The Fifth Kingdom

by Caridad Piñeiro

  After about another half an hour of questioning, the colonel and commander excused themselves, obviously dissatisfied with his answers, but seemingly aware that they would not get any additional information from him.

  ADIC Williams stood with his hands clasped before him. He had been relatively silent during the interrogation, but after the two men departed, he relaxed a little. “What’s the hold up, Bill?” he asked when they were alone.

  “What do we know about them? About why they’re here?”

  “They’re here as part of a joint effort to combat the terrorists and drug cartels in the area.”

  “But we determined that Los Leones were not involved in this, Pete,” he said, using his ADIC’s first name to make this a man-to-man chat rather than anything more official.

  “I agree, but maybe there’s something they’re not telling us that would say otherwise. Just like there’s something you’re not saying,” Pete challenged.

  Bill trusted him, but was still leery of saying too much at the moment. Instead, he changed the topic. “What about the PM members? How many did we capture?”

  “None, except Lopez. The rest decided to make it a fight to the death,” Pete responded, obviously disturbed about that result.

  It likewise brought Bill little comfort that they were dealing with such zealots. Although this PM cell had decided to commit suicide by cop, there were still other PM cells out there to fill the void and with Lopez alive, risk would continue to surround the stone.

  “What will happen with Lopez?” he asked, his concern plainly evident to Pete.

  “The military has assumed jurisdiction. He’s being treated as an enemy combatant.”

  Which meant that Lopez could remain in confinement for a long time, but even with that, Bill still worried that Lopez remained a possible problem when it came to the relic. More reason for him to keep its existence from Pete and the military men.

  “I guess there’s nothing else for us to do here, is there?” Bill prompted, hoping that Pete would understand that Bill would not be releasing any other information regarding the mission.

  Pete shrugged, but then smiled broadly. “Nothing except getting you a chaplain once Doctor Vasquez’s father arrives later today. I’m assuming you’d like to wait for him to give her away.”

  “You assumed right,” Bill replied with a broad grin, thankful for Pete’s support.

  “I’ll go see what I can do.”

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Her father arrived at the military base late that afternoon and the reunion between her parents was touching. Although they had been in touch via phone and email, it was clear they had not really seen each other in some time. They both stared as if it was for the first time.

  “You’re so beautiful,” her father said and passed a hand over Miranda’s dark auburn hair, which barely had hints of gray.

  Her seemingly no-nonsense mother tittered like a young schoolgirl and nearly preened before finding her voice. “You look wonderful also,” she replied and in response, her father straightened and seemed to grow in stature before her eyes.

  Seeing their reactions, she decided it was best to give them some time alone and excused herself, eager to go see Bill. He had been moved to a different wing now that his condition had improved so markedly during the course of the day.

  At the door to their makeshift quarters, Deanna asked the private on duty for an escort and within a few minutes, another young soldier was there to take her to Bill.

  He was now in a private room and as she walked in, the smile he sent her made her heart clench with relief. He truly was going to be okay.

  She walked to his side and he patted the bed beside him. She sat there and leaned forward, kissed him with every ounce of the emotion she was feeling. He responded in kind, cradling the back of her head in his big hand and returning the kiss until they were both shaking with need.

  Reluctantly she pulled away. “I don’t think you’re up for more right now, mi amor.”

  “Not yet, but soon,” he teased and rubbed the back of his hand along her cheek.

  She grasped that hand and brought it close to her heart. “Papi arrived a little while ago. He and Mom are having their own kind of reunion.”

  “Are you okay with that?” he asked, dipping his head to meet her downturned gaze.

  “I think I am. It’s all kind of…weird and confusing,” she confessed.

  “Why?”

  She hunched her shoulders and finally met his gaze full-on. “I guess because I didn’t expect to like her.”

  “Is that a bad thing?” he asked and she knew that he would understand when she answered.

  “Only if she disappoints me again.”

  Bill was obviously considering his response when a knock came at the door. Glancing at her to make sure she was okay with the interruption, he called out, “Come in.”

  ADIC Williams stuck his head into the room. “I hope I’m not intruding.”

  As he walked in, Deanna sensed a difference in the man from his earlier stiffness. That he and Bill had come to terms somehow was obvious as they shared an enthusiastic handshake and Williams dipped his head in greeting.

  “Good to see you again, Deanna. I’ve brought something for the two of you.” He reached into his pants pocket and extracted a small velvet bag which he handed over to Bill.

  “I thought you might need those,” he said as Bill opened the bag and spilled out two gold wedding bands.

  “You may need to resize them,” Williams added, but Bill clapped him on the back in thanks.

  “That was very thoughtful of you,” she said, truly overwhelmed by his actions.

  “You can’t fight Fate, can you?” Williams said and glanced between the two of them, making Deanna wonder what, if anything, Bill had revealed to him. But she guarded her tongue so she wouldn’t inadvertently give anything away.

  “We appreciate it, Pete. Now that Deanna’s father is here—”

  “I took the initiative to get you a wedding license and spoke to the Roman Catholic priest in town. Richards and Mendoza have agreed to let him preside over the ceremony if you’d like.”

  She exchanged a glance with Bill and with a slow sexy smile that caused her heart to skip a beat, he said, “We’d like that.”

  It wasn’t how she had envisioned her wedding, mostly because she had never imagined herself getting married. Her parents had left too sour a taste in her mouth about happily-ever-after really existing. But as she stood beside Bill’s hospital bed, dressed in a plain white peasant-style blouse that one of the female soldiers had offered up as a gift when she’d heard about the event, nothing had ever seemed so right.

  Her father had walked her to where Bill sat in bed while her mother stood off to one side holding the rings and watching the joyous event. Behind Miranda stood Bill’s boss in addition to an assortment of nurses, doctors and military, including the soldier who had so graciously donated the blouse.

  It couldn’t have been more beautiful a wedding, Deanna thought as her mother handed her the ring to slip on Bill’s finger.

  Bill’s hand shook when Deanna eased on the ring, repeating words he had never expected to hear. “I, Deanna, take thee, Bill, to be my lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and health, until death do us part.”

  His heart nearly hurt, it was so full to bursting with love as he accepted the matching ring from Miranda and took hold of Deanna’s hand. He offered up his own vows and for the first time in his life he believed forever was possible. He imagined the two of them growing old together. Pictured her with child, acknowledging that with love all things were possible.

  A rather untraditional cheer rose up as the priest finished the ceremony and they shared a kiss to seal their vows. It yanked a smile to his face and he felt the shape of her grin against his lips. “I love you,” he murmured.

  “I love you too,” she echoed.


  After she exchanged hugs with her parents and well wishes from those present, another surprise arrived in the form of a candlelit dinner for two from the base cantina. Carefully he shifted over on the bed to allow Deanna to sit beside him. They fed each other bites of the tender steak, fries and salad in between kisses and tender caresses. For dessert there were two vanilla cupcakes with multicolored sprinkles.

  “I have a confession to make,” she said as she fed him a piece of frosting-laden cupcake.

  He held her hand steady as she brought the piece near, took the bite and then licked a bit of frosting from her fingertip. As her gaze widened, he sucked her finger into his mouth and then worked his way to her palm, where he placed a kiss.

  “So not fair,” she replied on a shaky breath before bending to kiss him, loving him with a tender kiss that left no doubt about her desire.

  “So not right that we’re spending our wedding night in a hospital bed,” he whispered against her lips, but kept on kissing her, loath to break contact until her earlier words came back to him.

  “What was that confession?” he asked as he broke off a piece of his cupcake and fed it to her.

  After she swallowed, she leaned her head on his shoulder and placed her hand over his heart. “I never imagined this…being married. Being part of a family.”

  He rubbed her hand, his actions meant to soothe. “Having second thoughts?”

  “Not at all. You’ll be there for me and I promise, I’ll be there for you,” she said, confirming what he already knew deep in his heart.

  They finished the cupcakes in a few more bites and then Deanna pushed away the rolling hospital table. Bill reclined the bed and Deanna lay on her side and carefully leaned into him. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders, providing her a place to pillow her head.

  For long moments they savored the peace of being together. But soon the question arose which they had both been avoiding for some time.

  “What do you want to do with the stone?” Deanna asked, her voice muted and filled with worry.

  “I wish I could say I trust Richards and Mendoza—”

  “But you don’t and neither do I,” she said, half glancing at him from her spot on his shoulder.

  “Then let’s keep it our secret for now.” He wasn’t going anywhere for at least a week or more. That would give him time to better assess the two military men and also discuss it with Pete Williams. He had no hesitation about Pete’s judgment. Maybe with Williams’s input, Deanna, Miranda and he could reach the right decision about what to do with the relic.

  “I think that makes the most sense. Maybe when things are a little calmer, the decision won’t be so difficult,” she replied and inched upward, kissed the edge of his jaw.

  Bending his head, he captured hers with one big hand and smiled. “You don’t think I’ll be content with just that miserly kiss, do you?”

  Grinning, she shifted again until she was eye to eye with him on the bed. “I guess you expect a little more from your new wife.”

  “A lot more,” he said with a boyish grin and proceeded to show her just how much was possible even though he was wounded.

  Gonzalo ran his fingers along the edges of the relic, admiring the handiwork that had etched the glyphs into the gold, silver and obsidian of the sun stone. “Did you know that gold was so plentiful with the Aztecs that it wasn’t considered precious, but an obsidian as pure as this—black as a moonless night—was considered sacred?”

  Miranda smiled indulgently at her husband and his genuine delight over the relic. “I know, Gonzalo,” she said lovingly and sat beside him on the bed in the room he had been offered.

  He laughed at himself and shook his head. “Of course, you do. You’re an expert in this area.”

  “But not expert enough to know about the existence of this stone and what it can do,” she chastised, aware that her discovery could have serious implications for so many if it fell into the wrong hands.

  Gonzalo glanced around the room, belatedly showing concern about the fact that they might be under surveillance, but Miranda reassured him. “I checked quite carefully before I brought out the stone. It’s safe to talk here.”

  Despite her words, Gonzalo leaned close to her and whispered, “You say you can travel through time with it?”

  Miranda shrugged. “More like you can travel back in time, but it requires a blood sacrifice.”

  Gonzalo peered at the relic again and held it up to the light, examining its construction once more. With a shake of his head, he said, “I still don’t understand how that’s possible.”

  “I know it’s hard to believe, but Deanna claims to have done it. At least three times.”

  Her husband shook his head in disbelief, but then said, “Deanna is not one for telling tales, so if she says that it’s so…”

  “She told me that she could only move back a short amount of time,” Miranda offered, sharing part of a conversation the two women had had earlier that day, during the headlong rush to prepare for the wedding.

  A wedding. Her daughter was married and that meant that one day, she might be a grandmother.

  “Your eyes are so sad. What are you thinking about?” Gonzalo asked and cradled her cheek.

  “Deanna is married. To a good man from what I can see.”

  “I’ve spent some time with them together. I think he will be good for her. Stable,” her husband said and his words were like a knife through her heart.

  “Stable. Not like me.”

  Gonzalo set the stone aside and took her into his arms, feeling the years fall away as Miranda returned the embrace. “Things can be different now.”

  Miranda shook her head. “How can they? As long as the stone isn’t in a safe place, how can we even try to live a normal life?”

  “Then let’s make sure it is in a safe place,” he replied.

  Miranda shifted away from him, eyeing him with puzzlement. “I don’t understand.”

  “You and I together. We can make sure that we never have to worry about the stone falling into the wrong hands.” As if to prove his point, he reached for the relic, grabbed it and brought it between them. Laid her hands on it as it rested in his lap and then placed his hands on hers.

  “Together, my love,” he urged.

  With the hint of an accepting smile emerging on her face, Miranda repeated, “Together, my love.”

  Chapter Thirty

  Deanna hated to leave the serenity of being in Bill’s arms, but she had a nagging sense that something was wrong.

  Call it intuition or some reawakened maternal connection that pulled her from his side and back to the quarters she was sharing with her mother. Her father had been given a room right next door where he had gotten settled the afternoon before.

  She stopped by her father’s room first. Although it was just past six in the morning, he was usually an early riser, preferring to read in those quiet morning hours.

  Knocking on the door, she waited for an answer. None came.

  She tried the knob. The door was unlocked and she entered.

  Both beds were empty, although it looked like someone—maybe even two someones—had shared one of the beds based on the indents in the mattress. Driving away the myriad thoughts that raced through her brain, she bounded to the room she had shared with her mother, knocked on the door. Silence greeted her once again.

  Deanna threw the door open, but the room was empty. Both beds were perfectly made, confirming to her that her mother had spent the night with her father. The thought was both disturbing and heartening. She wanted happiness for both of them, having sensed for some time that her father had not been truly happy. After spending time with her mother, she had detected the same kind of unhappiness.

  Seeing them together yesterday and during her wedding had revealed the why of that melancholy: they belonged with each other.

  But somewhere safe, she thought. Her father was not an adventurer by any stretch of the imagination. She combed the room for signs of he
r knapsack and relief filled her as she found it tucked into one of the larger dresser drawers. The relief was short-lived as she undid the ties on the pack and peered within.

  The sun stone was gone. In its place was an envelope addressed to her in her father’s chicken-scratch writing.

  Hands trembling, she removed the envelope and opened it. Read what was written on the single sheet of paper.

  “Everyone must have one grand adventure in life. You’ve had yours and now it’s time for mine. Do not worry about your mother and me. We will see you in time for the start of school.”

  Knees shaking, she plopped down on the bed, gathering herself. Her mother and father gone together. Off on an adventure and with the relic in their possession.

  She would have to tell Bill and then they would take it from there.

  Folding the sheet in half and sticking it back into the envelope, she tucked it into her back jeans pocket, set her pack down on the floor and then returned to Bill.

  He opened his eyes at the first sound of her footfall and immediately gauged her state of mind. “What’s wrong?”

  “I’m not sure if wrong is the right word. Confused. Happy.” She shrugged and sat beside him. Pulled the envelope from her pocket and handed it to him.

  As he read, his eyes opened wide, but then a smile erupted on his face. “Do we only get one great adventure or are you ready to go on many more with me?”

  She thought of all the places she had been and the many others she wished to visit. Imagined how much better they would be with him by her side to share them. Shifting toward him, she paused when she was just an inch from his lips.

  “Our journey has only just begun,” she said and kissed him so he would have no doubt about the many adventures that awaited him as her husband.

  Epilogue

  Bill parked the car in front of the small Cape Cod-style house in Levittown. Although the one-story home was tiny, it was lovingly cared for. A fresh coat of sunny yellow adorned the clapboards and the windows were framed by navy blue shutters. The front door was the same navy color but its severity was tempered by a bright floral wreath. Multicolored flowers in full bloom lined the beds of the home and the deep emerald green of a manicured lawn.