Chapter 1

“Honey, it’s just a week in Mexico. If my boss was going to try anything, he sure wouldn’t have insisted that I bring Josh.”

Ben was a jealous man, so Lisa understood the concern, but he just needed to accept that this was a requirement of her job.

“I don’t understand that either. Why does your boss think our son needs to go with you? You’re just a secretary, for Pete’s sake.”

That didn’t win Ben any points from his wife, and Ben realized his error before he even saw that look on her face.

Lisa felt her face redden, “I’m not his secretary!”

Losing her cool would not help, so Lisa took a deep breath and tried to explain once again.

“I’m going because someone has to stay at the hotel and monitor their remote data link back to the main office. They need that secure link in case they need to send or retrieve documents. I’m sure that is why they want Josh to tag along. Someone to keep me company all day while I’m stuck in a hotel room.”

Two weeks later...

Lisa and her son stepped from the airplane and found a limo driver waiting for them.

Lisa wanted to wait for her luggage but the driver insisted they leave without it. After several minutes of getting nowhere, Lisa decided she would sort it out at the hotel, once she could find someone who could speak English.

But they didn’t go to a hotel. Instead, they drove out of the city and into the mountains. Lisa tried not to let it show in front of Josh, but Lisa had a very uneasy feeling in all this.

“You calling Dad? Cause I want to tell him how cool this is so far.”

Lisa was trying to call her husband but not to tell him how cool it was. She was worried. Unfortunately for her, her phone did not work here.

After almost an hour of driving they found themselves in front of a huge mansion. Josh was clearly impressed. “Wow! This is so awesome. Look, Mom. Those guys have guns.”

Lisa looked and sure enough, there were two men each with some form of rifle. “Looks like they are security, Mom. Cool place, right?”

Josh noticed how pale his mom was. “You okay, Mom? Did those windy roads make you carsick?”

Lisa didn’t want her son to share her worries so she agreed, “Yea. I think that’s it.”

As they were walking up to the house, Lisa was delighted to see someone she recognized. It was Steven, one of the salesmen from work. Everyone was surprised when Lisa gave Steven a big hug. Even Lisa. She was just so relieved.

“They’re still prepping your room so how about a tour of the place.” No problems there.