Love on the Malecon (20 page)

Nicole couldn’t believe that Andrew was across the
street. What the hell was he thinking? She was honestly surprised
that she had no urge to see him at all. Usually she wouldn’t let
someone else deal with something like this. Then again, she did
feel like she’d throw up if she moved. Looking over at the glass
wall, she wondered if she had the strength to get up and figure out
how to make it disappear like Derek had. The panels must follow
some kind of track. But that seemed like too much work, so instead,
she threw the covers back over her head and closed her eyes. She
wanted everything to go away.

With a sense of relief, she heard the door
open. Derek was back and that hadn’t taken long at all. Wanting to
find out what happened, she called from under the covers as loudly
as her body would allow,
“
You’re back. Come get in bed and
tell me everything.”

“No thanks, I have other plans for us,” she
heard a woman say,
“
Get up, Blondie.” Her heart stopped for
a split second. She couldn’t breathe. It was Silvia. It had to be.
Nicole slowly lifted the covers back.

Silvia was standing over the bed with a gun
pointed straight at her. Nicole tried to tell herself to stay calm,
but it wasn’t working. What was she supposed to do? She had to
think fast. All she could come up with was:

1.Keep her talking.

2.Make Silvia see her as person, not an
object.

3.Try to find something in reach that could
be used as a weapon.

Nicole slowly backed herself up until she sat
against the headboard. Her heart was racing; she felt like she
might start hyperventilating.

“You’re Silvia,” she stated more than asked.
Nicole could tell that she had tried to disguise herself. Her hair
was cut into a short bob, bleached completely blonde. Why the hell
was Sylvia calling her Blondie given how she, herself, looked? She
was wearing an outfit that made her look like a tourist, which was
smart. If she was going to hide in plain sight, it was better to
look like someone on vacation. Despite that, Nicole recognized her
as the woman who had given her the stink eye when she came in from
running a few days before.

“Yes, I’m Silvia,” she said, looking around,
“
This place is pretty nice. He would never bring me here. He
would never bring anyone here. What makes you so special?”

Trying to think of something to say, Nicole
didn’t answer her.

“No, really, what makes you so special?”
Sylvia started to sound aggravated. She moved the gun around like
she was a bit unsteady with it.

“Silvia, he and I are supposed to be
together. We knew right away. I even broke up with my boyfriend.
You don’t need to do this,” Nicole told her, trying to keep her
calm. She figured from all the movies she had seen that she wasn’t
going to talk the gun out of her hand. She just needed to stall
long enough for Derek to get home. Oh God, what if Silvia shot him
when he came in?

She had to be smart about this. She needed to
give him a warning somehow.

“Awwww,” Sylvia mocked,
“
Well, isn’t
that sweet,” she continued on in Spanish, but Nicole didn’t
understand. She wasn’t very good at this; she was doing the
opposite of keeping Sylvia calm.

Maybe if she kept Sylvia answering questions,
it would keep her from using the gun.
“
How did you know I’d
be alone?”

“That was the beautiful part,” Sylvia
responded,
“
I’ve been waiting all night for you both. I
followed you when you got back this morning. I needed to see which
room was his. I didn’t think he’d even leave your side. I was
waiting for you both to leave so that I could be inside when you
got back. And, by luck, I saw him walking across the street this
morning without you. I figured this may be my only chance to get
you alone.”

“What are you going to do?” Nicole pressed
on.

“I haven’t thought that far ahead,” Silvia
admitted,
“
Maybe I’ll make you watch us have sex on this
bed.” She sounded like she was pondering ideas.
“
I’d bet
he’d do just about anything to keep you alive. Even ravish me in
front of you. What do you think? Would he do that?”

Oh hell, this woman was crazy. What was the
answer she wanted to hear? Nicole really didn’t want to play the
victim. She wished she knew what time it was. How long had she
slept? When would Derek be back?

“I’m sure he would do anything for me,” she
said, trying to sound strong.

“Hmmmm, I bet he would,” Sylvia kept the gun
on Nicole, but looked around a bit,
“
I could get used to
staying in a place like this. I bet he looks gorgeous walking
around here naked. I know he does that. He used to do it when he
got us suites at the Playa Vallarta.” She smiled at Nicole, trying
to make her jealous.

Nicole wasn’t going to let that happen. She
needed to keep a cool head. The bed was too big to reach anything
to use as a weapon. She had to mark that off the list. She was
doing a decent job at getting Sylvia to talk. So that left trying
to make Silvia see her as a human being with a life to value, and
not a thing she could just shoot with a gun.

Not really sure what else to say, she tried,
“
My father just died. That’s why I’m here.”

“Oh, I thought you were here to pick up rich
men,” Sylvia snapped.

“Silvia, I didn’t even know about all of
this. I thought Derek was on vacation from Detroit.”

Silvia laughed,
“
Oh, so he told you
his usual lie?”

“He didn’t lie. He just told me he was from
Detroit. But after I met your cousin, he brought me here.” She
wanted to yell at the woman but knew that she shouldn’t.
“
I
think that jump started things.”

“Oh yes, did you like my cousin? He’ll be in
jail for a bit with that extra present he was trying to give you. A
pity, he’s a nice guy. Oh well.”

All Nicole wanted to say in response was that
she was crazy. But she knew that was a bad idea.

“You don’t think this stunt will end up with
you in jail as well?” she asked honestly.

“Like I said, I’m not thinking that far
ahead.” Sylvia gave her a creepy smile.
“
Now, what shall we
do with you? What would make a statement when Derek arrives? Should
I get a knife from the kitchen? We could do something with that
pretty face.”

Nicole was terrified now. Still, she wasn’t
tied up and Silvia was pretty small. She knew she wasn’t going to
be able to hold a gun to her and cut her. What was her plan? If she
put down the gun, Nicole could probably fight her off with just a
knife. That could work. She needed to stay sharp. She should have
gotten some fighting lessons from Derek. What if Silvia had?

“Let’s not do anything,” she suggested,
“
Let’s wait for Derek to get back so we can all talk.” She
hoped hearing Derek’s name would make that sound like a good
idea.

“No, I don’t like that plan. Maybe you should
take your clothes off. Everyone feels a bit more vulnerable when
they’re naked.” Sylvia pointed the gun more directly at her.
“
Plus, I’ve just gotta see what Derek is all excited about
with you. Too bad I can’t invite my cousin over again.”

Nicole felt like she was going to faint. This
couldn’t really be happening. Silvia was absolutely right; she
would feel more vulnerable if she was naked. Could she use her
clothes as a weapon? If she could get her pants around her neck,
she could choke her with them. The gun was the problem; Silvia
could shoot her before she had the chance to do anything.

“Strip, bitch!” Sylvia yelled.

Nicole slowly lifted her tank top over her
head, leaving it just in reach so she could use it later. Then she
slowly took off her pants and did the same with them. There she
sat, in the beautiful lingerie that Maria had picked up for her in
Nuevo Vallarta. At least she had a bra on. She hoped to God that
this would satisfy Sylvia. What little coverage she had, she wanted
to keep.

“Well, well. Aren’t you pretty?” Sylvia said,
“
You know I’ve always had a thing for beautiful women. It’s
one of the perks of my job. I get to see their tight bodies in
little bikinis all over the place. I heard about your dress the
other night. I would have loved to see those tits in that
dress.”

Nicole’s face went numb. She tried to
remember that Silvia was much smaller than her cousin. She wouldn’t
have been able to fight him off, but she could stop Silvia.

“Forget the knife, let’s find some way to tie
up those hands and legs. Maybe I could have some fun with you.”
Keeping the gun trained on Nicole, she quickly looked around the
room.
“
Derek is far too casual to have any ties in that
closet. That’s a shame. I want to spread those legs wide.”

“You’re not going to touch me!” Nicole
yelled. She was more angry than scared now. She wasn’t going to let
this happen. She was going to go down fighting at least. She
grabbed the edge of her pants without Silvia noticing and started
to stand up on her knees. She didn’t really think that Sylvia would
shoot her. Some people are murders, but most aren’t. Very few
people cross that line. She was banking on the fact that Silvia
wasn’t one.

“I’m the one with the gun. I’ll be deciding
what happens here today and what doesn’t,” Sylvia said in a
superior voice.

Just as she did, they both heard the door
unlocking. Before she could think, Nicole said as calmly as
possible,
“
Hi, honey. How was your talk with John? I’m sick
to death of dealing with exes.” She hoped that Derek would catch on
to her clues. Immediately Silvia raced toward her and put the gun
to her head.

Derek froze in his tracks. This could not be
happening. Nicole was a smart girl. He wondered who was in there
with her. It couldn’t be Silvia’s cousin; he was in custody. Gael
still hadn’t been able to track down Silvia herself and Nicole may
have referenced exes for a reason. Instinct kicked in; he needed to
get help up here.

“Hi, love,” he called back,
“
I’ll be
right in. I’m just grabbing a drink from the fridge. John is
fine.”

He needed to give himself a second. He opened
the refrigerator door and hummed naturally to himself. Then he
opened his phone contacts and sent a text message to Gabriel, the
manager of the Paraíso:
“
Bring gun in safe to my room
quickly. Say you’re room service. Call police. Someone has Nicole.”
He grabbed a bottle of water and closed the door, trying to figure
out his next move. He couldn’t leave her in there alone any
longer.

He walked in to see one of his worst
nightmares. Silvia had Nicole, down to her bra and panties, a gun
to her head. Nicole looked terrified, but was trying to hide it. It
was amazing how quickly he knew things like that about her. Her
eyes weren’t red; she hadn’t cried yet. She was staying strong. He
cracked his neck to each side, trying to keep it together.

“Honey, we have a guest.” She tried to
diffuse the tension and he loved her for it.

“I see that. Are you okay?” he asked, wanting
to make sure that Sylvia hadn’t hurt her. He didn’t like that she
was undressed.

“Oh blah, blah, blah, she’s fine!” Silvia
said, rolling her eyes,
“
But she may not be for long.”

“You’re mad at me, Silvia, not Nicole. Keep
her out of this.” Where the hell was Gabriel? Derek tried to stay
as close to the bedroom door as he could so that he’d be able to
get to the incoming gun.

“I could have gotten you back if she hadn’t
shown up. You were noticing me again,” Sylvia responded with a
mixture of anger and sadness.

“No, I wasn’t. We didn’t have anything in
common but the Playa Vallarta. You are a nice girl, just not the
right one for me.” He tried to sound sincere. Sylvia was bat shit
crazy, but right now, he was focusing on keeping her from hurting
Nicole.

He was making eye contact with Nicole as much
as he could without upsetting Silvia. He had to balance the two as
long as he could.
“
Now let her go,” he said,
“
You can
put the gun to my head if it will make you feel better.”

“No, she won’t!” Nicole yelled.

“Isn’t she just the sweetest?” Silvia mocked.
“
She’s trying to protect her man. Before you arrived, we
were trying to figure out what to do for fun.” His entire body
tensed at the thought of how sadistic that conversation probably
was. How scared was Nicole on the inside? She was still doing a
great job of hiding it.

Just as Sylvia was about to speak again,
there was a knock at the door and a woman called in a sweet voice,
“
Room service!” Thank God, Derek thought.

“I had some champagne sent up,” he explained,
“
I’ll get rid of her.” He hoped that Silvia bought it. He
didn’t even look at Nicole in case Sylvia got suspicious that he
was trying to send her a nonverbal message.

“Go, get rid of her now,” she yelled,
pointing the gun quickly from Nicole to him and back to Nicole,
“
She’ll stay right here with me.”

“I’ll be right back,” he said to Nicole and
ran to the door. He opened it; there was Gabriel holding the gun.
The brave housekeeper had a pleasant voice, but he could see in her
eyes that she was terrified. Derek began his dialogue for Silvia,
“
We’ve changed our minds. Would you please take this
back?”

As he spoke, Gabriel mouthed to him that the
police were on their way. Derek took the gun and walked back
inside, tucking it behind his back in the waistband of his pants.
Though Derek had only ever done target shooting, he was a decent
shot. But outside of the gun range, he dealt with problems with his
fists. This would be his first time using a weapon outside of a
controlled environment. Still, he was prepared to do what was
needed.