Good Days •Rafe Cameron•

Barbados

"Why am I coming on this trip with you?" I asked Rafe as I sat on the deck of the yacht. One of the first purchases Rafe made when we first came to Guadeloupe.
"Cause when I make this deal. I'm gonna want to celebrate. And there's no better way to celebrate than with my girl." He smirks.
I rolled my eyes playfully. "I'm not in the mood to celebrate. Maybe after we find Kiara." I hum.
"Jesus, Phoebe." Rafe whines. "I will help you find her. Can you just please live in the moment?" He pokes the side of my stomach making me flinch.
"Rafe Cameron!" I shout, buckling my body. "Don't you dare tickle me." I squeak as I feel his fingers bury into my belly.
    "Stop!" I gasped for air. Rafe lifts my shirt as I fall onto the couch. He kissing my stomach, leaving wet raspberry on my skin.
    I feel his hands trace the large scare on my stomach. Most of it has faded away,but it was still a reminder every day I got dressed.
      "I." Kiss "Love." Kiss "You!" Kiss. Rafe said between each kiss. He slowly makes his way up my stomach and to my neck. He begins to suck as his fingers moves towards my curly hair.
     My breathing picks up as I wrap my leg around his waist. His body hovers over mine as I rub my fingers along his back.
    My shorts ride up as I try to keep my legs tight around him.
     "If I could..." Rafe breathed. "I would fatten you up and eat you every night for dessert."
    I laughed. "And how would you do that?" I breathe; pushing myself up further.
    "Getting you pregnant, duh!" He says in singsong voice.
     I immediately look away. "You stabbed me. Remember?" I said. Rafe grows quiet. The waves from the ocean fill the silence as the two of us pull way from each other. Rafe taps his index finger against my thigh. My hand immediately goes to the Rafe's ring around my neck that is held by a necklace chain. I twirl the gold between my fingers.
     "Oh." He hums. "Well maybe we could-." I quickly cut him off. "We're not even married, Rafe. So drop it. Please." My voice was stern yet calm.
     He nods, getting up to check the GPS. "We should be in Nassau in about 30 minutes." Rafe says, changing the subject.
    "I'm gonna go change." I hop off the couch and make my way below deck.
    Rafe and I packed a week's worth of clothes. He insisted that we take a mini vacation from his family. Just the two of us. I had to admit, Rafe was doing a pretty good job of not loosing his shit. But I couldn't help but wonder when he would meet his breaking point.
     I pushed through the clothes in my duffle bag, pulling out a long pink satin floral dress. The slit was high on the right but still very elegant.
    "Be, hurry up!" Rafe shouted from above. "Just a minute!" I replied, quickly jumping into the dress and zipping the back. I shook my curls out a bit and fixed the lipstick on my lips.
     A pair of my brown sandals lie by the bed. So I quickly slip my feet into the shoes and head back up to the deck.
     "There's a car waiting for us at the port." Rafe says, adjusting his blue suit collar.
    "This guy must be very wealthy if he can afford escorts for us." I say. Rafe takes my hand as we dock the yacht.
     "Mr. Cameron. Ms. Carrera. This way please." A tall man in a camouflage uniform says, guiding us to a black Jeep. "It's Carrera-Devereux." I corrected, rolling my eyes. Rafe allows me to hop in first before he follows behind.
     "This is kind of shady." I whisper to Rafe. "It's probably just a precaution. Michel said this client is one of the richest men in the Caribbean. He probably just wants to keep a low profile." Rafe explains.
    "Low profile, my ass." I scoff. The drive to our next destination took a while. We were deep in the island. Far way from the shore.
   I started to notice a large Victorian styled house sitting at the top of a hill surrounded by a large field of grass land. A grey stone wall outlined the side of the house.
     Several men in similar camouflaged uniforms stood in formation as they held rifles. Each of them with a dog as their companions to their side. A metal sign read Vaux Hall.
     I feel Rafe squeeze my hand. "Don't worry, Be. We'll be in and out. I promise. This deal will be quick." He kissed my cheek for reassurance.
    The Jeep comes to a complete stop. One of the men in the front seat jumps out. He comes around to open the door for us.
    "Go inside. And wait for him. He should be with you in a moment." The man says.
     Rafe and I walk into the house. The old fashioned home was styled with antique furniture and historical pictures. The brown wood carved along the wall ran across the ceiling.
     "Wow." I breathed. "Let's just wait in this room." I say.
    There was a dining room with several places organized at the table. A crystal set filled with brown liquor sat on one of the entrainment centers.
    Rafe, of course, begins to pour himself a glass. "Really?" I glared. "It's just one drink, Be." Rafe smiles before putting the glass to his lips.
   "Uh, excuse me?" Another voice startles Rafe and I. He quickly set the drink down.
    The both of us turn to the voice. Neither of us prepared for who it belonged to.
     "Phoebe?"
     "Kiara?" The both of us say. She was wearing a gorgeous satin red dress that hugged her curves. Her long curly hair ran down her back as she glared at Rafe.
    Kiara rolls her eyes. "Oh, I knew you and Ward were behind this shit." Kie stomps over to Rafe.
     "What are you talking about? You trying to weasel in on my deal? Is that what's going on?" Rafe snaps, towering over the girl.
    "Guys, let's not fight." I say, putting myself between the two.
     "I wondered if your little reunion would cause sparks, you know." A man said as he stood in the far corner of the room. He turned around with a sly smile.
"Who are you?" Rafe asked. "Me?" The man asked, pointing to himself. "My name is Carlos Singh. It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Cameron. And Ms. Carrera, I do apologize for the rough tactics in bringing you here." Mr. Singh apologized. "But please, come." He says.
The three of us follow him into a parlor. "Come now, I don't bite."
Kiara and I take a seat on the couch as Rafe joins us on the end. He pulls my hand into his and rubs his thumb along the back of my hand.
My leg begins to shake as I bite my lip. "Rough tactics? What about us?" Rafe asked, pointed between me and him.
"Yes, Mr. Cameron, false pretenses. But the end justify the means, I'm afraid. Now settle, we have a lot to talk about." He pours himself a drink.
"Why are we here?" Kiara asked. "Well, we share certain interests, you know. Objectives-." Rafe cuts Mr. Singh off. "Is this not about the cross?" He snapped.
"Rafe, stop it." I scold. "No, no, no. Please Ms. Carrera. Let your boyfriend speak. He's right. It is about the cross." Mr. Singh, smiles.
I pretend to ignore his mistake with my last name, seeing as this was not the time to correct the man.
"Tangentially, it is about the cross, but it's also about something much, much bigger than the cross." Mr. Singh looks over at a painting on a wall.
The picture was lined with a gold frame. And in the picture was a painting of a man in metal armor. He sat on his knees as he hid in a jungle looking over a city of gold.
    "By orders of magnitude, the completion of a grand quest. You see, the story goes that 450 years ago, a Spanish soldier came out of the Orinoco Basin with a few gold beads. And when they asked the Spanish soldier; where the beads come from, the Spanish soldier replied he got them from a peaceful indigenous tribe who lived in a city of gold. El Dorado. And for the next 450 years, people tried to find that gold, you know. They tried. Conquistadors, knights, captains of ships, tribes, entire nations. All fighting each other in a race for the end of the rainbow. Thousands of lives lay on the pyre of gold fever. And it falls to me, you know. It falls to me to complete the task. To bring full circle a quest that has gone on four almost 500 years. Perhaps, the greatest quest in the history of the western hemisphere, you know. And you three...." Mr. Singh, points at us, as he chuckles. "You three are going to play a part in that."
     He looks over to Kiara. "What about you, Ms. Carrera? Are you interested in history?" He asked. "I'm more of a future person." She answered.
    Rafe groans. "I didn't listen to a word you said, okay? How much are you going to keep philosophizing?" Rafe snapped. He clenches is jaw as he glares at the man.
    Mr. Singh laughs. "You are direct, aren't you, Mr. Cameron? And you Ms. Carrera." He looks at me. "Do you believe in this city of gold." He asked.
      I run my hands through my curls and let out an annoyed sigh. "Honestly, I couldn't care less if it's real or not. I'm starting to think money and gold is the root of all my problems nowadays." I answered, sternly. Glaring at the man as I cross my legs.
    "What do you want from us?" Kiara asked. "I've come to believe that you and your friends are in possession of something that can help me get what I want. An old manuscript. A diary, actually."
    I pulled my lips into a thin line. I knew exactly what Mr. Singh needed. Denmark Tanny's diary. Last time I remember seeing it was in the back seat of the Twinkie.
     "I have no idea what you're talking about." Rafe shrugs. Kiara agrees. "This is ridiculous. I don't know anything about a diary." She says.
     "What's in this diary exactly?" I asked, pretending to be confused.
     Singh shakes his head. "How else could you have learned that the cross was on the Royal Merchant?"
    "Look, I want to help, but I can't." Kiara sighs. "Finding the Cross was just luck. And if I knew what you were talking about, I would gladly help you." I say.
      "I was hoping you wouldn't say that, you know. Because unfortunately, I don't believe you. You and your friend here couldn't have found the cross without it." He pried.
    "He's not my friend." Kiara quickly corrects. "We can't all be friends, you know." Singh says.
      Rafe lets go of my hand before jumping out of his seat. "Look, this is ridiculous. Okay? I'm out! Phoebe, let's go! Kiara you're welcome to join us. I honestly don't care." Rafe pulls me up from my seat.
     Before I could follow Rafe out the room, one of the uniform men with a gun blocks our exit.
     "Do I look like a fool to you, Mr. Cameron? You have the cross. She and her friends had the cross at one point. So one of you has the diary. And if you really don't know, then I suggest you convince each to tell me. Once I have the diary, you'll be free to leave."
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      Mr. Singh led the three of us into a bedroom. "Enjoy the grounds during your stay. I must warn you, though. I'm not a man of infinite patience. You have one day. Go to the window for a little demonstration." Singh says before walking out the room. The uniform man closes the door before locking it.
"Hey? Hey! You're just done talking?" Rafe shouts, banging on the door trying to open it. "It's locked." Kiara sighs.
Her and I rush over to the window, pulling the curtain back. Rafe joins us. "Who the hell is that guy." He says, pointing to a man who was being pulled by some of the uniformed men.
"I know him. That's Jimmy Portis. He was trying to help me." Kiara whispers. Singh waves at us from the window before pulling out a gun.
And just like that. Without any remorse or hesitation, he shoot Jimmy in the face.
"Oh, my God!" I gasp, covering my mouth with my hands and closing my eyes. I quickly step away from the window.
"This diary." Rafe breathed. I blink away the tears that form in my eyes. "Hey, no bullshit. Don't bullshit me. Okay? Do you have it?" Rafe asked, Kiara.
She looks to me then to Rafe and back at me. "Hey, don't look at her. Look at me. Kie.?" Rafe pleads.
"No, I don't have it."