Broken Promises

Chapter Fourteen

Frank looked disinterestedly out the window of the aircraft. His mind drifted to the upcoming reunion with Juan Jimenez, as the scenery swiftly changed 32,000 feet below him. It had been years since he'd seen the man face-to-face, and although he wasn't especially nervous about the impending meeting, he was, nonetheless, anxious to see what the outcome would be. This was the break he had been looking for. After the long years that he'd spent in the States, he was more than ready to regain the position of power that he'd held before everything had fallen apart 15 years ago, forcing him into his self-imposed exile.

Just then, the plane banked, changing directions, and as a result the sun shone directly in Frank's window. In the direct sunlight, he could see a reflection of himself in the window's surface. For a second or two, he experienced a bizarre detached feeling, almost as if he were looking at another person and not himself. For the second time that day, he absently wondered what had ever possessed him to cut his hair and trim back his beard. Running his fingers across his chin and upper lip, he swiftly made a decision to at least grow the goatee back to a more desirable length. As for the length of his hair, he decided that perhaps it would be best to leave it short. After all, if he was going to be living in hot and humid Colombia once more, it might be nice not to have all of that hair to deal with.

Frank shifted in his seat and felt a hand move across his midsection. Lucia. He'd almost forgotten that she'd pressured him in to taking her with him. Glancing at the woman sleeping soundly next to him, he furrowed his eyebrows and tried to remember exactly why he was with her. Was the sex really that good? He certainly didn't love her. In fact, he had no strong feelings for her at all, except for maybe lust. So why was he such a pushover where she was concerned? Shaking his head, he decided that at least this time, it would be nice to have someone along who was in his corner. He was going to be the outsider once again, but having Lucia with him, he felt somewhat better. Turning toward the window once more, he couldn't help but smirk. She had another coming if she thought that he would bring her along to the meeting with Juan. Little did she know, that she'd be staying behind in the hotel in Bogotá. Juan was a barracuda, and even though he had no real connection to the woman, he still didn't fancy the idea of her falling victim to Juan and his "charms". Jealous, Luis? Again he shook his head, trying to clear it of all thoughts except those concerning this upcoming get-together.

An hour and a half later, the plane landed safely in Bogotá. The minute he set foot off of the aircraft, Frank was immediately hit by the heat and humidity. And where most groaned and cursed it, Frank embraced it, feeling immediately like he was home once again. Once they emerged from the seemingly endless line snaking through customs, they were met by a man holding up a card with Luis' name on it. Frank simply nodded at the man, letting him know who he was. Obediently, the man scurried forward and grabbed their carry-on items motioning for Frank and Lucia to follow.

Lucia grabbed Frank's hand, halting him momentarily. "I need to use the restroom," she whispered in his ear. Sighing exasperatedly, he called for the man to stop and motioned for Lucia to go on her way while they waited for her. Frank glanced at his watch and paced while she left his side.

Once inside the ladies room, Lucia was glad to see that the place was bustling with activity. Finding an empty stall near the back, she entered and locked the door behind her. Once there, she scrounged around in her purse for her satellite phone, quietly rejoicing in the fact that they now were small enough to fit in a handbag.

She listened to the endless drone of voices around her while the phone dialed. A few seconds later, she heard someone answer.

"Raymond….it's me," she said barely above a whisper.

Raymond Marsh could barely make out the voice on the other end, but knew immediately who he was talking to. "Lucia…..I can barely hear you. Where in God's name are you?" he asked curiously.

"I'm in a crowded restroom in Bogotá," she replied trying to speak up a little bit, but not enough to draw attention.

"Good. Any trouble so far? How's our boy doing?"

"Everything's fine. Well, except for the fact that he wanted me to stay behind in Miami. I had to……persuade him to do otherwise," she practically purred to him.

Marsh cringed slightly. "Lucia…..what have you done? We've talked about this," he told her in an irritated tone.

"Nothing," she answered as innocently as possible.

"Tell me that you haven't slept with him," he demanded. The plan all along had been for Lucia to peak Frank's sexual interest but to refuse to give in to any of his advances. Once Lucia and Frank were away from the compound, Marsh had started to doubt Lucia's resolve to stick to that particular part of the plan.

When several seconds ticked by, Marsh's anger began to multiply ten-fold. "God damn it, Lucia!! The man's married!"

"Well at the moment, he doesn't remember that, now does he?" she taunted.

"Lucia….." Marsh hissed through clenched teeth. "So help me God, I'll end this mission right now, if that's what it takes to get your claws off of him."

Lucia chuckled on the other end of the line. There was nothing more enjoyable than sparring with Raymond Marsh. Well, maybe one thing…..she thought leeringly to herself. "Raymond….calm down before you have another cardiac episode. To answer your question…..no…..I haven't slept with him. He believes that we have. After all, we woke up together in bed, completely naked." She could hear him exhale loudly on the other end of the line. "That doesn't mean that I wasn't tempted, but unfortunately, he wasn't up for any fun and games this morning. LSD can be a bitch to come down from."

Sitting down almost forcibly, Marsh stared at the ceiling of his Miami hotel. "Lucia….what are his plans now?" he asked, momentarily letting the other subject drop.

"He has a meeting with Jimenez around 11 tomorrow morning. That's all I know for now."

"Fine. Call me when you can, and if things get out of control, you have the emergency contact number, correct?"

"I do. Raymond…..relax. Everything will be all right. Luis may have been forced into this, but he's more than capable of completing this mission."

Marsh frowned at her use of Frank's mission name instead of his real name. "Lucia….I'm very serious. If I find out that you did anything outside the boundaries of what we discussed, I will personally make sure that you never see the light of day after this mission is over. Do you understand me?" he told her in his most threatening tone of voice.

Pulling the phone momentarily away from her ear, she almost hung up on the man for treating her like some sort of green recruit, but something stayed her hand. Deep down inside, she knew that Marsh wouldn't hesitate to follow through on that threat. "Fine, Raymond," she finally answered him. "I'll be a good girl," she told him in a slightly condescending tone.

Before Marsh had a chance to say anything further, the line went dead. Slamming the phone down in its cradle, he cursed under his breath. The woman was the one wild card in his whole plan. He had every confidence that Frank would ingratiate himself into Jimenez's operation and then get them the information that they would need to take down another drug kingpin.

Rising from his seat, he strode across the room and stopped at the open window overlooking the shore. For a few seconds, he allowed himself to enjoy the view. The twinkling lights reflecting off of the ocean called to him, but today, just like every other day, duty beckoned. Rubbing his temples fiercely, he tried to relieve the throbbing headache that had surfaced hours ago.

Turning away from the window with the intent of downing another couple of aspirins, he suddenly stopped when a piercing pain invaded his chest. Clutching his hand against his breastbone, he was reasonably sure that he was having one of those cardiac episodes that Lucia had so flippantly referred to. But when he pulled his hand away, he was shocked to see blood covering not only his hand, but almost the entire front of his shirt.

A lightheadedness overcame him as he continued to stare at the bright red substance on his hand. No longer able to stand upright, he quickly and awkwardly fell to his knees as he labored to take his next breath.

While he was still semi-conscious, he wondered if he had enough energy left to make it to the phone not 10 feet away. Lowering himself to a crawling position, he slowly moved each arm and leg as if the effort was monumental. With his head down, he watched with some fascination as the blood now freely dripped from the gaping wound in his chest.

Having only maneuvered a little under 2 feet, he soon accepted the fact that he would not live to see another sunrise. He sat down and leaned against the bed behind him, his legs splayed out at curious angles before him.

As the darkness descended upon him, some of his last thoughts were of who could have ordered such a hit. Laughing as much as he could, blood now bubbling up through his mouth, he couldn't help but be amused at the amazingly long list of people who would like nothing more than to see him dead…..dead and on an express train to hell. Absently he thought, they'd get their wish soon enough.

Marsh closed his eyes, and tried for a few seconds more to put together a coherent thought. So many regrets passed through his weary mind. How many men had he sent to their deaths? How many deals had he made with countless demons in order to achieve the unachievable?

Of course, he couldn't help but think about Frank. In many ways he respected Frank Donovan. Everything that he'd achieved in not only his personal life but in his professional life were things that Marsh could have only hoped for. A sound….a garbled, liquid filled sound erupted from his throat, as if he was attempting to say something. Slumping down to the floor, he reached out a shaking, exceedingly weakened hand out and began to move it across the carpet. Only after he was happy with his efforts did he finally close his eyes. Breathing as deeply as he could, he sent a small prayer to the heavens, asking for some semblance of forgiveness. But when another blinding pain hit him, he knew that his prayer had been denied. He would receive no absolution, no redemption. In his last thought, he wondered what hell would be like.

The next morning, an unfortunate cleaning woman was the first to find Raymond Marsh's body. Nearly screaming, she had backed out of the room, her hands clamped over her mouth as she vainly tried to keep the bile from escaping over her drawn lips.

Within five minutes, the hotel manager was called to the room. Within twenty, the entire floor was cordoned off, and within the hour, a team of homicide detectives were combing through the man's room and belongings, searching for clues of the apparent foul play, as every customer of the hotel was questioned.

Two detectives stood to the side, intently watching as the forensic team went about their work. What puzzled almost everyone in the room, was what had been found on the floor next to the victim's body. A word was written, or at least partially written in the victim's own blood. It simply said……sorry.

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After Lucia finally emerged from the women's restroom, Frank grabbed her arm and ushered her toward the nearest exit. Once there, the man with them scrambled to retrieve the limousine that had been sent to pick them up. Settling in the back, Frank barked out the directions and then sat back for the ride.

He watched in fascination as the scenery sped by. So much had changed and still more looked exactly as he had remembered it. Although he was nearly dropping from exhaustion, he still felt an overwhelming sense of giddiness at being back in the land of his birth. He hadn't realized, until they'd stepped foot out of the airport, how much he had missed it.

As his thoughts wandered, he felt Lucia mold herself to his side, and for the moment he chose to ignore her. But as the minutes ticked by and her advances became more pronounced, he finally turned toward her. Her eyes were hooded and intent in their purpose. She had draped a shapely leg over his thigh and her hand was now snaking inside his partially opened shirt. Although the day had been long, and remnants of the headache that he'd woken up with still lingered, he could feel himself responding to her touches and caresses.

Snagging her arm and withdrawing it from his chest, he was amused at the lovely pout that graced her lips as a result. But when he raised her hand to his lips and tenderly caressed the inside of her wrist with his lips and tongue, her expression turned to one of pure arousal. He knew how to touch her….how to pleasure her in order to have her screaming his name for release, but now was not the time, but still……a little play wouldn't hurt.

Reaching over, Frank flicked a switch on the side of the door, raising the privacy panel between driver and occupants. Although performing for a crowd had its excitement, the man sent to retrieve them was an employee to Juan and Frank had a reputation to maintain.

Once the back seat was secluded, Frank slowly lowered Lucia to the seat. As he slowly undid the buttons of her blouse, he never took his eyes off of hers, and was pleased to see her dark eyes dilate even more than they had been in the dim light of the car.

Only when she lay almost bare before him, the flimsy lace material of her bra the only thing hiding her ample breasts, did he finally lower his lips to her eagerly awaiting flesh. Content at first to merely nuzzle her neck with his tongue and lips, he soon moved to the hollow of her neck, knowing that this place in particular could easily bring her to the brink of ecstasy. As he lazily nipped and sucked this area, he was rewarded with her shuddering breaths and arched back as she moaned helplessly under his ministrations. Of course, he had no intention of stopping the exquisite torture, as his hand came up to cup her breast, almost roughly teasing the nipple to a swollen peak. He then pulled the offending material down, effectively freeing her from its confines and happily exposing her coffee-colored nipple to his searching tongue. Sucking her nipple and surrounding areola into his mouth, her groans of pleasure became more pronounced….more primal. Baring the other breast now, he switched back and forth between the two, content to take their game no further. But when he felt her hand meander down between their bodies, he was unprepared for the feeling of her none-to-gently cupping his manhood and massaging him wantonly. Knowing that if she continued with that, that they'd be doing much more than playing, he quickly grabbed her hand and drew it away from his body as he closed his eyes tightly, fighting to regain control.

Moving up and away from her, he adjusted his pants trying to relieve the pressure on his almost painful erection. Glancing out the window quickly, he surmised that they were only ten minutes or so from their hotel, The Inter-Continental Tequendama.

Reluctantly, she rose from her reclined position and scooted herself even closer to him, not even bothering to cover up her half naked body. "Why do you stop?" she asked him breathlessly as her hand slid upward along his muscular thigh.

He immediately stopped her progress and turned his head toward her. "Now is not the time, mi diablo pequeño," he informed her, once again bringing her hand to his lips, as his tongue lathed its sensitive surface.

"Do you have any idea what you do to me?" she nearly whispered, her eyes intently drinking in his over her open hand.

A devilish smile graced his lips as he whispered back, "Of course, I do."

As she stared into his almost blackened eyes, she felt some of her resolve slipping. How easy it would be to forget Raymond's warning….to pretend, for just awhile, that he belonged to her and no other…..to lose herself in this man's touch, scent, feel. When Raymond had called her over a month ago and explained that he needed her back for one more mission, she'd nearly declined. Luis Mendoza was the one she had never been able to forget. And to be near to him again, just as she was right now, was almost too intoxicating. Could she just walk away when all was said and done?

Staring into the depths of his eyes at this very moment, she truly believed that she could not.

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