Janet tells Diego about Tex, and he takes it in stride. He tells her he quit working for the CIA, because he’d nearly died.
They made love the rest of the weekend. Monday morning, she returned to school, smiling.
“You look way too happy,” Mr. Whitmore said. He still worked at the school. Not so young now, he still had a great sense of humor. They’d become good friends.
“I had a good weekend. Don’t ask, I won’t tell you.”
“I can already tell,” he said, sidling closer. “New boyfriend?”
“Old one returned.”
“Ahh….”
“How can you tell?” she whispered, casting about to see if anyone was listening.
“The smile of complete satisfaction on your face. My wife wore that same expression after our honeymoon.”
“Lucky girl!”
“She thought so. Anyone I know?”
“Remember when I was dating Diego Hernandez?”
“No kidding? Well, I’ll be. Congratulations.” He gave her a hug.
Diego stayed with her for three months. He got a job at the sugar factory as a low level executive. He made decent money. It was a good life, stable, fulfilling. They were happier than either of them could remember.
It was Diego’s birthday. They’d celebrated with his family, but were now having their own party. They’d made love twice, and were thinking of a third, when someone knocked loudly on the door. They tried to ignore it, but the banging continued. Diego glowered. Grabbing his jeans, he buttoned them up and went to the door shirtless and barefoot.
Slinging back the door, he got even angrier. Three people he hoped he’d never see again, stood on the porch. Diego was frowzy and disheveled from their love making. The three men knew they’d disturbed something, but they politely said nothing. The leader, a man who looked like he could break a tree in half with his pinky, walked past Diego and into the living room.
“Don’t mind me, Colonel,” Diego growled. “But you’re trespassing in the lady’s home.”
“Wanna press charges, kid? Go right ahead and call,” the man said calmly, smiling.
Diego refused to be dragged into a conflict. “What do you want, Colonel? I left the game. I’m done.”
“You were, until now. Your country needs you.”
“You played that card all ready!” Diego yelled. “I gave you seven years, and almost gave my life. It kept me from the woman I love. Now, I’ve got her back. We’re building a life….”
“Those men who held you, had friends,” the colonel said with a menacing glower. “Friends who will track you down and kill you, and your happy life. They’re in this country looking for you. We came to give you the means to even the score.”
Janet came out of the bedroom and stood beside Diego. He took her hand, drawing her close, slightly behind him as if to protect her from the large, angry man.
“Revenge? You came at me with revenge? “That’s pathetic, Coffey. Even for you.”
Colonel Lane Coffey eyed him grimly. “They want you dead. Only they won’t just kill you. They’ll kill your pretty, little woman, after they do unspeakable things to her body—while you’re forced to watch. If you’re lucky, it ends there. But you’ve got family next door. A beautiful sister, three darling little kids, a crippled father, an aging mother….”
“Enough!” Diego roared. “You’ve made your point, Lane. You want me back. You want me to track these guys down and bring them in.”
Colonel Coffey said nothing, shifting from foot to foot uneasily.
“I see. It’s like that, huh?”
Janet stepped closer, her arms circling his waist. “What’s going on? What does he mean?”
“He wants me to hunt down some people. And kill them,” he replied coldly.
“And no one’s better at that than you, Diego,” Colonel Coffey said with a nasty grin.
Diego’s dark eyes flashed and Janet got the impression that the man he most wanted to kill was his superior.
©2020 Dellani Oakes
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