by Terry Spear
The phone rang. Deidre took a breath, but then she saw it was Charlie. Worried about him, she grabbed up the receiver. “Hello?”
“Hey, Sis. How’s it going?”
“Charlie.”
Dave winked at her.
“Listen, I need to ask a favor of you.”
“Sure, Charlie. What do you need?”
“I’ve got this new girlfriend—”
“What happened to Marilyn?”
Dave chuckled. Deidre placed her finger on her lips to shush him.
“She’s not the kind of gal who’s interested in settling down.”
Deidre rolled her eyes. “Sorry to hear that.”
“So, Dave tells me you’re transferring to Fort Meade.”
“He told you before he told me?” She gave Dave an irritated look.
“That’s only forty-five minutes from where I work. When you return, we could all get together and have dinner out and—”
“Go dancing? Somehow this sounds familiar. But, I haven’t a clue where Dave’s next assignment is.”
Dave nuzzled her face with his as he wrapped his arms around her waist.
“Didn’t he tell you? He owns a condo in Glen Burnie, only a few minutes from Fort Meade.”
She glanced back at Dave as he waggled his brows. She poked him in the shoulder. “No, he forgot to mention that he lives in Glen Burnie.” She couldn’t believe he’d actually gotten an assignment for her so they could be together.
“Have we got a date?”
“Ah, Charlie, I can’t always tell about these women you—”
“Yes! It’s a date. As soon as you return home, give me a call. My number is 286-321-4590. I’ll let you get back to whatever you were doing.”
She shook her head. She never could say no to her brother. “All right, Charlie. Try to keep yourself out of trouble until I get there.”
She hung up the phone, then turned to Dave and folded her arms. “You arranged this whole thing so I could be near you. Why didn’t you tell me?”
He looked more pleased than she had ever seen him.
She wrapped her arms around his neck again and kissed him generously on the mouth.
He replied with a greedy response. Taking a deep breath, he stopped. “Okay, the even greater news is you don’t report to your new job for two weeks. We’ve got airline tickets and rooms reserved. You need to pack your bags.”
Her head still spun with the realization she was leaving Fort Hood. That she was going to be living close to Dave. That she could continue to see him. And even be close enough to her brother to keep tabs on him. Nothing else was sinking in. “What are you talking about?”
“We’re going first to Las Vegas, if that works for you. Later, we can have a fancier wedding, but…” He fished a velvet box out of his pants pocket. “I’m getting this all out of order. I couldn’t live without you in my life, so say you’ll marry me.” He opened the box for her.
It was just too much. Too good to be true. She was still reeling about Fort Meade! She looked at the sparkling solitaire diamond. “This is for real?” He was just smiling down at her, looking like he couldn’t have been happier. She smiled up at him. “That means I need to cancel on Josh Henderson’s date?”
Johnson and Bill laughed. She’d forgotten they were in the room.
Dave chuckled. “Yeah, that’s kind of a given. You don’t like his kisses anyway.”
“I love you.” From the bottom of her heart she did. He kissed her again and then slid the engagement ring on her finger.
His dark brown eyes twinkled as he led her into the bedroom. “We’ve got to hurry though. Pack bathing suits, sunscreen, that sexy black dress. We’re going to Hawaii after a quick trip to Las Vegas.”
“You can’t be serious.” Her heart pounded wildly. She was really going to Hawaii with the man of her dreams? And she was going to be married? She still hadn’t gotten used to the idea. “I don’t have any bags. My others were lost when the flood swept our SUV away in Florida.”
He smiled and clicked his fingers with authority. Johnson and Bill hurried out of the apartment.
“I…I need to call my parents.”
“Done.”
She stared at him. “You told my parents we were getting married?”
He grinned at her. “Well…I said I was proposing and I was sure you were accepting, but I just wanted to ask them if it was okay.”
“What did they say?” She couldn’t believe it. She just could imagine how shocked they’d be.
“Once they heard I’d been the one keeping you safe, and your brother had already called them to tell them what a wonderful guy I was, kind of setting the stage, your father said it was about time someone was there to protect you.”
Deidre brushed away errant tears and hugged Dave tight. “I love you.”
“I love you, Deidre. You don’t know how relieved I was you agreed to marry me. Especially with Johnson and Bill watching. Your mom wants a wedding though. We can plan for it after we get back.”
She shook her head. “I take it you’ll want to invite your friends.”
“They wouldn’t miss it for the world. And my boss wants to come, too—just to see who all his agents are talking about. He said he knows me to be strictly an all-business kind of guy, and wants to know what happened this time. You, is what happened.”
Smiling, she shook her head.
Johnson and Bill carried a brand new set of matching red canvas luggage into the bedroom.
Bill gave her a peck on the cheek. “Have fun for me.”
Johnson shrugged. “He wouldn’t let us come, but we’ll sure be thinking about the great time the two of you are having. And we’ll see you later.” He gave her a brief hug.
Tears brimmed in her eyes as the agents left the apartment. “Dave—”
He kissed her lightly on the lips. “We’ve got to go, Deidre. Hurry and pack. We don’t want to miss our flight.”
***
Now a married woman on her way to Hawaii with the man she loved most of all, she was going to play in the white sand beaches and crystal clear blue water. Deidre sipped her champagne while her hand interlocked with Dave’s as they reclined in their airline seats. She fully intended to cherish every moment with him.
“What are you thinking, Deidre? You’ve been awfully quiet the last hour.”
“I didn’t think I’d ever find someone who would believe in me and not shun me.” Her voice cracked with emotion. A tear rolled down her cheek.
Turning her head toward the window, she stared into the ocean of blue sky mottled with wisps of fluffy, white clouds. But her thoughts were of him, his ever-attentive ways, his determination to keep her safe at all costs and those dark eyes she knew were studying her now with concern. She hoped that in the future, he wouldn’t be upset with what she could do or how she had to deal with situations as they arose.
The armrest between them was pushed up and out of the way, and he drew close. His warm breath caressed her neck. He leaned farther into her seat and kissed her cheek. “Deidre.”
She wiped a tear away. “Damned allergies.” Her voice was soft.
He chuckled. His fingers caressed hers, and he sighed in resignation. “You’ve stolen something from me.”
She turned to face him. Stolen?
“When I arrived in Killeen, I was told I had to protect a Cpt. Deidre Roux. Well, actually, Marilyn was supposed to, but we drew straws and I—”
“Lost.”
Dave smiled. “I’d expected a woman with short-cropped hair, no makeup, smelled of sweat—”
“Did you know many female officers like this while you served on active duty?”
“Just one. But the way I get assignments, that’s what I figured I would have been stuck with.” He ran his hand over her denim skirt. “I watched you walk across the parking lot—those long shapely legs in those killer short shorts. And a blouse that hugged the most delectable part of you.”
He knew how to make he
r smile.
She kissed his cheek. “So you did know Charlie was in my apartment after all when you came to my rescue.”
“Scouts honor, no. We knew he was on his way. We found he’d forwarded his mail to your address. But we’d lost track of him in traffic in Dallas. Bad eighteen-wheeler accident. I really thought one of the guys who had killed the literary agent was in your apartment.”
“How did you know about the hang-ups?”
“Phone was tapped. But still, like I said, the way you answered the phone, then hung it up without a word, I knew right away, it was a hang-up. We figured the killers were calling to see if Charlie was there yet. There wasn’t any reason for them to search your apartment until he arrived as he still had the manuscripts.”
“What about the author of the manuscript?”
“Your boss finally told us the lieutenant had worked for him and had written the story. He tried to blackmail your boss. Then when that didn’t work, the lieutenant mailed the disk to the faux literary agent. Your boss had already paid for a hit on the lieutenant. After he had the lieutenant killed, he discovered the young man had sent the information to the agent. More heads had to roll—the literary agent’s and three of his editors.”
“But the one who died in the apparent suicide attempt?”
“Somebody else Ramsdodt didn’t like. He figured this one would throw us off completely. And it worked, temporarily. The manuscript sent to the news media was a phony. When we began to investigate the details, none of the information could be verified. We assumed then, the real manuscript still hadn’t been found.
“As to Red, Ramsdodt had hired him earlier when he was assigned to one of the countries where there’d been a lot of strife. Ramstodt’s boss learned the lieutenant colonel was black marketing arms and LTC Ramstodt had Red silence his boss. That’s how it all began.
“Apparently the lieutenant had overheard the conversation between LTC Ramstodt and his own boss. The lieutenant kept quiet until after he had written the book.”
Deidre took a deep breath. “So many lives. And to think he did it just for money.”
“Yeah. Did you ever get a load of his wife? She’s twenty years younger than him. A Norwegian bombshell.”
“Maybe he should have had an older wife.”
“He had one of those, too. Upon further investigation, she slipped off a cruise ship, mysteriously. Everyone said it was suicide.”
Deidre shook her head. “Sure, he only had to give her a little push to help her with her suicide attempt.”
“That’s why he was never charged with anything. He didn’t go with her. She was with a younger man. A redhead…awfully similar description to Red. We think now he somehow got his wife hooked up with Red and that was the last anyone ever saw of her.”
“Did you ever learn about the coffee at the hospital you said you thought had been tampered with?”
“Yeah. It had been. Since the colonel was your boss, he was updated as to where you were. But that night, I’m certain the man he sent would have tried to get to you in your hospital room, but you slipped out before he’d realized it. He must have followed me back to your apartment. Once we were on the road headed for the hospital, he tried to take us out then.”
She shook her head.
Dave leaned his head against Deidre’s. “Enough talk of this. We need to get some sleep because when we get to Hawaii, we’re not going to be getting any.”
“Promises, promises.” And she knew he had every intention of keeping them…or she would.
***
Later that evening the ipu heke gourd drum, ipu hokiokio gourd nose flute and uliuli rattle provided a rhythmic beat and resonant pounding while hula dancers whipped their grass skirts back and forth at the luau. One of the young Hawaiian dancers urged Dave from his seat and in floral shirt and orchid lei, he grinned all the way to the stage.
Deidre snapped photos of him, but a male dancer quickly escorted her along with several other guests to the stage. With a few lessons in hip and hand movements, the whole group danced the hula to laughter, music and clapping.
Deidre had never had so much fun though she never imagined anyone could have convinced her to go on stage. Dave slipped his arm through hers as they finished their dance and returned to the table. She ran her hand over her long dress and the orchids imprinted along one side.
He leaned over and kissed her naked neck above her floral lei. “You sure are sexy in that dress.”
Her hand slipped to his lightly hair-covered thigh just below his denim shorts. “I like this Hawaiian look of yours, cowboy.”
Wrapping his arm around her waist, he grinned. “Just think what I’d look like without it.”
“I’ve been thinking of that, if you must know.” She sipped her Blue Hawaiian, the coconut flavor swimming in rum.
He chuckled.
She laughed. The warm breeze drifted off the waters while torches cast romantic shadows over the luau. The aroma of roasting pork tantalized their sense of smell. “You know, I wouldn’t have wanted to have shared this special time with anyone but you.”
“That’s good to hear. I wouldn’t have allowed it anyway.”
***
The next morning, Dave pulled Deidre close in the rolling aqua waves and kissed her salty cheeks as their toes stood in the sugar white sand. “You sure are beautiful.”
“You sure are handsome.”
They had been up most of the night and after a little swim, they were going back up to the room for a nap. Though if they were ever going to get any sleep, one of them needed to stay on the couch. Neither was budging from the bed though.
“Do you want to get out and have a bottled water?” Dave asked.
“Certainly.” Deidre smiled as he studied her wet bathing suit.
“I sure like that bathing suit of yours.”
“I noticed.”
“Now that we’re married, you need to model a string bikini for me.”
“What if you don’t like what you see?”
“We’ll get a refund.”
She laughed and shook her head. “I love you.”
“The feeling’s mutual.” He kissed her mouth, their tongues touched briefly, then he grinned. “Being with you in water sure drives me crazy.” With a ragged breath, he walked her to the chaise lounges and when she stretched out, he headed for the drink stand.
At once, the tightening in her forehead began. She sat and stared at the blue waters. A boy cried out in her vision, his body burning in pain.
She bolted from the chair and ran across the sand. A young man holding a body board while he talked to a bikini-clad girl, caught Deidre’s eye. She grabbed his board and he shouted, “Hey!” as she rushed into the water with it.
“Return it in a minute!” she hollered back.
Scooting across the rolling waves, she headed for an outcropping of coral and spied the boy. His face scrunched up in pain as tears rolled down his cheeks. The red marks from his swim mask still imprinted his small face, but his mask was missing.
She reached for his arm. “Here, honey, grab hold.” As soon as he grabbed the board, she swam over to the coral and reached down to get his mask. With the strap secured to her wrist, she swam back to the board. “Where are your parents?”
“My older sister is snorkeling over there.” He waved at the coral. “Dad ran into the hotel to use the bathroom. Mom’s taking a nap.”
Deidre spied the girl whose face was submerged in the water. “Her name?”
“It really burns.”
“You’ve been cut on the coral. But we need to let your sister knowing I’m taking you in.”
“Her name’s Jane.”
“Jane!”
With her head submerged, the girl couldn’t hear Deidre’s shouts. “Will you be all right for a moment? I need to get your sister’s attention.”
“I want to go in.”
“All right. I’m going to swim with you. Just keep hollering your sister’s name while I s
wim to her.”
The boy yelled his sister’s name repeatedly as Deidre joined the girl and touched her arm. She lifted her head with a jerk.
“Your brother’s been hurt on the coral. I’m taking him to the shore. Maybe you ought to come in with him, too.”
She nodded.
Deidre and the girl swam back to the boy and floated him into the beach.
“Dad!” the boy yelled when they touched the sandy bottom.
“Your son was cut on the coral, sir,” Deidre said to the boy’s father as she handed the boy’s mask to his sister. She took a deep breath, trying to settle her worry. “You might want to get it looked at as they can get infected from the bacteria in the coral.”
“Thank you, miss.”
Deidre handed the board back to the owner. “Sorry,” she said.
“No problem, I guess.”
He turned and walked away. Dave watched her from twenty yards away with a bottled water in each hand, a brow quirked in question.
She crossed the sand to join him.
Tilting his head down slightly he said, “I thought you were a runaway bride.”
She smiled as she took her bottle of water and kissed his cheek. “Not me.”
He shook his head. “You were supposed to leave the next rescue to me.”
“Next one.” Not if it was in one of her visions. She wrapped her arm around his waist as he slipped his over her shoulder. Yeah, life just couldn’t get any better than this. She squeezed him tight, and he changed course toward the hotel.
When she looked up at him inquisitively, he grinned back at her.
“I thought we’d ensure the vision you had last night would really come to pass,” Dave said.
Dave was sure cute. Of course the twins would arrive just as she foretold, right on time.
###
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
USA Today Bestselling and award-winning author of urban fantasy and medieval historical romantic suspense, Terry Spear also writes true stories for adult and young adult audiences. Heart of the Wolf was named in Publishers Weekly's BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR and was NOR Reader Choice for BEST PARANORMAL ROMANCE.
