Page 102 of Fear No Evil

That startled a laugh out of her. “Oh, I was?”

He sent her an injured look. “You weren’t?”

“Well, I mean…” She blinked, wondering where he was going with this, but then narrowed her eyes at him. “You’re teasing me.”

He gave a little shrug. “Possibly. But I tried proposing to you before and that didn’t work out so well.”

Again, her thoughts flashed to theCafé du Jour, but they weren’t there anymore. She was older and wiser, and she wanted to spend her life with Jake. Tugging his ring off her finger, she thrust it at him. “Ask me again.”

A flame ignited in his steady gaze as he took it. “Okay. I will.”

Maggie glanced around. The courtyard stood empty. They had the place to themselves.

With a slow grin, he sank deliberately down on one knee.

“Oh, you don’t have to get grass stains on your pants!”

But he ignored her, seizing her hand and gazing at her just as he had in Paris. “Lena, what we have doesn’t come along every day.”

He’d said those very words to her just seconds before the bomb in Paris detonated. “I know.” That had been her answer then, and it still held true today. It would always hold true.

“Would you marry me?” His voice thickened. “Not someday, but very, very soon?”

“Yes, Jake. I would be honored to marry you.”

He briefly closed his eyes, kissed the knuckle of her left ring finger, and slid the ring back where it had been. Then, with awhoop, Jake surged to his feet, snatched her up in a bear hug, and spun her giddily around.

The green grass and the glistening pond called to mind the green pastures and still waters from Psalm 23. It really was true.He restores my soul.

EPILOGUE

PHUKET, THAILAND

There was only so much lounging by the pool, sipping mai tais, that Lena could tolerate. Jake watched with amusement as his bride glanced again toward the balcony on the fourth floor, the one immediately adjacent to their own room, using the brim of her straw hat to conceal her surveillance.

Phuket was everything he’d hoped it would be‍—white sand, blue sky, and a steady breeze wicking the sweat off his body. He would forever associate the scent of sunscreen with desire and bliss. To think he’d dreamed of this moment back on El Castillo, and now they were actually here on their honeymoon just one month after Jake’s proposal in the CIA courtyard. He wouldn’t have changed a thing about their intimate family wedding‍—his parents, her parents, their siblings, and a couple of cousins. It had been perfect.

“There he is on his balcony. Look, Jake. Just don’t be obvious about it.”

Indulging his wife, Jake peered casually up at their five-star hotel. The whitewashed balconies, all dripping with brilliantpurple bougainvillea, were all empty, except for the one on the fourth floor, right next to theirs, where a man was pacing on his balcony, cell phone pressed to his ear.

They’d first seen him two days earlier, emerging from his hotel room, just when they were entering their own. Lena had remarked how much he looked like a Mexican fugitive named Lorenzo Nuñez-Aguiler. She’d seen a WANTED poster at the airport in Colombia while flying home with her father.

Jake had to admit, after looking up the man’s name and finding him on the DEA’sMOST WANTEDpage, their neighbor bore a striking resemblance to the renowned narco, sought after for multiple crimes in the U.S.A., including kidnapping and murder. Since he’d learned never to underestimate Lena’s powers of observation, Jake had shot off an inquiry to the DEA using WhatsApp. To get his query noticed, he’d identified himself as a former SEAL affiliated with the CIA, and by morning, the DEA had sent him an old mug shot of the elusive criminal along with a message:Does he look like this, only older?

Jake plucked his phone from their pool bag, found the photo, and then held it up so he and Lena could compare a young Lorenzo with the man on the balcony. The man was holding still now, staring over their heads at the sea, while continuing his intense conversation.

There was definitely a resemblance, Jake had to admit, but what were the odds they’d be honeymooning right next door to a wanted fugitive?

Still hiding behind the brim of her hat, Lena divided a narrow-eyed gaze between the photo and the suspect. “Okay, so check out the way he holds his phone. See how the pinkie on his right hand sticks out?” She dropped her voice to a whisper as a server veered toward them to pick up their empty glasses.

“Would you like two more?” the pretty Thai girl asked.

“Two waters would be great.”

“Yes, ma’am.” With a bow, the server scurried off to fetch their drinks.

“What about the pinkie?” Jake had no idea where Lena was going with this.