Barefoot with a Stranger (Barefoot Bay Undercover #2)(27)

“Can’t we say you found it in your room?”

He shook his head. “I’d have told him by now. I won’t lie to him. It’d compromise the mission. What we can’t do is let him try to go to Cuba himself.”

She considered that, her frown deepening. “Why can’t he? I mean, I know he can’t say, but how do you know? Why are you…” Her voice trailed off, and her eyes cleared with comprehension. “Compromise the mission,” she echoed. “Now that is not something you hear your run-of-the-mill prison guard say.”

She was way too smart not to figure it out sooner or later. He just looked ahead and confirmed her guess with a quick close of his eyes.

“You’re a spy.”

“Not anymore,” he said quietly.

She didn’t move for a moment, except that her chest rose and fell with a tight breath as this new information took hold. “I didn’t get that from my research.” She actually sounded a little disgusted with her failure.

“I think that’s kind of the point of the job.”

“Is that why someone is following you? Do you have classified information or…access to something? Why is it such a big deal that your room was bugged? And how’d they get a bug planted so fast in a hotel room that you didn’t even reserve?”

“They’re good. And that’s a lot of questions you know I’m not going to answer.”

“But we’re on a mission together,” she shot back. “We shouldn’t be strangers.”

“Didn’t hurt us in that hotel room. In fact…”

She leaned closer when he didn’t finish the thought, narrowing blue eyes at him. “If you say that was a big turn-on for you, Mr. I’m Only Human, I’m going to hit you harder than Gabe ever could. Answer my question. Why is someone following you?”

He exhaled, slowly. “I honestly don’t know for sure. Anything I tell you would just be a guess.”

“I’ll take a guess.”

He shook his head. “You know I can’t do that.”

She dropped back on the seat with a grunt of frustration. “Well, what about Gabe?”

“He won’t tell you anything.”

“But why can’t he go to Cuba?”

He turned and gave her a get real look, which she accepted with a slight nod. The sister of a spy would be well trained to live with unanswered questions, and while he respected the fact that she knew when to stop asking, he also felt she was owed something. At least a reason for why they had to convince Gabe not to go to Cuba.

“I will tell you this,” he said, reaching for her hand. “If he does go to Cuba, he will never come out alive. He made enemies. Deadly enemies.”

She blinked at him, truly speechless, color washing over her fine cheeks. “Is he safe here?”

“As long as he never steps foot in Cuba, yes. But I swear to God, Chessie, there’s a serious amount of money on his head, and if there’s one thing crooked Cubans like, it’s money.”

She stared at him as that settled on her. “He trusts us enough to do this for him.”

Mal nodded. “Though I can’t say what he’ll do once we find this child and prove he’s Gabe’s son.” Because Gabe Rossi would risk life and limb to get his child. They both knew that.

“Then I know what we have to do,” Chessie said, her voice calm. “We can tell him about the bug, and we can tell him how and why I found it. But then we have to convince him to handle the fact that we were together and let us go on this mission and find his son. One, two, three, that’s what we’ll do.”


“Francesca, the planner,” he whispered.

“That’s me.”

“I like it.” He leaned closer, feeling the need to seal the deal with a kiss, but she edged back and gave her head a quick shake.

“Poppy,” she said under her breath.

He frowned. “Excuse me?”

“The maid over there is Poppy. She works for Gabe. She’s his eyes and ears around the resort, and I guarantee you she’s taking everything in right now, including how you almost…” She slowed her speech and scowled. “Were you just so overwhelmed with being human that you were going to kiss me?”

He laughed. “Overwhelmed, yeah.”

“Uh, excuse me.” The woman’s voice pulled them apart, and Mal turned to meet large, dark eyes under a furrowed brow. “Can I help…oh, Miss Chessie! I heard you were here. Didn’t know that was you, and I have to check everyone out, you know.”

“Hello, Poppy.” Chessie climbed down from the cart and greeted the woman with an easy hug. “Nice to see you again. Have you met Malcolm Harris, Gabe’s friend?”

She lifted a brow. “He has a friend other than Nino?”

Mal smiled. “The list is short.” He shook her hand. “Hello, Poppy.”

“Are you looking for Mr. Gabriel? Don’t bother going in the office, he’s not there.”

Damn it, Mal didn’t want to put this conversation off any longer. “Do you know where we can find him?”

“Yes, but…” A plump lower lip pushed out, and she tightened her mouth and looked from one to the other. “You’re his sister, and you’re his friend, right?”