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“What?” Her eyes snapped up to his, and for a second Joe lost his train of thought.
“You can’t stay there, babe. It’s at least an hour in crap traffic to get here from there. Longer sometimes. You need to be closer to your grandmother, so you can get to the prison fast if needed.”
Her eyes moved back down to focus on her feet, and Joe felt bereft at the loss. “I know, but…”
She pulled her bottom lip between her teeth and nodded as though she was having a silent conversation with herself and had come to a conclusion. She rummaged around in her bag and pulled out her iPad. “I’ll see what’s near here.” Her slim fingers flitted across the screen before they stilled. “I forgot. I need Wi-Fi access first.”
“I know a hotel.” Joe held her elbow as he led them along the crowded street.
“But, I-I…”
“It’s okay. I know a perfect place. Trust me.” He wanted her to see that he knew her and what she needed to be comfortable in her environment. He’d made a study of Julia these past few months, and wherever possible he’d move mountains to give her what she needed.
“Okay.” She sounded so resigned that Joe had to remind himself trust came with time.
He had to be patient. At least now they were together. For the past couple of weeks—since he’d kissed her—she’d taken great pains to hide from him.
He slid his hand down her arm to hold her hand, feeling her tense, and led her across the busy road, where seven lanes of traffic randomly crowded into four official lanes. Cars blasted their horns at them, but Joe ignored it. When they got to the other side of the wide street, he caught sight of something out of the corner of his eye that made the hairs on the back of his neck stand to attention.
Two men.
And they seemed to be following them.
“Maybe we should go get my bags first?” Julia said softly.
He heard her, but his attention was focused on the men. They were out of place and stood out like Trump at a feminist rally. First, they were taller than most of the people rushing around them. They were also fitter, with the kind of muscles serious working out would develop. Both men were dressed in black, when most people around them were dressed in faded clothes that had seen better days. But it was the way they moved that had Joe on alert. They moved like men who were trained. Ex-military or private army, Joe guessed. Neither option reassured him.
As he hauled Julia around the corner of the concrete prison compound, she tugged at his hand. “My legs are shorter than yours.”
“Sorry.” He shortened his stride, at the same time noticing that she’d almost tripped over the uneven sidewalk. He needed to be more careful. He eyed the guys behind them. But more importantly, he needed to get her to safety.
“Well, what do you think?” Julia asked.
Joe cast a glance down at her. She was looking at him nervously, but hopefully.
“About what?”
She frowned, at the same time Joe spotted the guys turn into the road behind them. They hugged the shadows, keeping their distance, clearly thinking they hadn’t been spotted.
“You weren’t listening,” Julia gently admonished. “I said, wouldn’t it be best if we stayed at the Sheraton tonight and moved closer to the prison tomorrow? That way, I could use the hotel Wi-Fi to research hotels and make a booking for us. Plus”—she cast a pointed glance around at the half-finished brick buildings surrounding them—“I don’t think there are many hotels in this area.”
She was right. This part of Lima was a step up from a shantytown. People here could afford to build houses, but only a bit at a time—hence all the half-finished buildings with rebar sticking out, waiting for a second floor to be added.
“Joe, what do you think?”
What he thought was that they had to get off the street. And fast. Until he knew who wanted to keep tabs on them, and what they wanted, he could better protect Julia inside a hotel.
“No.” It came out more firmly than he’d intended. “We need to be close to your grandmother in case Ed needs us for something. He might even get her released tonight.”
Plus, he wasn’t sure if Julia had been followed from the airport, or what kind of surveillance had already been set up at her hotel. It was best if they started again—in an environment he could control.
Joe stuck his hand out and waved at passing cars. One of them had to be a cab. Seeing as most taxis didn’t come with signage, it wasn’t always easy to tell. He tugged Julia closer to him. He needed to get her off the street before nightfall. A small Volkswagen, which had seen better days, swerved through the traffic and screeched to a halt at the curb beside them. Joe pulled open the door to the back seat and urged Julia to get in.
“Is this a cab?” Julia was clearly horrified. No doubt she was examining the interior for the driver’s official registration. She wasn’t going to find any.
Joe pushed in beside her, his knees around his ears, slammed the door and ordered the driver to head for Miraflores. It was the closest suburb with decent hotels. And by decent, he meant big chain hotels. To Joe, those places were seriously lacking in atmosphere, but he knew Julia would appreciate the generic feel and familiarity.
As the car zoomed into the flow of traffic, horn blasting as it did so, Joe spotted one of the men dig into his pocket and come out with his phone. Checking in. Joe tried to keep an eye on the men, but there was too much chaos on the road behind them to see if they got into a vehicle to follow them.
