Ginny Read online

  “There ain’t enough money in the world for a trip with your crazy fuckin’ Russian broad!”

  Monika stepped forward, pushed Carlos against the wall and grabbed his throat, saying, “I ez killink jou, if jou don’t do as told!”

  “Raul, get her off me,” Carlos choked.

  “Monika, take it easy … I’m sure we can negotiate an arrangement. Now Carlos, we’re offering ten Gs cash … no questions asked, so let’s get your things and move fast. We want to be in Mexico today.”

  “I’ll need to make some calls,” Carlos said.

  “No calls,” Raul said, pulling a .38 from his belt and waving it toward the bedroom. “Now, get a move on it.”

  “We’re friends. You don’t need that,” Carlos said.

  Ten minutes passed and they were off to the marina in Carlos’s Jeep, Monika ducking down in the back and Raul in the front passenger seat holding the gun on his friend.

  “Put that away,” Carlos said. “I’ll get you to Mexico, but I want my money now.”

  “Monika,” Raul said. “Give it to him.”

  She opened the suitcase, retrieved and counted out ten packs of hundred-dollar-bills and passed them to Carlos.

  When they got to the marina, Carlos counted the money and said, “I’ll leave this in my locker and then we’ll head south after dark.”

  They spent a tense day waiting for nightfall. The trip in the small fourteen-foot motorboat was uneventful, as they skirted the coast. When they spotted another vessel, Monika hid below deck under a seat in the galley. Their journey ended south of Tijuana where they departed.

  “I’ll call you in a month or so … I have another ten Gs for you,” Raul said.

  “For what?”

  “Gotta knock off some nosey broad … a simple task … piece of cake, so stay mum on today’s activities, brother,” Raul warned.

  Monika gave Carlos an evil stare as she disembarked the small vessel and followed Raul up the gangplank to the wharf.

  “I trust him, Monika. We go way back, and he’ll be glad to receive the final payment.”

  “I ez no like,” she grunted. “Vhere ve go now?”

  “Follow me and remain silent … not one word, so you’ll keep your identity unknown, OK?”

  Raul flipped his cell phone into the water, took her hand and headed to the Boathouse Business Complex, several hundred feet ahead. Escape was the only thing on his mind.

  When they arrived at the building, he said, “I have to make an inquiry.”

  Monika nodded in approval when he pointed to the sign, reading ‘Miguel Solis Insurance’. He opened the door and waved Monika inside. They stepped into a sparse reception area with a slight woman sitting behind a large desk.

  “May I help you?” the slim Latina with dark hair asked in Spanish.

  “Miguel,” Raul replied.

  She asked, “Name?”

  “Raul. Miguel knows me.”

  She peeked at them from dark sparkling eyes, pressed the intercom and said, reverting to English, “Senior Solis, Raul is here to see you.”

  “Send him in.”

  The secretary stood, walked to the door on her right and opened it. She moved to the side as they entered and then discretely closed the door.

  Miguel met them and embraced Raul. “It’s been a long time, Raul.”

  “Yes, it has … I need your help,” Raul said.

  Miguel asked, “And the lady, too?”

  Monika pulled the kerchief from her head, setting blonde waves cascading over her shoulders.

  “Ah, such loveliness,” Miguel said. “Now, please introduce me.”

  “It’s better if you do not know … we need to become invisible, if you know what I mean?”

  “That, my friend, is gonna cost you,” Miguel said with an evil smile.

  “We’re at your mercy,” Raul said.

  “Please sit down,” Miguel said, waving them to chairs facing his desk.

  They took seats as Miguel drifted rounded his desk and sat facing them. He leaned forward, put his elbows on the desk and folded his hands while scrutinizing them.

  He took a longer look at Monika, sighed and asked, “How much trouble are you two in?”

  “Time is of the essence, we have to get as far away from here as humanly possible … there’s no time to waste,” Raul pleaded.

  “I see …” Miguel paused, contemplating his next move. “OK, let me make a call.”

  Monika whispered, “Ez he trusted?”

  Raul nodded. Miguel sat back, got a cellphone from his pocket, flipped it open and punched in a number. He waited a moment and then barked out orders in Spanish.

  “Everything OK?” Raul asked.

  “I’m sending you to central Baja, a resort of sorts, several miles from a town named Estrella. There’s everything you’ll need there and may I say, fine arrangements. But let’s settle the finances first,” Miguel said with a wide smile.

  Raul asked, “How much?”

  “Twenty-five big ones should do it, say, for a three-month stay.”

  “Steep, my friend …” Raul paused. “I mean, if you take most of our money, what’ll we live on?”

  “OK, I’m a reasonable man … twenty-two should suffice.”

  “Fifteen.”

  “Eighteen is as far as I can go … I’m taking a big risk, you know.”

  “Deal,” Raul agreed.

  “No!” Monika exclaimed. “He ez too much … give ‘im fifteen.”

  “Ah, a feisty woman, ha, ha,” Miguel chuckled. “But the answer is no.”

  Monika shot to her feet, picked up the suitcase and headed toward the door.

  “Now, now, come back and sit down, young lady,” Miguel stated. “Fifteen will do.”

  Miguel made a second call, barking out instructions and then he sat back, relaxing.

  “When do we leave?” Raul asked.

  “Soon,” Miguel said. “But first let’s have some refreshments.”

  Monika nodded to Raul while Miguel pressed the intercom. “Bring coffee and sweet rolls for us.”

  Minutes passed in silence before Miguel said, “Let’s put the finances behind us now.”

  Monika stood, picked up the suitcase and moved to a couch against the far wall. She put the case on the coffee table in front of her, giving Miguel an untrusting glance. She opened it and counted out fifteen thousand dollars in bands of hundred-dollar-bills. She set them beside her as she closed the case.

  Raul moved to her side, took the money, returned to Miguel’s desk and placed it before him. Miguel pulled a right-side drawer out, scooped the cash and dropped it in.

  The secretary entered carrying a tray of goodies. She set it down on the coffee table next to the suitcase.

  “Shall we?” Miguel queried, got up and approached Monika, carrying a chair. “I’ll do the honors.”

  Raul joined Monika on the couch, took the case and set it on the floor beside him. He smiled and said, “Thank you.”

  Miguel poured the coffee.

  They sat, sipped the strong brew and nibbled on the treats.

  The secretary returned with a middle-aged, short, stocky, dark-skinned man.

  Miguel stood and said, “This is Juan; he will be your driver.”

  “I’m ready, so let’s hit the road,” Raul said.

  All rose, Miguel offered his hand and Raul took it and gave a firm shake. Monika and Raul followed Juan outside to the parking lot and they climbed into an older Land Rover. A small dark-skinned middle-aged woman sat up front, while Monika and Raul occupied the rear seat. Juan started the machine and they drove off in silence.

  “Wadka,” Monika said.

  “Juan, please stop at a liquor store,” Raul ordered.

  “No entiendo?”

  Raul, speaking Spanish, asked again and they soon found a liquor store, where he went to get Monika her desired libation. He returned and they were on their way ag
ain. Traveling the highways, within the speed limit, sipping Vodka behind the dark-tinted windows, the happy incognito couple enjoyed themselves.

  Four hours into their journey, Juan looked over his shoulder and asked Raul a question. Raul spoke in Spanish and after traveling several more miles, Juan stopped behind a small restaurant.

  “I ez need restroom,” Monika said.

  Again, Raul, in Spanish, asked Juan.

  “Siria,” Juan responded.

  Once inside the restaurant, the ladies scurried to the restroom, while Juan and Raul took a booth in the back. They sat facing the front, as Raul kept a watchful eye on the entrance.

  When the women returned, the waitress took their orders. The meal was consumed in silence, Monika receiving some curious glances from other patrons. The men excused themselves to use the facilities and then all were ready to resume the trip east.

  Juan drove over the better roads during their journey, only skipping to secondary dirt roads to circle outside small towns. His dark eyes scrutinized the surroundings on the secret jaunt, stopping at a small farmhouse where they would spend the night hosted by an elderly couple.

  After an early morning breakfast, the foursome, with a packed lunch, hit the road again.

  Raul eyed Monika and began to speak, but Monika opened her lovely mouth and then Raul put his finger on her lips, silencing her.

  “Revenge is not good, Monika,” Raul whispered. “It’ll consume you, ruin you and we’ll both regret it because we’ll be discovered and sent back.”

  “No!”

  “Unfortunately, yes,” he said and took her hand. “Listen to me. I have friends here in Mexico and we’ll be able to avoid capture if, and only if, you follow my lead.”

  “I need killink that bitch, Ginny!”

  “Forget her, think of yourself, my dear sweet, Monika and …”

  “No!”

  Their conversation was interrupted by Juan’s ringing cell phone. Juan put it to his ear, listened and said, “Si.”

  He handed the phone to Raul and said, “Miguel.”

  “There’s trouble, Raul,” Miguel said. “Inquiries have been made about you two, so you’ll have to lay low. I’ll get back to you soon.”

  “You mean we should come back to you?” Raul asked.

  “No! Keep going east,” Miguel said. “I’ll call later. Now, give the phone back to Juan.”

  Juan took the cell, listened and said, “Si.”

  Raul sighed, put his left arm around Monika and gave a squeeze.

  “Ez bad?” she questioned.

  “Someone has been asking questions. Miguel said he’d call later.”

  Juan pulled off the main road, found a spot under a tree and stopped. He got out a map, opened it on the hood and scrutinized it, running his finger over a secondary road.

  He whispered something in Spanish as Monika gave Raul a curious look.

  “We’re in for a bumpy ride for the next several miles; Juan wants to stay out of sight till dusk.”

  “No cell,” Juan said.

  “What?” Raul asked and Juan replied in Spanish.

  “The cell service is unreliable here,” Raul said to Monika.

  “Ve ez in trouble?”

  Juan started the Land Rover and they proceeded on their northeast journey.

  Monika slumped against Raul and he tried to reassure her. He said, “We can have a good life together …”

  She looked up into his eyes but did not speak.

  “With some luck, we’ll be free from strife … I’ll make it work …”

  “How?”

  “We’ll get new identities—I have contacts, Miguel will help. We’ll go to South America, OK?”

  “I ez speakink no Spanish.”

  “British Guiana, they speak English,” Raul said.

  “Oh.”

  “So, push those thoughts of revenge from your mind,” he said and kissed her sweet lips.

  They spent the rest of the day on bumpy dirt roads, stopping once to consume their packed lunch and take a rest break. Monika and Siria drifted off behind a bush, a roll of tissue paper concealed within Siria’s cloth shoulder bag, as the men stood guard. After the toiletries, the uncomfortable ride through the hilly wilderness continued.

  The lovers sat in the darkened cocoon of the Land Rover’s backseat wrapped in an embrace. At nightfall, the troop stopped to camp. The resourceful Raul built a small fire and set up camp. They rolled out their sleeping bags on the ground close to the fire. Raul brewed strong coffee and cooked a can of beans. They shared the sparse meal in tin plates and cups, mopping up the beans with stale bread.

  It was a brilliant star-filled night, except for a feeling of impending doom shared by Monica and Raul. However, sleep came, and all was well until the light of dawn.

  A new beginning at the Hacienda Resort on the East coast of the Gulf of Mexico…

  Monika bolted to a sitting position, screaming at the top of her lungs.

  “Sweetheart,” Raul asked, rolling over, “Another bad dream?”

  “She ez shootink me—that Ginny girl,” Monika said, wiping perspiration from her face with her hands.

  “We’re safe now—nothing to worry about.”

  “Vhat happen, Carlos no killink her, vhy?”

  “Miguel said he couldn’t find Carlos—I told you that, remember?”

  “I ez confused …”

  “I’ll make strong coffee and breakfast for you, now go clean up and meet me in the kitchen,” Raul ordered, swung his feet out of bed and padded to the kitchen.

  After breakfast over coffee, Raul said, “Monika, everything will be fine as long as we are patient. No one knows where we are.”

  “I must be strong,” Monika said.

  “Yes, and it’s time to get moving, you have a busy day.”

  “Alberto vil be pleased vid my vork—I ez good employee, no?”

  “You’re the best—don’t let Alberto take advantage of you,” Raul warned. “Now, go take a shower.”

  “Morning sex first,” she said with a wanton smile.

  “That’s what I love about you, a lady that gets to the point …”

  She stood and headed to the bathroom, using her patented sexy sashay.

  “Soap up, I’ll join you in a minute.”

  Raul entered the steam-filled shower and embraced the glistening beauty from behind. His hands moved over familiar territory, his excitement evident.

  Monika exclaimed, “Make me happy voman!”

  “I intend to,” he moaned, taking her by the hips and pulling her close to him.

  She screamed, “Aaaaah!”

  “A pleasant surprise, my sweet,” Raul said.

  Monika stood outside the stables, clad in an English riding outfit, waiting for her clients. Alberto drove up in his vintage British-racing-green Jaguar convertible, top down.

  He smiled, pushed the door open and sprang from the driver’s seat with amazing agility for a fifty-five-year-old man.

  “Monika, my beautiful assistant—you’re looking radiant this fine sunny morning.”

  “Thank jou,” she smiled offering her hand, which he took and kissed with joy.

  She grinned and did a full pirouette before him, revealing her smart attire.

  His shining eyes took in her outfit, consisting of a form-fitted long sleeve white pullover, brown belt, skintight tan riding pants and knee-high brown boots along with a riding crop and helmet. Her long blonde hair wound into a tight bun on the back of her head.

  “So elegant, my dear,” he said, turned and called for the groom. “Hector!”

  Hector, a tall lean middle-aged man came out of the stable to greet them.

  “Sir, madam,” he said, clicking his heels.

  Alberto asked, “The horses are ready?”

  “Yes sir, they are tied up at the trailhead, ready to go.”

  “Good, the riders will be here momentarily,” Al
berto, said.

  He took Monika’s hand, they strolled to the trailhead and waited for the other riders.

  A black minivan with the gold logo for the Hacienda imprinted on the front door pulled to a stop several feet away. Four riders—two middle-aged British couples—got out of the vehicle, all clad in similar riding outfits.

  “Let me introduce you,” Alberto began. “This is Monika; she’ll be your guide today.”

  Monika stepped forward, offering her hand.

  “Hello, I’m John McMiller and this is my wife, Judith. We’re from Scotland originally, but now reside in London,” he said as the couple exchanged handshakes.

  “And we’re Joan and Reginald Combs, ha,” Joan said with a chuckle, “born and bred in bloody old England.”

  “I ez happy to meet jou,” Monika said, taking their hands.

  After the greetings, they mounted their steeds and rode off, Monika taking the lead.

  Alberto shouted, “Cheerio!”

  The steep trail led up into the hills, and soon they could look back at the breathtaking view. The sparkling sunlight glistened over the vast expanse of turquoise water in the Gulf of Mexico.

  “It’s beautiful,” one of the ladies said to the group.

  “Our secret hideaway, my sweet,” her husband said.

  The trail led them farther up into the hills. A brisk breeze cooled them in the midmorning sunlight. The serene adventure in an atmosphere of relaxed contentment shared by the five riders concluded an hour and one-half later. Their destination was a small-framed building used as an office, with restroom facilities amid the pines. Off to the side of the building was set for an outdoor shaded picnic.

  Several employees sprang into action, greeting the riders with pleasant smiles. When all had dismounted, their horses were led away to be watered.

  The guests and Monika used the restrooms within the house to refresh and get ready for the noon meal.

  They sat at a large round table; the gracious staff served sparkling wine, fresh-squeezed orange juice, hot coffee and tea.

  “Monica,” Reginald asked. “You’re awfully quiet?”

  “I ez quiet, ya,” she replied, blinking her blue eyes.