Free Mission Made For Two by C.R. Hill Page A

shoulder .  The two-inch heels of her s andals clicked against the tile floor as she stepped into the foyer. She took note of the floor plan on her trek. 
    A hallway just to the left of the door way, a staircase beside that.   All if it feeding into a large room with floor to ceiling windows all the way across the front.   Diaz’s house sat on a point, so the ocean surrounded three fourths of it.  The view out the windows was of the rolling ocean waves.  Several sofas and chairs were arranged in the center of the room around an enormous rug.
    Another ha llway was on the other side. The guard turned left and stopped outside the first door they came to .  Sierra looked across the hall .  The portrait of Diaz , Jake had told her about , hung on the wall.  Her fingers itched to break into the safe and see what he hid and be done with this charade . 
    She heard Diaz’s voice through the office door.  He was talking to someone in Spanish and he didn’t sound happy.  “¿ Dónde está él ?”
    The guard pushed the door open. Diaz looked up, his dark eyes narrow, but he nodded and motioned her in.  She’d laid the groundwork last night , asking him to teach her a few phrases in Spanish, so he assumed she couldn’t understand anything he said .  Perfect.
    Sierra settled on a soft chair in the corner of the office and examined her manicured fingernails.
    His words told her he was looking for Jake.  Still pissed that he’d gotten away.
    Sierra had to force herself to appear uninterested.  Especially when she heard Diaz ’s next words.   He’d just arranged a pickup of some children from an orphanage in Paraguay for Wednesday.  The image of the little girl in the picture Michael Toraz had shown her and Daniel popped into her head.  The child’s sad brown eyes had told their own story.
    Diaz ended his call with an order to find Jake and stood. 
    Jake would be thrilled to know how pissed off Diaz was that he’d gotten away.  
    Sierra smiled and stood to greet him.  He took her hands.  “I’m sorry to have to do business.  But some things can’t wait.”
    She waived her hand at him.  “That’s okay.  I completely understand . ”
    “Did you sleep well last night?”
    Images of her heated encounter with Jake assaulted her.  She’d hardly slept at all after he’d left.  “ Quite well, thanks. You?”
    His eyes darkened.  “Not so well.  I had visions of you in my head.”   He lifted her hand and kissed her palm.
    Sierra had to push down the wave of nausea at his words.   She bit her bottom lip.  “I wouldn’t have pegged you as a romantic, Dominic.”
    He chuckled. “You must bring out that side of me.  Shall we have l unch before we go snorkeling ?   Something light of course. ”
    She nodded. “That sounds lovely .”
    He held his arm out .  Taking it , she continued her mental inventory of the house.  They turned right.  There was a closed door directly beside Diaz’s office.  The hallway wasn’t long and she realized it joined up with a hallway running the backside of the house and then to the one she’d passed just inside the front door . 
    One of the doors was open and she noticed a bed.  Quarters for the guards most likely.
    Diaz turned right and she found herself inside an industrial sized kitchen.  A woman busied herself at the counter, chopping vegetables.
    “Luisa, we’ll be eating on the veranda ,” Diaz said.
    The woman nodded.  Diaz continued through the bright airy kitchen and a set of French doors out onto a tiled veranda.
    “Your house is beautiful, Dominic.”   Which at least was a true statement.   It was not only beautiful, but had a breathtaking view. 
    He pulled a cushioned wicker chair out from the table for her to sit.  “Thank you.  This is my favorite place in the world.”
    He’d no more settled into a chair himself, then Luisa, carrying a tray, walked out and set two glasses in front of them.
    “I asked Luisa to make iced tea for