Chapter 14

"I'll do it." Harold slapped his palms on the table for emphasis.

"You're sure?" Bella didn't look like she believed him.

"Absolutely. This is going to be fun," he smiled at her. We'd been completely honest with him about Mala's threats, but he seemed utterly unfazed.

"It's okay if you say no, Harold. We'll understand." I too couldn't believe how readily he'd agreed. "And if you do say yes, we can pay you or something. We were thinking of paying someone to make her a passport."

He scoffed at my offer. "Don't be ridiculous. I want to help. Bella needs to get back to Phoenix, and you, Edward," he put emphasis on both of our names, "you have to get her there. Unless you want me to drive her the whole way?" He sounded hopeful.

"I don't think so. We really just need help getting her over the border."

"It shouldn't be that difficult. If we can get Bella to look enough like Mattie, I can't imagine them giving us any trouble. If they do, I'll just start talking about my prostate, that always moves things along."

Bella and I both laughed. "It's true," Harold continued. "No one wants to hear an old person talk about their health. Once you start, everyone just hurries you up. It works better in the States, though. Down here people are too polite, too willing to let an old man ramble on. Drives me crazy sometimes." He took a sip of his coffee. "Okay, first things first. Let me go get her passport."

I watched him leave in his pink sundress and clogs, wondering if this was the right thing to do.

After he left the room, Bella leaned toward me, putting her hand in mine and giving me a reassuring smile. "It'll work, Edward."

"I hope so." I rubbed my thumb over her ring. We'd be able to take the rings off once we were over the border, our fake newlywed pose no longer necessary, the honeymoon over.

"Hey, come on. You look like you're a million miles away."

"Sorry." I shook my head a little, squeezing her hand.

"Here it is," Harold tromped back into the kitchen and put a passport onto the table. "She was sixty-eight when we applied for these, so you don't have to look eighty."

"Oh, huge relief. Only sixty-eight." Bella opened the passport. "Harold, she was beautiful."

"Yep. Until the day she died, she was the most beautiful woman I ever laid eyes on."

Bella handed me the passport while she asked Harold more questions about Mattie. I took a good look at the photograph, thinking that Bella would have to cut her hair and definitely keep her sunglasses on. Mattie's hair wasn't much longer than Harold's and her eyes were bright blue. She was smiling in the photo and Bella was right, she was beautiful. I couldn't help myself and briefly flipped through the pages. She and Harold had been world travellers. There were stamps from Europe, Asia, even Africa.

"You've been all over the world."

"Travel was our hobby. One trip a year, sometimes two."

"I'm impressed. Most people your age are happy to go as far as the local golf course."

"Mattie was the one who insisted. She said that seeing new places, trying new things, was what kept us young."

"That sounds like good advice," Bella smiled.

"It is. You two should take it." Harold got up and started clearing dishes. "Lets have a little more coffee and figure out how we're going to do this."

By late afternoon we'd come up with a plan that seemed workable. Bella would wear one of Mattie's pantsuits, and a scarf and sunglasses. When I told Bella she'd have to cut and dye her hair, she nodded without argument, but Harold surprised us by leaving the room again, returning with a storage box.

"These were Mattie's wigs. After her chemo treatments, she bought a few different styles. You can pick any of them."

"This is so weird," Bella finally said after trying on the third one. "I feel like I need to thank Mattie personally for letting me borrow her things."

"She'd be happy to help you if she were here. She'd have liked you."

"Thank you, Harold." She reached over and gave him a tight hug. "I really appreciate that."

He looked at me over Bella's shoulder, but I looked down at my coffee cup. It'd been harder than I'd expected to tell Harold that I'd been hired to kill Bella, that that's how we met, but he'd needed to know everything. He'd taken it in surprisingly good stride, only raising his eyebrows at me, but I wasn't anticipating that he'd bestow Mattie's approval on me as well.

"She'd have liked you, too, Edward. Mattie wasn't one to judge a person's past. She took people at face value, and what you're doing for Bella is more than most people would." He frowned a little as Bella released him from her hug. "So what exactly is your plan when you get to Phoenix?"

I sighed and ran my hand through my hair. "I don't know yet. Bella's supposed to be dead, and we don't trust the police. She can't just show up and start asking questions about her mother's death."

"But I thought the whole reason you came down here to Mexico was to give yourself enough time to think of something."

"It was." I smiled at Bella. "We got a little sidetracked."

"Well, you've still got time. You don't have to rush out of here tomorrow, although Friday would be a good day to go. Lots of traffic."

"Tomorrow's only Friday?" Bella's question prompted a nod from Harold and she turned to me, shaking her head. "I still can't believe it's only been a week," she said under her breath. She smiled at me, but her smiled was mixed with self-consciousness and something else - chagrin, maybe.

I smiled back and nudged her with my knee under the table. "A week and a day," I offered, trying to give her more justification.

"Oh, of course. That makes it respectable."

"Completely. We've set a new standard of respectability."

"A new definition, you mean," she grinned and nudged me back under the table.

Harold was watching us closely. "I knew you two weren't really married, by the way."

"What?" Bella's jaw dropped.

"How the hell, Harold?" I was just as surprised.

"Oh, it was obvious. I don't interact with a lot of the tourists down here, but I've become quite an expert on body language. I amuse myself sometimes by watching couples and trying to guess whose marriage is going to make it, and whose isn't. You two didn't touch each other, didn't kiss, so at first I thought you were going to be one of the latter, but then I saw how much you liked each other."

"And just how could you tell that?" Bella crossed her arms, fighting back a smile.

"When we were making dinner together, you had one eye on the patio door the whole time. Don't deny it, young lady." He shook his finger at her. "And you," he turned to me, "couldn't keep your eyes off her at dinner."

"One eye on the patio door the whole time, huh?" I smiled at Bella from underneath my eyebrows.

"Asks Mr. Couldn't-keep-his-eyes-off-me-at-dinner."

I nodded a touché.

"I was dying to ask what was going on with you two. Half the reason I'm so happy to see you again is to get an answer."

I couldn't help myself. "What's the other half?"

"To find out that things have changed." He winked at Bella.

"Harold!" The automatic way she rose to his teasing made me laugh out loud, and he laughed too, taking open pleasure in her pseudo-indignation. He really like her, his smile leveling out and then a new look coming over his face.

"Edward, is Bella going to be safe in Phoenix?"

That was the question, wasn't it? I shook my head. "I don't know. I'd much rather she didn't want to go back, but I understand her reasons." I looked at her. "If my mother'd been killed, I'd want to know why too." I thought about Esme for a second, imagined if something had happened to her and it hit me again how crucial her attention had been during my teen years. "Yeah, I'd definitely need to know."

"You'll have to be the one to find out why."

"Me?"

"Obviously."

He was right. As soon as he said it, I knew that's what I'd been thinking in the back of my head since Bella told me she wanted to know why Mala'd killed her mother. I'd have to find a safe place to put Bella, a hotel or something, and leave her there while I went out and played private detective.

"Like a private detective."

"But with no survivors, who would hire one?" Bella frowned.

"I could pretend I was working for her life insurance company."

Harold nodded appreciatively. "Your company just has a few unanswered questions about her death."

"But the official cause of death is suicide," Bella said, "and again, she isn't supposed to have any survivors."

"Life insurance benefits aren't just for family, anyone could have taken one out on her." Harold seemed to know what he was talking about. "And they might not want to pay up if they're not sure about the cause. They're not beholden to what the police say." He turned back to me. "That's a good idea, Edward."

I nodded my thanks and rubbed my jaw. The only problem with it was that I'd be putting myself out there, possibly drawing Mala's attention. It'd been a week since I was supposed to kill Bella, four days since he'd paid me. He must know by now that I hadn't returned to Chicago, but whether he was actively looking for me or not was anyone's guess. Most likely he wasn't, but if I turned up he'd be interested to know where. And if I turned up in Phoenix, asking questions about Bella's mother, he'd be on me fast.

I looked back up at Harold, who'd been watching me. He narrowed his eyes and looked me over.

"None of my old suits would fit you. You'll have to buy something to wear when you get to Phoenix."

I nodded.

"I'd give you my driver's license, but you'd never be able to pass for me."

"No, but thanks. I have some ID's I can use."

"Get some business cards. Cut your hair. Maybe some glasses."

"Yeah?"

"Rent a car. Stow your motorcycle. Or," his face lit up, "we can swap vehicles after we get across the border and I'll ride your bike back here. You can come and get it when you're done."

"Harold, we can't take your car all the way to Phoenix." Bella'd been listening to our exchange. "That's just too much."

"I don't care. I don't particularly like that car. I let Mattie pick it out." He turned back to me. "That's what I want for helping you, I want you to let me have your bike until you can get back here."

"I don't have a problem with that."

"But what about August?" Bella sounded exasperated. "How are you going to drive him to the beach on a motorcycle?"

Harold shrugged. "You have to try new things to stay young. He'll learn."

Bella groaned and put her head down on her arms. "Mattie, I'm sorry," she mumbled.

"Okay, let's assume you find out why Bella's mother was killed, what then?" Harold returned to me.

"We have to find a way for Bella to continue with her education."

"So, let me get this straight. The cartel and presumably the police want her to have disappeared, or to have never existed, rather."

"Right, but she's got a full scholarship waiting for her at ASU. Hopefully." I turned to Bella. "Classes would have started already, wouldn't they?" She nodded. "We need to find out if she can change her name or something and still use that scholarship."

"Of course she can. Students change their names all the time. Late starts are a little harder to explain, but a full scholarship – they should be accommodating."

"How do you know that?"

"I was a professor at UC San Diego. Paleontology."

"Dinosaurs?" Bella lifted her head.

"I started with dinosaurs, but I ended up with birds."

"Birds?"

"The reigning theory is that birds in many ways may be the descendents of the dinosaurs. The leg structure, the beak, even the feathers." He shook his head. "They might be right. They probably are. Birds." He sounded disappointed. "That was the hot new idea making the rounds when I retired. I'm glad I got out when I did."

"You don't like birds either?"

"It's not that I don't like them. They're fine, I guess. Some of their migration patterns are absolutely astonishing. It's just that when I was young and excited about my work, it was all about the history, the mystery, of these huge bones being dug out of the ground, the idea of our planet being once walked by these creatures that we could only barely conceptualize. Now, apparently, they're still with us, flying around and shitting on our heads."

"But that's really cool, to think about them that way."

Harold smiled at her fondly. "You sound just like one of my students. What's your scholarship in?"

"Veterinary Sciences."

"But not birds."

"No, at least not until now."

"Good. Keep your mind open."

"I will."

"You can easily change your name and still get your scholarship. I can put in a call to ASU, feel it out for you."

"You can?"

"Sure," he shrugged.

"Can she transfer her scholarship to another school?" I didn't like the idea of Bella staying in Phoenix.

"Not without pulling some strings."

"Do you have any?"

"Yes," he smiled at me. "Yes, I do."

We continued talking and planning through dinner and into the night, most of our conversation focused on what to do once we got to Phoenix. By nine we realized we'd covered everything we could think of, and Harold said he was going to bed.

"One last walk on the beach?" I asked Bella.

She nodded and kicked off her boots.

The sky was clear, the stars just as close as they'd been the last time we were here. I held Bella's hand as we wandered away from the lights of the house. We walked for a long time before Bella stopped and looked up at the sky.

"How are we ever going to repay Harold for helping us?"

"I don't know." Finding Harold had been like striking gold. "Maybe I'll let him keep my bike."

She smiled, her eyes still raised. In the night I couldn't make out their color, just the tiny reflections of the stars. "I bet he'd like that." She moved nearer, circling my waist with her arms, coming in for a hug. I pulled her to me tightly and looked over her head at the water. If our plan worked, at this time tomorrow we'd be half way to Phoenix. If it didn't work, we'd either be back here or worst case, Bella'd be in custody.

"You seem a million miles away again." Bella tilted her head up to look at me.

I ran my hand down her back. "Just wishing I could stop time."

"It's going to be fine tomorrow, Edward. Why are you so worried?"

"Crossing the border is the only contact you'll have with the authorities. I just don't want anything to go wrong."

"If I'd known it was going to be this nerve-wracking to get back into the States, I never would have suggested coming down here."

"Do you wish we hadn't?" I held my breath, waiting for her answer.

"No," she said immediately.

"Me neither." I looked back toward the ocean, silent for a few moments, thinking this could be our last night together. The realization was physically painful. "Was this real, Bella? Us?"

"Yeah. It was. It is." I felt her hands make fists in my shirt as she tightened her hold on me. "Is that what you're so worried about? That once we're back in the States, this will be over?"

I nodded, dropping my head to the side of hers so she could feel my answer. I knew it would be, but I'd just have to deal with it. I'd been so lucky to have a week with her. It'd been the best week of my life, but it wouldn't last. It couldn't.

"Edward, look at me." She let go of my shirt and brought her hands up to cup my jaw. "I can't see into the future any better than you. I don't know what's going to happen to us, but I know two things. I know how you feel about me, and I know how I feel about you. And they're the same."

"They are?"

"Yes, Edward." She reached up and kissed me gently.

I pulled her to me, hugging her as tightly as I could, kissing the top of her head, my mind swirling. If she'd have me in her life, what would our future be like? I could picture us living somewhere new, Bella in school while I rebuilt my career. We'd have to find a place that had a good vet school and a decent music scene. No, just a good vet school, that was the priority. I could teach guitar lessons wherever we lived, do something else to earn money. We could get a house, a house with a big bathtub so she could bathe while I shaved every morning.

I kissed her again, chuckling at how quickly I'd set us up in a domestic fantasy.

"What's so funny?"

"How quickly my thoughts get ahead of themselves sometimes. I'm already setting us up in a house with a big bathtub."

"That sounds nice." She smiled widely and twisted her arms around my neck, lifting herself up on her tiptoes to hug me.

I buried my face in her neck, kissing her throat and inhaling a deep breath off her skin. "But we need to stay focused. First we have to get through tomorrow." I loosened my hold. "We should start heading back."

She took my hand as we turned, our pace slow, neither of us in any hurry. Despite my words, my mind was still on the future. I kept stealing glances at Bella. She was so smart, so sweet, the kind of person who made the world a better place.

When we got the base of Harold's stairs, I stopped and cupped her cheek. She smiled up at me, a question in her eyes, wondering if I was still worried about tomorrow. I didn't answer, just leaned down to kiss her forehead. There was no way I was going to let her live the rest of her life afraid of Mala one day finding her.

I'd told her that she was my last job, but I'd been wrong. There was one more person I had to kill, and when I did, when she saw the real me, she'd come to her senses and leave.