“I can buy my own ticket. I’m leaving for Quito tomorrow.”

  I sighed. If I disappeared, Kayla would probably do the same thing as Selena was doing now. “If you come, you have to stick to the hotel.”

  She was quiet, which was not consent.

  “I’ll give you the turkey BLT.”

  Selena wrinkled her nose, but she took the sandwich. I hadn’t bought drinks or sides, because I didn’t eat them when the main course was so big. I wasn’t used to taking care of many other people. Ever since her grandmother had died, Kayla had been very self-sufficient. When I stayed at her apartment, we cooked together and talked. It hurt to think about Annemarie. It hurt to think about what Annemarie would think about me looking at a teenage girl about our daughter’s age with a falling towel. I remembered how shocked and confused I had been that Kayla was dating Brandon Adams, whom I had known as a green recruit. It was helping me calm my raging hormones, which reminded me that it had been a while since I had scratched certain itches. I tended to date only in the United States, since I had been preyed on by foreign women happy to get a green card by marrying an American citizen. I got out of my clothes and set my alarm for a time early enough to catch my flight. I didn’t coordinate with Selena at all. With luck, she’d oversleep and I wouldn’t have to look after her in Ecuador. She would be much safer here in Los Angeles.

  DINNER IN QUITO

  Selena

  THE NEXT DAY

  As soon as I got off the plane in Quito, I noticed that I was out of breath. I was panting, and all I was carrying was my backpack. I was having a hard time adjusting to the altitude. I knew that Quito was in the mountains. I had gone skiing during winter break with some of my friends growing up, but the altitude here was messing me up.

  It didn’t help that Charlie was walking so quickly. I didn’t think that he was used to a nineteen-year-old girl tagging along, given that Kayla had grown up in the United States just like I had. I was struggling to breathe, and I wondered just where Charlie had spent the past decade or so of his career. I knew that Dad and Charlie ran their company all over the world, but it was only now that I was a legal adult that my own dad had started opening up to me about what running the business entailed.

  As soon as we got to the hotel, the polite receptionist didn’t blink an eye at a guy in his early forties checking into a room with a girl who was about half his age. Charlie gave me the second key, and he pulled all of his luggage into the elevator.

  “Are we sharing a room?” I asked Charlie, confused why I had a key to his room and not a key to my own.

  “We’re sharing a suite. It’s a security risk for you to be on your own in this country.” He continued, “Depending on what David has gotten mixed up in, both of us could be targets. I’ve connected with security personnel here. This hotel was scoped out before we ever booked it. It has great security, as visiting diplomatic delegations stay here.”

  When we got into the suite, I saw that I had my own bedroom. In the suite, I was sharing a bathroom with him. I gulped a little bit. It felt intimate to be sharing a bathroom with an older man. I thought about my deliberate towel slip, which had made him respond like a gentleman. I had been a little gratified to see his eyes and nostrils flare when he looked at me, but he hadn’t acted on it. We both knew that my father wouldn’t sign off on any kind of romantic involvement between us.

  I went and unpacked my few things into the closet and dresser. I didn’t know how long I’d be here. I didn’t know if I’d get a chance to do laundry. I had packed to go from San Diego to Los Angeles. Now, I was on another continent. I sat on my bed and thought about taking all my classes from my laptop. It would be okay as long as the Internet could handle video.

  Within a half hour, Charlie had knocked on my door and collected me for dinner.

  “Where are we eating?” I asked, still in the crumpled clothing I had worn in the plane.

  “We’re staying in the hotel restaurant.”

  “Okay.” I didn’t really know much about Quito. I hadn’t planned to be here, and I wouldn’t have come if my dad knew about it. He was overprotective, and he didn’t even want me to go to Spain, even though I’d been studying Spanish for years. Quito was substantially more dangerous than any city in Spain.

  Nobody made me feel bad about wearing a crumpled dress to dinner. We were smoothly seated, and the two of us looked over their menu. I considered just getting some steak and golden potatoes. I was more than happy to eat some tres leches cake for dessert. There was a bakery near my home in San Diego that had it, and I treated myself to slices of it during finals season. My aunt would have stopped me from consuming quite so much sugar as a kid, but I was an adult now.

  Charlie also got a steak, although he got vegetables as his side. We stared at each other for a little bit, understanding that everyone could hear our conversation.

  I started talking about the dessert selections, and I could see his facial features and shoulders relax. He could easily talk about the desserts that he had eaten all over the world. He was subtly telling me all the countries that he remembered having been to. I had a great time asking him about his adventures. I thought he was a little old for it, but someone my age would totally start their own YouTube channel to catalogue running all over the world.

  I was laughing at his description of eating baklava in Greece. I laughed so hard that I got hiccups.

  Suddenly, his face shut down. He checked his phone. I didn’t even have time to react when he said, “Excuse me. Put the meal on our room tab. Show them the key card. I have to go.”

  I watched in shock as Charlie walked out, leaving me alone in the restaurant.

  LIGHTNING STRIKING TWICE

  Charlie

  My gut was churning. I had to get away from the hotel restaurant and away from Selena. I knew in my heart that Selena was the one for me.

  Decades ago, I’d had the same feeling with my first wife, Annemarie. Within weeks, I talked her into eloping to Las Vegas with me. I hadn’t had as much money then as I did now, and she had a small ring. It had meant the world to both of us, though. I pursued Annemarie with all of my might, even before I had the help of the Internet and a smartphone. I never expected to feel the drive to chase another woman the same way that I had chased Annemarie ever again.

  Knowing that I’d been acquainted with Selena since her childhood, I knew that David would go ballistic at the idea of me dating his daughter. He had made a few pointed remarks about Kayla falling in love with Brandon Adams, which I was still adjusting to. It meant something that Kayla was pregnant at such a young age. Brandon and I had already talked over Kayla finishing up her degree. Brandon had plans for childcare that involved hiring some of his family members to take shifts looking after their future kids, since they planned to have more than one.

  I had left Kayla to be raised by her grandmother, who loved her. I knew that I wouldn’t have been as free to reside all over the world without family support. After Annemarie’s death, my heart had been so broken that I couldn’t be a present single father.

  In some ways, I thought that I had run away from my responsibilities. Kayla had never lacked for anything, but her grandmother had never had her live a lavish lifestyle like other children living in Los Angeles. There seemed to be a competition on who could spend the most on their children. Her grandmother and I had been of accord when it came to providing decent clothing in Los Angeles and a small number of inexpensive activities. When she was a little kid, Kayla had done soccer. Her grandmother had always taken pictures and mailed them to me. Kayla used to draw pictures and put them in the mail. I didn’t know if she remembered those. I kept them in a box that I kept in a storage unit in Los Angeles. When the Internet had connected the globe, her grandmother had started sending a lot of emails to me with updates on her. I knew that her grandmother didn’t tell Kayla how much information she sent my way.

  I wasn’t very wordy when it came to my own emails. I’d tell Kayla’s grandmother where I was living and a few things about what I was up to. I always let her know in advance when I was headed back to Los Angeles. For the most part, I was content to sit back.

  I was somewhat envious of the fresh start that Brandon had with his new baby on the way. Being a grandparent, I wouldn’t have as much time with the baby. Now that I was in my forties, I didn’t have the same drive to make money as I’d had in my twenties, when I was still heartbroken. I had enough to live comfortably, but I kept chasing the next dollar.

  I got back into the suite, and Selena’s floral scent hit me again. I thought that she might have some sort of special soap. I knew that we shared the same bathroom, but I hoped I had enough time to myself before she finished her meal and came upstairs. I got into the bathroom and closed the door.

  “Open your mouth,” I commanded Selena, my business partner’s daughter.

  Obediently, she opened her jaw as wide as it went. I guided myself into her mouth. I saw her eyes widen as she realized how far I was pushing.

  “Relax,” I told her. She would gag if she wasn’t careful. She wasn’t very experienced.

  She relaxed her muscles, and I gripped the back of her head. I eased into her mouth with a steady rhythm, but soon my thrusts into her mouth were out of control. I came with a shout, spraying seed down her throat with all the force in my body.

  My phone buzzed, shaking me out of my reverie. I didn’t even wash my hands as I accepted the call from Seb.

  “Hey, we need to talk.”

  “Come on over to the hotel.” I gave him the room number. Seb hung up.

  I washed my hands and tidied myself up. When I got out of the bathroom, I heard Selena coming into the front door.

  “Is everything okay?” She had a small take-out box in her hand. “I had the staff box up your dinner.”

  My stomach was very unhappy that I hadn’t finished my meal. “Thanks for bringing it up.” I might have had to order actual room service, which would have been costly. It was a business trip, though, so I could deduct it as an expense. “Seb is on his way, so we’ll need to be ready to talk to him.”

  She put the food into the small fridge that we had in the suite. “No problem.”

  It was too easy to get along with Selena. I knew that it might frighten or disgust her to know that I had just taken care of business thinking of thrusting into her mouth. I was worried that I was too attracted to her. The moment of certainty that I’d had in the restaurant had been the beginning of my first marriage. Selena could belong to me, but I couldn’t possibly claim her.

  Selena sat down on the couch and turned on the television. I kept an eye on the door. Some of my military training showed in the way that I always tracked points of ingress and egress no matter where I was. Selena was flipping through the channels. She settled on Al Jazeera in English.

  Someone knocked on the door.

  GROUP FOR EXTRACTION

  Selena

  I watched as Charlie opened the door. He said, “Hey, Seb,” and shook the newcomer’s hand. I put a smile on my own face, wanting to seem welcoming.

  “Hi, I’m Selena, David’s daughter,” I said, extending my own hand for the newcomer to shake. I walked forward to greet him.

  “I’m Seb,” he told me. “I’m sorry that your dad went missing. I know that it is a stressful time for you.”

  Seb made himself comfortable in a chair. I sat down, and Charlie sat down as well. His eyes flicked between Seb and me.

  “I found out where David is.” Seb scratched his head. “You’re not going to like it, Charlie.”

  “And?” Charlie asked. “You said that you needed to talk.”

  Seb took a deep breath. “Yes, I’ve already put together a group to extract him from the situation. I think that Ximena is behind it.”

  The two of them exchanged a meaningful glance.

  I was adrift. “Who is Ximena?” I asked, knowing that I probably sounded stupid.

  “Don’t worry about it.” Charlie didn’t want me to dig into what exactly my dad had gotten into.

  “Ximena is too smart and calculating to take stupid risks. She’d never jeopardize her enterprise by making any stupid mistakes. We’re expecting her security to be tight, so extraction is set for a shift change early tomorrow morning.”

  “I’ll come with you,” said Charlie.

  “So am I.” I was really worried about my dad being held by Ximena. What did it mean?

  “Absolutely not.”

  “Why do you get to go?”

  “I’m former military. I have training.”

  “From two decades ago.”

  There was a pained expression on his face.

  “I can put you in a vehicle outside of the perimeter and make sure you can watch on a body cam,” offered Seb.

  “Selena is not putting herself at risk. She’s staying in the hotel.”

  Seb got to his feet. “I’ll let you two handle the details. I’ll be back for whomever decides to come in two hours.”

  I waved at him as he left. Charlie walked to the door, and Charlie closed it behind Seb.

  “You are not putting yourself at risk by going.”

  “What if I never see my father again?” I said, very softly. “Would you force Kayla to sit by the sidelines if you were in danger?”

  “David doesn’t have my training. It’s different. I made sure that Kayla was trained in unarmed combat.”

  “Really?” She hadn’t mentioned it to me.

  “There was a local dojo run by someone I used to know near Kayla’s grandmother’s home. She didn’t know about the connection, but she learned karate from someone who trained Navy SEALs.”

  I blinked. I felt really weak, young, and useless in the scenario. “I still don’t want to pass up the chance to see my father for the last time.”

  “You’re not coming. It’s not safe for you to be there. There’s not a snowball’s chance in hell that David would allow you to come. You’re too young.”

  “I’m not your daughter.”

  “I know that.” He scrubbed his face with his hand. “I wouldn’t have even let Kayla fly into Ecuador in the first place.”

  Charlie hadn’t seemed enthusiastic when I had come with him. It was a surprisingly quick flight. I wondered what I could do to talk Charlie into letting me come with the extraction group. Of course, I had no experience there. I’d have to be quiet. I could handle being there, as long as I had a shot of seeing my father.

  Charlie pulled me into his arms, and I leaned into him. My cheek was against his shoulder. “I’m scared that something bad has happened to my father.”

  Neither Charlie nor I said a word about the erection poking into my stomach.

  “I can’t promise you that your father is safe and sound.”

  We stood like that for a few breaths. Because of what was at stake, I was bolder than I had ever been in my life. I angled my face so that I could brush my lips against his neck.

  He immediately let go of me. “No matter what, you are not going in two hours.” He stomped out of the room.

  So much for using feminine wiles. I sighed. I was going to have to come up with a different plan.

  CLOUD FOREST

  Charlie

  TWO HOURS LATER

  I knocked on the door to Selena’s room. “I’m heading out now. Stay safe.”

  She ignored me, and she didn’t say a word. I hoped that she was asleep now and would wake up after our successful recovery of David, her father.

  I didn’t know what David would think about how I felt about his daughter. I certainly hadn’t reacted well to the idea of Brandon Adams spending the night with my daughter.

  It was hard for me to wrap my brain around the idea that I had fallen like a ton of bricks for a girl who was the same age as Kayla. Selena and Kayla had stuck together like glue at company events for pretty much their whole lives, and I was still worried about Kayla getting married and having a child so young. Since Brandon assured me that Kayla was getting her college degree, I breathed a little easier. It wouldn’t be hard to spoil a grandkid. I was still thinking about downshifting from my role in the company, if I could train someone up to do the traveling. I didn’t want to miss my grandkid’s first steps or first words.

  When I got down to the front lobby, I could see Seb in a car out front. He nodded at me, not even saying hi. I guessed that he was the kind of guy who stayed tight during a mission. I knew plenty of men like that when I was in the military.

  A few hours later, we were in Mindo.

  “Are we there yet?”

  I was shocked to hear Selena’s voice. She was sitting in the back seat. I had been so focused, I hadn’t checked that Seb had been alone in the car.

  “Where have you been hiding?”

  “I just laid down and took a nap. He said it was going to take a while.”

  I glared at Seb. “A teenager has no place in a recovery in the cloud forest.”

  “It’s Mindo, not downtown Quito. She’ll be safe enough if she stays in the vehicle. I wasn’t going to tell Selena that she can’t come oversee the rescue of her father. At least one of my men will keep an eye on her so we can make a quick getaway.”

  Seb’s explanation didn’t sit right with me.

  “Well, you’re here now. You have to stay in the vehicle.”

  “Hush,” said Seb.

  I wondered if he knew that he reported to me. We had gone down a long, unpaved road at this point. There were other vehicles waiting. I could see men dressed like Seb, which would blend with the settings. I had only chosen to wear gray, which didn’t attract the eye.