Wings Like Eagles

by Tracie Peterson

  “No. Not until I have Sarah,” she demanded. “You may have the money now, and I’ll take those papers. Then when you produce Sarah, I’ll take you to my car and turn over the keys.”

  Grant frowned at her forceful attitude. “It isn’t wise to try my patience, Christy.”

  “Nor is it wise to play me for a fool, Grant. I’m done playing games.” She stared at him hard. “Now do we do this my way, or do I drive that shipment of coke to the nearest police station?”

  “It’s of little consequence to me that you have Sarah first, last, or never. But my friend knows nothing about this deal. She’s innocent of everything, and you’d better not say a word to make it seem that we are doing anything out of the ordinary. I told her we were baby-sitting.”

  Christy nodded and extended the briefcase. “Give me the papers. I want to look at them before we leave the mall.”

  Grant did as Christy demanded, but glared at her severely. “You are testing me sorely, Christy. If I didn’t know better, I’d think you were stalling. You did bring the drugs, didn’t you?”

  Christy reviewed the papers and smiled. Grant’s signature was in place, and all the copies had been properly notarized. Sarah would soon belong to her.

  “I’m ready to go,” Christy replied. “As soon as I have Sarah, I will take you to my car. And,” she added with a strained smile, “I won’t let your friend know that anything out of the ordinary is taking place.”

  twenty-two

  Christy had never been more afraid in her life. Her hands were trembling and sweat beaded up on her temples. Somewhere in the parking lot were a tiny, innocent baby and the man she loved. Glancing up at Grant, Christy grimaced. Here was the one person who could take both of them away from her.

  Grant approached the black Porsche with determined strides. “Re-member what I said, Christy,” he murmured. “She doesn’t know anything about this.”

  Christy bit her tongue to keep from making a nasty remark. She had to keep peace until Sarah was safe and Curt had his chance to capture Grant. Silently she walked just behind Grant, keeping pace and watching for his slightest move.

  Grant reached for the door just as it opened, and Christy was stunned to find Cheryl Fairchild sitting in the passenger seat, holding Sarah. The baby was sleeping soundly, oblivious to the dangerous scene that she was a vital part of.

  “Christy!” Cheryl exclaimed. “What in the world are you doing here?”

  Grant raised a silencing brow over Cheryl’s head and Christy swallowed hard. “I’m here for Sarah,” she said in a slow, deliberate way.

  Cheryl looked down at the baby and back up to her wedding dress designer. “Do you know Stratton’s sister-in-law?” she questioned.

  “I beg your pardon?” Christy was momentarily stunned at

  Cheryl’s reference to Grant as Stratton. What was it Curt had told her?

  “I, uh,” Christy stammered, while all reasonable thought left her mind. She looked down at Cheryl’s petite face and felt instant pity for the woman. She knew Cheryl obviously loved Grant by the way she was looking up at him with those huge, trusting eyes.

  “Stratton?” Cheryl questioned. “What’s going on? I thought you said we were watching the baby for your sister-in-law.”

  Grant reached down and pulled the baby from Cheryl’s arms. “We are,” he replied, taking the blanket that Cheryl held out. He wrapped it haphazardly around Sarah, while she slept on.

  “But, what about this?” Cheryl questioned. The confusion was clearly etched in her features, and Christy wished she could somehow ease Cheryl’s worry. “I know Christy doesn’t have any children, so whose baby is Sarah?”

  “It isn’t anything you need to worry about, Cheryl,” Grant said rather brusquely. “Stay here. I have to go with Christy to her car.”

  Cheryl was obviously hurt by Grant’s indifference to her concern. She started to say something, but Grant slammed the car door in her face and nudged Christy forward.

  “Where are you parked?” he asked, holding Sarah away from Christy’s reaching hands.

  “Over there,” Christy motioned. “Please give me the baby.”

  “In due time,” Grant said with a sneer on his face. “I wouldn’t want you getting jumpy and running out on me. Not with so much at stake.” He paused for a moment, looking down at Christy rather intently. “You know, you really are the most beautiful woman I’ve ever known. We could still have a good time together, Christy.” His leering eyes made Christy shudder, and Grant only laughed. “What’s the matter, Christy? Not good enough for you?”

  “Never!” Christy hissed. “You’ll never be anything but trouble to any woman who is stupid enough to care for you. Look what you’ve done to Candy and now Cheryl. Even poor Sarah has been wounded by you.”

  Grant looked hard at Christy for a moment, then shrugged. “It’s just the way things are,” he said without emotion. “Now move out. I want to make certain you fulfilled your part of the bargain.”

  Christy moved across the rows of cars, wishing that she had Sarah in her arms. Before Grant opened the trunk of her car, she’d have to insist on the transfer, otherwise it would ruin Curt’s plans.

  They approached her vehicle slowly, and Christy had to force herself not to look around for Curt’s reassuring face. Stopping at the rear of her car, Christy turned and held up her keys.

  “It’s in the trunk. You can have the keys, but I’ll take Sarah.”

  Grant considered the situation, then handed the baby over to Christy and snatched the keys. Christy was almost stupefied that it had all happened so smoothly. Inching her way back along the side of the car, all Christy could think of was how she had to put some distance between her and Grant.

  “Which key is it?” Grant questioned.

  Christy froze in place. “The round one,” she whispered.

  “You’re going to have to help me transfer this stuff,” he said, searching for the right key.

  “Why don’t you just take my car?” Christy more stated than questioned. “I promise to wait at least twenty-four hours before I report it missing. In fact, if you’ll just call and tell me where it’s at, I won’t even call it in.” Christy knew she was rambling, but she had to restore some semblance of order to her mind. The chattering seemed to almost calm her into sensibility again.

  Grant inserted the key and the trunk lid lifted smoothly. “Ah, yes!” he exclaimed and reached inside to inspect the cocaine. Picking up one of the wrapped packages, Grant tore off the end, played with the contents for a moment, then slipped the package into his coat pocket.

  Christy was finally able to think and, as planned, moved rapidly away from the car and disappeared behind a nearby trash dumpster. Trembling from head to toe, Christy got down on the ground and covered Sarah with her body, just as Curt had instructed her.

  She heard Grant call her name, and then Curt’s voice rang out loud and clear.

  “Drug Enforcement—you’re under arrest! Put up your hands and back away from the car!”

  Christy cowered in desperate fear. All she could do was pray. There was no way of knowing what else was happening. She couldn’t see anything, and the not knowing was driving her insane.

  Silence engulfed the parking lot. Christy could very nearly hear her own breathing above the routine noise that she knew must be taking place. Thankfully, Sarah continued to sleep.

  Christy stared down at the slumbering form of her niece. No, she thought to herself, Sarah is my daughter now. Curt’s voice brought her back to what was happening.

  “Burks, I’m not going to tell you again. Back away from that car and put up your hands.”

  Curt’s voice sounded louder, and Christy could only imagine that he had come out from wherever he’d been hiding. Dear God, she prayed, keep him safe. Don’t let him get careless in his desire to avenge his parents’ death.

  Curt eyed the back of Grant Burks intently. He held a 9 mm pistol at eye level and moved cautiously forward. This man was the reaso
n CJ had suffered so much. This man had killed his parents and threatened the woman he loved. This man was scum and deserved to die. All reasoning left Curt as he felt his finger tighten on the trigger.

  Without warning, Grant turned quickly and in doing so brought a small caliber revolver up and pointed it at Curt. Just then a woman screamed and Curt glanced aside briefly, fearing it was Christy. Cheryl Fairchild was running across the parking lot.

  “No! No!” she screamed over and over.

  “Cheryl?” Curt said, taking his concentration from Burks. Grant took the moment of Curt’s surprise to fire a shot.

  Curt instantly reacted and fired, as did several of the other agents. Bullets hit Grant’s body, leaving tiny red stains across his midsection. He stood in shock for several moments, then raised the gun at Curt again, only this time Cheryl was in the way. She looked torn between the two men, then seeing that her fiancé was bleeding, she moved toward him just as he fired the gun twice.

  Curt rushed at Cheryl like a linebacker in a critical play. Shots rang out over their heads, and Grant fell to the ground as Curt rolled with Cheryl, taking the full impact of both bodies as they hit the pavement.

  Cheryl moaned once, then grew silent and still. Curt heard Debbie declare Grant disarmed. He eased Cheryl away from him. She was bleeding badly from an abdominal wound, while a thin but steady stream of blood poured from a shot she’d taken in the head.

  “I need help here,” Curt declared, pulling Cheryl onto her back. He straightened her body out before pushing up the bloodstained sweater.

  Debbie was at his side instantly. “Ambulance is on its way.

  They were just on the other side of the parking lot, waiting for our signal.”

  Curt nodded. “She’s pregnant,” he said and glanced up at Debbie with serious eyes. “This shouldn’t have happened.”

  “It’s not your fault,” she whispered. Sirens in the background brought Curt to his feet.

  “Christy!” he said and glanced around. She was nowhere in sight.

  Debbie put her hand on Curt. “You’re wounded!” she said, realizing for the first time that he’d taken a bullet in the arm.

  Grant was writhing and crying out from his wounds, catching Curt’s attention. How could he still be alive? Ignoring Debbie’s concern for his welfare, Curt moved to where other members of the DEA were working to save Grant’s life.

  Curt knelt down and caught Grant’s eye. “I’m putting an end to this,” Curt said with only a moderate amount of satisfaction. Frank had once told him that revenge was a poor substitute for the loss of someone you loved. Frank was right.

  Grant stared at Curt with blank eyes. “An end to what?” He barely breathed the question.

  Curt’s face held a tight register of anger and sadness. “You and the O&F Aviation drug ring. You killed my parents—or maybe you don’t remember Doug and Jan O’Sullivan and the plane you or your people sabotaged. They were my parents, and my little sister was on the plane as well.”

  “I remember,” Grant replied, then laughed a hoarse, dying laugh. “Fairchild said to just shake them up. I guess I did more than shake, aghhh.” Grant grabbed at his bleeding abdomen. “Too bad you weren’t in that plane, too,” he gasped, and then grew still. Grant Burks was dead.

  “You’d better go to Christy,” Debbie stated. “She needs you, Curt.”

  Curt sobered for a moment, then looked at Debbie. She was beautiful even with her dark hair tied back into a tight ponytail and her DEA ball cap snugly concealing even the tiniest wisps. Slowly he nodded, seeing in her eyes all that he needed to remember. Christy and the baby!

  “Where are they?” he questioned.

  “Over there,” Debbie pointed, and Curt glanced across the parking lot to see Christy being comforted by two women team members.

  Christy seemed to sense his eyes on her as he started walking toward her. One of the women accepted Sarah’s sleeping form, while Christy ran to close the distance to Curt.

  “Oh, Curt, my dearest love,” she cried and threw herself into his arms.

  Curt held her so tightly that Christy thought he would break every single one of her ribs, but she didn’t care. She never wanted him to let her go, and she tightened her grip around his neck.

  “It’s okay, honey,” he whispered. “It’s okay. God was watching over us all.”

  “Is he,” Christy tried to speak. “Is Grant…”

  “Yes, he’s dead.”

  Christy pulled away. “God forgive me, but I’m glad. If ever anyone deserved what he got—”

  “Shhh,” Curt said and put his finger to her lips. “It’s over.”

  Christy reached out and lifted Curt’s hand to her lips, then gasped in horror. Blood stained his fingers and hand. Tracing the blood up his arm, Christy cried anew at the sight of the torn material. “You’re shot! You’ve got to get help! Debbie!” she called for the only other person she recognized.

  “It’s okay,” Curt tried to assure her, but Christy would have no part of it.

  Debbie came up with a medic. “Your turn, Curt,” Debbie said and motioned Curt to the ambulance.

  “How’s Cheryl?” he asked, and Christy glanced past him for the first time to see the paramedics working on the blond woman.

  “She’s losing a lot of blood,” Debbie stated. “They’re doing all they can to stabilize her.”

  “And the baby?” Curt asked, reminding Christy of Cheryl’s condition.

  Debbie shook her head. “I don’t know. What I do know is that you’re going to go with this man right now and have that arm looked at. I can’t have you going into shock here in the parking lot.”

  Curt grinned and drawled casually, “Yes, ma’am. I surely wouldn’t want you ladies to faint at the sight of a little blood.”

  Debbie rolled her eyes.

  “Will you take Christy and Sarah home for me?” Curt asked before turning to leave with the medic.

  “Of course I will,” Debbie replied.

  “I want to stay with you,” Christy protested.

  “Sarah needs you,” Curt reminded her. “Get her out of here. The press will be here any minute, and you don’t want this all over the newspapers. Take her home, and I’ll be there as soon as I can get away.”

  “But—”

  Curt crossed his arms adamantly. “I won’t go with them at all until you agree to go with Debbie,” he stated.

  “You!” Christy exclaimed in exasperation. “You are the most infuriating man. Always ordering me around, telling me where to go and with whom. Don’t you think it might be nice if just once you’d let me make up my own mind about how I want to handle things?”

  Curt raised a single brow as though humoring her outburst. “Look around you, sweetheart. This is what happens when I leave you to plan for yourself.”

  Christy opened her mouth, then closed it again. For a heartbeat, she said nothing, then turned to Debbie. “Take us home, Debbie.” Then to the paramedic at Curt’s side, she leaned over and whispered with a touch of a smile, “Use the stuff that stings a lot, and maybe you could sew him up with a blunt needle. If you don’t have one, I do.”

  Curt burst out laughing. “I think I’m going to like being married to you. At least I won’t be bored!”

  Epilogue

  Christy woke up slowly. Somewhere in the back of her subconscious, she realized that someone was kissing her. She sighed and relished the passionate lips that ran the length of her neck before capturing her mouth for a warm inviting kiss. Opening her eyes, she found Curt’s steely blue ones staring down intently at her.

  “Ummm,” she murmured and reached up her arms to embrace his neck. “Good morning, Mr. O’Sullivan.”

  “Good morning, indeed, Mrs. O’Sullivan,” he whispered against her mouth before reclaiming it.

  Christy snuggled down against her husband of two days and smiled. “It seems strange that everything is so quiet. Sarah would normally have had us up for an hour or more by now. I’m glad CJ agreed to ke
ep her at their place while we honeymooned.”

  Curt laughed. “She’s got quite a set of lungs on her—I have to say that. Never realized babies could be so demanding.”

  “You should hear her in the middle of the night when she thinks she’s starving to death and nobody’s going to come feed her.” Christy suddenly sobered. “You aren’t sorry you married us, are you?”

  “You trying to get rid of me?”

  Christy pushed Curt aside and rolled up on one elbow. “I mean it,” she said completely serious. “I just don’t want you to regret—”

  He reached up and put his hand across her mouth. “You should know by now that I rarely do anything against my will. I’m a determined man, Christy. Especially when I’m convinced that God is leading me in a particular direction. You were one of those directions in which He led me. Understand?”

  Christy nodded, and Curt lowered his hand with a grin. “Besides,” he continued, “I seem to recall a promise you made to do anything if I got Sarah back to you safely.”

  “I married you, didn’t I?” she teased and flopped back against the pillows. Curt followed her and pulled her close against him.

  “You don’t regret it, do you?” he said, reflecting her question back at her.

  “Why would I regret it?” Christy questioned innocently.

  “Well, I’m not your regular guy,” Curt admitted.

  “No, you certainly aren’t!” declared Christy with a smile. “You are most unusual. Unique, in fact.”

  “Unique, eh?” Curt got a mischievous look on his face. “I think I like that. One-of-a-kind. Like some of the other little treasures in your massive Victorian museum-of-a-house. Maybe you’re just collecting rare priceless pieces.”

  “Or little bits of junk that nobody else will have,” Christy teased.

  “What a thing to say!” Curt exclaimed and began tickling Christy until she was laughing so hard, she begged him to stop.

  Curt reached up and brushed back a strand of chocolate brown hair. His finger trailed down her cheek to her neck, then rested on her soft, white shoulder.