Page 46 of Stains of Desire
You promised her.
"No."
"Did Penelope mention anything about the Global Leaders?"
The hairs on my arms stand up.
You don't know much. See what Dirk knows.
"No. What's that?" I cringe inside as I lie.
"Zoe mentioned them several times last night. She thought we worked for them. She was freaked."
"But she wouldn't tell you more?"
"No."
"Something is going on behind closed doors, then."
"Now you sound like Malin."
I sigh. "I wish I didn't have to say this, but I think Malin's theory is right on this one."
Malin's theory is that something is always going on politically behind closed doors.
Dirk nods. "Yeah, but why would this be political?"
Stick with the facts.
"Naomi is going to the U.S. and has dirt on crooked politicians. Penelope worked for the British embassy. Vanessa's fiancé is a cabinet member in Belize. Zoe was singing at embassies all over Latin America."
"Point taken."
"We need to figure this out. I'm not letting Penelope get dumped into a bad situation."
"Ditto on Zoe."
Good. We're on the same page.
We don't say much more until we get to the market.
Dirk asks, "Can you work on the clothes? I want to see what I can find for Zoe's voice."
"Sure."
We split up. I grab a cart and add some girly toiletries and find the best razor and shaving cream I can.
Unless she tells me no, I'm shaving all of her. Then I'm going to run my tongue all over her smooth skin until she's blazing hot underneath my every lick.
I return the single razor to the shelf and grab the five-pack.
The cart becomes full quickly. I get everything on the list Andre texted.
Since we have backpack room only, I get two outfits for each woman. I don't know the full scope of what the others will do, but my hunch is no one will deliver their target. I wish I could get pants and long-sleeve tops to protect the women from the wooded terrain and sun, but there are only T-shirts and shorts. It doesn't surprise me, since we're surrounded by a hot, humid jungle.
I'm about to find Dirk when a rack of bikinis grabs my eyes.
If I'm going to be in camp a few more hours, I might as well take a swim and give Penelope another reason to cling to my body.
