Page 210 of New Storm Rising
Silently, I stepped up to her from behind and placed two firm hands on her shoulders. I felt her tremble under my touch and let one arm slide around her waist, gently holding her in place. With my free hand, I softly stroked her hair and tried to sooth her.
“Bluurgh!”
Apparently, it wasn’t working.
It took about a quarter of an hour for her stomach to finally settle down. When the last dry heaves had subsided, I helped her right herself and scrutinised her as she wiped her mouth with a handkerchief.
“Are you feeling better?”
She nodded. “I think so.”
Releasing her from my grip, I straightened. “Adequate. Then we can order breakfast now.”
Her face immediately turned green and she clutched her stomach. “You cruel, cruel man!”
“What could you possibly mean, Mrs Ambrose?”
“Blluurgh!”
The sounds that soon began to emanate from her once more made her meaning clear. As I waited by her side, my wife spent nearly ten minutes of intimate time with a bowl. If I hadn’t known it was perfectly platonic, I might have gotten jealous. Finally, she ended her liaison with the bowl and returned to her husband’s side. Her legs, however, were still somewhat weak. Nevertheless, she stubbornly insisted on making her way downstairs alone. But then…had I really expected anything else?
So I let her be. It was only when we reached the ground floor and she was about to head to the hotel’s dining room that I placed a hand on her arm, stopping her in her tracks.
“Where do you think you are going, Mrs Ambrose?”
“Err…to breakfast?”
“Don’t you remember? We have an appointment with the marshal to discuss what is going to happen next.”
“We do? Oh, well…” Impishly, she smiled up at me. “You might have mentioned it. But somehow, I had other matters on my mind last night. You remember?”
Images flashed past my inner eye. Images of entangled limbs, hot lips on skin, and warm, chocolate-brown eyes gazing into mine.
Oh yes, I remember. I most definitely remember.
Immediately, I tightened my grip on her arm and started to lead her out of the hotel and away from any people, just in case she got it into her head to mention any of last night’s events out loud. I had no desire to spend the night in jail for public indecency.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw her grin, and hastened my steps.
It didn’t take long before we reached the small café with a view of the harbour that was the agreed meeting place for our appointment with the marshal. Dozens of tall masts of various sailing ships rose into the sky at the nearby pier, most of which probably belonged to me. I was absent-mindedly calculating how much profit they might bring me in the next quarter when a voice suddenly came from behind us.
“Mr and Mrs Ambrose! What a pleasure to see you.” Turning my head, I spotted my unpaid security guard, aka US Marshal Angus Angleton, sitting at a table in front of the aforementioned café. Waving to us, he pulled out a chair. “Please, take a seat.”
Not one to waste time on senseless actions when others were willing to do them for me, I sat down in the offered chair.
“Today’s breakfast is on me.”
I was also not one to refuse fools who offered me money.
“Adequate. Waiter?” I snapped my fingers. “Bring three full breakfasts.” Then I glanced at Angleton and my wife. “What will the two of you have?”
What followed was some inane small talk that I would have much preferred to have been short talk. Most likely, I would have insisted on not wasting so much time, but I was too focused on indulging in a rare and precious thing: a meal I didn’t have to pay for. Once I was done, however, I zeroed in on the marshal and brought the topic back on track.
“So…how are things with our Spanish friends?”
The marshal easily acquiesced to the change of subject.
“Very well, I would say.” A deplorable waste of facial musculature, also known as a “smile”, spread across the man’s face. “The only problem was that the prosecutor nearly fainted from the height of the pile of documents that formed the collective accusations againstSeñoresDe Ravera and De La Fuente. But after he got a chance to actually read them, he took on the job with relish. I do not believe we’ll have to worry about them again.”
