Page 13 of The Honeymoon Heist

We were laid on for the following morning for a tour with the crew doing the work. Which was a little bit of a pain in the ass, considering we’d have to wake up way earlier to eat breakfast and then trek the mountain of stairs back down.

We’d finished that conversation and then spent the rest of the day traipsing around the town, getting lunch at an outdoor restaurant on the beach and generally enjoying the day. Eventually we’d hiked up the mountain of stairs to our hotel, with me amazed at the number of locals who seemed to think this was just the price of life. I’d have pulled an Elon Musk and built a damn escalator.

We’d changed clothes and went to the restaurant, this time going high to catch an Uber—small blessings. I’d been worried about showing up late for the reservation, but now, sitting at the table, still waiting on a menu, I didn’t feel too bad. The water finally arrived and I’d ordered a rum and coke, figuring I’d drink it with dessert.

As the waiter left, I saw two men take a seat on the other side of the patio. The two people who’d accosted us at the White Grotto the day before.

It wouldn’t have been a big deal if I were an actual tourist. I would have ignored them without incident, but I wasn’t a normal tourist. I had a healthy appreciation for threats to my environment, and they most definitely were a threat. Maybe not to me, but to someone.

They took a seat to my back, but in full view of Amena. That wasn’t going to work. I was worried she’d see them and make a scene. I stood up and said, “Can I take your seat, doodlebug?”

Jennifer said, “What? Why?”

“Just because I’d like the view she has. Is that okay?”

Amena stood up and we swapped seats, but I could tell neither one of them believed my words. I kept my eye on the pipe-hitters for the duration of the dinner—which took literally three hours. By the time we were done I could have built the damn restaurant we were in, with me wondering if the Michelin rating was based on how long it took them to cook the food.

We finally left, catching an Uber outside for the upper level of the stairs leading to our hotel. The men did not follow, which made me sigh in relief.

Jennifer saw that I was a little out of sorts and said, “What’s with you?”

I said, “Nothing. Let’s just go to bed. Big day tomorrow with the excavation. Got to pay for this somehow.”

Amena snickered and said, “Yeah, let’s go to bed. I’m sure you guys are going to sleep.”

We both looked at her in shock, with Jennifer saying, “What’s that mean?”

Looking like a pious elder from the church we were visiting tomorrow, she said, “Nothing. I’m tired, too, that’s all.”

Chapter 9

Jennifer snuggled in tight to Pike’s body, running her legs along his. Pike hissed, “Stop that! We can’t do anything. She’ll hear.”

Jennifer nibbled his ear and whispered, “I’ll be quiet. I promise.”

Pike fought her for a second, but she knew it was a losing battle. He said, “Jennifer, really? Give her a chance to go to sleep at least.”

“She’s down the hall in a different room.” She raised her foot higher, reaching his crotch. He batted it away and said, “I’m not going to be wrestling with you when she comes in here. You know how she is.”

“Wrestling with me? Is that how you think of our relationship in bed?”

She knew that wasn’t the case, but she was going to leverage what she could. She saw him fumbling for words to take back the stupid statement, and knew she was about to win. She turned off the light and said, “Okay, if that’s what you want,” then rolled over, her back to him like she was going to sleep. He wrapped his arms around her and said, “Really?” She smiled in the darkness, and then Amena’s voice floated out. “Pike? Pike!”

Pike snapped off Jennifer and sat up, turning on the light. He said, “What? What are you doing in here?”

Jennifer pulled the sheets up over the T-shirt she was wearing, within seconds of having shed it. Amena said, “Sorry. You two weren’t... you know...”

Pike glared at Jennifer and said, “No. We’re just going to sleep. We have to be at the church in the morning, and I want to eat breakfast before then. What do you need?”

“Someone’s at the door. I can hear them trying to work the lock.”

“The door?”

He turned to Jennifer and said, “Turndown service? It’s a little late for that.”

Jennifer said, “I have no idea.”

Pike swung his feet over the bed, patted where he’d been lying and said, “You wait here,” then threw on some shorts over his boxers and padded down the hall barefoot.

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