“Whoa. And Axel wanted to cash the bonds?”
“No. He didn’t know what he wanted exactly, but he knew that something should be done to make amends for his father’s sins.”
“But Haffernon doesn’t want to pay the price,” I said. “What about this Tourneau guy?”
“I don’t know about him. Axel just said that he’s out of it.”
“Dead?”
“I don’t know.”
“What did his father’s company do for the Nazis?” I asked.
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“They developed special kinds of explosives that the Germans used for construction in a few of their slave labor camps.”
“And what do you get outta all’a this?” I asked.
“Me? I was just helping him.”
“No. I don’t hardly know you at all, girl, but I do know that you look out for number one. What’s Axel gonna do for you?”
Cinnamon let her left shoulder rise, ceding a point that was hardly worth the effort.
“He had friends in business. He was going to set me in a job somewhere. But he would have done that even if I hadn’t tried to help.”
I was suddenly aware of a slight dizziness.
“But it didn’t hurt,” I said. “You could work all you wanted.”
“What?” she asked.
I realized that the last part of what I said didn’t make sense.
I blinked, finding it hard to open my eyes again.
I shook my head but the cobwebs went nowhere.
“Philomena.”
“Yes?”
“Would you mind if I just laid out here a minute? I haven’t got much sleep lookin’ for you and I’m tired. Real tired.”
Her smile was a thing to behold.
“Maybe I could rest too,” she said. “I’ve been so scared alone in this room.”
“Let’s get a short nap and then we can finish talkin’ in a while.” I lay back on the bed as I spoke.
She said something. It seemed like a really long sentence but I couldn’t make out the words. I closed my eyes.
“Uh-huh,” I said out of courtesy and then I was asleep.
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26
In the dream I was kissing Bonnie. She whispered something sweet and kissed my forehead, then my lips. I tried to hold myself back, to tell her how angry I was. But every time her lips touched mine my mouth opened and her tongue washed away all my angry words.
“I need you,” she told me and I had to strain to hold back the tears.
She pressed her body against mine. I held her so tight that she pulled away for a moment, but then she was kissing me again.
“Thank God,” I whispered. “Thank God.”
I reached down into her panties and she moaned.
But when I felt her cold hand on my erection I realized that it wasn’t Bonnie. It wasn’t Bonnie because it wasn’t a dream and Bonnie was in Switzerland.
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Who was in my bed? Nobody. Another deeply felt kiss. I was in a motel room . . . with Cinnamon Cargill.
I raised up, pushing her away as I did so. Her T-shirt was up to her midriff. My erection was standing straighter than it had in some while. She reached out and stroked it lightly with two fingers. The groan came from my lips against my will.
I stood up, pushed the urgent cock back behind the zipper.
Cinnamon sat up and smiled.
“I was scared,” she explained. “I just lay down next to you and went to sleep.”
What could I say?
“I guess you must have kissed me in your sleep,” she said. “It was nice.”
