Tortured Spirits by Gregory Lamberson

this on some crazy island?”
    â€œNot me.” Although he had been attracted to her while mourning Sheryl, Jake thought he’d lost his opportunity with Maria after everything that had happened with Edgar and Katrina.
    This time he kissed her. When they finished, she stepped back, pulled the straps of her dress over her shoulders, and wiggled out of the garment. She wore no bra or panties, and the gold cross between her breasts gleamed in the moonlight.
    Jake took her in his arms and kissed her again, then spun her around so she faced the ocean. He unzippedhis pants and dropped them around his ankles, then slid inside her. She pressed her palms against the railing and pushed against him. His hands settled on her hips, and he thrust into her wetness, her moans rising on the sea breeze. Somewhere in the darkness a seagull cawed, reminding Jake of Edgar.
    Maria raised herself high in the air, removing him from her, and his penis stood naked and alone.
    â€œInside,” she said, draping her arms around his neck. “You’re not having this without a condom.”
    Jake swept her off her feet and carried her into his bedroom, where he set her on the bed. A pack of condoms lay on the bedside table.
    â€œWhy do you think I let you have the room with the patio?” Maria said. “I knew I’d end up in here.”
    He leaned close to her. “What happened to ignoring our feelings for the good of the mission?”
    â€œFuck it,” she said, kissing him. “Fuck
me.”
    He was happy to oblige.

    In the morning, they ate fresh fruit from room service in their underwear.
    â€œI’m not used to seeing you for breakfast,” Jake said.
    â€œWhere am I going to go?”
    â€œThere is another bedroom.”
    â€œWhat, with the snakes?”
    â€œYou’re a cop. You deal with vermin every day. Youmean to tell me you’re afraid of a little snake?”
    â€œLittle?” She stood.
“Papi,
I’ve collared suspects smaller than that.” She stepped out of her panties. “But what you did to that snake? I gotta say, you impressed me.”
    â€œOh yeah?”
    She straddled him in his chair. “Oh yeah.”

    They stood on a bluff overlooking immense green trees, the rain forest stretching before them.
    With the Fiesta behind them, Maria raised the binoculars to her eyes. “According to the map, that hazy building in the distance must be Malvado’s palace. El Miedo is too far away to see.”
    Jake took the binoculars from her and studied a three-story yellow structure gleaming in the afternoon sunlight. Terraces overlooked a fountain and a topiary garden. “You could get lost in that forest and wander around for days.” He shifted his view to a dark gray building topped by spires. “That looks like a church.”
    â€œSomeone’s coming.”
    Lowering the binoculars, Jake saw a car approaching on the road below them. He tossed the binoculars through the open driver’s side window onto the backseat. A moment later, he discerned a tan vehicle with strobes mounted on its roof.
    â€œI didn’t call 911, did you?” Maria said.
    Jake slid his camera out of his pocket. “Go stand acrossthe street.”
    Maria crossed the street and faced him with one hip sticking out and a hand upon it. “How’s this?”
    Jake waved her to the left. “I can’t see the palace.”
    She moved over.
    He snapped a photo. “Perfect.”
    Maria returned to the Fiesta as the police car stopped next to them.
    A short, dark-skinned Hispanic man with a thick mustache got out of the car and set a hat over his balding head. His short-sleeved shirt revealed slender arms, which he spread wide apart. “Bonjour. Buenas tardes.”
    â€œGood afternoon,” Jake said.
    â€œAh.
Americanos.”
He tipped his hat to Maria.
    â€œSi,” Maria said. “Bon après-midi.”
    â€œA lovely day, is it