Agent Jack Knight: The Beginning

  ~ * * ~

  “Okay, repeat the phone number and message back to me.”

  Rolling her eyes, Valerie mimicked back everything I’d said in a longsuffering tone.

  “Do not mention me or anything about…”

  “Leandro…” she broke in, impatiently. “I know…I know. Regardless of your obvious impression of me, I am not an idiot.”

  “I’ve never thought you were an idiot.”

  “Well you act like I am.”

  “That is not my intention.”

  “What are your intentions, then?”

  “To get all of us back to the states alive.”

  “You mean you and Leandro.”

  “I mean all of us,” I contradicted. “You don’t think your little contribution to Vasquez’s survival will go unnoticed, do you? The Mendoza brothers don’t appear to me to be the forgiving type.”

  “What about the nuns? Do you think they’ll be…?” she began fearfully.

  “Go make the call,” I interrupted as gently as I could, urging her out onto the dirt path that led to the house.

  I watched her go with mixed feelings; on the one hand I hated to leave her behind, but on the other I was relieved I would no longer be subjected to the myriad of desires that had been plaguing my whole body since the first time I’d laid eyes on her.

  She would be angry of course, when she returned to our temporary hiding place and discovered I was gone, but it was for the best. I knew she would be safer with the Goff family than with Vasquez and me; he was a ticking time bomb…come to think of it, we both were.

  Eventually they would all have to be evacuated, the Goff’s included—the country was unstable at best—but for the time being I hoped they would be safe enough.

  For the return trip, I’d planned a slightly different route to take me back to the monastery in the unlikely event we’d been followed, so I veered towards the left taking me further east than our original track.

  It would take me a bit longer, and could have been considered paranoid, but I had an important mission to complete and would rather be paranoid and alive than trusting and dead.

  As I left the area, I determinedly pushed all thoughts of Valerie out of my head.

  I had done the right thing.

  Small comfort.