Romancing the Alpha: An Action-Adventure Romance Boxed Set (118 page)

Leo smiled at us again and gestured to the pool. “I’m glad you’re all here. And even though it’s a shame to ever leave the Estrella, I’ve arranged for you to visit a special site today. A very beautiful cenote.”

“What’s that?” I asked.

“A cenote is a sinkhole formed from an underground river. There’s a local one that’s just beautiful. I’ve arranged a car to take you—it’s close by—it’s called
Ik Kil
. It’s an eco-archeological park. A Yucatan treasure. Bring your swimsuits. Swimming in the cenote is a magical experience. You will enjoy it.”

“Swimming in a
sinkhole
?” I asked John after Leo had taken his leave.

“There’s a first time for everything,” John said and shrugged.

***

“You’re lucky to be visiting
Ik Kil
today,” our driver told us on the way to the eco-archeological park. “No crowds on a day like this.” He pulled up next to a sign written in both English and Spanish, which read:
Swim in the Blue Sacred Well.

“Is there a religious connection to the site?” John asked the driver.

“The cenote is believed by many to be the womb of the earth goddess,” the driver said. “When you swim in the water, you are going back to mother earth. It’s like you’re being reborn—it gives you a second chance, as they say. Enjoy your time here. I’ll be waiting to take you back to the resort whenever you like.”

Outside the car, the sun was beginning to feel punishing. “I hope this sinkhole’s cool,” I said under my breath. All I could picture was an uninviting, muddy pond.

We checked in at the desk, and the attendant waved our money away. “You have the place to yourselves. Mr. Leo made a special reservation,” she said, gesturing to the entrance, which was carved into rock. We thanked her and descended hundreds of slick, cool steps deep into a cave, following the signs, relieved to be out of the heat.

When we reached the bottom of the stairs, I sucked my breath in. There was an enormous, almost unearthly blue lagoon, with sunlight streaming in through the top of the cave, reflecting off the eerily beautiful water. There were long jungle vines trailing from the entrance of the cave and grazing the top of the cenote. The water was so clear that you could see the dozens of fish swimming in it.

“Wow,” Meredith said, staring out at it. “Just…wow.”

“And you said it was just a sinkhole,” John teased me.

“I was picturing mud,” I admitted. “Not anything like this.” But that was because I’d never seen something like this before. It was a secret, underground paradise. There were wooden ladders leading down to the water, as well as a rock platform to jump from. We had the entire place to ourselves.

“My opinion of Leo is improving,” Liberty said. She peered down at the water. “What type of fish are those?”

“They look like catfish,” John said. “They aren’t going to hurt you, babe.”

“Oh, I know,” she said quickly. “I’m just sort of hoping that they don’t…touch me, either.”

Meredith nodded. “I hear you, Liberty.”

I snorted at them. “I’ll take care of the fish,” I said, stripping off my tank top and handing it to Mer. I ran to the platform and climbed up. “Follow me, ladies,” I called. “Once I do this cannonball, the fish are going to swim for their lives.” I took a running start and vaulted off the platform into the air, bringing my knees up and wrapping my arms around them.
Boom.
I hit the water hard, causing an explosive splash. The water was cool and refreshing, the perfect antidote to the heat from the climbing sun.

I came up and took a deep breath. “Clear for fish!” I called.

“Take it easy on poor mother earth’s womb,” Meredith called. And then, “Does it feel good?”

“It’s incredible. Take the ladder, though, so you can ease your way in.” Where I was adventurous, Mer was cautious. I was always jumping in. Mer was always calculating the risks. I was pretty lucky she’d married me in the first place—that was the riskiest thing she’d ever done. I watched as she removed her clothes and headed tentatively towards the ladder. I was glad that we were different; we balanced each other out. I don’t think we’d known it when we fell in love, but I believed it was that balance that made our marriage work.

“It’s so nice,” Mer said, paddling over to me. She came into the part of the lagoon where the sunlight hit the water, and I sucked in a deep breath at how beautiful she looked.

“What?” she asked.

I must have been staring at her. “You look beautiful.”

“Matthew,” she said self-consciously and splashed some water at me.

“I mean it.” I swam to her and kissed her as we treaded water.

“Stop,” she whispered, and I could see her blushing underneath her freckles.

“You have to be nice if you want me to keep the fish away,” I teased.

“You have to protect me,” she squealed. “Promise.”

“I promise,” I said and kissed her again. “Always.”

***

There were life jackets down there, and we all put them on and just floated for what felt like hours.

A strange sort of peace settled over me as I floated in the cenote, the sunlight on my face.

“You can still work for me, you know,” John offered. “You can start to run the business side of things. You can look for ways for us to grow into the civilian market. I’m not ready to say goodbye to you and your talents just yet.”

I smiled at him as I saw Mer’s eyes go wide with gratefulness. “You can’t just keep me on the payroll out of pity,” I said stubbornly. “I don’t even know how to do a spreadsheet.”

“Ian can teach you all that,” Liberty chimed in. “If he can teach me to do it, he can teach you to do it.”

“But I thought you two were thinking about moving over to the business side. I thought you were going to back off from the field assignments.”

John shot a quick look at Liberty and shrugged from underneath his life vest. “Maybe someday,” he said. “But for the imminent future, she and I are going to Minnesota for that case.”

“I could still go on that,” I said, too quickly. That case involved mafia informants. I’d been itching to get my hands on some mafia informants.

“I like the spreadsheet idea better,” Meredith blurted out. I turned to her, and she looked at me miserably. “I’m sorry, Matthew. But being so close to having you safe is making me greedy, I guess.”

“I can do one last mission.” My voice was still stubborn.

John looked at Meredith and frowned at me. “We’ll figure it out,” he said noncommittally.

“I’m pretty sure a fish just touched me,” Liberty said, wrinkling her nose.

“That’s all I needed to hear,” Meredith said, swimming to the ladder. “I’m out of here.”

“I mean it, John,” I said lowly to him as I watched Meredith climb out and start to dry off. She quickly pulled on her clothes. “I can do the Minnesota deal. I’m not ready to say goodbye just yet.”

“You don’t have to say goodbye,” John said. He motioned with his chin towards my wife. “But you might want to say something besides what you’re saying.”

“I might have been a little premature in all this,” I said. I squinted up at the sun.

“There’s never a good time to grow up,” John said and smiled at me. “It just happens. And then you can’t undo it.”

“What do you know about growing up?” I asked.

“You’ve got a point.” We both laughed, but it was interrupted by the sound of feet on the stairs. More people were coming down to our private sanctuary.

“Sounds like our time’s up,” I said, wistfully looking around. “It was fun while it lasted.”

“It was,” John said, and I was pretty sure he wasn’t talking about our swim in the cenote.

LIBERTY

“Well, well, well,” a voice boomed from the stairs. “If it isn’t another unpleasant group of Americans.”

I was still in the water at the bottom of the ladder. “I beg your pardon,” Meredith said, straightening up. She sounded appalled by his insult.

The man who’d spoken finally became visible at the bottom of the stairs. He was tall, with a broad chest, a shock of black hair, and, I noticed to my complete and utter horror, a very large gun. Pointed right at Meredith.

Now she not only looked appalled, she looked petrified.

I clung to the bottom of the ladder, just out of sight.

“You can beg all you like,” he said.

Five men hustled down the stairs behind him, all of them also armed. For once in my life, I just shut my mouth.

I could barely see Meredith standing on the platform above me, frozen in fear. Matthew and John were out in the middle of the cenote, too far away and way too vulnerable for my liking, unarmed and treading water.

The man was watching Meredith as she stood there, frozen, saying nothing. “What, no begging? A pity,” he said. “That’s probably the only thing I’d enjoy hearing come out of your mouth.”

I watched as they just stared at each other for a beat, the hunter and his prey.

“Matthew! John!” Meredith finally screamed.

He seemed to wince at her wailing. “I certainly didn’t enjoy
that
,” he said. He motioned towards her. “Grab her. And keep her quiet,” he said to his men.

In an instant, they had Meredith. I watched, still hidden, as her wrists were taken roughly behind her back and a cloth was tied around her mouth. She struggled and was rewarded with an elbow in her back. I cringed as she cried out, her voice muffled by the cloth, and then I noticed that Matthew and John were no longer in the middle of the cenote. They’d swum closer to the ladder but didn’t acknowledge me. They were protecting me. The man was watching them carefully, his gun aimed at them almost casually.

“I don’t expect that you’ll be stupid enough to try and attack us from there. Seeing as we have your woman, and that we’re armed. And you’re wearing…floaties.” He looked down at them coolly. “I don’t suppose you can recognize me from down there.” He peered at them from the ledge.

“Why don’t you come a little closer, then?” John asked, a warning tone in his voice.

“Ha. I remember
you
, of course,” the man said.

John was quiet for a beat, studying the man from the water. “Oh, fuck me,” he said eventually. I could tell from his voice that he now knew who this man was, and clearly, it was an unhappy realization.

The vacation had been fun while it lasted. For all of its six or so hours.

I looked up at Meredith. She was as white as a sheet as the men held her and she struggled against them. I had to help her, but I had nothing to use as a weapon. I needed to get to her, but even if I leapt up and tried to free her, we were woefully outnumbered. If they started shooting at us, we were through. There was no place to hide in the cave, the walls slick and smooth. The cenote seemed suddenly sinister to me, like it was a funnel to doom.

It wasn’t until then that I realized we were completely trapped here. There was no way out.

“We’ll be taking our prisoner now,” the man said. “We’ll be in touch.”

“Gerardo,” John called. “It’s me you want. Not her.” He swam to the ladder.

“Oh, I want you, too. But later. First, I’m going to do bad things to your wife.”

“That’s not my wife!” John yelled.

“I have it on good authority that it is, Mr. Quinn. Don’t worry. I’ll be in touch.”

They hustled Meredith up the stairs, and I saw that she fought them the whole way. Before I even knew what was happening, Matthew had climbed up the side wall and was sprinting after them, water running off his body.

“Matthew! Stop!” John hissed. He pushed me up the ladder and scrambled up behind me, grabbing Matthew by the arm just as he was about to sprint, dripping wet, up the stairs. “You’re not even armed. There’s six of them. Just stop for a minute.”

Matthew rounded on him. “Are you fucking kidding me?” he asked. “They have my wife!”

“We’re going to get her,” John said. “Let’s get the guns. And a car. If we’re going after Gerardo Ramirez, we need to be prepared. You’re no good to Meredith if you’re dead.”

It must have taken every ounce of considerable strength he had not to run up the stairs, but Matthew knew when John was right.

“This is fucking unbelievable,” Matthew said, breathing hard.

“Well, believe it,” John snapped. “Let’s go. But stop at the top of the stairs—they’re probably still up there. They might be waiting for us.”

We quickly grabbed our things. “Do you seriously not have a gun on you?” Matthew asked, his jaw clenched tight.

“I left them at the resort. First time ever,” John said.

“Me, too. Last time ever,” Matthew said and headed determinedly up the stairs. I’d seen Matthew shot, beaten, and absolutely livid. But I’d never seen him as pale as he was right now. He was as white as a sheet, just like Meredith had been. My heart was breaking for him. Meredith was innocent, with two little kids at home.

She must be petrified right now. With good reason.

By the time we got to the top, my heart was thudding in my chest. John and Matthew scoped out the landing; it was quiet and clear. They motioned for me to come out, and we quickly headed to the welcome center. It was empty; all signs of the friendly attendant who’d checked us in were long gone.

There was no one else. No one, nothing, except for the punishing sun and the ache in my head. Matthew and John looked at each other uneasily as the car that had driven us here pulled slowly back into the empty lot. The driver put it into park and came around to open the door.

“Did you enjoy the womb of the goddess?” he asked and motioned for us to get inside.

A look passed between John and Matthew, but they said nothing. Matthew jumped into the car, and John motioned for me to follow.

“It was an experience,” Matthew said neutrally. He jaw was clenched, and his face was still white.

“Are you down one?” the driver asked, looking at us in the mirror after John had climbed in.

“She took a cab,” John said. “She wasn’t feeling well.”

“I didn’t see her,” the driver said. There was no trace of suspicion or curiosity in his voice.

“I’m sure you didn’t,” Matthew said under his breath. He had a point. In my limited experience, it seemed Mexico was one of those places where people didn’t see things a lot. It was probably much safer that way.