The Perfect Target

Javier was right. Sandro had been living in the shadows far too long.

But he felt the light now, the heat, and that was the problem. All because of one stupid kiss. A reckless, desperate measure to keep her from rousing suspicion in the local woman. An insane curiosity to see if her mouth would feel as welcoming as the long-ago tabloid picture had promised.

A smart man would erase the encounter from his memory. A smart man would forget the feel of her lips, the soft little sigh that had escaped. He’d expected her to slam her fists against his chest and shove him away, to stomp down on his feet, to fight. But she’d barely resisted. It was as though he’d laid siege to her with a stun gun rather than his mouth. She hadn’t been angry as he’d expected, as he deserved, but…frozen.

The realization should have brought him great relief.

It didn’t.

Stopping adjacent to a crumbling stone wall, he pointed toward an overgrown oleander, dotted by a showy display of bright pink flowers. “Just through here.”

She leaned closer. “Through where?”

He pulled a tangled clump of honeysuckle aside, revealing a broken-out section of the wall. The sun beat mercilessly against his back, but in the forgotten world beyond the opening, shadows beckoned. He itched to step through to the other side, to the familiar, secretive world in which he thrived.

“Through there,” he said.

Miranda pivoted toward him. In the space of a heartbeat the unflappable facade faded, replaced by a vulnerability he hadn’t sensed before. Hadn’t expected. Wariness glinted in the near-translucent green of her eyes, as though he’d asked her to go skinny-dipping in the frigid waters of the Atlantic, rather than crawl through a hole to safety.

“Where are you taking me?” she asked.

There was a threadiness to her voice now, one that unnerved him more than her earlier silence. Whereas she’d been all fire and defiance when she thought herself threatened, when he offered security, she pulled back.

“Somewhere safe,” he told her.

“This isn’t the way to the U.S. embassy.”

“No, it’s not.”

“Then I’ll ask you again. Where are you taking me?”

“Relax,” he said, glancing up and down the narrow street to ensure no one watched their movements. “I’m not going to let anything happen to you.”

Her gaze remained wary, her stance alert, prompting Sandro to give her hand a gentle squeeze. Her flesh was clammy now, making her hand feel smaller. More fragile.

The temptation to pull her into his arms made absolutely no sense, so he discarded the misplaced notion and urged her toward the opening. “Hurry up. We need to get off the streets before anyone sees us. You can bet the shooter didn’t come alone.”

The reminder of the danger did the trick. She turned from him and climbed through the jagged opening in the stone wall. He followed, letting the thick vines swing into place behind him.

Only then did he breathe easier.

“My God,” she whispered. “It’s like stepping back in time.”

An old wall separated the overgrown grounds of the abandoned villa from the rest of the world. Exiled aristocrats had constructed the Moorish-influenced home in the waning years of the nineteenth century, the pastel-washed, stuccoed limestone walls providing shelter and security to generations of a family on the decline. Not even two world wars had penetrated the safe haven.

Only death had possessed that right.

When the great-grandson of the original owner passed away some ten years before, none of his seven children expressed interest in taking over the villa. They’d scattered to Italy and France, a daughter in Scotland, two sons in America, and the prospect of returning to the less modern culture of old-world Portugal had held little appeal.

“This place looks deserted,” Miranda said.

He tossed her a wicked little wink. “That’s the point.”

The villa stood abandoned now, a shadow of its former glory. Red clay roof tiles were cracked and faded; vines had long since taken over pale yellow walls that retained only a hint of their former color. Even the blue and yellow clay tiles framing the broken-out windows were chipped. Azulejos they were called, imitating familiar patterns of Moorish rugs.

Miranda walked toward a crumbling statue of the Virgin Mary, who rose from a tangle of thigh-high sage and stood with her arms outstretched toward the old house. “She looks…sad.”

Sandro joined her. “She’ll keep us safe,” he said, reclaiming Miranda’s hand and leading her toward the entry-way.

Like so many other houses of central Portugal, the neglected villa boasted a wide front porch, framed by a series of three archways. The second story featured two smaller verandas, with the third story reserved for windows, dark now, almost gaping, like an old woman smiling through missing teeth.

The scent of rosemary grew stronger with every step, escorting them through an overgrown herb garden sprawling over the steps and engulfing the porch. Miranda broke off a stem as they passed.

“Through here,” Sandro said, leading her inside.

“It’s dark.”

“You’ll adjust.” He kept her hand in his and headed along the familiar path to the back of the house, carefully checking for signs of unwanted visitors. Only a few hours had passed since his last inspection, but a man could never be too careful.

Beneath the stairs at the back of the house, he opened a small closet and pulled Miranda into the darkness.

“Just stay close,” he instructed, whispering even though he didn’t need to.

She stopped abruptly and tried to pull her hand free. “Where are we?”

Her voice was sharp, frightened. And in the ensuing silence, he could hear the frenetic rhythm of her breathing. The pounding of her heart. “Just a little further.”

“But—”

“Shh,” he soothed. “Trust me.”

She didn’t bother pointing out that she had no choice. He hadn’t given her one.

Against the back wall, Sandro reached up and knocked twice against a hollow portion. A panel slid open, granting them access to a narrow stairway. He retrieved a flashlight from the ledge where he’d left it that morning and turned it on, drenching the narrow corridor in light.

“Straight up there,” he said.

Disbelief flooded her expression. “A secret passageway?”

He shrugged. “Sometimes paranoia is its own reward.”

At the top of the stairs he opened another panel, this one leading to the small room where he’d slept the night before and on several other occasions when he’d needed to melt into the shadows for a few days.

Miranda stared at the threadbare sleeping bag crammed against the far wall.

“There’s no electricity,” he told her, “but thanks to a well outside, we’re okay for water.”

She followed his gesture toward the small chamber off the side of the room, where a primitive toilet and shower stood in equal abandon.