Page 75 of Colombian Chemistry

“Wait,” I whispered at Piper but also into the mic between my boobs. “What do you mean you’re not leaving with us?”

Piper swiveled her hips and started grinding up against me. “We left out a little part of the plan for your own good.”

“The cartel will never leave you alone if Pedro and his lieutenants survive,” Marcus said. “It’s our only choice to give you a normal life. I know how you feel about killing people, so we didn’t want to tell you until it was already too late to back out. But you and your father are going to leave this compound together, and we are coming back to finish the job so you can be safe.”

My heart pounded against my chest. They were going to murder three people tonight.

For me.

I hadn’t liked Marcus killing the men in the jungle, but it had been self-defense. Us or them. Heat of the moment. This... this was organized murder. An assassination.

I wanted to beg them not to. Remind them of the preciousness of human life. But as I glanced to Cruz and Mateo, I saw the cold, dead look behind their eyes. Maybe Marcus was right. Maybe some people couldn’t be saved. And wondering what would become of us after we freed my father had been something weighing on my mind. Would they really leave us alone once we got back to the States, or would I be looking over my shoulder my whole life?

Marcus popped in my earpiece again. “Just follow the plan, Irene, and listen to Piper. She’ll get you out safely.”

I kept dancing as I stared at Cruz and Mateo. They would be dead by morning. So strange to know such a thing, and I wondered how Marcus was able to do this so many times. But then I remembered his words about the kids and the bomb. I knew how many lives would be saved if these dangerous men ceased to exist. Even if I couldn’t see the people standing in front of me, I knew deep down how much more blood would be on their hands if they lived past tonight.

So many thoughts bounced around inside my mind as I danced with Piper. And no matter my feelings on taking out these men, I knew I had to follow the plan. One misstep could mean death for any of one of these brave people putting their lives on the line for my father and me, and that was something I knew my conscience could never survive.

“I’m going for it,” Piper said. “I’m going to ‘use the bathroom.’ You need to keep them busy so they don’t notice I’m gone too long. It’s gonna take about ten minutes for me to get to the server, plant the virus, and get back here.”

“Okay, got it,” I said.

“When I get back, you ask to use the bathroom, and I’ll offer to show you. That’s when we make a break for it. If they don’t seem suspicious, just keep dancing. If they start looking for me, get creative like we talked about. I don’t need long.”

I nodded as I kept dancing.

Piper sauntered off the dancefloor and walked up to a guard. She leaned into his ear and whispered, causing him to smile. When she was done, he gestured to the hallway leading away from the courtyard and into the mansion.

I kept dancing, hoping that I wouldn’t have to do anything crazy to keep the pressure off Piper while she went on her mission. With any luck, she’d be back without anyone having raised an eyebrow and me not having gotten myself into any trouble.

Just blend in. Wait for Piper, I reminded myself as I danced for several minutes. I kept my eye on the men still watching us, paying attention to anything that would alert me to any suspicions about Piper’s absence. My feet throbbed from dancing in my heels for so long, and I started counting down the seconds until she returned.

I saw several of the men whispering, and their eyes drifted over all of the dancing girls. When one furrowed his brow and looked toward the hall Piper had gone down, I sucked my lip between my teeth.

Were they looking for her? Had they noticed her absence?

“Do they notice she’s gone?” I asked into my mic but pretended I was talking to another girl.

“I can’t tell,” Wesley said. “I’m watching, though.”

One of the men stood up and started walking toward the hallway.

“Shit,” Wesley said. “I can’t be sure, but that guy may be going to look for Piper. You need to do something to distract him.”

A new song came on, and the girls squealed with excitement over the Spanish tune. They sped up their dancing, and I struggled to keep up. Feigning my excitement as well, I shook my hips along with them, trying to keep up with the choreographed dance I didn’t know. They jumped and wiggled, and I struggled to follow along, all while wracking my brain for what to do.

Distraction. How can I create a...

I didn’t need to think on it hard as my natural clumsiness took care of the solution. The women jumped at once and spun a one-eighty. As I did the same, I snagged the heel of my boot on the tiles.

With a shriek, I tumbled to the ground.

“Irene? Are you okay?” Marcus barked into my earpiece.

“She’s fine. She tripped and fell,” Wesley, our eyes in the sky, answered for me. “She made a distraction.”

Little did they know I wasn’t trying to.