Chapter 11

Chapter Eleven

San Isidro, Puerto Jardin

27 Months Earlier

ZO CREPT DOWN the back stairs of the inn, trying to avoid the spots that creaked. It was early enough that daylight had barely started to penetrate the kitchen, leaving it mostly darkened. Cautiously, she took the last two treads and headed for the door, moving slowly in case a floorboard groaned. She was halfway there when she smelled coffee. In the next instant, the lights came on.

"Where are you sneaking off to so early, mija ?" Tia Izel asked softly in Spanish.

"Sneaking? I wasn't sneaking. I didn't want to wake you or Tio Luis." Zo turned to look at Tia Izel, trying to keep the bruised side of her face in the shadows. The swelling had gone down a lot, but despite makeup, she had a tint of blue-purple near her lips.

The older woman had her dark hair fastened at her nape and was dressed for the day in a bark-brown skirt, a short- sleeved white blouse, and the bright, lime green running shoes Zo had brought her as a gift. Her expression was serene, giving nothing away, but it didn't bode well to see Tia Izel up this early, not when the inn's public room didn't close until midnight.

"We'll have breakfast while we talk." Tia Izel didn't wait for agreement before walking to the antiquated refrigerator.

Zo had wanted to avoid Tia Izel and Tio Luis until her mouth appeared normal again, and with the light directly over the table, her face would be clearly visible. Resigned, she retrieved dinner knives and plates and set them out before returning to help Tia Izel with the butter, jam, and cheese. The older woman followed with bread and sliced ham, placing them on the table, but she didn't sit. She returned in a moment with two mugs and a pot of coffee. After pouring them each a cup, she put the pot back and finally joined her.

For a few moments, after they were seated, Zo fussed with her silverware, keeping her head down and her loose hair across her face, but she couldn't delay forever. She knew the instant Tia Izel spotted the bruise from the soft gasp and the way her body stiffened, but she didn't ask questions. She merely handed Zo the bread. "I baked it the way you like best for yesterday's breakfast," the older woman said without censure.

Feeling about two inches tall, Zo said, " Perdón , Tia. I left early to look for Mari." She reached for the bread and carefully buttered it, unable to meet Tia Izel's gaze. It was only a half-lie. She left early to avoid questions about her face, but she had driven over to Trujillo—and stayed far away from Silva.

"You've found no one who knows where she is then?"

Zo swallowed hard to clear the lump from her throat, but her voice remained choked as she said, "No one." She picked at the crust of the bread, watching her fingers pile the crumbs on the side of the plate. When she thought she had some control, Zo raised her gaze to Tia Izel's. "How can someone disappear without a trace?"

The answer Zo was afraid to hear was written across the other woman's face, but unlike the mercenary, Tia Izel didn't say anything about Mari being dead.

"Marianna is clever like you are, Zofia." The older woman covered Zo's hand with hers. "If she decided to run, she would have come up with a plan to keep herself safe from that man. Knowing this, is it any wonder you can't find her?"

Zo blinked rapidly, but tears filled her eyes anyway. She refused to let them fall. "What if she's dead?" she asked in a whisper, afraid to say the words too loudly.

Tia Izel squeezed her hand firmly. "What if she's not, mija?"

Mija. Daughter. There were days a part of her wished Tia Izel had been her mother, or at least her real aunt. "What if she needs help, and I can't find her in time?" Zo countered. "I spent yesterday visiting her favorite places in Trujillo, talking to people there. No one's seen her in weeks. I tried following Silva for a while, but—"

"You did what?" Tia Izel jerked upright, her hand squeezing Zo's almost painfully. "Why would you do such a thing?"

"I thought he could lead me to Mari."

"You're smarter than this! He's dangerous, and following him would garner you nothing. A man like that assigns others to do his evil deeds."

Which was exactly what Finn had said the day before yesterday. "I figured that out," she said, unwilling to credit a mercenary for the realization. "I don't know what else to do, Tia Izel."

The older woman released her hand and reached for her coffee. "Perhaps you should do nothing."

Again, the same thing Finn had said, but Zo didn't like it any better coming from Tia Izel. "How can you ask me to do that? Mari is my sister in every way that matters. I can't abandon her. She wouldn't abandon me if the situation were reversed."

"You would never put yourself in the same position," Tia Izel said, her voice filled with compassion despite the bluntness of her words. "Perhaps you could find someone to search for you?"

"I thought about it." Zo reached for her buttered bread. "But who? What private detective can I trust?" She took a bite, savoring the yeasty taste contrasted with the creamy butter. No one could bake like Tia Izel.

"That is true," the other woman said with a sigh. "Too many would take your money and do nothing." Her eyes widened. "Or worse. Sell the information to that man themselves and sacrifice your life for a profit."

With a grimace, Zo nodded her agreement and took a sip of coffee. "I wish I could come up with some new idea to find Mari."

Tia Izel added a slice of ham to the bread on her plate before she said, "Perhaps you should take a day or two and consider what to do next. Your parents believed that five minutes of planning was worth an hour of searching."

She nodded. Her parents had said that in relation to working at the Huarona site, but Tia Izel wasn't wrong to apply it to the search for Mari. The problem was that Zo didn't think a couple of days of planning would bring any epiphanies. She took another bite of bread.

The silence settled comfortably, and Zo began to relax. Maybe she would take a day to consider what to do next. She could get a notepad and brainstorm ideas. Zo got up, added more coffee to both their mugs, and put the pot back before rejoining Tia Izel at the table. Running around a city the size of Trujillo looking for Mari was nothing but a waste of time anyway.

Her stomach twisted as she considered how long her friend had been missing. What if a day or two was the difference between life and death for Mari?

"Se?or Garcia had dinner at the inn last night," Tia Izel said, breaking the quiet. "He mentioned you ate with him on Sunday."

"I did," Zo said, her lips curving at the memory. "Is he well?"

"Sí," Tia Izel said. "He had interesting news to share, though."

"Really?" Zo buttered another slice of bread. "What did he say?"

Tia Izel paused long enough that Zo looked up from her task. It was only after their gazes met that the older woman spoke again. "He said you're engaged to the mercenary, the one who stayed at the inn last weekend."

Zo had a moment to be grateful she hadn't been eating when Tia Izel spoke, or she would have choked. "What?" she asked stupidly, unable to get her brain to unfreeze.

"You heard me."

She had, but Zo couldn't believe her ears.

There was no way anyone in town should have heard the lie of an engagement. The only people who knew about it were her, Tom Finley, Henri Silva, and Silva's men. She hadn't said anything, and she doubted Finn had either. That left the arms dealer and his minions. She couldn't begin to guess why they'd share it.

And Se?or Garcia. Zo sighed. Se?or Garcia was sweet, but despite being retired from the presidential brigade, he was the town's biggest gossip—a fact that was common knowledge. Had someone planted the information with him, knowing he'd pass it along?

Zo shut her eyes for a moment and fought the need to grimace. The entire town would have been regaled with the news by now. Se?or Garcia knew everyone, and he loved to talk .

"How could you agree to marry a mercenary, mija?" Tia Izel asked, and her disappointment came through loud and clear.

Zo trusted Tia Izel completely, but she would behave differently if she knew the truth, and so would Tio Luis. Maybe the information getting out was innocent, but Zo couldn't take the chance. If Silva knew she'd lied, and that Finn had backed her up, both of them would be in danger.

And he would be meeting with the arms dealer again, probably soon.

Competing loyalties warred inside her, but ultimately it came down to disappointing Tia Izel versus Finn's life.

Lying had never been easy for her. Not that she didn't shade the truth from time to time, but being outright deceitful to someone she cared about made her stomach knot. Zo put down the bread and reached for her coffee, taking a sip.

"Zofia," the older woman prompted.

Reluctantly, she put down the mug. "You've seen him, Tia. He's so hermoso ." Zo didn't have to feign interest. Just thinking about Finn wearing nothing except a towel—those broad shoulders, his narrow waist, his thighs, and the rest of his hard muscles—made her warm. Everywhere. And in all honesty, it wasn't only his looks and body. She felt alive in a way she never had before when they were talking. Or sparring with each other.

"You expect me to believe you are marrying a man because of his pretty face? I know you better than that."

Her heart jumped to her throat. For a moment, her brain sputtered, and she desperately sought a better answer. She recalled their kisses, the way she'd lost her sense of everything except what he made her feel. If Tio Luis hadn't knocked and if the car hadn't backfired, she would have had sex with him already. She'd been that enraptured. "He makes my body sing," she admitted softly. Zo's cheeks heated over the admission .

Tia Izel stared at her without expression for an eternal second before saying, "Then go to bed with him, and be done with the man."

Zo's eyes widened. Tia Izel was staunchly Catholic. "What?"

Instead of answering, Tia Izel met her gaze without blinking.

Shaking her head, Zo said, "I didn't expect you to offer that suggestion."

"If it's sex drawing you to him, go to bed with the mercenary and get him out of your system, but don't tie your life to a man who beats you."

"What?"

"Does your hearing not work at this time of the morning?"

"I heard you, but I don't know why you'd think Finn—" Zo stopped short. The bruise. She'd forgotten about it for a moment. "He didn't do this, Tia," she brushed her fingers over her lips as she rushed to exonerate the mercenary. "I was caught by Silva's men the other day. One of his bodyguards hit me. Finn shielded me and made certain nothing worse happened."

The expression that settled on Tia Izel's face told Zo she'd leaped from the frying pan into the fire. "You were caught by Silva's guardaespaldas , beaten by them, and you continue to go to Trujillo? Have you no common sense?"

"I'm staying away from Silva now."

"That's not good enough. What if you cross paths with him? What if the mercenary isn't there to protect you this time? What then, mija?"

"The risk is small."

Tia Izel began to shake her head before Zo finished speaking. "You are to give up the search for Marianna, and I'll hear no argument from you about it."