South by Lance Charnes

Author:Lance Charnes
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780988690356
Publisher: Wombat Group Media via Indie Author Project
Published: 2013-11-16T08:00:00+00:00

42

Fifteen years ago, the American expatriate community in Boquete was a few thousand strong and notably white and gray-haired. Today, over sixty thousand Americans of all ethnicities live in this Panamanian mountain city, making it the world’s largest foreign concentration of U.S. citizens. Most of these newcomers are working-age refugees from El Norte’s pollution, politics and decay…

— “Best Destinations for U.S. Expats,” Money.USNews.com

SATURDAY, 15 MAY

God, this sounded like such a bad idea. But Bel couldn’t see any other options, and neither could Lucho. They’d talked it over until way past midnight. She snuggled closer—it was weird to be on his right after twenty-plus years on the other side of the bed—and whispered, “Are you sure?”

“Yeah.” His fingertips stroked up and down her spine, leaving a little trail of tingle.

He’d said it was safe in the bedroom, that his tech guy had put in something that blocked transmitters and vibrated the windows. Having the ceiling fan clacking away at takeoff speed made things even harder for any eavesdroppers, plus it moved the air enough that she and Lucho could stand to cling together even in the heat. This room was more secure than anyplace else they could go. For all that, she couldn’t shake the creepy feeling that someone might be listening.

“If we do this, I don’t know what’ll happen,” he murmured in her ear.

The feel of his skin on hers had her heart going crazy and scrambled all her thoughts. He was still too fragile to make love, damnit, and she desperately wanted to. The way this was going, she didn’t know when she’d get another chance.

“I feel like I’m never going to see you again,” she murmured after kissing him.

“That’s not gonna happen.” He kissed her forehead. “Make sure Mom and Dad get on the plane tomorrow morning. I need them far away from any blowback. Will you do that?”

Bel smiled a little. “Are you kidding? I’m so about putting Graciela in a different time zone, you have no idea.”

He smiled, too, but only for a moment. “Dad’s pretty scared. He doesn’t want to be away from you. He thinks you’re some kind of magic healer.”

“I am, didn’t you know?” The joke fell with a thud, even for her. Bel and that old bat Graciela managed to stay more-or-less civil with each other, even though Lucho’s mom had wanted some pretty little no-attitude mamacita to cook for him and start pushing out lots of grandkids. Alvaro had adopted her the second time he saw her. She’d miss him. “There’s nothing I can do for him now anyway, except maybe hold his hand.”

“Sometimes that’s enough.”

The more she thought about the two of them escaping, the more complicated the idea sounded. “The FBI isn’t going to just let you go, even if you get Nora over the border.”

“I know. We may need to hang out down south for a while, until we see what happens when Nora gets her information out.”

“That could take a long time.”

“I know.” He traced her cheekbone with a fingertip.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.