They remained quiet for the hour walk that landed them in Mazunte, a small beach town on the Pacific coast in Oaxaca, Mexico.
They walked into the first café they found and asked if they could use the phone.
"You shouldn't call the CIA. Not yet," said Lee as he put his hand on the phone before Charlie could.
"Why not? Callum is in danger, and they need to know I'm alive and safe."
"I agree, but right now, Barney is taking care of Callum, and if for any reason Church can get intel once you call the CIA, he'll know where you are. He must have someone on the inside giving him intel… otherwise he wouldn't have been able to find you when you were undercover."
She looked at Lee and nodded. He was right and at this moment in time the CIA was most probably compromised, aside maybe from Drummer but then again nothing was a 100% certain… except for Lee.
She walked away and headed for the bar.
"Buenos tardes Senora. Mi cartera se ha hinchado y no tengo dinero. ¿Séria posible tomar algo?" (Good afternoon, Ma'am. My wallet was stollen and I don't have any money. Would it be possible to have something to drink?)
Lee listened to her as he waited for the line to pick up.
"Sí, señorita. ¿Qué puedo ofrecerle?" (Yes, Miss. What can I get you?)
"¿Dos cervezas, por favor?" (Two beers?)
"Por supuesto que sí," (Of course) answered the bar maid as she reached into a fridge and handed her the two beers.
"Aquí tienes." (Here you go)
"Muchas gracias por su amabilidad," (Thank you for your kindness) said Charlie as she took the two beers and settled down at one of the tables.
"Where are you?" asked Barney as he heard Lee's voice on the line. "Is Charlie, OK?"
"Charlie is fine, she's with me. We're in Mazunte, Mexico."
"How on Earth did you get off the plane and land there?"
"It's a long story, the most important thing is that she's alive and safe."
"Toll Road, find me Mazunte on the map and tell me if we have an asset in the area," said Barney.
"Barney."
"Yeah, Lee."
"She knows. Church told her."
Barney thought for a moment. "Ok. It was bound to happen. I was surprised he hadn't told her sooner. We'll come get you, we should be there tomorrow morning, so in the meantime you both sit tight."
Toll Road handed Barney a piece of paper.
"You can reach out to Ana Perla, here's her number, she'll be able to get a place to stay for the night and anything else you need."
"I remember Ana," said Lee as he took note of the number.
"We'll see you tomorrow. I'll send you the address of the safe house. And Barney not a word to the CIA."
"I agree, there's a mole and until we know who, we keep them out of this."
Charlie was halfway through her beer when Lee sat down and took a sip from his.
"What's the plan?"
"We sit tight until tomorrow morning when the rest of the team gets here."
He saw her swallow heavily and she started to fidget with her fingers. "You're nervous."
She laughed slightly. "Wouldn't you be if you were about to meet your father for the first time in forty years?"
"Probably, but I think that for some reason, when you'll see each other, it'll come naturally. At least I hope so."
They continued to drink their beer when Lee stood. "I'll be right back."
She turned and saw him exit the café and meet up with a beautiful Hispanic woman. She had amazing figures and long brown hair. She looked like a model. They talked for a while before she handed him an envelope. Before she left, they hugged each other and seeing Lee in her arms sent a wave of jealousy through her. The young woman kissed him on the cheek and walked away.
She tried to turn around before he saw her, but she missed the cue and he noticed not only that she had been looking but the look in her eye, betraying her emotion. He walked up to the table, took the beer bottle, and emptied it in one last gulp. He opened the envelope took out a bill. He turned and placed it on the bar.
The barmaid nodded in gratitude.
"Come on," said Lee, "let's go."
They walked for fifteen minutes and arrived at a small kind of hut. They walked down the stone steps and reached the front door. Lee took out the key from the envelope and opened the door. Charlie followed him inside and had a look around.
It was a small house. They walked into the seating area with a flat-screen TV and a small kitchen with a fridge. She opened a door and found the bathroom with a shower and another door leading into the bedroom. There was only one bed. Above it a wooden frame hanging from the ceiling with attached to it a descending mosquito screen. The nightstands were wooden rings also hanging down from the ceiling. It was quaint. The kind of place she could stay in on a backpack trail across the country.
She headed out and found Lee in the seating area. He had opened a secret floor compartment and had gotten a computer and satellite phone out as well as two Glock 22 and ammunitions.
"Safe house?" she asked as she looked at him.
"You could say that. We have contacts all over the world, it's a tight knit network. Ana can be trusted."
She raised an eyebrow. "Why? Because you had sex with her?"
He removed his attention from the computer screen and looked up at her, from the sofa. "What makes you think that?"
"Oh please, it was written all over your faces."
He stood and walked up to her. "What was?"
"You know, once you've seen someone naked and slept with them, you don't look at them the same way, especially if it was intense and pleasurable."
He nodded. "You're good." He cocked his head to the side. "Jealous?"
"No," said Charlie after having bit her lower lip, betraying herself and the fact that she was lying. "I'll just have to come to terms with the fact that I'm part of a long list of women you've slept with. It seems as if it's your MO, sleeping with women you rescue. I guess I won't be the last."
She turned her eyes away from him and headed to the table and grabbed one of the Glocks and two magazines. He gave her a dirty look.
"Don't be so possessive. I'm sure you could fire both at the same time and never miss your target, but in case you forgot this is also in my hidden stash and one of my preferred handguns. You don't have a bowie knife do you by any chance?"
"No, sorry."
It was a lie, there was one in the floor stash, but he wanted to keep it for himself.
"I'm going to see if any of the women's clothes fit me and take a shower."
He stood speechless as she headed to the bedroom. He knew he was trying to keep his distance with her. Tomorrow morning everything was becoming real, and they still had to find a way to get rid of Church once and for all.
"You're nervous Barney. I can tell," said Gunnar seated next to him as they waited for Callum Schleck to come out of his office.
"Don't worry Gunnar, I'm good. I'm not nervous about Schleck."
"I know it's not about him. It's about Charlie."
"Well, yeah, a bit. I mean I don't know her, and she doesn't know me. What if she doesn't like me?"
"I think that's improbable, she's your daughter."
"I don't even know what to tell her, what to talk about."
"Ask her about her life, what she likes to do, what kind of food she likes, types of movies..."
Barney laughed at Gunnar. "It's not speed dating."
Gunnar shrugged. "I know but it's a good way to break the ice."
Barney blinked a couple of times and nodded. "Maybe you're right. I'll take a mental note of what you've proposed."
"I'm sure she's just as nervous as you are and you both should just be yourselves, you'll find the right words," said Cesar as he patted Barney from the back seat.
"Here's our guy," said TollRoad as Callum exited the building.
"Ok, let's intercept him."
They all got out of the vehicle and walked toward Callum, before he even had a chance to know what was happening, they grabbed him and brought him to the pickup truck.
"Callum Schleck?"
"Yes. Who are you? What do you want?"
"You're in danger."
"Apparently so."
"We're not talking about us," said Cesar.
"We're here to protect you and the list."
Callum looked at them blinking incredulously. "How do you know about the list?"
"We work with the CIA," said Barney. "We're going to take you to a safe location until we can eliminate the threat."
"OK."
When Charlie got out of the bathroom dressed, she headed for the kitchen and found a note from Lee saying he had gone out to run an errand and would be back. She crumbled the piece of paper and threw it in the bin. She opened the door and took a step outside. As she looked around, she found to the right of her position, a set of stairs. She followed them and found herself up on a roof terrace that overlooked the trees and further out the ocean. The sun was starting to set, and it was quiet.
She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. After everything, the mission, Church, Lee, her father being alive, the escape pod, it felt nice. For some odd reason, she almost wanted to stay there, away from everything and just forget.
Lee walked into the apartment and dropped, what he had gone off to get, on the table and looked around. He headed for the bedroom. When he noticed that Charlie wasn't there he headed for the bathroom. The door was open, and she wasn't there either. He started to panic as he headed back to the seating area.
As he passed the garbage, he noticed his note crumbled and tossed into it.
"Charlie?!" He didn't know what to think. Had she been taken? Had she taken the opportunity of him being gone to leave as well. Out of precaution he took the Glock and armed it.
He opened the door and looked around outside for a sign, he then noticed the stairs and slowly walked up to the roof terrace. When he reached the top, he stopped dead in his tracks.
Standing at the far end of the terrace, barefoot, her hands on the wooden railing, Charlie was looking out at the horizon and setting sun. She was wearing a knee-high beautiful red and white floral dress with mid-arm sleeves. He couldn't see the front, but the back showed off her toned upper back and shoulders. She was stunning and breathtakingly beautiful.
He wanted to walk back down and take a cold shower, because there and then the only thing he wanted to do was take her in his arms and kiss her, claim her. Maybe tonight was their last chance. Tomorrow, Barney, and the guys would be there, and everything would be different.
He put the gun away behind his back and walked over nonchalantly, positioning himself next to her. He gave a quick glance in her direction and noticed how the dress revealed her cleavage.
"It's got to be one of the most beautiful sunsets I've seen in a while," said Charlie her eyes still looking out at the horizon.
Lee looked at it then back at her. "I'm looking at something way more beautiful."
She shifted her eyes and looked at him, trying not to pay attention to what he had just said. "How was Ana?"
He took a step back. "What do you mean?"
"I've been on a lot of missions, when most men run errands, it generally implies a woman."
"Well, I'm not like most men and if those are the men you're used to being around, I understand why you're still single."
Charlie said nothing but returned her attention to the sunset. Lee winced, maybe that hadn't been the best thing to say to her.
"You're jealous."
"I'm not jealous," said Charlie as she turned around and headed toward the stairs, desperate to change the subject.
Lee followed her. "Yeah, you are. Don't get me wrong, it's flattering."
Charlie headed down the stairs and entered the apartment.
"Why won't you just admit it?" asked Lee as he closed the door behind them.
She turned around. "Fine. I'm jealous. When I see the kind of woman Ana is, I'm wondering what you saw in me?"
Lee walked slowly in her direction. "First of all, if it's any indication, Ana and I are not an item, so she's not the kind of woman I'd think about having a long-term relationship with. I guess it says a lot about the kind of woman I would picture myself spending the rest of my life with."
Charlie shifted uncomfortably on her feet as Lee stopped a few inches from her. Even if she wasn't one hundred percent sure what he was implying, she knew it was significant when it came to her.
"Lastly, I'm kind of happy to know you're jealous, because I know that what happened on that plane was real."
"Does it change anything?"
"Oh, it changes everything." He took her in his arms and his mouth found hers. He kissed her with such vigor and passion that the momentum took them a few steps back and she found herself against the wall. His entire body was responding to hers as her hands dug into his back and his tongue collided with hers.
Every inch of his body was yearning for her. With a woman like her, he could envision a long-term relationship but considering the situation, he wasn't even sure it was possible. How would Barney react? Knowing that Lee had slept with her, that he had feelings for her… that he was falling for her.
Still kissing she felt his right arm and hand drop to her side as it slowly and delicately edged its way up her leg, thigh and under her dress. Smoothly, his hand went back down to her thigh, and he lifted her leg up so that it was resting on his side, allowing him to get closer to her.
He opened his eyes and saw the sofa on the right and the table on the left. Thinking back to how they had lived their relationship so far, with not much intimacy, not enough time, worry hanging constantly in the back of their minds, he wanted it to be so different.
He pulled away from her and she looked at him through misty and enticing eyes. In one swift effortless scoop, he lifter her in his arms, cradling her until they reached the bedroom where he delicately put her down on her feet again at the foot of the bed.
As he reached his hands out to undo the knotted strands in the front of her dress, her breathing accelerated. The way he was looking at her, with such longing and desire, was so intense. He let his hands reach the sleeves on the side of her arms and gently pulled them down. With the front of the dress open, once the sleeves reached the bottom of her hands, the dress rapidly dropped to the floor. He raised his eyes in appreciation as he looked at her standing in front of him, braless in a red lace thong.
He lifted his shirt off his back and took her again in his arms, as he swooped in sensually kissing her. His strong hands caressed her back then her shoulders as hers caressed his muscular chest. His kisses trailed down to her neck then to her cleavage.
Her fingers took the button of his pants and unfastened it. Once his zipper was down, she knelt before him and with her two hands pulled both his pants and boxers down to the ground. Her lips tightly encircled his erect manhood. She continued the slow and steady motion as he raised his arms, grabbed one of the bamboo logs from the hanging frame and closed his eyes. After a few minutes, she stood and sat on the bed before moving backward to the middle of it.
His eyes danced and he smiled as he joined her. He kissed her passionately a couple of times before lowering himself along her body and grabbing the hem of her thong. She lifted her derriere, and he removed them. Before she could brace, his tongue skimmed over her succulent fold, and she let a groan escape from in between her lips.
After a few minutes, he pulled away, lifted her legs over his shoulders, and slid in her. As his motion increased in intensity, she tried to hold back but her groaning increased into a motivating and inviting plea to continue. With her hands behind her, she grabbed the headboard allowing herself to accompany him in every thrust.
He pulled out and turned her around. He placed her hands on the headboard and placed himself kneeling behind her. He pulled her in on him, allowing him to penetrate her in a semi-sitting position. The angle sent her over the top, and she let go of the headboard as she leaned her back against his chest. He kissed her neck as his hands went to tease her sweet spot. He took her hands again and placed them on the headboard, his own over hers. She lifted her derriere slightly allowing him full access. Within minutes he felt her shudder around him as she shouted his name and tilted her head back resting it on his shoulder. He accelerated and came shortly after. He pulled her against him and gently positioned them in a spooning position.