Read Online Paradise - Part Four (The Erotic Adventures of Sophia Durant) by O.L. Casper - Free Book Online

want to get audio, but no—not that—I refuse.”
    “While we probably could devise a way to get the audio from you phone, we prefer you to wear this. The sound quality is much higher. But you refuse. That’s that. Allowances will have to be made.”
    “Fuckin’ right allowances will have to be made .”
    “We will need you to attend the meetings, or get as close to them as you possibly can,” he said after a moment, sipping his coffee.
    “I understand. Anything else?”
    “We just need the audio. Secondarily, if you can, we would like you to extract any information you can about the meeting from Stafford himself—though you must do this in a roundabout way.”
    “Try as I may—that is very likely impossible.”
    “We understand the difficulty. The opportunity to discuss it may not arrive. Possibly you won’t even be included in this trip, but we’d like you to try. If you do make it to the Seychelles, an agent will be there to meet clandestinely. However, that agent will not be me.”

 
     
     
     
     
    Chapter 16
     
    Sophia Durant’s Diary
    November 16, Mahé Island, Seychelles
     
    The longest journey by air of my life was from Eleuthera to Mahé Island in the Seychelles. The first leg of the trip was a hop from Eleuthera to Jacksonville in the Gulfstream. From there it was an eight hour 767 flight to London, a refueling, and then the last leg to the archipelago of 115 islands comprising the Republic of the Seychelles. The approach to these islands was much like the first approach to the Bahamas, but stranger (considering how far I felt from any place with which I was familiar) and more exhilarating. The islands appeared to float serenely on the deep blue of the Indian Ocean. They were larger and more scattered than the islands of the Bahamas. They seemed like a true hidden treasure of the world, so beautiful and remote. The Four Seasons Resort was more of a scattered bunch of tree houses overlooking Anse La Liberte, a wondrous expanse of ocean perhaps even more enchanting than Eleuthera’s Anse Lazio.
    For appearances, Stafford and I occupied adjacent rooms that opened out onto the same balcony, equipped with pools and luxuriant dining tables, all seemingly suspended in the trees. Setting my bags in the room, I ventured out onto the balcony to take in the view. I took a deep breath and noticed the air was cooler and less humid than that of Eleuthera. Stafford joined me.
    “Safe to talk here?” Stafford mumbled.
    “Maybe if we got in one of those pools next to a fountain.”
    He started to undress. I followed his cue and in seconds we were naked and in the pool. We floated over to one of the fountains and kissed briefly before he started to talk.
    “So what the fuck is going on? I’ve become extremely paranoid lately.”
    “ You are? I’m going fucking crazy over here.”
    “One of us has got to keep our heads.”
    “I don’t for a second believe you’ve lost yours.”
    “We’ll see.”
    We twisted in a circle near the fountain, holding hands.
    “I have a theory.”
    “Yes?” I asked.
    “Someone’s framing me with the deaths of all these girls. It could be some angry former associates, businessmen, a foreign government—could even be the American government. I wouldn’t put it past them. They’re bloodhounds. The lot of them.”
    “Could be. You’d know more about that than I would.”
    “It makes me mad. But the anger is good. It motivates me. Anger and jealousy have been some of the key motivational factors in my life—and revenge.”
    My heart ran cold as he looked at me when he said this. I regained my senses and composed myself.
    I had told him the FBI was following him on this trip and wanted me to spy on the exchange. This was our first opportunity to trip them up.
    “I’m buying up a textile company based in Pakistan. That’s what this trip is for.”
    “Legitimately?”
    “As legit as it comes.”
    “Are you having me sit in on it with you or watch from a distance