Call of Duty 02 - Sworn to Protect

by DiAnn Mills

  Jacob needed to see Barbara before he lost his nerve. Three hours ago, Father Cornell had called a face-to-face with her imminent—a spiritual prescription for healing.

  “I’m beginning to wonder if I’m the one to blame for what has happened to my family.” Jacob had spent the past few days trying to figure out what kind of a man he’d become. Most of his findings were loathsome.

  “Why’s that?” The priest walked with him down the church hallway to his private office. He opened the door and gestured Jacob inside.

  Jacob wrestled with his thoughts and the right words to communicate them. Over the weekend, he’d begun to remember what life was like before Toby died. Jacob had loved life and his family. God was a priority, and he valued his career as a Border Patrol agent. With those memories came the realization he wanted back what he’d lost.

  “I want to be the man I used to be. Problem is I don’t think I’d recognize him if I met him on the street.”

  “The first step is to confess your sin and ask for forgiveness.”

  “Until yesterday, I didn’t think I had any.” Jacob slumped into a chair. “But everything’s gone. All the things I once felt were important. And I’m beginning to wonder if it’s my fault.”

  “Jacob, what do you want the most?”

  “My family.” His voice trembled.

  Father Cornell sighed. “Jacob, as long as your desires are about what pleases you, your heart will ache for all that is missing in your life.”

  Jacob sensed the angst rising in him, souring any hope for a fulfilled life. “Are you saying it’s wrong to want my wife and children? And what about Nadine? Do you have any idea what it’s like knowing you may never see your daughter again? She might be dead.”

  “You’re right. I have no clue about what you feel. But God does. His heart breaks every time we sin and deny Him. He wants us back, just like you want Nadine safe and your family beside you. Until you want your relationship with God restored, life is going to be a living hell.”

  Jacob hated what the priest was saying. It burned in a deep part of him where he couldn’t reach. He wanted out of his tragedy, but he wanted someone else to carry the blame. “I can’t go on like this. Most days I have to fight to keep from putting a gun to my head.” He stood and walked across Father Cornell’s office. “I even tried and didn’t have the guts to pull the trigger.”

  “There’s only one answer. Are you man enough to reclaim your relationship with God?”

  Jacob sensed the despair spreading through his heart. “I have no choice.”

  Father Cornell’s words still echoed across Jacob’s mind. He wrung his damp hands and climbed the marble steps to the second floor of Barbara’s office—to his wife—and, if it wasn’t too late, to his family.

  With fear of rejection nipping at his heels, he opened the door. Barbara looked pale, her eyes hollow, and she’d lost too much weight. Her frame had always been small, bouncing back into a tiny shape after the birth of each child. But she looked weary. Jacob had caused her misery, and if Father Cornell was right, he had to take the first step in reconciliation.

  “Barbara,” he heard his shaky voice say. His anger had fled like a thief in the night. Tenderness replaced the guilt and bitterness he once felt, and a sincere desire to make things right filled him.

  Her brown eyes lifted, at first in surprise and then in sadness.

  “Can we talk?” Should he have apologized first? “I mean, before you throw me out of here, can I have a minute?”

  “Why?” Her lips quivered.

  “Because I made horrible mistakes. I hurt you and our children. Because of me, Nadine is lost and alone somewhere. I’ve begged God to forgive me, and now I’m asking you. I’m begging you to forgive me. I . . . I don’t want to think of another day without you.”

  * * *

  Danika sensed her body was healing. Medication managed the pain and forced her into many sleeping hours. However, she hated to numb her body and brain. She denied the pain relievers until agony forced her to use the pump attached to her hand. Even going to the bathroom required assistance from the nurses’ station.

  She desperately needed to get back to work. The nightmare stalking her weeks ago had generated intense anger in her, and she wanted the shooter found. The idea of Jacob betraying the Border Patrol and having a hand in Toby’s demise continued to punctuate her waking and sleeping thoughts. Many dreadful things had happened to Jacob too, but did he cause it all? Nadine’s disappearance was the most critical. Could she be working against her own family, or was this a tragedy that Jacob caused by mixing with the wrong people? Nadine had not been a rebellious teenager until after Toby’s death, and nothing in her past indicated she would willingly embrace breaking the law.

  Danika’s thoughts went full circle. She had no answers to any of it. All she could do was stare at the ceiling of the hospital room and weigh the possibilities. Someone wanted Jacob and Danika destroyed. But why? What had the two of them done to warrant the repeated attacks? The Border Patrol and Homeland Security believed a disgruntled agent was responsible. But Danika didn’t think so. She sensed the answers were so obvious that she’d ignored the clues. Sandra had information, or she wouldn’t have refused to talk to anyone but Danika. She had to get out of the hospital and back on track.

  Noting it was time for the noon news, she clicked on the TV. She watched an interview with a local high school football coach and another news piece about senior citizens volunteering at schools in a mentoring program for at-risk elementary students.

  “Here is the latest on the fire at the home of a local resident. Barbara Morales woke at two this morning to the sound of an explosion in her garage. . . .”

  Danika gasped and increased the volume. Surely she’d not heard correctly.

  “Mrs. Morales rushed her three children outside to safety. The fire was contained to her garage, originating from an explosion inside her SUV. A watch belonging to her husband was found near the scene. Jacob Morales has been separated from his wife and family for several weeks. He’s the Border Patrol agent recently dismissed from his position due to abusing an undocumented immigrant. Morales is also under investigation as a possible suspect in the ongoing search for a Border Patrol insider who’s sharing secrets and procedures with those threatening U.S. borders. He’s been charged with arson and attempted murder and is being held on a $250,000 bond. More at five.”

  Danika clicked off the TV. Stunned, she allowed the news report to wash through her. All of the evidence that caused her to once suspect Jacob surfaced again.

  Dear God, be with Barbara. She needs You. Danika couldn’t call her. The police and Jimenez had ordered her not to contact anyone. When would this end?

  * * *

  Alex heard the news about Jacob’s arrest in between his rounds at the medical center. But the time slipped by until after lunch before he could squeeze out a few minutes to call Danika. He hoped she hadn’t seen the news report. The moment she answered the phone, he heard the despondency and realized she’d learned of the latest twist of events. “Have you had your TV on today?”

  “Oh yeah. I saw the photos of what’s left of Barbara’s garage and heard Jacob was arrested.” Her voice no longer held any emotion, and it bothered him.

  “How are you doing?”

  “I want out of here. I want to see Barbara and help her through all of this. I miss my daughter, and I’m grieving for what I know about Sandra and how Jacob’s insanity has nearly killed his family.” She took a deep breath, and the mournful sound tugged at Alex’s heart. “I want to get back to work.”

  “Honey, I know you want all of this to end, but the most important thing for you to do now is rest and heal.”

  “Are you patronizing me?”

  Great, he’d bumped her into a worse mood than before he phoned. Calling her “honey” hadn’t sat well either. “Not at all. I’m simply telling you the truth. You can’t help anyone until you’re healed from the surgery. Your goal r
ight now is to grow stronger.”

  Silence greeted him.

  “I’m being a pain,” she finally said. “I’m sorry. This bed and the guards outside my door and the suspicions about Jacob—and Nadine—are making me whine like a two-year-old. I’m writing down names and attempting to connect dots. The problem is I’m a Border Patrol agent, not a detective.”

  “Could you use a little company later on this evening?”

  “I have a poor attitude about everything.”

  “Try a nap.” Humor might help her surly mood.

  “If I thought all of this would disappear, I’d sleep for the next three days.”

  “Dr. Price has another prescription.”

  “What’s that?”

  “Prayer. I know you’ve prayed for the case to be solved, and I have too. But we haven’t prayed together.”

  She didn’t respond, and he wished he could see her face.

  “You have a powerful suggestion, Alex. Let’s do it.” She paused. “I appreciate you. Don’t imagine I’ve said those words enough.”

  The three words he wanted to hear rang through his head. Yet it was too soon to say them with all that was happening. But if he realized the beginnings of love, felt it, and whispered it, then they must be real.

  Chapter 49

  You need not be afraid of sudden disaster or the destruction that comes upon the wicked, for the Lord is your security. He will keep your foot from being caught in a trap.

  Proverbs 3:25-26

  Danika had to talk to Barbara. The horror of her sister-in-law’s home set on fire and Jacob’s arrest compounded with Nadine’s disappearance sounded like a prescription for a mental breakdown. Barbara had to wonder why Danika had not contacted her.

  With the door to her hospital room closed, she reached into her nightstand and pulled out her cell phone. Chief Jimenez and the police authorities would not approve of this call, but too bad. Barbara should be at work, but with all the tragedy, she might be tending to estimates for her house repairs. She answered her cell phone on the second ring.

  “Barbara, I just saw the news. I’m so sorry. Are you okay? What about the kids?”

  Her sister-in-law sighed, a mixture of grief and despair. “We’re doing the best we can. Shock best describes all of us. I can’t believe half of my house is destroyed. If I hadn’t wakened, we’d all be dead.”

  Danika struggled for the right words, knowing advice was not what Barbara needed. “I don’t know what to say except to cry with you.”

  “And I love you for your tears. What has happened to our family?” The morose tone of her voice caused Danika to shiver.

  “It seems that we’re being beaten, but we have to stay strong. We have children who depend on us. I think all we can do is believe the authorities will soon solve these crimes. I wish I was in a situation where I could visit you.”

  “Are you out of town with Sandra and Tiana?”

  Danika had promised to keep her whereabouts a secret, although she questioned whether she was any less a criminal by lying. “No. But I’m not in McAllen. Doesn’t look like I picked a good time to take a few days off.”

  “What could you do?”

  “Be there for you. Do you have a place to stay?” The moment Danika posed the statement, she regretted it. If Barbara and the kids needed her home, where would Danika go once she was released from the hospital?

  “We’re at my mother’s. Thanks anyway.”

  “Have you talked to Jacob?”

  “I’m driving to the jail after work. Something’s not right about the fire and his arrest. We talked yesterday afternoon—about the mistakes he’s made. He’s been meeting with a priest from our church and wants to put our family back together. That’s not a man who blows up his wife’s vehicle and sets his family’s house on fire.”

  Stunned, Danika no longer knew what to believe. That sounded like the man she remembered, the gentle giant who gave unselfishly to his family. “You’re certain he wouldn’t have done this?”

  “No matter how angry Jacob was with me in the past, he’d never try to hurt his children.”

  “He does love those kids.” And I hope his words to you were sincere.

  “You’re my role model right now, and Lucy is my encourager. You made it through Toby’s death and all of the investigation. With God, I can handle the damage done to our home and what the future holds for Jacob—and all of us.” Muffled sounds of weeping filled the phone line. “The police say Nadine’s fingerprints are on Jacob’s watch. But they are not letting anyone else know until they talk more with Jacob.”

  How should Danika respond to that bomb? She heard a buzz. “Do you have to go?”

  “Yes. Got another call. I appreciate your encouragement during all of this. I’d like to see you when you’re back in town. I desperately need your support.”

  “I’m praying, Barbara. I have my cell phone, so don’t hesitate to contact me.”

  Danika slipped her phone back into the nightstand drawer. Nadine’s fingerprints on Jacob’s watch? That aspect sickened her. Danika didn’t want to believe her niece would resort to attempted murder any more than she believed Jacob was capable of the same thing. The fire made no sense if Jacob had reached out in reconciliation. He was overprotective and stubborn, but not an arsonist. Or had Jacob and Nadine gone completely insane?

  She pulled out her notebook with all the scribblings about her life over the past two years. Making a list of everything that had happened might expose a piece of evidence.

  1. Toby’s murder, yet to be solved. He was supposedly killed by an illegal while administering care to the person.

  2. Jacob’s decline into bitterness and depression.

  3. Nadine’s rebellion against her dad’s rules; subsequent drug use.

  4. Rita found in safe house and taken to hospital. Did this have anything to do with what was happening?

  5. Arrested illegal threatens me.

  6. Nadine runs away from home.

  7. Jacob disciplined for abusing an illegal.

  8. Chief Jimenez questions me about Toby’s death. Station suspects rogue agent.

  9. Rita is murdered in the hospital, and the station receives a call that I’m next.

  10. Jacob receives a finger wearing Nadine’s ring.

  11. I receive a threatening call to my private cell phone.

  12. I see the woman who attended Toby’s funeral, and she runs away.

  13. Jacob is fired from the BP.

  14. I learn about Toby and Alex’s relationship.

  15. Alex is shot outside the restaurant while protecting me.

  16. Jimenez refuses my resignation. Jacob is suspected as a rogue agent.

  17. I find out from Alex that Toby helped Cira escape from a woman who fronts money for illegals. He was not unfaithful. Connection?

  18. Alex tells me that Sandra is illegal. Connection to Cira and Jacob? Is Nadine involved?

  19. Someone tries to kill me.

  20. Sandra’s arrest; she refuses to talk to anyone but me.

  21. Jacob arrested for setting Barbara’s house on fire. Nadine’s fingerprints found.

  Twenty-one events and no substantial clues. But her suspicions fluctuated between Jacob, Nadine, and Sandra. Perhaps all three?

  * * *

  Alex stepped into the hospital with a dozen red roses, a box of Ghirardelli chocolates, and a CD by Andrea Bocelli. Every time he considered how he’d nearly lost Danika, he wanted to tell her what he truly felt. Was it too soon to tell a woman he was falling in love with her? Possibly, especially when he understood Danika and Tiana’s world needed to be safe before taking on any commitments.

  Tomorrow the authorities would transport Danika to talk to Sandra. If the woman offered any clues—and the outlook for that looked optimistic—then arrests could be made.

  Alex nodded at the policemen outside Danika’s door. He offered his driver’s license, and they checked his information against a list of approved visitors before a
llowing him to enter her room.

  “Hey, gorgeous.”

  The flowers were no match for the brief sparkle in her eyes. “Are those for me or the cops posted outside the door?”

  He glanced at the roses. “I intended to use these as a bribe, but since they let me in, you can have them.” He set the pewter vase on the windowsill beside an equally large summer arrangement.

  “Between you and Chief Jimenez, I’m keeping the florists in business.” She lifted her chin. “Are those chocolates?”

  “Absolutely.” He handed her the candy and the CD.

  She inhaled the package of candy. “Not sure what smells the best, the flowers or the chocolates.” She tilted her head. “Have you come courting, Dr. Price?” The moment the words left her mouth, she reddened. “I don’t believe I said that. The pain medication has given me loose lips.”

  He laughed. “It’s most likely the truth. At least in a hospital, I feel comfortable courting in my own environment. Something we can talk about when this is over.”

  She rested her head on the pillow. Aside from blushing, she still lacked good color. “I want to apologize for all the times I’ve been rude.”

  “No problem. Remember, I kept information from you.”

  “Doesn’t excuse the way I behaved.” She reached up with her free hand, the one not attached to an IV, and he grasped it. “I’m sorry.”

  “Me too.” What a moment to kiss a beautiful lady, but he’d wait until she wasn’t numb from pain medication. “This whole immigration issue is tough to figure out. My church has Spanish services. They bring others and sing the loudest. I’m sure most of those attending are undocumented.”

  “My church has Spanish services too. We also offer classes in English. I’ve been asked to teach, but I can’t. Not with what I do, but those asking don’t know I’m a Border Patrol agent. Christians all along the border face controversial issues when it comes to our faith and our laws.”

  “The situation with Sandra has to break your heart.”