Daughter's Return

by Rebecca Winters

  When he went away in January, he wouldn’t be back. She didn’t want to revel in four months of ecstasy with him, only to have it be over, perhaps forever. She couldn’t bear the loss.

  Maggie had seen what loss had done to her parents. To lose someone you loved with your very heart and soul was too horrible, too unbearable to contemplate. Tonight had to be the last time she saw Jake. She would keep their conversation brief.

  “From this vantage point, I’m beginning to understand the importance of a penthouse view. What a spectacular panorama.”

  She stared at him. He was the one who was spectacular.

  In the soft light of the lamp, his powerful physique standing at the window taking in the downtown lights forged an indelible impression on her mind. In his gray suit, he was the picture of elegant male sophistication. But he could never completely hide the hard-muscled, modern-day warrior beneath.

  “May I get you a drink?”

  Slowly he turned around. “Where did you go, Maggie?” He’d completely ignored her question. “What happened to you during the night we camped out to make you wake up a different person?”

  Until he had answers, Jake wouldn’t let this go. If she wanted him to leave her condo and her life, then she’d better tell him as much of the truth as she could.

  “Let’s just say that those goggles alerted me to the kind of life you must lead—the kind of dangerous job you have.”

  He moved to within a few feet of her, scrutinizing her through unsmiling eyes. A nerve throbbed near the tiny scar at the corner of his mouth. “Tell me the rest.”

  Her mouth went dry. “That’s all there is.”

  “No,” he whispered. “When I woke up, I thought I’d smelled the faint scent of your perfume on me, on my bag. What happened during the night?”

  “You…had a nightmare.”

  His lips formed a straight line. “Go on.”

  “You sounded like you were in agony. You started to scream, so I went over to you to wake you up. But I couldn’t bring you out of it.” Tears sprang to her eyes.

  “Did I mention a name?”

  “Yes.”

  “Kamila?” His hands circled her upper arms and held her tightly.

  Who was she?

  Maggie shook her head. “No—you screamed out, ‘Vern’s dead,’ and you kept begging God not to let Reiker die, too. It was heart wrenching.”

  “Damn,” he muttered.

  “I tried to comfort you. After a while you quieted down enough for me to go back to my bag.”

  He looked tortured. “Forgive me for putting you through that, Maggie. I thought those nightmares were behind me.” He didn’t seem to notice he was kneading her shoulders. “You must have been terrified.”

  “Only for you and your pain.”

  “Did I hurt you?”

  “No, Jake. It was nothing like that. You thought I was Reiker. You clung to me and said you were waiting for the chopper to come. Your sobs haunted me.”

  A strange sound came from his throat.

  “Nothing I tried to do could rouse you from your deep sleep.”

  A full minute passed before he said, “So what do you think you know?”

  “I saw and heard enough of your dreams to understand you weren’t with a couple of detectives working a homicide case in San Diego. Unless the criminals nowadays walk into munitions dumps booby-trapped with land mines.”

  Jake’s hands relinquished their hold on her. He turned away, as if he were fighting a war with himself.

  “I’ll never tell a living soul if that’s what you’re concerned about.”

  He swung back around. “You think I don’t know that? I’m angry at myself for putting you at risk.”

  “What risk? Watching you fight your way out of a bad dream?”

  Jake lifted a hand to trace her cheek with one finger. “I might have injured you.”

  “But you didn’t.”

  “You’re beautiful, Maggie. So incredibly beautiful. Show me what you did to quiet me down.”

  It was past time to say good-night.

  Though her mind was frantically telling her to do the smart thing, her hands reached out to cup the sides of his head. Unable to resist his compelling entreaty, she began kissing his face. Her lips roved from temple to temple across his closed eyelids where she could feel his other tiny scar.

  His breath sounded ragged. “No wonder all the demons went away,” he spoke against her lips. She whimpered into his mouth, driven by needs of which she was scarcely aware. Her arms crept around his neck. It didn’t seem possible this was finally happening, that he wanted her the way she wanted him.

  Jake’s kiss was no tentative foray. He kissed her as if he’d hungered for her a very long time. With one hand plunged into her hair at the back of her head, the other clamped around her hips, he crushed her to him. Their bodies formed a seamless line, sending a voluptuous warmth through her system.

  So deep was Maggie’s rapture, she didn’t realize the phone had rung until she heard her mother’s voice coming from her answering machine.

  “Honey? Where are you? Why haven’t you answered your cell phone? If you’re there, please pick up. Your father and I are worried sick. After everyone left, we couldn’t find you. You looked pale tonight. Are you too ill to answer the phone? This is why we don’t like you having a place of your own. If we don’t hear from you in the next five minutes, we’re coming over.”

  Maggie let out a little moan of protest as Jake tore his lips from hers.

  “Evidently your nephew forgot to give them the message. It’s my fault for stealing you away and worrying your mother. You’d better phone her back,” he said gruffly.

  “For as long as I can remember, Mom has been in a perpetual state of panic if she couldn’t find me instantly. This is nothing new. Please don’t feel guilty.”

  He squeezed her hips before letting her go. “Call her, Maggie.”

  For the first time in her life, she was angered by her mother’s intrusion. Maggie’s sixth sense told her it had destroyed something fragile and beautiful between her and Jake, something she was afraid they might not get back.

  “I’ll call her from the bedroom. Help yourself to anything in my fridge. I won’t be long.” She gave him a brief kiss before darting away. The fact that he didn’t pull her back to return it put the fear in her.

  “Mom?” she spoke into the phone seconds later.

  “Thank heaven! Are you all right?”

  No. The man I adore was just kissing the daylights out of me when you interrupted us as only you can. “I’m fine. Brock was supposed to have told you I’d gone home.”

  “I never saw him. Near the end of the reception Carol called Julie to tell her their dad was sent to the hospital with a heart attack. She thinks it’s not serious, but their mother is frantic of course, so Ben made arrangements for them to fly to Colorado Springs on the company jet.”

  “I could have taken them!” Maggie cried softly.

  “Oh, no, you couldn’t. What with that last search, and trying to get everything ready for Cord while you’ve been training Steve, you’re exhausted darling. I hope you’re in bed.”

  Maggie’s heart was hammering in her chest. “I’m going soon.” It all depended on Jake, who was waiting for her in the study. “I’ve got to go, Mom.”

  “All right, but I want you to sleep in, then come on up to the house. Steve told me you were taking a couple of days off, so there’s no excuse.”

  “Actually there is. I have to fly down to California to do my recurring flight-safety course.” I’m also going to visit Frankie Burke.

  “Oh no, darling. How long will you be gone?”

  “I’ll be back late Thursday night. But don’t worry, I’ll phone you tomorrow evening.”

  “Maggie—”

  “Good night, Mom. It was a fabulous reception, one Kit and Cord will never forget. Give Dad a kiss for me.”

  She hung up the phone and dashed back to the study. He wasn
’t there.

  “Jake?”

  When there was no answer, she hurried into the kitchen. Instead she discovered the reception invitation stuck to the fridge door with one of the bug magnets the kids had given her.

  He’d turned it to the back to write a brief message. When she read it, her heart plunged right through the floor.

  Maggie? I’ll call you when I have any more word on Antonin Buric. Sleep well. Jake.

  “DAN?”

  “Good grief, Jake. Do you have any idea what time it is?”

  “It’s two-thirty in the Great Salt Lake Desert.”

  His boss muttered a couple of expletives. “All right. I’m awake now. What’s so important you couldn’t have waited three more hours? You know I would have phoned you if I’d had any news about Kamila.”

  “This isn’t about her, Dan.”

  “Okay. I’m listening.”

  “Remember when you told me you wanted me to blend in with the salt and the sand?”

  After a pause, Dan said, “I guess it was too big of a culture shock. So tell me where you’d like to go. I’ll see what I can arrange, but it’ll take me a little time.”

  Jake was standing on his terrace, looking up at the sky. The dark, clear summer night provided the perfect backdrop for the stars and planets flung across the heavens like bits of shattered crystal.

  “You’ve misunderstood me, Dan.”

  “I what?”

  “Just what I said. I’ve discovered Salt Lake has its attractions.”

  “You called me at four-thirty in the morning just to tell me that?”

  “No. I called to thank you for everything you’ve done for me over the years.”

  More silence ensued.

  “You sound like you’re going somewhere on a long trip and might not be back.”

  “I hope so.”

  “Jake—you’re starting to make me nervous. What the hell’s going on?”

  “Are you ready for this? I’ve decided I want out.”

  “You know what I think? You’re having one of your nightmares. I’ll call you tomorrow when I know you’re awake.”

  “Don’t hang up on me. I’m not finished.”

  “If the therapy’s not working out, I’ll send you to the Mayo.”

  “My shoulder’s coming along. I want you to arrange for my retirement from the agency.”

  “And what will you do?”

  “Genealogy, for one thing.”

  “Look, Jake—I know you want to find Kamila, but you don’t have to go to these extremes to convince me. I’ve put an extra man there with specific instructions to find her. Just give us a little more time.”

  “I appreciate that, Dan, but as I said before, Kamila doesn’t have anything to do with this decision.”

  Jake waited for Dan to absorb what he’d said. “You’ve met a woman.”

  His hand tightened on his cell phone. “Maggie McFarland. Ex-Senator Reed McFarland’s daughter.”

  “Good grief. How did that happen?”

  “It’s a long story.”

  “Okay. You’ve accomplished your objective. I’m wide-awake. Let’s hear it.”

  “All you need to know is that she’s the one.”

  “How long have you known her?”

  “Eleven days.”

  Jake heard more indecipherable language. “Does she feel the same way?”

  “Yes, but there’s a problem. There’s something that has to happen before I’ve got her full attention.”

  “She’s engaged to someone else.”

  “I wish it were that easy.”

  “Jake—just out with it!”

  “Her family’s still looking for their kidnapped daughter who disappeared twenty-six years ago.”

  “That’s right. The senator’s one of the people responsible for helping get that AMBER Alert bill pushed through the senate.”

  “Yes. Maggie’s on a mission to find her sister. Her search led her to the genealogical firm. I’m doing all I can to help.”

  “So you find out what happened to the sister and win the hand of the fair maiden.”

  “If I don’t, I’ll die trying.”

  “Good grief. I think you meant that.”

  “I’m glad we understand each other. Let me know what I have to do.”

  “Do me a favor and sleep on it for another week.”

  “I don’t need to sleep on it.”

  “Jake—”

  He clicked off and walked back inside the apartment. Having informed Dan, he was free to answer any of Maggie’s questions. Now he’d have to wait to see how long it took her to come to him.

  And if she doesn’t, what will you do then, Halsey?

  “EAGLE GATE GENEALOGICAL FIRM, Wendell Smith speaking.”

  “Good morning, Mr. Smith. It’s Maggie McFarland. Has Mr. Halsey come in yet?”

  “Yes. He was here when I walked in.”

  “Does he have a client waiting?”

  “Not yet. It’s too early.”

  “In that case, don’t bother to tell him I called. I’ll be right there.”

  Maggie left the condo for the short walk to the firm a few blocks away. After she met with Jake, she would go back to her office and spend a full day with Steve. During the time she’d been in California, he’d been closeted in her library going over her cases in more detail.

  She’d intended to keep her distance from Jake until he called her. But something she’d learned at the prison in California prompted her to seek him out now. When she entered the firm, Mr. Smith smiled broadly and told her to go on back.

  Maggie’s pulse rate was already too high to be healthy. The memory of those few minutes in Jake’s arms the other night had left her aching for more. It was no wonder her heart leaped when she saw him through his office doorway, deep in concentration at the computer.

  Today he was wearing a tan sport shirt. His hair had grown out some since she’d first met him. It had a lot of curl, just as she’d thought.

  She knocked on the door.

  “More marzipan for me today, Simone?” he asked without looking up. “You’re spoiling me.”

  First Kamila, now Simone.

  “If I’d known that was your favorite candy, I’d have brought you some.”

  He looked up and their gazes locked. “Maggie.”

  She hurriedly took one of the seats opposite his desk. “Sorry I don’t have any treats for you.”

  “I’m not partial to marzipan,” he said in a quiet voice, “but I wouldn’t dream of refusing it from my French colleague who works down the hall.”

  “I don’t care for it, either. At one of my birthday parties when I was little, my mother ordered a marzipan cake from a Swedish bakery. I got sick on it and haven’t been able to eat it since.”

  “You don’t look sick today.” His eyes burned with the same fire she’d seen in them the other night. “In fact you look good enough to eat.”

  She’d been thinking the same thing about him. Her cheeks filled with heat. “Speaking of treats, does Kamila work here, too?”

  With that question she expected a smile. Instead his expression grew solemn. “Kamila’s my stepmother.”

  “I didn’t realize your father had remarried. Was she cruel to you as a child? Is that why you have nightmares about her, too?”

  He rubbed his bottom lip with his thumb. “After what I put you through in the Uintas, I can hardly blame you for coming to that conclusion. But the truth is, she’s a wonderful person who’s been missing, like your sister Kathryn, since my father’s funeral fifteen months ago.”

  “That long?” Maggie said in a hushed cry. “Are you saying she was kidnapped?”

  “It’s a distinct possibility, but I’ll never know anything until I can go after her.”

  “Wait—” Maggie put her palms up. “You mean all this time while you’ve been helping me, you’ve been dealing with your own crisis?”

  “Yes.”

  “Where did she and your father
live?”

  “Prague.”

  “The Czech Republic.”

  He nodded somberly.

  There was so much she didn’t know about Jake. He only fed her information in bits and pieces. “You must feel helpless being this far away.”

  “Distance isn’t the problem. I could be there tonight. The booby trap that killed two other agents was an assassination attempt on the three of us. We were betrayed by a person we thought was on our side. My cover’s been blown.”

  “I knew you were with the CIA,” she whispered.

  Jake eyed her intently. “Those goggles blew my cover with you.”

  “Thank heaven for them. Because of you, a little girl and her family are going to have years of happiness together. But what about your stepmother? Isn’t anyone helping you to find her?”

  “Yes, but so far they haven’t picked up her trail. I lived there while I attended the University of Prague. I know where she goes, her haunts.”

  “You went to school there?”

  “Four years. My father worked for the Steiner toothpaste company whose headquarters are in Jacksonville. After the Velvet Revolution, Dad went over to help a private firm establish a Steiner branch in Prague. She lived in the same apartment building we did.

  “The two of them fell in love and got married. I lived with them and went to school before I joined the navy. I know their friends, their favorite vacation spots. I’m the one who needs to be over there searching for her.

  “The double agent who blew my cover knows I have family there. Whoever he takes orders from won’t think twice about kidnapping or killing her in retaliation. If she’s still alive, I have to get her out. The hell of it is, my superior won’t allow me to return to Prague because it’ll endanger other operatives in the field.”

  “And your life!”

  “I’m not concerned about that. One day soon I’ll find a way to infiltrate the city safely. It’s the least I can do since I’m the one responsible for putting my father and stepmother in jeopardy in the first place.”

  “What a horrible worry it must be.”

  He nodded. “According to my superior, she never reported for work after the funeral. I’d already left to get back to my job and didn’t know she was missing until a couple of months ago.”