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Fatima leaned against the counter. “She’s being very generous with you, and I wouldn’t advise you to push it.”
He turned back toward the living room, but Ana had disappeared. He hoped she’d gone to put on her black wig rather than lock herself in her bedroom. “Fatima, does this condo have a back entrance?”
“No, but in case of a fire there are stairs at both ends of the corridor. Are you expecting an emergency?”
“I think we already have one.”
Chapter Seven
Ana took the time to put on the dramatic black eyeliner and changed into her baggy black clothes. Alejandro was sitting on the living room floor playing with the kittens when she returned ready to go. “They’d make good pets for you,” she offered.
“Not when they have such a great home here.” He rose with an easy stretch and stopped to stare. “Do you ever forget who you’re pretending to be?”
“Sometimes, but I always know who I really am. I should warn you, the paparazzi can smell news from clear across town. If they discover you’re Orland Ortiz’s heir, they’ll stick closer than the hair on your chest.”
He laughed and shook his head. “I’m tougher than I look. I studied karate when I was a kid so I wouldn’t get roughed up on the docks.”
Fatima glanced out from the kitchen. “You may need it.”
Ana reached for his hand before he could respond. “You need to go out as the deliveryman. Just brush by everyone as though you were positive they’d have no interest in you. If anyone speaks to you, ignore them. If they ask whose order you brought, shake your head. Don’t give them any opening to talk to you, because they’ll twist anything you say into an insulting weapon. I’ll go out through the garage and meet you in back. I hope you have your SUV rather than your bike.”
“I do.” He picked up his cap and pulled it low. “It was nice to meet you, Fatima.”
The housekeeper wished him good-bye and closed the door behind him. “He’s almost too good-looking. Have you ever dated a homely man?”
Ana picked up Juliet and gave the inky-black kitten a loving squeeze. “Few people are truly homely, but unattractive men don’t approach me. If Henry buzzes for anything else, please use your own judgment, but absolutely no more live pets.”
“I understand, no puppies, no geckos, no fish, nor birds in fancy cages.”
“No pet snakes either,” Ana added. She handed Juliet to the housekeeper and slipped out the door. She went down the stairs rather than use the elevator and left the building by the workman’s entrance in the garage. She found Alejandro waiting for her at the corner.
“I walked out looking as dull as a door and no one noticed me,” he greeted her. “Won’t the paparazzi give up soon and chase someone else?”
“It depends on whether there’s someone more interesting to chase, but a murder involving high-fashion models makes compelling news. Let’s continue to avoid them. Do you want to go down to the port?”
“It’s a good place to be lost in the crowd. I’ll give you a tour of the Mediterranean Goddess if you’d like.”
“Will your father be on board?”
“No, his office building overlooks the port, but he’s seldom on board one of the cruise liners. I worked as a steward in the summers while I attended university the first time. It was supposed to give me a feel for the business from the water up, but what I liked best was touring our ports of call. I came home with sketchbooks filled with drawings of classical buildings rather than a love for the cruise business. Naturally my father wasn’t pleased with how I’d spent my free time. A college degree in business didn’t inspire me either, so now I’m studying what I should have been studying all along.”
Embarrassed by her own lack of formal education, Ana glanced at the passing scene. “I read a lot, and no one has ever called me stupid, but I’ve not spent much time in school. Unlike most careers, there’s a time factor to modeling. An experienced architect would be sought after; an experienced model is often regarded as too familiar a face. God forbid there should be an early sign of a wrinkle.”
“You’re a long way from being wrinkled, and you don’t need a college degree to prove you’re intelligent. It’s obvious from the sparkle in your eyes.”
“Thank you.” When they reached the port, he pulled his SUV into a slot marked for the Ortiz Line and took her hand. “Cruise ships are huge floating hotels, a thousand feet long, with room for nearly four-thousand passengers plus the crew to serve them. I love the sea, but I’d rather vacation on Tahiti and watch the waves roll in than cruise from port to port.”
“I haven’t been to Tahiti, but it sounds magical. Could we just walk and lose ourselves among the tourists for a while?”
“Sure. This is a good place to watch people.”
They were near the end of Las Ramblas and often had to turn sideways to slip by other couples. Laughing, Ana looked over her shoulder and caught the bald man walking twenty feet behind them. She jerked on Alejandro’s hand and pulled him into a shop selling Barcelona curios. “The man who’s been following me is tracking us again today. He must have been following you, because he wouldn’t have seen me leave the condo.” She described him briefly. “Does he sound like someone your father employs?”
Alejandro glanced out the shop’s door and saw the bald man at a nearby news kiosk. He gestured for Ana to come close. “Is he standing there?”
“Yes, that’s him.”
“Stay here.” Alejandro walked down the sidewalk to greet him. “You’ve begun to annoy me. Follow someone else.”
