by Serena James
Kane felt movement across his shoulders. Rebecca said in a sleepy voice that betrayed a trace of humour, “Are we nearly there yet?”
He grinned as Connor turned and glared furiously at him. It was almost comical. He asked her softly, “How are you feeling?”
“Like hell.”
Now he had her all to himself he was going to start asking questions before his jealousy got the better of him. “So, Rebecca, what’s the deal with you and Connor?”
She gave long-suffering sigh.
“How the hell would I know? I know nothing.”
He felt frustrated. She must remember something. Her memory was beginning to return. He wasn’t buying her lack of memory on this one for a minute.
“When did you start seeing each other.”
Now she sounded frustrated. “I don’t know. Are you jealous, Mr. Kane? I thought we had established that I went to South Bundhara to save your backside not his. I figure that should tell you where my loyalty lies.”
Kane felt smug but he still had questions. “Yes, but that still doesn’t tell me why you are involved with Connor. Why him over me? What were you thinking?”
“I don’t believe you. London is about to be bombed. I’ve been kidnapped, tortured, mysteriously operated on and nearly written off by a tank and you want to know about me and Connor.”
“Call me insecure. Enlighten me. I like to know exactly where I stand.”
“I have told you where you stand to the best of my knowledge at the time. I can’t be held responsible for any mistakes in my past when I can’t remember who I am. It isn’t fair.”
“Cop out.”
“Yeah well. I haven’t much choice.” He heard her voice lighten again. “I have to say though Connor is kind of cute. He’s also very attentive, very caring and charming. And from this angle he has a very nice looking backside.”
“Do you want me to drop you on yours?”
“Don’t make me laugh it hurts like bloody hell.” He felt her shift her body weight. “Mind you, Mr. Kane, it isn’t half as good looking as yours from this angle.”
He started to laugh. “When this is over, Eaton, you’re in trouble.”
“I look forward to it.”
He switched to a serious tone, “And I still have to talk to you about going to South Bundhara without coming to me. You should have come to me.”
“Maybe I couldn’t come to you. Maybe something or someone stopped me. Don’t be so hard on me.”
He told her gently, “Okay. Relax. Point taken. But we are still going to talk just as soon as I get you home safe and secure. Then you won’t be able to pull any stupid stunts like that again.
Her tone was haughty, “Really?” When she spoke again there was just the barest hint of fear under her haughtiness. It made him feel bad for what he’d said. “I love your public school accent, sounds so alluring when you are being menacing. Are you going to lock me up when I get home to keep me out of trouble, Mr. Kane? Is that what MI5 want you to do so they can pump me full of drugs to make me remember?”
He lightened his tone, tried to inject some humour to take away her fear. He had to let her know he was the one person she could trust in her chaotic world. “What kind of a man do you think I am? Some kind of Neanderthal? Besides no one can keep you down. Not even the South Bundenese Army could hold you. They would be wasting their time.”
“But they are going to try aren’t they?”
He told her firmly. “I won’t let them near you. Trust me. I’ll get you through this. All I ask is that you work with me. You have a habit of being a maverick but those days are over as of now. I am going to make sure you are chained to my side when you go off chasing the bad guys. This time you need my help and protection, I am going to be there for you whether you want me or not.”
“Nice speech.”
“I just care about you.” He softened the urgency in his voice. “It’s about time someone protected you. I am not going to let you walk out of my life this time. We are made for each other, Eaton. So get used to it.”
“Ah so I walked out on you? What did you do wrong?”
“Oh I did something wrong?”
“Tell me all about it then. Why did we split up if we are so meant for each other?”
He was silent. No way was he going into that.
“You need to rest. You sound tired and you need some water.”
“Stop evading my questions.”
He ignored her.
She gave a loud tut, “Coward.”
He grinned. “I told you, when you get your memory back we will discuss it. Then it will be a fair fight.”
* * * * *
Kane lowered Rebecca down as gently as he could. He propped her up against the trunk of a large pine tree. He heard her say, “That’s pretty.” But he couldn’t appreciate the aesthetic value of the waterfall. At any other time, on one of his hikes, he would have marvelled at it, taken in the scenery, probably camped there for a few days. But at that moment he was more worried about the beads of sweat on her brow. To him it was a few rocks with water running through it. He wanted some pain relief for her.
At least it was cooler with the evening sunshine casting cooling shadows through the trees. He watched her try to lie down on the forest floor. He went to help her, she looked so pale. For once he wished Michael was there with them, he would know what to do. There was a sudden shadow next to him as he helped lower her down. It was Connor.
He was stripping off his jacket and folding it into a neat square as she stretched out on the ground. Every muscle in Kane’s body tensed taut as Connor knelt and swept his hand around to the back of her head. He lifted it and slipped the square underneath for comfort. She lay back murmuring thanks. She closed her eyes.
Connor caressed the moisture from her brow. He told her, “I will find something to get you some water.”
Kane shook his head and glanced away at the others. He could see Tom standing by the water scanning their position for impending danger. Charles was to one side by the trees. He had his head thrown back and appeared to be drinking from something. What the hell...?
Kane strode over to Charles as the man started taking another swig. There was a strong smell of alcohol in the air, brandy. Kane snatched the small silver hip flask from Charles as he tipped his head back once more. Charles shouted at him, “Hey, give that back. What are you doing?”
Charles started to fight him for it. Kane gave him a hard shove and pushed him to the ground. He turned on Charles. “You had this all along. We could have given Rebecca some for pain relief. Some friend you are.”
“I need it.”
Kane snapped at him, “Get up and go and get yourself some water. I need you alert.”
“I don’t have to do what you tell me. What do you think I am? Some dumb private who takes orders?”
Kane stood towering over Charles. That was when he really noticed the dark rims around the younger man’s eyes. Charles sniffed and glared at him but didn’t move. Kane was losing his patience. “Get up now or I will make you.” Charles just laughed.
Kane reached down and yanked him up by his collar. He pushed him against one of the trees and studied his laughing face. He asked, “Does Anna Harker know you drink on the job? Does she know about your nasty cocaine habit?” Kane had seen it too many times in his line of work guarding celebrities, politicians and business high flyers, not to recognise drug dependency when he saw it.
Charles continued laughing then he stopped abruptly. He looked up at Kane still holding him by the collar against the tree. He sniffed loudly and rubbed his nose. Kane’s face twisted with disgust. Charles laughed at him and then said seriously, “What can I say? It’s a very pressurized work environment. She is a very demanding employer in more ways than one.”
Kane sneered. He had a low tolerance for junkies. “Maybe I should tell her about it when we get back.”
Charles laughed again. He pointed a finger at Kane. “I need a fix every now and again
just like the best of them. Harker knows that. Just like she needs her own very different fix. I could tell you things about Anna Harker that would make you, and especially Rebecca, gag. Harker has many secrets. And there is one terrible secret that our hotshot correspondent over there would die to know. But it’s so bad and Harker is so frightened of her finding out that I am sure that’s why she keeps Rebecca as her friend.”
“What are you talking about?”
Charles grinned and tapped his nose. “I can’t tell you, it’s a secret. Have you ever heard that the most effective way of hiding something from others is to keep it in plain sight? Right under their noses. Nobody ever seems to notice.”
Charles found that funny. He couldn’t stop laughing. Kane felt uneasy and desperate to know what the idiot was talking about. But he couldn’t get any more sense out of him. Charles just kept telling him, “I need a fix. I had the last one early this morning and it wasn’t enough. I need more.”
Kane was irritated. He pulled Charles to the bank by the water and pushed him over. He pushed his laughing head over into the water and held it there for a couple of seconds. Then he let him up. Charles was coughing and spluttering and swearing at him.
Kane told him, “I said freshen up and get some water. Looks like you are going to spend a painful night without your fix.”
Kane took the small flask to Rebecca and made her drink from it. When she’d drained what was left, he went to fill it with water for her. He took a few gulps of water using his hand to bring it to his mouth. Tom spoke to him. “Dominic, how is Rebecca holding up? She doesn’t look so good. Looks like that infection hasn’t fully cleared yet. She seems to be burning up a bit. That fall out of the car won’t have helped. She needs a doctor, Dominic. Maybe we should keep going. She...”
Kane interrupted him abruptly. “I know she needs medical attention. I wish her brother was here but he isn’t. It’s too dangerous to walk through the forest at night. We rest here and start afresh at first light. Everyone will be alert.”
“Okay, you’re the boss.” Tom started to stand up from the riverbed. He looked anxious again. Far away. Tom was never anxious on a job. He thrived on the danger. Concern stirred uneasily in Kane’s stomach. Something was wrong. Tom said, “I’ll get a fire started. Give our drug addict and Connor something to do. Then I’ll work out a route out of here for tomorrow. You look after Rebecca. She needs you, not Connor. I’ll get him out of the way.”
Kane stood up with him
“Don’t worry I can handle him. What’s bothering you?”
“Those bombs in London. My family is there. Rebecca has so many lives resting on her head. I just don’t like any of this... having to trust terrorists and having to work with them. It’s crazy. It’s not the way I like to fight the enemy.”
Kane nodded and laid his hand on Tom’s arm. “I know. Your family will be safe. Rebecca will remember. We’ll stop this together. Rebecca’s memory is coming back. I know she won’t let anyone down.”
Tom was trying to smile. “Yeah, I’m counting on the bonnie lassie.”
Kane left Tom to go back to Rebecca with the water. Connor was trying to get her to move to come down to the water’s edge, his attempts at finding something she could drink from having failed. Kane stopped him. “She doesn’t have to go anywhere. I’ve got her some.”
Kane knelt down and held the flask to her lips. Her shaking hands tried to take hold of it as she drank heavily, but he held on to it. When she’d finished he made her sit up and helped her take her jacket off. Luckily, the blouse she wore had short sleeves and would make her feel cooler. But when Rebecca saw Connor staring at the bruises and cuts on her arms, she tried to snatch her jacket back.
Kane made damn sure she didn’t catch him looking as he held on to her jacket. He told Connor to move away to go and help Tom build a fire. He was still gawking at her in horror and she was distressed. He shouted at him hard making both Connor and Rebecca jump. Connor nodded and moved away, clearly shocked.
Kane felt Rebecca wrestle him for her jacket. There was a sob in her voice. But it did little to assuage her temper. “Give it back. I don’t want every one looking at me as though I am some kind of freak. I want to put it back on.”
He put it down to his side and told her firmly, “No, you can’t. You have a temperature. You need to keep cool. No one is looking at you because they think you are a freak.” Satisfied she wasn’t going to reach for it again by the way she sat back against the tree defeated he softened his tone to a caress. “Connor is in shock. He cares for you. It isn’t easy seeing someone you care about so badly beaten and hurt. He feels helpless. He feels as though somehow he has let you down.”
She challenged him. There was contempt in her tone as she did so. “What about you? What do you feel when you see me like this? Do you pity me? Am I dirty to you? I can’t even remember them raping me.”
Her wounded voice and pride stabbed his heart. He gently touched her bruised arms and smoothed his fingers up and down them, studying them closely. He told her softly, “I feel the same as Connor. I don’t think you are dirty and neither will he. I don’t pity you. I admire you. I admire your bravery. To come through all that they did to you and still want to keep fighting is inspiring.” He smiled and touched the bruise on her cheek. It was damp with tears. “Think of yourself as a soldier who went into battle and came out wounded, but ready to fight another day.”
“I wish I could feel that way. The truth is that I am a coward. I’m frightened to remember even though I know I have to. I am scared of facing what they did to me alone. I am afraid it will take my sanity. That’s why I am sure my mind made me forget.”
He could see her trembling. That helpless feeling he’d been talking of threatened to overwhelm him. He couldn’t work out how to make it any better or any easier for her. He felt his pain for her materialise on his tense features when tears began streaming down her face. He moved his hand around her face and through her hair.
His voice was desperate, “Tell me what to do. Tell me how to help you.”
“Just hold me. I just need you to hold me. Make me feel safe again.”
She lifted herself away from the tree and allowed him to guide her into his arms. She pressed her cheek against his chest and was quiet. Kane made sure his hold was gentle but strong enough to make her feel secure. He pressed his lips to her hair as she clung to him. When he found out who was responsible for everything that had happened to Rebecca they were going to regret the day they were born.
Kane felt a sudden pull on his collar. Before he knew what was happening he was being dragged away from Rebecca. She gave a cry as she fell forwards without his support.
Connor was hissing at him. “Get the hell off Rebecca. I’ve put up with enough. We sort this out now.”
Kane jumped to his feet full of rage. Connor came at him full tilt the moment he stood. He ploughed into Kane’s stomach. They both tumbled to the ground engaging in a full-blown fight. Kane turned him over and punched him hard. The gloves were off.
As he stood once more and evaded one of Connors famous upper cuts, Kane heard Tom chuckle and sit down next to an agitated Rebecca. She shouted at them to stop but Tom said out loud, “Relax lassie. Let them get it out of their system. Dominic has been angling for a fight since you disappeared. He needs to get his anger out and so does Connor by the looks of it. It will do them both good.”
The next time Kane caught a look at Tom he was lighting up a cigarette and enjoying the show. He had his hand on Rebecca’s arm holding her back out of the way of them. Kane had to concentrate. Connor was a couple of inches smaller than him but he was fast on his feet. He was putting every boxing move he’d learnt to the test but so far he hadn’t been a match for Kane.
Connor spat at him, “I’m fucking sick of you thinking you can walk back into her life and take up where you left off. She’s with me now. You went back to your ex-wife. I told Rebecca that when she asked about you.”
Kane d
odged another well-aimed punch and delivered a perfect roundhouse kick to Connors stomach. It bent him double, landed him on the ground. Kane quickly took advantage and knelt to wind his arm around Connors neck. He pulled Connors arm behind his back as he tried to stand. Kane leaned into him forcing him to stay on the ground.
“Patricia and I are over. Our reconciliation lasted for two months, you knew that. You also knew how I felt about Rebecca. You took advantage and moved in on her. You’ve lied to me.”
Connor roared with anger as he tried to remove Kane’s hold. It was a futile gesture.
He spat at Kane, “We met by chance in a bar. She was with Jed and some others from ATM. She asked about you. She was depressed over you and she needed to move on. I merely helped by telling her about you and Patricia. We are good together.”
Kane tightened his hold. Connor clawed at his arm. “You made a move on her in Afghanistan when you knew she was with me. You’ve been waiting for an opportunity to get your hands on her.”
Connor kept tugging upwards to loosen Kane’s hold. “Yeah and you were stupid enough to let me have one. Get used to it Kane, you’ve lost her.”
“Over my dead body.”
“Yeah well that can be arranged.”
Kane felt himself suddenly propelled backwards as Connor succeeded in unravelling his hold. Kane jumped upwards but felt Connor punch his jaw and then his stomach. He staggered backwards and growled at him. He ran at Connors grinning face intent on using every kickboxing technique he’d mastered.
Out the corner of his eye he saw Rebecca’s tired determined figure striding out with purpose towards them. It made him afraid she was going to get caught up in their fighting. He was nearly knocked off guard as he tried to see where she was going. She had a large stick in her hand that looked more like a pole. She was walking towards the river albeit with difficulty.
