A/N: Thanks to those that left reviews for the last chapter. People welcomed the arrival of Carina, but some were suspicious of her reason for turning up. Maybe she might cause problems for our favorite couple, or even for Bryce and his girlfriend. That won't be the case. You'll find out her reason in this chapter.
Caribbean Retreat
Chapter 11
Carina woke up feeling drained. She'd had another bad night. She hadn't told Sarah about the current mission or the last one that was still giving her nightmares. She hadn't wanted to burst Sarah's bubble of happiness.
What Sarah was doing was very surprising. Carina never thought her friend would leave the life she had been leading. She'd always seemed driven. So, to hear she wouldn't go back had definitely been a shock.
Alongside her own troubles, it was making her wonder about her own future.
The other surprise was the Ice Queen thawing completely. She never called her friend by that name, but it did fit. Sarah had gotten drunk when they'd gone out together and sometimes slept with a man she picked up then, but that was just addressing a physical need. This was very different. Love. The old phrase that spies never fall in love was a mantra that Carina had clung to for a long time.
Listening to the two of them talking and looking at each other definitely showed the emotional connection. When they all finally went to bed, she heard through the wall that the physical connection was strong, too. She was sure that they tried to be quiet, but she heard anyway. Was she tuned into those sounds?
She was very happy for her friend. It didn't make her want to settle down that way, though.
Today, she would talk with Sarah about her experience in her last mission and what was happening on her current one. It would be good to air both with someone who could understand.
She hoped that Sarah could offer her advice… from her past life in the CIA.
She staggered through to the bathroom and took a quick shower.
After drying her hair, she wandered downstairs. She heard Chuck quietly singing in the kitchen. She didn't know him, so had no idea if that was normal, but hearing her friend joining in made her stop and listen.
Chuck had a very nice singing voice, Sarah was ok, but together they did sound good. Just like they looked good together. It was sickening!
She walked into the kitchen and both stopped singing and she could hear the song playing on the radio, without their accompaniment.
"Hi, Red," Sarah said.
"You two are too perfect together," she grumbled.
"Want some coffee?" Sarah asked.
"I could just about rustle up some breakfast before I go?" Chuck offered.
Carina looked at her watch. "You start before 8am?"
"Well, that's when we open, but I get some things cooking before that."
She couldn't get her head around such craziness.
"I sometimes go and serve at the front, in place of Bryce," Sarah said. "I enjoy it."
This was too much before an alcoholic drink, but that wasn't on offer. "Just coffee, please," Carina said. Sarah got up and poured her some.
Carina sat with them and drank coffee until she felt human again. She looked at her friend. "Are you serving today?"
"No, I thought I'd spend some time with a friend I haven't seen for a while." Carina appreciated that. "I'm thinking we'll spend time on the beach."
Carina would like that but had something else in mind first.
Sarah asked Chuck, "Are you going to continue with the work after the breakfast run, or join us?"
"Work," he replied. "I want to get as much done as I can."
Sarah kissed his cheek. "Thanks."
He walked out and soon was leaving. The kiss he got was on his lips and deep. Carina looked away.
Once it was just the two of them, Carina said, "I would like to go to the beach, but I have something I need to talk about here first."
Sarah looked at her. "Is that the real reason you came here looking for me?" Carina nodded. "Do we need alcohol to get through it?"
Carina didn't laugh. "We might." Sarah looked worried, and so Carina added, "Or rather, I might."
Sarah led her into the living room and they sat next to each other on the couch.
Carina took a deep breath. "My last assignment was a disaster. I was completely blindsided by my mark. I nearly died." She swallowed. "Can I have some of that alcohol?"
Sarah rushed to get her some. "We've got whiskey, gin and rum."
"I think rum seems fitting here."
After Carina drank some of the rum, she continued, "It was a Venezuelan drug lord. He was growing a particularly pure form of cannabis and it was flooding the illegal American market. He'd found me, as planned, drunk in a bar in one of the towns near where he was supposed to be based. He took a liking to me. He was known to like pale Europeans, particularly blondes, so I had my hair lighter than normal, and pretended to be Swedish."
Sarah said, "You're mother was Swedish, wasn't she?"
"Yeah, and we spoke it at home, so that was easy. My passport was Swedish and the history the DEA built for me had me as a photographer. I had gone to Venezuela with a boyfriend who had abandoned me there, hence getting drunk.
"He took me to his camp. He definitely liked me and showered me with complements. What I didn't know was that he had his men search for the man who had supposedly mistreated me.
"I was 'kept safe' in the camp. Or to say it differently, held under guard, so I couldn't do any exploration.
"On the third day, he called for me. He gave me wine and spoke of how he would stop people from hurting me. I drank, not really knowing where this was going.
"After probably half an hour, his men brought in something. The head of the DEA agent who had arrived with me was presented to me. The drug Lord said, 'He won't hurt you again.' Obviously I was horrified and showed that. 'Let me comfort you,' he said. He took me to his bed and the sex was no comfort at all. In spite of what I like to make out, I don't enjoy sex with such men, and certainly not like that.
"At some point, I lost consciousness. He must have drugged me. I awoke tied to a tree, in a cruciform position. Thankfully they didn't pin my arms or legs, just tied the wrists to the branches and my ankles to the trunk.
"'We don't like the DEA,' he said. The heads of the rest of my team were laid out before me. 'The blood will attract the creatures of the jungle. They'll find you. However, they may find you drained of blood. The Venezuelan spider is partial to that. It won't be pleasant, but then having to move my base isn't either.' They left me there to die by being eaten or drained of blood."
Sarah had been listening to all of that. Her face showed no reaction, but her eyes did. "Tell me how you got away and then what you want to do about it."
"I was up there for hours; I don't know exactly how long. The most horrible and frightening hours of my life. What I do know is that having termites crawling over you is not a pleasant experience."
Sarah looked at her in horror. "Termites?"
"The men didn't realize it, but there was a termite nest higher up in the tree they tied me to. I don't know what attracted them to me, but I had to close my eyes and mouth as they crawled over me. Must've been hundreds of them." She shuddered as she remembered the experience.
"They were hungry. They apparently don't like animal or human flesh, but they did like my clothes, and the rope." She looked at her friend. "When I fell to the ground, my clothes had mostly been eaten. The elastic over my panties' waistband had some remaining cloth attached, and the leather belt from my jeans was untouched, but there was little else. Oh, and my leather boots and the parts of my socks inside too, but the laces were gone. They got through my clothes quicker than the thick ropes."
Sarah struggled to keep her amusement contained. "So, you were naked apart from some animal hide and synthetic materials?"
"Don't forget the metal of my belt buckle."
That was it for Sarah. She burst out laughing.
Carina angrily said, "It wasn't funny! I was in the middle of a South American jungle. Unclothed and unarmed!"
Sarah sobered up. "You're right. Sorry."
"I was lucky that the termites delayed the snake that was making its way along the branch toward me, and I did see a spider in the tree too, but it was enjoying the termites, so it didn't approach where I had been.
"However, I landed with a jaguar facing me. I startled it, so it hissed and snarled at me. I wasn't sure if it would attack, so I just froze. Turns out that was a fairly safe thing to do, although backing away might've been better.
"After a minute, it lost interest and sloped off."
"All of that must've been terrifying," Sarah said.
"It was," Carina agreed. "So, there I was in that state, no weapons, no clothes somewhere in the jungle with no idea where. I did the only thing possible. I followed the tire prints from the jeep they'd taken me there in. I grabbed the first loose branch I found, so that I had a weapon.
"After what must have been three hours of fending off spiders and snakes, I eventually saw a man ahead of me. I recognized him from the camp, so I must be close to the rest of the group. He was about my height. None of them had been tall. He was armed with an automatic rifle and patrolling the area ahead of me." She grinned. "I decided that shock tactics were best. I dropped my branch, got close behind him, within reach actually, and I cleared my throat. He turned quickly. I think if I'd been a man, he probably would've shot me, but a tall naked woman was a different matter. His jaw dropped and his eyes focused on my boobs first and then lower. I grabbed his chin and the back of his head, and twisted sharply. I can still hear his neck crack. Quite a satisfying sound."
Sarah grinned at this point. "So, your naked body freezes men? I thought I was supposed to be the Ice Queen."
Carina gave her friend a look, but then grinned, too. "Oh, part of him didn't freeze. Rose to the occasion."
"Which you found when you stripped his body?" Sarah was finding this amusing again.
"I was glad he wore boxers under his pants, which I didn't remove. I didn't want them against my body, and I was glad his parts hadn't been against the inside of his pants, either."
"I bet you were glad to be clothed again."
"Yeah. Even his sweaty, smelly clothes were better than nothing," Carina agreed.
"I crept into the encampment, which was at the edge of a cannabis plantation, and found a jeep with the key still in the ignition. Why do people do that? Anyway, I drove away, but was heard so I had a tail quite quickly. They were far enough back that they couldn't see me, just followed the sound of my engine. It sounded like two vehicles were following, probably jeeps.
"After a couple of miles, there were two tracks. One going up and one down toward the river. So, I turned the engine off and freewheeled downward. After a while, I turned into some bushes and hid the car. I walked back but stayed in the bushes and waited, clutching the gun I'd taken, but I also had a knife I'd found in the jeep."
Carina looked at her friend. "This felt like your sort of mission. Mine weren't like this. Waiting for the other vehicle to come down the slope was grim. I only heard one coming my way, slowly, because they couldn't hear mine anymore. When they came closer, I could see four men scanning the jungle. They should've been better at it. I managed to shoot them all, but one managed to fire a shot at me which fortunately only grazed my shoulder."
"I knew the other team wouldn't risk coming by car and would spread out on foot. I headed further down toward the river. The jungle was denser here and I knew that pushing through it would create a trail, so I proceeded on my hands and knees, in the hope it would be less obvious. However, I had to cut my way through some of it. I finally climbed up into one of the trees, having first checked for any nests."
"Or snakes or spiders?" Sarah asked.
Carina shuddered. "I didn't have time for that. The first man appeared in the distance. You'd be proud of my long distance shot. I had to move after that as they would've heard where the shot came from."
"Not necessarily," Sarah said and got a glare. "Ok, continue."
"The next tree I climbed was occupied, but I didn't realize until after I shot the next man who was closer. The snake wrapped itself around the arm holding the gun, which I dropped. I was able to grab the knife at my waist in time to cut off the head that was lunging at me."
"Wow!"
"I heard men approaching from two directions so I couldn't move. The first man dropped to the ground and picked up the rifle, he looked up. I had no choice but to drop onto him, we crashed to the ground and fought." She paused and looked at her friend. "I have no idea how you manage to fight large men and beat them. I had no chance with this guy. I was only just about holding onto the knife as he held my wrist. I noticed movement out of the corner of my eye and twisted the pair of us so that I could face it. A lucky move because the fourth guy took a shot at where I had been, which hit the back of the one I was fighting. As he dropped I threw the knife. You'd have been proud of me, the throw hit the fourth man in the chest. As he dropped, his gun kept firing, but I had dropped to the ground by then.
"After all that, there was complete silence. I just lay there, counting my blessings. I must've been there for several minutes and only moved when I felt something crawling on my hand. Those Venezuelan Spiders are not adverse to walking on the ground. One of them learned to fly that day with the way I quickly reacted."
"And after that you got back to your jeep and got away?" Sarah asked.
"You make it sound so easy, but yes, I got away."
Sarah smiled. "So, is that it?"
Carina snorted. "You don't think that was enough?" She didn't wait for an answer. "When I got back to the room I was staying in before all this started, I found it occupied with three CIA men."
"CIA?"
"It seemed that the drug Lord was funding terrorists who were scattered across Central America. They wanted to remove the source of money. As far as I know, the plantation was the target of a CIA bombing airdrop."
"Quite an adventure," Sarah sat back and said. "Thanks for the story."
"I didn't just come to just tell it to you. I need some guidance."
Sarah's face took on the intensity that Carina remembered from their days in CATS. She leaned forward, too.
"I know you haven't experienced exactly what I did, but you've been in some horrible situations and close to death a number of times. I haven't had a full night's sleep since it happened. I wake with nightmares, drenched in sweat, and then I can't settle again." She looked searchingly at her friend. "Do you ever get that? And if so, how have you overcome it?"
She saw that Sarah was thinking about it, so explained the effect it was having. "With the lack of sleep, I'm worried about my concentration on my current assignment."
"Ok," Sarah said, having got her thoughts sorted. "I always used to have at least one nightmare a night and got used to functioning on less sleep, but I also found that doing something relaxing before going to bed helped. Never think about your work, current or past."
"So, you got used to it?" Carina asked, feeling disappointed.
"I seem to remember you always slept in later than me, but that may've been because of your nighttime activities."
Carina snorted. "Your activities lasted well into the night last night, Blondie."
Sarah blushed. "We tried to be quiet."
"So, do you still get nightmares?" Carina asked, getting back to the original topic.
Sarah looked like she was surprised, when she answered, "I had them when I arrived here because of my last mission, but only once when there was a problem I had to deal with."
"So, sex with your boy toy is the cure?"
Sarah was emphatic in her response, "We don't have to make love to stop the nightmares. Just his presence is enough."
"Care to loan him out?" Carina teased.
Sarah shook her head and grinned. "Sorry, I need my Chuck blanket at night."
Carina groaned, and then said, "This isn't helping me!"
"Try relaxing before bed. Or maybe your previous pre-sleep activity."
"Sex," Carina said. "Yes, I could try that. My version of what you and Chuckles so loudly employed."
"We were trying to keep quiet," Sarah repeated.
"Maybe I'm just tuned into such noises. Any recommendations?"
Sarah shook her head. "Other than serving in the café and shopping, I've only talked to Bryce and Chuck. Bryce has a woman on the other side of the island, which seems serious. I doubt he would cheat on her."
Carina huffed.
Sarah suggested, "We could go dancing tonight. Maybe you'll pick someone up there?"
They hadn't done that the night before because they stayed in talking about the changes in Sarah's life.
Carina nodded. "You don't mind me bringing someone back here?"
Sarah's expression changed; she was obviously thinking about her boyfriend. "Could you go where they live?"
Carina smiled. "I usually do."
Sarah knew that wasn't always the case, but didn't argue about it. Carina was sure that if she did find a man for the night, she would be sleeping somewhere else tonight. Or maybe not sleeping at all.
A/N: So, you now know Carina's problem and a night out is planned to help her.
Thoughts?
