Leia put her hands on her hot cheeks. She hadn’t been sure she could resist Bane’s nearness without telling him she still loved him. If only she could tear out the roots of her love for him. He wanted children, and that wasn’t something she could give him. It was better he thought she didn’t love him. Besides, even after dating him for months, she still found him an enigma. She wasn’t sure who he really was at the core. He was a good man—she knew that much. He shared her faith and cared about people. But she always felt he had on a mask and was afraid to let her in to see his real heart.
She sat on the edge of the bed and read her Bible. Or tried to read it. Hina batted at her toes from under the bed. Nights like this made her question the decision she’d made not to marry. The Scriptures should have soothed her, but lately she felt so alone. If only she could figure out how to get over being mad at God. The overhead fan thumped the air, and the crickets chirped outside her window in a cacophony that pushed back the edges of the darkness. These normal noises should have subdued the sudden prickle along her arms and back, but they didn’t. She felt as though someone was watching her. She told herself she had an overactive imagination, but her gaze swept the room and landed on the open window. She got up to shut it and saw a shadow flitting through the moonlight under a large monkeypod tree.
She shrank back against the wall, then stepped to the doorway and flicked off her bedroom light. The warm, fragrant breeze blew in her face as she peered out the window again. She held her breath and scanned the yard and surrounding jungle. There. The movement came again. It wasn’t an animal or a branch blown by the breeze. The movement was too deliberate for that. She shivered. There was something sinister in the silhouette’s skulking movements. No one lived out this way, and the village was five miles east of here. It was no casual walker out for a stroll. The area was too dangerous, and hiking was discouraged. Anyone walking here at night was asking for an injury. Could it be Bane?
Leia went to the door and stepped into the dark hallway. She listened for a moment to the grandfather clock ticking in the living room. The rhythmic sound of Bane’s breathing came from the vicinity of the couch. He seemed to be asleep. She peeked into her grandmother’s bedroom, then relaxed when she saw T?t?’s serene face, her eyes closed and the sheet rising and falling in a peaceful way.
Whoever was out there was up to no good purpose. Leia could feel it. She knew Bane would have her hide if she investigated alone. She tiptoed down the hall and stood looking down at him asleep on the sofa. A shaft of moonlight illuminated his face, and she felt a wave of love swamp her. She savored the feeling for a moment, then touched his shoulder. “Bane.”
His eyes opened instantly, and he sat up. Ajax awoke as well and began to growl. “What’s wrong? Has T?t? wandered off ?”
“No, she’s fine. But someone is in the jungle watching the house. I saw a shadow moving.” Talking about it made the fear rise up and flutter in her chest so her voice came out like a squeak on the final word. She realized she didn’t want to go out there. But she would. “Let’s go see who it is,” she found herself saying.
“You stay inside. Let me check.” He swung his legs off the sofa and went toward the back door. Ajax followed him.
She followed him. “I’m going too.”
“Someone should stay with your grandmother.” He rummaged in his backpack and brought out a flashlight.
“She’s asleep.”
He sighed and opened the back door quietly. “You’re the most hardheaded woman I know. Stay behind me.”
“Do we need a weapon?”
“What do you have in mind? Your grandmother’s butcher knife? I can handle it.”
“Don’t turn the flashlight on yet. The intruder will see it.”
He nodded, and they moved past the mass of orchids and around a large bougainvillea. “I saw the shadow just outside my window,” she whispered. Her bare feet were drenched in cool moisture from the grass. Ajax pressed close to her legs. She thought vaguely of cane spiders and wished she’d taken time to stick her feet into slippers. They stepped into the coolness of the jungle. A light touch on her shoulder nearly made her scream until she realized she was wrestling with a passion-flower vine. She thrust the plant away and scurried to catch up with Bane, who had stopped three paces ahead of her.
He had his head cocked to one side and was listening. Ajax growled softly. Leia paused and listened too but could hear nothing other than the crickets and the sound of the nearby stream rushing over the rocks. An owl hooted overhead, and she clutched his arm. “What is it?”
“I thought I heard a thrashing in the brush.” He stepped around a log.
She tried to follow him and slipped on the wet bark, banging her shin. She suppressed a moan and decided she should have listened to him and stayed in the house. Maybe she had brought them both on a wild-goose chase. Her imagination could have been playing tricks on her.
Bane flipped on his flashlight. The sudden illumination made her blink. “He’ll see us!”
“There’s no one here now. But there was. Look.” He pointed to a depression in the soft mat of leaves. “Someone was standing here for quite a while.” The flashlight shone on scattered cigarette butts. One was still smoldering. “He probably saw us coming.”