all throughout school. After high school, naturally she pursued journalism. I knew it was because she wanted to follow in his footsteps.”

I stayed silent. I had a soft-spot for Rachel, and hearing her mother tell me these things was just what I wanted. I wasn’t on a plane to Moscow anymore. Every bit of Rachel I could get was precious to me. Whether it be from her or Rachel.

“The way she talked tonight, it was different. She had this determination in her eyes that I have never seen before.”

My eyes locked with hers. I knew exactly what she was talking about.

“I have seen it, too. When I first met her.”

“Well, apparently, it’s all because of you. She said that this was her chance to do a real story. One that
mattered
.”

“I know she will…” I muttered. “Regardless of what happens.”

Mrs. Flores tossed her hair over one shoulder, just as Rachel did. They were more alike than I thought. Her eyes met mine again, and this time, they were cold.

“Can I ask a favor of you, Owen?”

“Yes, anything.”

“Regardless of what happens,
please
, keep my daughter safe. She is the most important person in my life, and I couldn’t imagine losing her. The last thing I would want is to know she died chasing some story, just as her father did. I can’t bear to go through that twice.”

The reality of what she said hit me. Her father died covering a story, and her mother was afraid of Rachel having the same fate.

“I would give my own life for her.”

The sound of the waves lapping against the shore was all I heard. It surrounded me, enveloped me. A constant, soft breeze blew over my body, and it was magical. I smiled from the sensation, and the crashing of the waves was so resonant, I began to lose touch with what was real. Was I even here? Had I escaped reality?

Yes. Even if it was only for a moment, I had escaped. The sound of the ocean was my guardian, saving me from my thoughts. The thoughts I fought so hard to avoid. My plan had failed. He was no longer safe. Tomorrow was uncertain, and that uncertainty ate away at me.

Stop. Breathe. Listen to the ocean…

I let out a long, exaggerated exhale. I let my eyes roam across the night sky. The larger stars were visible, but there weren’t many out altogether. It was a familiar sky. As a child, in New York, I couldn’t see any. In Miami, there were only a few. When I moved to North Carolina to go to school at Chapel Hill, I was amazed at how many more stars there were. This was nothing compared to that. The ocean made up for it, though. There was no way I could wear shorts and a tank top back home at this time of year.

Why? The question kept resurfacing in my mind.
Why
hadn’t my plan worked? Why did the air marshal have to recognize Owen? The events of the day continued to replay like a film reel behind my eyelids every time they closed. What if I would have done this differently? What if Owen had been in another seat? Would he have made it then?

The endless spiral of possibilities swam around in my head. It worried me because I was all out of ideas. I couldn’t come up with one thing that might be able to help Owen. Time was against us, and our running could only go on for so long. What would happen when our time ran out?

The thought made me queasy.

Stop. Breathe in, breathe out. Listen to the ocean.

I focused on the sound. The natural rhythm of the crashing was beautiful, and it was the one thing I missed about Florida the most. My eyes were closed, and I felt the presence of someone beside me. I turned to my right and saw Owen.

“Why hello there,” he said. His pearly white teeth stuck out in the night so visibly. He grabbed my hand and interlaced my fingers with his. Warmth flushed from my head to my toes. Every moment I spent with Owen, I felt infinite. It was almost like time had stopped.

“Hi, handsome.”

We chuckled, and I inched closer to him. His scent was intoxicating. It smelled like faint cologne, but I knew he had none. It was natural, and with every inhale, I knew he was with me and not on some plane. It wasn’t that simple, though. That desire I had, to keep him here, came with repercussions. It came with the knowledge that I had no idea how long I would have him by my side.

Time was against us, and I cherished every moment.

“Why are you out here all alone?”

“Needed to clear my thoughts,” I said.

“Did it work?” he asked, and pulled our clutched hands to his stomach.

“No,” I chuckled. “I’m much better now, though.”

“Oh really?” he teased.

“Yes, really.” I squeezed his fingers tighter. I rolled on my side and threw my leg over his. His face was inches away from mine, and as I stared into his blue eyes, I knew what we had was real. We hadn’t known each other for very long, but the journey had brought us closer together. If someone would have told me I would have fallen for the cocky politician sitting across the coffee shop, I would have told them to fuck off. When I approached him, it was only for the story. Now, it was
much
more than that. I loved him, and not only did I want to tell him, I wanted to
show
him.

I threw my other leg over and straddled his waist. I grabbed my hair tie and slid it off. My hair fell around my head, and the ends dangled down, just barely touching him. My palms were planted firmly in the sand beside his shoulders. It took all of my strength just not to pounce on him. I missed his touch, his kiss.

“I could get used to this,” he said with a smug smile.

“You’re not the only one…”

I slid down farther, teasing him. He began to open his mouth to speak, and I pressed my finger to his lips.

“Remember what you told me today when you called from the plane?”

He nodded and delicately kissed my finger.

“I love you,
too
.” The words felt like a drug as I said them. It was the purest love I had ever felt. I leaned down and met his lips. They were so smooth. Our gentle kisses became passionate and fierce, and our tongues danced. I sucked on his lower lip, feeling it fill with pressure. His cock began to grow in his shorts, and I pressed down on it. I kissed my way down his chin and neck. I sucked and kissed all the way to the ridge of his collarbone. I reached down to the edge of his shirt and helped him pull it off. He ran his fingers through my hair and pulled me in for another long, passionate kiss. When we released, I kissed his pecks and down the middle of his sternum. His body was so warm—I could feel the heat emanating off of him.

He began to unbutton his pants, and I slid down my panties. We both wanted this
so
badly. The last I looked, the beach was deserted. I didn’t even bother to check. It didn’t matter at this point. What did we have to lose? It was so liberating, not having to think about hiding just for this instant. As long as we were together, I couldn’t have cared less. Nothing else mattered. He bit my lower lip and caressed my breasts. His touch made me tremble. I slid down on top of him, and I thought I was going to melt into a puddle. I oozed affection for him. Every kiss, every thrust, I put all of my love into it. I wanted to give him a night he would never forget. Regardless of the future, we had this night together. It was ours. He cupped my ass with his hands, and with every thrust I gyrated harder.

I lost track of time. We were covered in sweat, and my hair was dripping wet. We had switched positions, and our necks were probably covered in hickeys. He hadn’t came—he was trying to hold it back for me. My back was covered in sand. We were in missionary, and looking at his toned body above me was enough to get me off. The moon wasn’t out, and all we were to each other were the dim outlines of bodies.

“I love you,” I panted.

“I love you too,” he grunted and thrust deeper. I was so close. I had never had a guy make me orgasm, but I knew we were both about to go over the edge. He leaned down, and we locked lips. We breathed through our noses as we sucked and held each other locked in the kiss. His body was crouched up, and I wrapped my legs around his ass to pull him closer. I arched my back upwards as my body began to tremble. My mouth opened from the pleasure, and I began to moan. His breath shuddered, and he gave one final thrust. My body and mind exploded with ecstasy. He panted and collapsed on top of me, kissing my face and breasts. I ran my fingers through the back of his sweaty hair, and gently kissed his lips, his nose, and his forehead. I pulled his head to my breasts and let him rest there.

“That was amazing,” he said for the second time.

“I know,” I replied, staring up at the sky with his arm wrapped around me. My head was resting in the nook between his chest and shoulder.

“I have to be honest…” He began. “That was different than all the times in the past.”

“Different as in, bad?” I teased. I knew that wasn’t the case.

“No, not at all. It was the best.”

“Did you feel it?”

“Yes, I did.”

“It was the love,” I said. “I felt it too.”

I delicately traced a figure-eight on the skin of his stomach with my index finger. The soft ocean breeze cooled off our hot skin. Owen had put his jeans back on but was still shirtless. I had redressed already. I slid my head closer to his chest, and he pulled me tight. I could hear the steady beating of his heart. My mind was finally at ease. I wasn’t worried about what tomorrow would bring. Owen was here, with me—in the flesh. That was all I needed.

“Maybe we can do this again someday,” he said.

“What? The sex?”

“Well, that too,” he laughed. “I meant this, lying on the beach together.”

Images flashed through my head. Owen and I running on some white-sand beach, looking out on turquoise waters. I could practically feel the sun on my skin. It made me smile.

“That would be nice,” I admitted.

“Where do you want to go?”

“Well, I’ve been to the Caribbean and Hawaii. I’ve always wanted to go to France.”

“Where, to Paris?”

“Maybe just to visit,” I said. “I was thinking more like the French Riviera. Nice, Cannes, maybe spend a night playing blackjack at a casino in Monaco. I can see it now, waking up and having coffee at an outdoor café, basking in the sun on the beach, and finishing the day off with some French Cuisine and a glass of wine.”

He was grinning ear to ear and let out a laugh.

“I like your taste. You know, it’s kind of ironic you said France.”

“Why?”

He turned to me before answering.

“Because before I was born, my mom and dad took trips to France. She was obsessed with antique French furniture and design. I remember her teaching me how to count to ten in French as a child, and she would show me so many pictures. Ever since then I have wanted to visit. I miss her a lot. I wish I could just hear her voice again.”

“I know the feeling…” I murmured. Hearing him say that about his mother only made me realize further that we have both been through the same thing, just with a different parent.

“I know you do,” he consoled.

Could he have been any more perfect? He understood my pain. That was something not many people could do. He was handsome, intelligent, and caring. He used every bit of his political influence to try to change this country for the better. He was just in the wrong place at the right time. I wouldn’t even have been here if it weren’t for what happened to him. I would still be in Raleigh, putting my articles on a desk to be approved…and they probably would have been the same garbage we have seen on the news. He strengthened his grasp around my back and lovingly rubbed it. If this were a dream, I would have been perfectly content with never waking up. I wanted to stay in this moment forever. I couldn’t let reality settle in, not just yet. I had to hold it off any way I could.

“I can see us now, looking out at the sea from a rooftop terrace, without a worry in the world. Just you and me, and whatever comes next.”

“That sounds like the closest thing to heaven I’ll ever find.”

I laughed and kissed the underside of his neck. “It does, doesn’t it?”

“I’ll make you my girlfriend, and then take you on a
real
date. This time, without the FBI chasing us.” His soft-spoken, yet masculine tone carrying those words made my stomach flutter. Everything about him left me so enamored.

“A real date?” I egged him on.

“Yes,” he answered confidently. “I will bring you flowers, we can have a candlelit dinner, and we can make love until the sun comes up.”

My heart swelled in happiness. He had hit a soft-spot.

“You know, I’ve never had a guy give me flowers.”

I could barely see his forehead scrunch up in the darkness.

“What? You’re kidding me.”

“Not at all. I’m dead serious. The funny thing is my last name means flowers in Spanish.”