Page 31 of Wait for Me

She led them close to the men. In the moonless night, Marie and Logan were well hidden in the shadows. She held Logan’s hand at one point, and it seemed to have caught him by surprise. She tried to prevent them from directly facing the two men by stopping at the railing every now and then. For all practical purposes, they did look like a couple on an evening stroll.

Downwind now, she could hear faint Arabic. One of the languages that Marie spoke, it had been the second non-French language she had picked up, after English. There were Arabic communities in Paris during some of her childhood years not spent in Marseilles, offering her many opportunities to practice speaking almost daily.

“Take them?” The man with the phone nodded. “I’ll wait for your call.”

Take them?

Them who?

Take them when? Where?

Marie checked herself. Maybe she was mistaken. For all she knew, the man could mean take Aliyah and her son on the next excursion. They would arrive in Skagway by morning, and had all day to roam the area.

However, if the INTERPOL information had been any indication, it was more than a vacation for Aliyah and her son. The data were sketchy, and she had been told to remain on standby for further instructions, if any were required.

The men were coming toward them. Marie leaned against Logan. He wrapped his arm around her. She didn’t push him away. She couldn’t.

“What’s going on?” Logan whispered in her ear and wrapped an arm around her waist.

Marie heard footsteps behind them.

“Infidels!” One of the men snarled in a low voice.

Logan must have heard it. Marie could feel his arm stiffen as tried to pull it away so he could turn around. She felt as though he was about to respond to the remark.

She ran her hand up his arm, as smoothly as possible, as if she herself didn’t hear the insult. She cupped Logan’s face with her hands, pulling his forehead toward hers, obscuring their faces from the men coming toward them.

Marie had no idea what message she was sending to Logan, but he took over, caressing his lips over her cheek and chin and then…

Their lips met.

For a long moment, Marie forgot everything else.

Chapter Seventeen

After breakfast, Logan and Marie—with Jonas in between them—marched down the gangway connecting the cruise ship to Skagway. It was barely eight o’clock, but there were already many ship passengers walking about.

Logan wanted to ask Marie what happened between them on the top deck the night before, but he wasn’t sure if they would have an opportunity. After the long kiss, Logan had escorted Marie back to her stateroom. Outside the door, he wanted to kiss her again, but Marie begged off, saying she had some work to do.

Like what kind of work?

Disappointed, Logan had returned to his own stateroom, wondering if things would ever be the same, if they could someday become a couple again.

One thing he knew. He would never give her wedding ring to anyone else. If he had to keep the ring in his vault for the rest of his life, then that was the way it was going to be.

This morning, Logan was awakened by Jonas knocking on his door. The boy was showered, dressed, and ready to go. Mrs. Ping looked exhausted.

“Would you rather stay onboard to rest?” Logan asked her.

Mrs. Ping quickly took the offer.

It wasn’t a long walk to the touristy part of Skagway, and they made it in good time, listening to Jonas babble about whatever popped into his little head. He even commented on the dirt and small rocks on the dusty sidewalk.

At an intersection, Marie looked at Logan. “Where do you want to go?”

“Anywhere he wants.” Logan dipped his nose at Jonas. “Or it’ll be a long day for us.”

“I hear you.”

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