Deny Tomorrow Read online

  Damn him! He was demanding her complete acquiescence. She tried to look away but the pressure on her chin prohibited that. Given no choice and afraid not to answer, she spat out the word, “Yes.”

  But by the way he continued to glare at her, she knew that that wasn’t the exact response he wanted. One thing she’d just learned about Zach Acevedo was that he was a tough taskmaster who was quite accustomed to getting exactly what he wanted. Now, totally succumbing to his will, she begrudgingly whispered the response she knew he was waiting for. “Yes...sir.”

  Nodding his approval, he turned his attention to Lisa, pointing in her direction and snapping his fingers, indicating that she should come over to where they were standing.

  Slowly she moved over to Zach and waited fearfully.

  “So far,” he said to her, “you’ve been cooperative so I don’t have any problem with you. But if you ever even think about escaping or helping your friend here in one of her escapades, you’ll be in for the same treatment. Do you understand me?”

  After what she’d witnessed, oh, God, did she ever. “Yes, I promise. There won’t be any more trouble,” Lisa said in a small, quaky voice.

  “Good.” Then looking once again at Arianna he asked, “Have I made myself perfectly clear, Arianna?”

  Oooow! She knew what she wanted to say, but for the first time in her life knew she couldn’t… wouldn’t say anything but what he expected. So once again, she dutifully responded, “Yes… sir.”

  He continued to stare at her for a moment as if assessing the sincerity of her response. Evidently satisfied with her reply, he let her go with a jerk.

  She ran into the house, down to her room, and flung herself on the bed. Pulling a pillow over her head, she cried bitterly.

  Lisa came into the room only seconds behind her. “Oh, Arianna. I’m so sorry. Are you all right?”

  “All right?” she asked, sitting up and pounding her fist into the pillow. “How could I be all right? I’ve just been totally humiliated not to mention it hurt like hell.”

  “I know, Arianna, but no one seemed to think it was funny or anything. I think they were all kind of stunned.”

  “They were probably happy. They probably thought I had it coming. Oh, I hate him. That bastard!”

  “Shh! Don’t say things like that. It makes me nervous to hear you say that even in private.”

  “Well, he can stop me from saying it out loud, but he can’t stop me from thinking it.” Tears were flowing freely now. “But I know he meant every word he said, so if I try to run away or anything, I’m sure he’ll do the same thing again if he catches me. What a barbarian! He must have been raised by wolves. And the worst thing is, as much as I hate to admit it, I’d rather die than have this happen again, so he’s won. Damn him! Damn him! Damn him!” she said, pounding her fist into the pillow with each expletive.

  Lisa tried to console her, but she was not to be consoled. Score round one for Zach, but she knew Arianna too well to think that this would be the end of her resistance. Regrettably, she feared there would be more fireworks in the future.

  Arianna was well out of the picture when the men walked over to Zach and gave him a high-five. Juan summed it up best when he said, “What took you so long? You should have done two days ago. Would have saved us a lot of hassle.”

  Zach couldn’t disagree. What a handful she’d turned out to be. Not anymore though, at least not while she stayed here. He thought he had sufficiently made his point clear concerning her behavior.

  “I give her credit though,” Tony said. “She’s fearless. Not surprised. Anyone with enough guts to travel to Kervistan for a story has to be fearless. Don’t meet too many women like her.”

  “Fearless and beautiful” Juan added. He looked back at the house as if remembering the way she looked. “I’d love to have a go at her, but she’s too much for me to handle.” He went to the wet bar, grabbed a beer and offered one to both Zach and Tony. “How ‘bout you, Zach? You think you could handle all that?”

  Zach did a double take. “Me? What the hell you talking about?”

  Juan and Tony gave each other a knowing smile and tried to camouflage a snicker.

  Shooting them a dirty look, Zach sat down on the wall surrounding the veranda and propped his foot up on a chair. “I don’t know what the hell you’re talking about. I already have a girlfriend, remember?”

  Oh, yeah. They knew. Zach always had a girlfriend, and it always ended the same way. Women were crazy about him, but he always tired of them and moved on. They were all beautiful, but judging by the rate at which he moved from one girl to the next, it was obvious it took more than beauty to win Zach over. Despite the crazy circumstances of how he met Arianna, Juan and Tony both thought they saw something in her that was different. Beauty, brains, and moxie which could match Zach’s own, strong, indomitable personality. They had a hunch Zach recognized it, too. It was hard to tell with him. He always held his cards close to his vest.

  Zach gave them a look that said this discussion was over. “It looks like this illusive mole has gone deep undercover. We probably tipped him off the day we tried to run him down at the beach.”

  “Yeah, and he could lay dormant for months while we sit here babysitting these two.” Tony took a swig of his beer. “I can’t see that working out too well.”

  Zach shook his head. God forbid! He wasn’t prepared to deal with that complication.

  “What about interviewing Arianna and Lisa again? Maybe they can give us a better description about what this guy looks like,” Juan said. “Something we can send to the Agency that might pinpoint who this mole is.”

  “Correction,” Tony interjected. “We never interviewed Arianna. I believe we decided it would be futile to ask her any questions and expect to get a straight answer. Maybe now that she’s had an ‘attitude adjustment’, she might be more amenable to answering some questions. What do you think, Zach?”

  Zach shrugged his shoulders and moved over to the table. “Worth a try. Juan, go ahead and question her. I’ll be standing by if the going gets too tough,” he said with a sly grin.

  “Fuck you!” Juan shot back with a smile. He was never going to live down being bitten, trying to restrain Arianna that first night.

  “In the meantime,” Zach continued, “I’ve got an idea for plan B. Something I hope will bring this guy up for air again. Let’s use Arianna’s partner, Kevin, as a decoy. We’ll leak it back through the Agency that he has some photos from Kervistan of the men who assassinated Fasi.”

  “Go on,” Tony said, his interest peaked.

  “A fake photo with my print on it arrives at the Agency just like before. It gets flagged as classified, again, and is dismissed, but not before the mole picks up on its existence. He believes it’s the real deal and decides to hunt Kevin down to get that picture and any other photos he might have.”

  “Bingo!” Juan jumped up and smacked the table. “And we’re there waiting for him. Poof! No more mole. No more danger to these girls. Mission accomplished. What a brilliant idea!”

  Tony nodded his approval. He tipped his beer toward Zach in a congratulatory salute. “Yeah, great idea. I think this will work.”

  Zach pitched his empty beer bottle into the trash and got up to leave. “I’ll get with Veritas and finalize the details. We’ll need his help within the Agency to initiate this. In the meantime, Tony, find out where Kevin is and get his ass home. Have our people use their influence to cut through the red tape to get him out of that country. Let’s keep him in the dark about what’s going on. He can’t know he’s a target.”

  “You don’t think her partner really has any pictures of us, do you?” Juan got up to leave, also. “I only saw him shooting pictures once, and we lifted that camera and destroyed it.”

  “And I don’t remember Kevin taking any pictures of us when we hitched a ride to town with them,” Tony added. “I wonder if they took any pictures we don’t know about.”

  “Don’t know when they
would have done that,” Zach said. Had anyone taken a picture of them, his team would have never let that camera or film leave the country, no matter what it took to destroy it. “For now, let’s just worry about whether this mole believes Kevin has pictures of us or not. If he doesn’t believe this story, then this plan is DOA.” He started walking into the house. “Everybody get moving on this, or you’re right. We’ll be babysitting these women for months.”

  ARIANNA WAS sitting uncomfortably in her room when there came a knock at the door. She was afraid to open it. Afraid it might be him. She didn’t care if she ever saw him again. But then, why would he knock? Being the bore that he was, she was sure he’d just come barreling in. Gathering her courage, she slowly opened the door and was relieved to see it was Pilar with dinner.

  “I appreciate how nice you’ve been to me,” she said, as Pilar set the food down. “Even this thing today... well, you tried to warn me, but I guess I was just too stubborn to listen.”

  “I do trust you got the message and don’t plan on making any more problems, Arianna. Zach is no man to trifle with. He absolutely will not tolerate you disobeying him.”

  “Oh, I got that message loud and clear. By the look on his face, I could see he meant every word he said. Well, not to worry. I’m not going to put myself through that again. The way he acts… I don’t see how he can have any friends, much less girlfriends. If he does, it’s probably just because of his money. It sure wouldn’t be because of his personality.”

  Pilar chuckled to herself. “I have known Zach all his life, and I can tell you, he has many loyal friends. And girlfriends? Ah! There would never be any shortage of those.”

  “Well, they must be crazy. How anyone could like a man like him is beyond me.”

  Yes, Pilar thought it probably was. Arianna had never really seen the true Zach. Well, in time, she hoped things would be different…she liked this girl and hoped she’d be around here for a long time.

  IT WAS dinner time of the second day of a self-imposed exile, when Lisa informed Arianna no more food would be brought to the room. If she wanted to eat, she would have to come upstairs.

  “Oh, gee! Let me guess whose idea this is,” Arianna said.

  “It’s time anyway, Arianna. You can’t stay down here forever. You have to face those guys sometime or go hungry.”

  She hated being manipulated like this. She was sure this was his idea, but what choice did she have. She’d have to eat sometime, but not tonight. She’d hold out one more day.

  When she woke the next morning, she noticed Lisa’s bed had not been slept in. As she lay there, pondering the significance of her absence and calculating her own next move, Lisa came into the room.

  “Hey, are you all right?” Arianna asked. “Where were you last night?”

  Lisa continued on into the room. “Well, uh, I know you’ll find this hard to believe, but uhm, I was with Tony.”

  “Tony! Like sleeping with Tony?” she gasped, sitting up abruptly.

  Lisa nodded slowly.

  “But I don’t understand. I mean, okay, I know he’s good looking, but he’s the guy... these are the men who broke into our house a week ago and kidnapped us. Are you sure you know what you’re doing?”

  “Noo.... yes. I mean, I hope so. Oh, I don’t know, Arianna.” Lisa sat down on the bed across from her. “Tony and I’ve been talking the last couple of days. Nothing serious. Just small talk. The more we talked though, the more it became apparent there was an attraction. So, last night after dinner, we had a couple of drinks. One thing led to another, and I ended up spending the night with him.”

  Arianna sat in stunned silence.

  “Oh, God, Ari! I hope I haven’t done something stupid,” Lisa said, suddenly unsure of herself. “I can’t explain what happened. It’s not like he forced himself on me or anything. He was a perfect gentleman. I wanted him as much as he wanted me.”

  Arianna felt like she was in some kind of altered universe…like Alice in Wonderland who had fallen down a rabbit hole. “Wow! So do you trust him? Lisa, we don’t even really know who these men are.”

  Lisa fidgeted with the corner of the bedspread. “I know, and no matter how many times I ask him who he is and why they’re trying to help us, he won’t answer. I’m not afraid of him, though. It seems we’re in more danger than we realize, and I believe them when they say they’re trying to help us.”

  Yes, Arianna had been mulling this situation over herself for the last two days and was warming a bit more to the idea that these might be the good guys and not the enemy.

  “Zach told me I was in the wrong place at the wrong time and that an assassin was out to kill me. You know, I feel like this is all connected back to Kervistan. That warlord was killed shortly after I was there. Do you think someone thinks I have pictures of the assassin who killed Fasi or maybe that I was a witness? If that’s the case, then we’re in way over our heads.”

  “Oh, my God,” Lisa said, shivering slightly. “It’s so scary knowing an assassin is trying to kill you and me also. My nerves are about shot over all of this.”

  Arianna walked over to where Lisa sat. How many twists and turns would this ordeal take before it would be over?

  “I know, and I apologize for being so skeptical, Lisa. Of course, you’d know if Tony wasn’t honestly interested in you. What the hell! Nothing about this situation makes any sense anyway, so why not hook up with Tony? But Lisa, just be careful, okay? In case we’re wrong about this, I‘d hate to see you get hurt.”

  “I will,” she answered, her spirits lifted by Arianna’s quasi approval of her taking up with Tony. “Now, listen. Get dressed and come up. I’m telling you these guys aren’t half bad once you get to know them.”

  “Sure. Especially Dick the Bruiser. What a great guy he’s turned out to be,” Arianna said.

  Lisa knew she was referring to Zach. “Well, I know your experience with him hasn’t been great, but the men and all the servants really respect him. He doesn‘t say much, but he notices everything. Don’t hate me for saying this, but he’s actually a pretty cool guy.”

  Arianna shot her a look which said, “Are you kidding me?” They must have brainwashed her or is she really that gullible. One thing for certain, her attitude about these people and this experience was vastly different than Lisa’s. Dejected, frustrated, and confused best described Arianna’s feelings at the moment. She couldn’t remember a time in her life when she felt so out of control and completely helpless to shape her future.

  The first person Arianna saw when she entered the kitchen was Stella who immediately flashed her a big smile. “Hey! Good morning. Nice to see you out and about.”

  Taken by surprise at Stella’s warm greeting, Arianna responded back with a wary, “Good morning.”

  Not skipping a beat, Stella went on. “You know. I gotta tell you. You were great the other day. I love the way you gave those guys such a hard time.”

  Arianna shook her head as if not understanding.

  “I’m sorry what happened to you,” Stella continued, “but otherwise, it was great. Gunfire. Men scrambling around. Furniture flying. We haven’t had this much excitement around here in years. You’d a thought we were at war or something. We loved it.”

  “Stella!” Pilar said sternly, walking in at that moment. “For pity sakes! Don’t be praising her. We don’t want to encourage a repeat of that incident.”

  “Yes, ma’am,” Stella said contritely, but as soon as Pilar was out of earshot, she continued. “I don’t care what Pilar says, we all loved it. Don’t get me wrong. We love Zach and the guys, but every now and then, it does our hearts good to see someone yank their chains. You go, girl!”

  Giving Arianna a high-five, she quickly added, “Pilar’s right, though. Zach’s no one to mess with, so watch yourself.”

  Arianna certainly never expected this reaction. It buoyed her spirits somewhat to know at least she’d sacrificed her body for a good cause. She looked outside and saw Lisa sitting at the t
able with Tony. What a difference a day makes! Of course, she saw him too and immediately started to do a slow burn.

  “Actually, Arianna,” Stella said, breezing by once more, “since you and Lisa have arrived, there’s been lots of excitement around here. I see those two are kind of an item now, Lisa and Tony. In fact, everyone’s leaving for Miami this weekend except for Tony. It seems he’s canceled his plans in favor of staying home.”

  “Really?” Arianna said, surprised. “Maybe he’s staying back so he can keep an eye on me.”

  “Oh, no. I was told a ‘break-up’ call was made to a certain young lady in Miami, telling her he wouldn’t be coming this weekend. I guess the sparks really flew on the other end of the phone. Well, all I can say is good. That’s one down. Now if we could get rid of another certain lady if you want to call her that, we’d all be quite happy.”

  “Stella, enough!” Pilar snapped, overhearing her comment. “I do not want to hear another word about this. We will not have gossip in this house. Now, get back to work!”

  “Yes, ma’am,” Stella said, but not before she whispered. “It’s not gossip. It’s the gospel truth.”

  Pilar didn’t disagree. In the rich society Zach and Tony traveled in, it was hard to find a woman who hadn’t been tainted by a life of money and privilege. The woman Stella was so scornful of was Lydia, Zach’s current girlfriend.

  She was by most standards drop dead gorgeous, but that was as far as it went. She had two distinct sides to her...the one Zach saw or rather, the one Lydia let him see, and the one the servants saw. Lydia could be oh so sweet when Zach was around, but totally rude and demanding when he was gone. The typical pampered little rich girl, none of the servants really liked it when she came to stay. Being loyal to Zach however, they never complained. They went about their business and kept their mouths shut.

  Nevertheless, for now, Pilar had other things on her mind, such as getting Arianna back into the mix of things. Shoving a basket of pastries into her hands, she said, “Here. Would you take these out to the breakfast buffet, please?”