Page 16 of Fear No Evil

Ouch.Well, when he said it like that, it hurt her feelings a little. “Fine!” Gosh, he wasn’t leaving her much of a choice.

A knock at the door startled them both, making Maggie regret her switch to English.

With a look of frustration, Jake dried his hands while Maggie went to answer the door.

“It’s Charles,” she announced after peeking through the peephole.“Bonsoir,monsieur. Entrez vous.”

“Bonsoir,madame.” The Frenchman’s dark gaze took note of Maggie’s flushed face before addressing Jake as he approached from the bathroom. “I’ve just come from speaking with the lead negotiator, Boris Mayer. He says the Italian, Leo Bellini, and the Turkish woman, Esme Simsek, will arrive late this evening, sohe’s postponing our briefing until eight in the morning, which leaves you plenty of time to sightsee tonight.”

His emphasis on the wordsightseewas clearly code for something. Maggie glanced at Jake and guessed they were meeting with the other SEALs.

Jake nodded. “Ça a l’air bien.”Sounds good.

The Frenchman pitched his voice lower. “Your destination is ten miles from here. I scoped it out this morning. You can either take a taxi or theTransMilenio. Either way, be careful. The streets of the city aren’t safe after dark.A bientôt.” He swiveled toward the door.

The wordsaren’t safeechoed in Maggie’s head. She and Jake were a heck of a lot safer in Bogotá than they would be in the wilderness where they were headed.

The instant Charles closed the door behind him, Jake swung toward her. “We’re not going anywhere until your incision is closed.”

Maggie found herself back in the bathroom with her slacks rolled down just far enough for Jake to sew the incision shut. She eyed their limited supplies while switching back to English and keeping her voice low. “You shouldn’t use the lidocaine. We might need it.”

Seated on the closed toilet seat with a syringe in one hand and the vial of lidocaine in the other, Jake looked up at her. “I’m using it.”

“You don’t think I can handle the pain?”

He met her defiance with a wry smile. “I’m sure you can, Lena, but I doubt I could handle hurting you.”

Lines like that were the reason she’d fallen for him in the first place.

Swallowing hard, Maggie watched him drain the little vial and prayed they wouldn’t need it later. As he commenced injecting lidocaine around the incision with infinite care,tenderness quilted her heart. As gentle and considerate as he apparently still was, it astonished her that he’d become one of the toughest operators on the planet.

Once the site was numb, he irrigated the tiny wound with the bulb-shaped squirter, using bottled water. Then he dabbed the area dry before sanitizing it with an alcohol square.

Maggie couldn’t feel a thing. Watching him thread the curved needle, she admired his hands, which looked powerful, with long, dexterous fingers. He slipped the thread through the tiny eye on his first try, proving his eyesight to be perfect.

“Is that self-absorbing thread?” She snatched up the box and read it. “Yes.”

For the next minute, he plied the needle, pulling the edges of her skin together. A memory floated up from the depths of her mind: Jake treating her skinned palms after she slid down the banister on the steep run of stairs in Montmartre and wound up doing a face-plant. She’d always been the reckless one, him the caretaker.

“All set.” Having knotted the thread, Jake snipped it with the tiny scissors in her kit. “Keep a layer of this ointment on the cut until it heals and cover it with a Band-Aid.” As he went to squeeze the tube, Maggie took it from him.

“I’ll do that. Thank you.” His ministrations were clouding her judgment. “What time is it?” She stepped away, putting some badly needed space between them.

Jake checked his watch. “Time to start heading for the safe house.”

She’d figured that was where they were headed. “Well, let’s go, then.” She covered the incision with a Band-Aid and rolled her pants back up.“Allons-y.”

A short time later, they slipped from the hotel’s fire exit wearing their rain jackets in anticipation of cooler weather. Thesun had set behind the rim of mountains to the west, leaving the sky a mellow hue that beckoned darkness and cool night air.

Maggie swept a practiced eye up and down the steep, stone-laid street. Their hotel, like the majority in Bogotá, was situated in La Candelaria district, close to the historic center of the city, where colonial charm and museums abounded. “I used to live near here.” She turned toward Jake. “Have you been to Bogotá before?” she asked in French.

“Non.”

“Do we have time to walk a little? I could show you around.”

Jake pulled his sleeve back to check. “Oui, we could walk for maybe twenty minutes, but let’s at least travel in the right direction.” As he adjusted his stance, she guessed the watch had a compass on it.

“What’s the district called where we’re headed?” Not that she didn’t trust his compass to get them there.

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