Read Online Sooner or Later by Debbie Macomber - Free Book Online Page B

the river. He’s agreed to smuggle us into Zarcero himself. He’s known and trusted, and even if he is stopped and questioned, the rebels aren’t likely to search the boat.” He hesitated and studied her as if seeing her with fresh eyes. “But if we are stopped, we need to be prepared. Do you know anything about guns?”
    She swallowed uncomfortably. “Some.” Damn little if the truth be known, but she was afraid to admit it.
    “Well, you’re about to get a crash course. If you’re going into Zarcero, then you’d better damn well know how to take care of yourself.”
    “That’s why I have you,” she argued.
    Apparently her answer didn’t please him because he reached behind him and produced a deadly-looking handgun and laid it across his palm. “Either you learn how to fire this or you stay here and wait for me.”
    He walked out of the house, leaving her the option to follow him or sulk alone inside. Given no choice, she scurried after him. Murphy would like nothing better than to leave her behind.
    Letty didn’t know how long they walked; it seemed like forever. In reality, they’d probably gone a mile. The Hojancha countryside, like that of Zarcero, was unsurpassingly beautiful and variable. The air, cooler now, was soft and sweet as they traipsed across the parched grass.
    By the time Murphy stopped, her legs ached and her breath stung her lungs, but she managed to keep up with his murderous pace.
    Tucking a white piece of paper in the low-lying arms of a Cenizero tree, Murphy stated matter-of-factly, “We don’t leave for Zarcero until you can fire a bullet into this.”
    “You’ve got to be joking.”
    One cold glance told her he wasn’t.
    “This isn’t what I’m paying you for.” She hated guns and couldn’t imagine actually having to fire one, let alone kill another human being. She’d rather die herself.
    Unfortunately Murphy gave her no option. It was either learn to handle the pistol or wait while he went into Zarcero for Luke.
    “Give me the pistol,” she demanded, determined to learn how to use it, just to spite Murphy.

8
    The moon cast a reflective glow across the smooth waters of the Colon River, which separated Hojancha from Zarcero. Carlos s small engine echoed in the night like a rusty buzz saw. Letty wondered how it was that no one could hear their approach.
    Hidden under the tarp, she lay tense and stiff after holding still for so many hours. Murphy, disguised in clothes borrowed from a native fisherman, sat next to Carlos in a boat little bigger than a dinghy. It amazed her that the vessel had been able to keep from sinking with the three of them, plus their supplies.
    Letty would have liked to point out the unfairness of such an arrangement—her under the tarp, Murphy not—but she knew before she protested that it would do no good. When Murphy set his mind to something, it took an act of God to convince him otherwise.
    In an effort to ward off the stench of rotting fish,she alternately held her breath and closed her eyes, neither of which helped. She would have given just about anything to escape in the luxury of sleep. The night before she’d spent in the back of a jeep, being jostled around like a popcorn seed in hot grease. She could no more have slept during their road trip than leapt over the moon.
    Murphy hadn’t gotten any more rest than she, and she wondered how he fared. He gave no indication that it had affected him in any way, but for all she knew he might routinely go without sleep just to prove how tough he was.
    “It isn’t wise to take the woman with you,” Letty heard Carlos say. She had to strain to hear Murphy’s response.
    “It isn’t my choice.”
    “What is so important in Zarcero that you would risk your lives?”
    “The less you know, old man, the better,” Murphy returned without emotion.
    The boat engine slowed to a crawl. “She is a good woman.”
    Murphy snorted.
    In other circumstances Letty might have felt guilty for having duped