Chapter 6

Meanwhile, Raven looked around the suite. Freely going where she wanted, she entered into a room that appeared to be a den. There were pictures everywhere. In most of the pictures, she saw Nick and Petra. Her curiosity was getting the better of her again. She wondered if Nick and Petra were married. There were pictures of them on top of mountains, at the beach and in hotel rooms. Petra had pictures of them snow skiing, boating, rappelling, swimming and just hanging out together. There were a few pictures with Cal and Nick. She wondered if Petra knew why the two of them were more than friends. There were several with all three of them. She left the room to explore the rest of the suite. She arrived at the room where the three military bags were laying. She tried the door. It was locked solid. In the whole suite, this door was the only thing that was out of place. At that moment, Petra came walking through the foyer.

Petra saw Raven trying to enter the door, "Raven join me in the kitchen, please."

Raven jumps away from the door. She tried to act innocent. She followed Petra to the kitchen. Petra put water in the teapot, then put it on the stove. Raven sat down on one of the bar stools.

Petra sat next to her, "Why did you and Nick break up?"

"I don't know. One day, he told me he had enough and left."

Petra told her the truth. "It wasn't because he had enough. It was because your constant questioning made him feel like he was being interrogated all of the time."

Raven's anger rose. "How do you know?"

Petra calmly said, "Because dearie, I am his confidant. He told me once; I was the only woman he could trust. I was with him in his dark places. I was with him in some of his golden days too. He doesn't trust us. There have been some egregious things done to that man by the females in his life. Now, he has shut down so much, I don't think there will ever be hope for him to find anyone to love. Did you love him? Or did you use him to get closer to Cal?"

Raven startled and amazed at this lady, "I don't know. How did you know about Cal?"

"Nick told me, he is very perceptive. People see him for his size not his intelligence. For someone who is supposed to be in espionage and intelligence, you aren't very intelligent."

Raven was aghast. "Who are you to tell me that?"

"I am the person who is trying to save your life. If you pry too far, he will kill you. When he kills, his veins run with ice. When they coined the phrase, cold-blooded killer, that is Nick. I have seen it. After the deed is done, he will go home climb in the shower and then sleep like a baby."

"You're just trying to scare me."

"I hope it is working. There are things in this world that are none of your business. As is that room, you were trying to enter."

"It is in my nature. I am like a newspaperman. Can you give me a clue?"

"That is Nick's private sanctuary. I don't even know what is in there."

"How could you not? This is your suite isn't it?"

"Yes it is my suite and Nick is the one that built it for me. When he built this place, he told me that he would set me up in business. All he asked for was that one room. I never asked him and I never will."

Raven stymied at all of this, looked at Petra. She started to ask another question and thought better of it. The teapot began whistling. Petra stood up and went to the stove. She took the teapot off of the stove, and pulled some teabags out of a cabinet. As she reached into another cabinet to get some cups, Lilly bounced into the room buck-naked.

Lilly asked, "Petra where is the hair dryer."

"Sorry Pet, I don't use one. I like the way my hair flows after my shower. I just brush it a few hundred times."

Lilly wondered, "Why?"

"Here you feel my hair and you will know why."

Lilly reached over and ran her hand through Petra's hair. It was very soft and full of life. Petra asked her, "Would you like some tea?"

"Yes, please," Lilly said. "Then I will go get dressed."

Petra pulled a third cup out of the cabinet. She missed the days when she was like Lilly. Not a care in the world and happy to be alive.

Raven, still stymied, decided on a different line of questions. She didn't want Lilly to know about the conversation that she and Petra just had. "Where did you and Nick meet?"

"Yeah, information I want to know," Lilly said clapping girlishly.

Petra gave up on Raven and answered, "Itaewon foreign district in Seoul, Korea. He was a sergeant in the army. He wasn't as big as he is now. I was on a business trip for a company out of Hong Kong. I lived in Australia and traveled all over East Asia for them."

Lilly asked, "What is a foreign district?"

Raven replied, "A lot of countries have an area in their main cities that cater just to foreigners."

Lilly, satisfied, said "Oh, okay, go on Petra."

Petra continued, "Well, I went with some of the people from the office to the dance clubs. There the United States has a very large presence. There were all of these handsome men everywhere. We went to several clubs and I was getting horny dancing with these men."

Lilly getting excited, said "And!"