Top Gun Guardian

by Carol Ericson

  Dr. Abbott didn’t take the dare. “Well, then, if that’s been taken care of, we can release you, Mrs. Richardson. Keep that loose dressing on your leg for the rest of the day or at least until you feel you can prop up your leg and not break or puncture the blisters. Ibuprofen should work for any pain. You were very lucky.”

  “Very lucky.” Raven smiled at Buzz.

  When Dr. Abbott left, Raven’s smile faded. “How soon can we get out of White Cloud and what mode of transportation are we using?”

  “We’re going to have to drive…and drive. We can’t risk getting on a commercial airline with Malika—too easy to track.”

  “And a car isn’t going to be easy to follow?”

  “Let me worry about that. We’ll spend Thanksgiving at the ranch tomorrow, and then we take off.”

  Raven swung her legs over the side of the hospital bed and sat up. “I know what I’m going to be thankful for.”

  “When this is all over and you’re back in Manhattan?”

  Raven swallowed and nodded. Being alone in Manhattan was the furthest thing from her mind.

  JOSIE SMACKED A PILLOW against her hand and then wedged it beneath Raven’s leg propped up on the coffee table. “I can’t believe someone pushed you into a fire, Raven. I wouldn’t even do that.”

  “Josie!” Scowling at his wife, Austin drew a finger across his throat.

  “I’m just kidding.” She patted Raven’s shoulder. “Raven knows that by now, don’t you, Raven?”

  “Yeah, sure, Josie.” She grabbed Josie’s hand as it rested on her shoulder and squeezed. “Not a word to Malika about anyone pushing me into the fire, right? It was just an accident.”

  “Yeah, sure, Raven.” She glanced at Buzz reading his book. “Not a word to anyone about anything. I know the drill. Can I get you some tea?”

  “I can do that. I feel guilty enough already with you preparing everything for the Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow. The doc told me to take it easy, not become an invalid.” She reached for the pillow, but Buzz jumped from his chair.

  “I’ll get you some tea.”

  Josie snuggled next to her husband on the sofa. “So Thanksgiving tomorrow and then we take off the next day. The kids want the weekend at home before going back to school on Monday. What are your plans? Going back to Manhattan? Or Buzz’s place in Dallas? Where do you two live with Malika anyway?”

  Buzz handed a warm mug to Raven and rolled his eyes. “We live in Dallas. I thought I told you that. Raven still has her job at the U.N., though.”

  “Mmm, tough commute, but I suppose when you’re married to a pilot…”

  “I thought you knew the drill, Josie.” Buzz crossed an ankle over his knee. “You ask a lot of questions for someone who knows the drill.”

  “I know it, Buzz, but I’m sick of it. I breathed a sigh of relief when you took the job as a commercial airline pilot.”

  “Then you should still be sighing. That’s my job.”

  “Yeah, right. Just keep your job away from my kids.” Josie bounded from the sofa and joined the kids upstairs as they got ready for riding.

  Austin lifted a shoulder. “Sorry, Buzz. I’ll follow her upstairs to make sure there’s no steam coming out of her ears.”

  “She’s right, you know.” Raven peeked beneath her bandage and decided to rip it off. “Everyone in this house is in danger.”

  “I didn’t invite them. If I had realized we were heading here during the Harvest Festival, I would’ve changed direction. Just one more day to get through.”

  “Where are we going?”

  “Take out a map and throw a dart, but we’re not going to Dallas. Maybe we should head east. Should you be doing that?” He gestured toward the bandage dangling from her fingertips.

  “Dr. Abbott told me it’s better if the burn gets some air. The bandage was just to protect the blistering. Pretty, huh?” She wiggled her foot, dropping the bandage to the table.

  He captured her foot in his hand and caressed her heel. “Everything about you is pretty.”

  “Have you developed a foot fetish in my absence?”

  Buzz’s grin eased some of the tension she’d been feeling since she woke up in a hospital bed that morning. She and Malika would be fine. Buzz would see to that.

  “To match your shoe fetish?”

  “Hey, give me some credit here. I’ve been living in those boots all week and now one of them has a big burn mark on it. Do you think Daisy’s has another pair?”

  “I think you’ll be back in New York before you have to buy another pair.” Buzz picked up the white bandage from the coffee table and crumpled it in his fist.

  Did he care? Raven’s gaze tracked over the corded muscles in his forearm and the white knuckles of his hand.

  Did she have the guts to care back? Could one week with an adorable little girl really change a lifetime of fear over being a parent? “Buzz…”

  The kids tumbled down the stairs, shrieking and laughing. Malika skipped up to Raven. “How is your leg, Mama?”

  “It’s fine.” She pinched Malika’s nose. “What has you so excited?”

  “Buzz-Daddy is taking us riding.” She placed a small hand on Buzz’s knee. “If he can leave you.”

  The delicate features of Malika’s face crumpled and Raven leaned forward to clinch her in a hug. They hadn’t fooled her. She knew Raven’s burn had something to do with their precarious situation.

  “Of course, Buzz-Daddy can take you. I’m fine. Go out there and have fun. Are Shep’s grandkids joining you?”

  Buzz pointed to the window. “They’re at his place right now, but they’re coming over, too. All the kids are good riders.”

  Josie hopped off the last step and winked. “At least you have a good excuse for not learning to ride now…and I am kidding. Do you want me or Austin to sit with you while Buzz takes the kids out?”

  Raven crinkled her brow. “Buzz is taking the kids out? You mean out of the paddock thingy? I don’t think Malika’s ready for that.”

  “No, just my two brats and Shep’s. Buzz will stay with Malika in the paddock…thingy.” Josie clapped a cowboy hat that came down almost to her nose on her head.

  “That’s okay. You and Austin came here to enjoy the ranch with your kids. It’s not like I can’t walk.”

  In a flurry of hats and boots and giggles, the kids tumbled outside with the adults on their heels.

  Raven tipped her head back and closed her eyes. She and Buzz hadn’t told Malika they were leaving the ranch. She’d be disappointed, but if anything, Malika had the adaptability of a chameleon. If Josie suspected Malika wasn’t who they said she was, it didn’t come from Malika’s demeanor. She’d played her part of the adopted daughter to perfection.

  Too much perfection.

  Raven felt so close to Malika, the girl’s departure was going to rip her heart out. But that didn’t mean she was ready for kids of her own.

  Her cell phone vibrated and Raven jumped. Checking the caller ID, she recognized the number as coming from a U.N.-issued cell phone. Colonel Scripps had contacted her boss, Walter. Was he finally checking in?

  “Hello?”

  “Hello, Ms. Pierre. This is Agent Russell. We met yesterday in the grocery store parking lot.”

  Raven pushed up from the sofa and wandered to the window, which framed the kids on their horses. “What do you want?”

  “I’d like to have a chat with you. Can you meet me somewhere in town?”

  Her breath hitched. “Are you crazy?”

  “No, are you? Do you know the penalty for kidnapping, Ms. Pierre?”

  “Nobody kidnapped the child.” She steadied her grip on her cell phone.

  “Oh, has Richardson been spinning some yarn about how he had a secret agreement with President Okeke to take his daughter?”

  Raven leaned her forehead against the cold glass of the window. “It’s the truth. I was there. We had the full cooperation of the Burumandan security guards.”

  Russell r
asped out a harsh laugh. “Have you been following the news, Ms. Pierre? Have you seen the state of Burumanda lately? How do you know those security guards weren’t working against the president?”

  “I—I— Buzz wouldn’t kidnap a child.” Her world might have been topsy-turvy at the moment, but she knew that as a fact.

  He tsked and her blood boiled at his condescending manner.

  “I’m not suggesting he wants to harm the girl, but he’s using her as a pawn to get information from President Okeke about his Prospero team member Jack Coburn. And we know for certain Coburn’s a traitor.”

  Raven brushed her hair from her face in irritation. “Look, what do you want from me?”

  “I want the girl.”

  “You are crazy. Why would I turn her over to you?” Raven laughed even though her stomach churned, and she had to grip the windowsill for support.

  “To save Buzz Richardson.”

  “How is turning President Okeke’s daughter over to you going to save Buzz?”

  “I told you, Raven.” He huffed out a breath as if speaking to a child. “Buzz is wanted for kidnapping. The president wants his daughter back and I’m here to make that happen. You can ensure that things go a lot easier for yourself if you deliver her to me.”

  “A lot easier for me?” She wanted to end the call but Russell’s words held her captive.

  “You’re an accomplice to the kidnapping. When Buzz goes down, you’re going down with him.”

  “It’s not a kidnapping when you have the father’s permission.” She stared at Malika on her pony, her pigtails flying behind her as she laughed at Buzz.

  “Says you. Did President Okeke tell you personally to take his daughter? Have you had any contact with him since you’ve been on the run?”

  Her silence spoke volumes. She’d never heard President Okeke ask Buzz to abscond with his daughter. Buzz hadn’t spoken to the president once since they’d taken Malika. She had only Buzz’s word.

  Russell whistled. “I thought so. Kidnapping. Bring the girl to me now and we’ll let you off the hook completely. You’ll be free to go back to Manhattan and put this episode behind you.”

  Sacrifice Buzz and a child to save herself? This guy had her number. Two years ago, she would’ve jumped at the chance. Hell, she would’ve jumped at the chance two weeks ago.

  “Remember, Ms. Pierre, Raven, you have no proof that President Okeke gave his permission for Richardson to take the child.”

  She had only Buzz’s word.

  The setting sun shot streaks of orange through the cloudy gray sky. Its magnificence silhouetted the figures in the paddock. Buzz lifted Malika off her pony and swung her around, her feet with the red cowboy boots flying through the air.

  Buzz’s word had always been good enough for her.

  “Russell?”

  “Yes?”

  She could almost picture the slimeball rubbing his hands together. “You and the CIA can shove it.”

  An hour later, the riders burst through the side door full of their adventures, with Britney and her brother arguing about who rode faster and jumped higher.

  Malika’s lower lip protruded in a pout and Raven scooped her up and plopped her on top of the counter that separated the kitchen from the family room. She whispered in her native tongue. “What’s the matter? You didn’t have fun?”

  Malika responded. “I had fun, but I want to ride like Wyatt and Britney and the others.”

  “You’re learning so fast, but you’re not ready to leave the paddock yet. The other kids have been riding for a long time.” She pulled off one of Malika’s little red boots. “You will have more time to learn.”

  Raven caught her breath as she looked into Malika’s big brown eyes, liquid with tears. Of course, Malika wouldn’t have time to learn. She wasn’t going to stay on the ranch forever, and she knew it.

  Raven yanked off the other boot and popped up to kiss Malika on her smooth cheek. “Maybe you will continue lessons at home.”

  “Malika, tell us the word for horse again in your language.” Britney turned to her mother. “Malika’s been teaching us her language and we’ve been teaching her—” Wyatt elbowed his sister in the ribs “—other stuff.”

  Malika smiled and carefully pronounced the word for horse in her dialect, and the other kids repeated it, giggling over the strange sounds.

  “That’s fantastic.” Josie clapped her hands. “Now everyone upstairs for a bath and a quick nap…if you want one. I’m not cooking tonight, so who wants to go into town to pick up pizza? We’ll invite Shep and the grandkids, too.”

  “I’m going to stick by the invalid.” Buzz jerked his thumb at Raven.

  “And I’m the cook tomorrow, so it looks like it’s you, Austin.” Josie kissed her husband and herded the kids upstairs.

  Raven tagged along after Buzz and when he shut the bedroom door she stretched out on the bed. Might as well come out with it.

  “Agent Russell called me this afternoon.”

  Buzz froze midway through pulling off his boot, and nearly tumbled from the chair face-first. “You’re kidding me.”

  “Would I kid about something like that?” She propped up her head, digging her elbow into the mattress. “He called me on my cell phone. I’ve gotta change that number. It’s become the worst-kept secret in town.”

  “Don’t joke around, Raven. What did he want?”

  “Oh, I’m serious. Deadly serious. He wanted me to give up Malika.”

  Buzz tugged his boot off the rest of the way and dropped it on the floor with a thud. “Why does the CIA want her all of a sudden, and why would Russell think you’d just hand her over?”

  “To your first question, I haven’t a clue. To the second, he told me I could avoid kidnapping charges if I brought her to him.”

  “Kidnapping charges? That’s a stretch.” He started working on his other boot.

  “He assured me that you didn’t have President Okeke’s permission to take Malika.”

  “But you didn’t believe him.”

  Raven rose from the bed and sat cross-legged on the floor before him, favoring her burned leg. She gripped his boot and pulled. “I believe you.”

  Leaning forward, Buzz kissed the top of her head. He rubbed a strand of her hair between his fingers absently. “I wonder why Russell wants Malika. The Agency would be thrilled to get its paws on that weapon system.”

  “The one that can deliver a deadly virus to as many people as possible at one time?” Raven pulled back. “Do you think the CIA would use a child to blackmail President Okeke? They’d be no better than the terrorists.”

  “Russell could be a rogue agent. It happens.” He wedged a finger beneath her chin and tilted it up. “Now we have two reasons to get out of White Cloud—looks like we need to keep Malika safe from Russell, as well.”

  “I’m ready to leave.”

  His lips quirked. “Not the best introduction to my home town, was it?”

  “Under different circumstances—” Raven placed her hands on his knees and hoisted herself to her feet “—it could’ve been wonderful.”

  He traced a finger around the outside of her burn. “How’s your leg?”

  “Looks better, doesn’t it? I’m still taking ibuprofen for the pain, but it’s not too bad.”

  Placing his hands around her waist, Buzz stood up and hugged her close, folding her against his body. “Thanks for believing in me. I’ve asked a lot of you these past few days, dragged you halfway across the country, put you in danger, foisted a kid on you.”

  Raven looked into his eyes and placed her hands on his solid chest. “It’s nothing I didn’t want to do, Buzz.”

  And in her heart, Raven could feel the truth of that statement like a warm glow. She’d been living a half-life these past two years without Buzz.

  His arms tightened around her. “I believe in you too, Raven. I believe in your commitment to that little girl, and that’s enough. Now I’m sure you’re sick of hugging this dusty old cow
boy, so I’m going to hop in the shower.”

  Hands on her hips, she watched him peel off the dirty clothes from his magnificent body and disappear into the bathroom with a wink.

  She’d never get tired of hugging that man, or kissing him, or touching him, or…

  She gave herself a shake and went off to help Malika in the tub.

  Later, they gathered in the family room to eat pizza while Josie put the finishing touches on her preparation for the Thanksgiving feast. Some show about the upcoming ball games blared on the TV and Shep had the kids in the corner playing a board game.

  Raven reclined on the sofa, her injured leg balanced on Buzz’s knee. “So that’s it for the Harvest Festival and rodeo?”

  “Finished for another year.” Austin pulled a slice of pizza from the box and plopped it on his paper plate with one eye on the TV. “With the death of the rodeo clown and Raven’s experience with the rowdy teenagers, I’m sure Sheriff Tallant is glad it’s over.”

  “There’s always next year.” Josie sauntered in from the kitchen, stretched her arms above her head and tousled her hair. “Will you be back next year, Buzz? Or will you…and your family be moving into the ranch?”

  “We haven’t made any decisions yet, Josie. But I’ll tell you what, once we do you’ll be the first one we notify.”

  Josie hissed at him and formed claws with her fingers. “Whatever.”

  The doorbell rang and Raven involuntarily dug her heel into Buzz’s thigh as she threw him a quick glance through widened eyes. “Who can that be on the night before Thanksgiving?”

  “I’ll get it.” Austin struggled to his feet from the floor.

  “No.” Buzz lifted Raven’s leg from his lap and shot to his feet. “I’ll answer the door.”

  Buzz made a stop at the hall closet, and Raven knew he was retrieving his gun. Holding her breath, Raven leaned forward to peer into the foyer. Buzz stood to the side of the door and placed his eye at the peephole.

  He called over his shoulder. “It’s Sheriff Tallant.”

  Raven closed her eyes and released a long breath. Buzz had delivered the news for her benefit. Austin and Josie were glued to the TV and Shep was trying to settle an argument over the kids’ game.