“I love you so much,” Morgan whispered roughly, kissing her hair. Patting her shoulder, he added, “And I’m sorry, so sorry about this, Kathy. It wasn’t right that you had to try and even the scales with the Garcias.” He choked and buried his face against her.
Morgan didn’t know how long he held his tall, stalwart daughter, but he felt her crying, her body shaking in convulsions of pain. All he could do was hold her and gently rock her in his arms as he had when she was a baby.
“I’m sorry,” Morgan soothed, “So sorry that I did this to all of you. It’s my fault, not yours, Pet. The score was settled with Guillermo dying.” He ran his trembling hand across her soft, silky hair. Her sobs deepened and Morgan bore the brunt of her anguish. How long had Kathy held on to this vengeance? Probably since the kidnapping so many years ago. Why hadn’t he seen it in her? Probably because he felt with Guillermo dying, the score had been settled.
Why hadn’t he recognized that while she hadn’t been kidnapped, she had been as adversely affected as her loved ones who had been? And even more importantly, why hadn’t he established a deep communication with his daughter, so that he’d know what was eating away at her like some shadowy monster? Hot tears flooded into his tightly shut eyes. Oh, God, he’d failed again as a father, as a parent. Was he ever going to get this right? Parenting was the hardest job in the world as far as Morgan was concerned
As Kathy’s sobs lessened, Morgan eased her away from him. The tears streaming down her reddened face, the inconsolable grief in her eyes, ripped him apart even more. He lifted his hand and pulled a white linen handkerchief from the breast pocket of his suit coat, awkwardly dabbing at his daughter’s damp face.
“I’m sorry, so sorry, Kathy. I failed you—again. I should have talked to you about this. I should have known what was going on inside your head a long time ago.” Feeling utterly helpless, Morgan blotted his own eyes. He felt Kathy’s hands on his upper arms and saw her smile brokenly through her pain.
“Dad, it’s okay. How could you know?”
“I could have asked. And I didn’t.”
Shaking her head, Kathy murmured softly, “Dad, everyone was so wounded after that kidnapping. They tortured you for months! You were so close to dying when they rescued you. All I could do was cry a lot and pray you wouldn’t leave me.”
After he stuffed the handkerchief back in his pocket, Morgan gripped his daughter’s cool hands. “Listen to me. I failed you terribly. Once I recovered, I should have started understanding how the kidnapping had affected you, too. I just didn’t think it had, Pet. Looking back on all of this now, I realize how stupid that was on my part. How could you not have been affected?”
Kathy cherished this moment of brutal honesty with him. “For so long, I wanted to tell you how I felt, but I was afraid to, Dad. I knew Guillermo was dead but I didn’t feel they’d suffered enough. It was like a monster growing inside me, pushing me, and by the time I entered the Naval Academy, that’s all I could think about.” Kathy saw the suffering in Morgan’s eyes as she admitted the truth. But it was time to get it all out on the table.
“In the academy I used all my knowledge, information and networking contacts to build this mission. I’d had the idea for a long, long time. The SEAL commander is a good friend of mine.”
“And he still is,” Morgan told her. “He didn’t tell me a thing.”
Tilting her head, she asked, “Then how did you find out?”
“Mike Houston figured it out.”
Quirking her lips, Kathy said, “That was the one door I couldn’t nail shut. I feared that Houston might figure it out.”
“I’m glad he did, Pet. Come on, sit down,” Morgan said, guiding her to the chair behind the desk. He perched his hip on the desktop and faced his daughter. “There are some things you need to know, Kathy. I decided a long time ago not to try and get even with the Garcias.”
“Why not, Dad? That’s something I could never understand. They hurt us so badly. It wasn’t right.”
“I know, I know. But Kathy, maybe as you get older you’ll understand what I’m going to say. When the kidnapping occurred, I was at fault for not protecting my family well enough. I was arrogant. I thought they’d never have the guts to come after my family in Washington, D.C. But they did.
“After being rescued, I spent my recuperation figuring out a way to keep all of you safe and protected. That’s why we moved to Montana and I created that fictitious tourist business as a front for Perseus. I felt all of us had suffered enough. Too much.”
Morgan sighed, looking more deeply into his daughter’s eyes. She had to understand why he’d done what he had. “Did I want to get even with the Garcias? Yes, I did. We mounted a mission and Guillermo was killed. I felt the score was evened. What I learned from all that was to put my family first, Kathy. I knew if I tried to continue retaliation, they’d come after my loved ones again. And that’s something I couldn’t bear to have happen twice.”
“Oh, God, Dad.” Kathy looked down at her tightly knit hands. “Have I just put all of us at risk again?” She’d never thought of this angle. Shaken to the core, she realized that she was just as much of an extremist as the drug lords. Looking up, tears welling in her eyes, she whispered brokenly, “Oh, don’t tell me I’ve screwed it up for the family.”
Shrugging, he said, “I don’t know yet. That ATF agent you worked with is supposed to go back sometime today to Garcia’s villa and see who survived.” Morgan grimaced. “I’m going with him.”
“So am I.”
Morgan hesitated. He saw the rigid set of Kathy’s jaw and the look of stubbornness burning in her eyes. “Why?”
“Because of Tiki, Garcia’s daughter. That little girl is innocent, Dad. I got to take care of her for many months and she’s the sweetest child. I woke up this morning worrying about her. Is she alive? Dead? Wounded? I can barely stand not knowing. I’m going back there to find out. I have to.”
“And yet your focus was to do what? Kidnap her to get even with Garcia?”
Hanging her head, Kathy muttered, “Yeah, that was the plan.”
“But it changed,” Morgan said, watching fresh tears track down his daughter’s cheeks.
Sniffing, Kathy rubbed her nose with the back of her hand. “Yeah, it did. When it came time to do it, I couldn’t. I realized I wouldn’t put another child through what Jason went through. I’ve seen the result of his kidnapping. Tiki was another innocent victim and I didn’t want to do that to her.” Kathy wiped the tears from her face with trembling fingers. “I wanted Garcia to suffer, Dad. I wanted it so badly.”
He reached out and settled his hand on her shoulder. “I know. But you didn’t take his child. You didn’t go that route and I’m proud you didn’t. You’re better than they are, Kathy.”
She met her father’s dark, burning gaze and felt a wave of love for him. “You mean that?”
“Every word of it, Pet.”
“Well,” Kathy whispered, gazing around the small office, “I guess fate intervened, anyway. Garcia got hit by some other drug lords.”
“Sometimes fate manages to set the scales of right and wrong back into balance,” Morgan answered. He gave her a slight, strained smile. “I have something for you.” He dug into the inner pocket of his suit coat.
Kathy gasped as he produced a thick batch of white envelopes. “My letters!” They were the goodbye letters she’d written to each member of her family. Her gaze flew to her father’s face. His expression was grim as he held them out to her. “But how…?”
“Kamaria lost her pet gecko. Apparently, it ran into your bedroom.”
“Oh, God,” Kathy said. She looked down at the envelopes in her damp hands. The one with Morgan’s name had been opened, and her heart banged in her chest. He’d read it. A lump grew in her throat. Nervously, she fingered the well-worn envelope.
“I was digging around in your rolltop desk, looking for the damn lizard. Kammie swore it had ran up under the hood.” He saw Kathy’s
eyes shimmer with tears. “I found your letters by accident the evening before I left to come down here. I only opened mine and read it.” He choked. “I read it many times….” His voice grew hoarse. “I had a lot of hours on that plane coming down here to read the goodbye you wrote to me, Pet. I just sat there in my seat and cried. I realized then what I had done to you.”
“Oh, God, Dad, I’m so sorry.” Kathy wiped her own eyes. “I didn’t mean to hurt you like this.”
“I had it coming. I should have been more unselfish and looked to my children to see how much they were hurting,” Morgan rasped. He gave her a soft smile as she pressed the letters to her breast. “The rest are unopened. Do whatever you want with them.”
Sniffing, Kathy nodded. She looked down at them and whispered, “I’m glad no one had to read them. I’m glad to be alive.”
Taking a deep breath, she asked, “What about Mom? Does she know about any of this?”
Morgan shook his head. “No, none of it. I wanted to save her from the worry. She’s gone through enough, Pet. But when you get home it would be good to sit down with her and tell her everything.”
Kathy agreed. “Thanks for sparing her. She didn’t need this. Just as soon as I can work out some leave after this mission is wrapped up, I’ll come home. I’ll tell her everything then.”
“I think she’d appreciate a heart-to-heart talk with you, Pet.”
“I’ll do it.” She brushed the last of her tears from her cheeks.
Morgan looked at his watch. “Listen, I’m going to get a hot shower, shave, climb into some casual clothes. Then we’re taking one of the commercial helicopters to Garcia’s villa. Meet me at the helo in an hour?”
THE HELICOPTER LANDED beside Garcia’s villa, Kathy couldn’t hold back her anxiety any longer. She couldn’t choke down her fear, since every building lay in ruin, most still smoking from the fire that had swept throughout them. There were police and emergency workers sifting through the wreckage. She guessed they were searching for bodies. A number of locally owned cars were lined up in the driveway, along with two ambulances from the nearest village.
She was the first out the door, before the rotor stopped turning. As she jogged up the brick path, she felt Mac hard on her heels, despite the fierce buffeting from the helicopter blades.
Kathy knew her father would understand why she had to return to the villa. Tiki deserved more in life than to be a pawn. She was a child, someone Kathy had grown to love.
As she hurried through the complex, she tried to avoid the worst of the smoke. The air had the combined scent of burning wood and a horrendous odor that she knew was burned flesh.
Please, God, don’t let it be Tiki…. Please…
Kathy swallowed and remembered that Tiki had last gone down the other side of the hill, to the caseta where her mother stayed. As she leaped over debris in the path, Kathy noted that, with all the palm trees and vegetation gone, the once lush estate resembled the moon, full of craters and lifeless.
The main buildings were completely leveled. When she topped the knoll and looked anxiously downward, she saw that half of Paloma’s caseta was still standing. Kathy’s heart jolted. Two stretchers held covered bodies. Oh, no! Hand at her throat, holding back a flood of emotion, she lurched forward again. The emergency workers had found two bodies so far, but there had to be three. Carlos had taken Tiki to see her mother.
Wiping her eyes, Kathy raced down the hill toward the men, whose faces were grave.
“Where’s Tiki? There was a little girl in this building! Where is she?” Kathy cried out as she slid to a halt. Looking at the body bags on the stretchers, she realized that the still forms were too large to belong to a child.
“Señorita?”
Kathy whirled around. A short, thin man with black eyes stood nearby. He wore the same blue uniform as the other workers. “Y-yes?”
“The little girl?”
Her heart plummeted. “Yes, there was a little girl in there. Her name is Tiki. H-have you found her?” No! Oh, God, please, no. Don’t tell me she’s dead….
“Señorita, she was found first.” He motioned to the larger of the body bags. “We found her alive beneath her father, who was dead.” Shaking his head, he added, “And the mother, well, she is dead, too.”
“Tiki—she’s alive?” Kathy’s voice was trembling. “Where is she?”
He smiled through his weariness. Leaning on the shovel he held, he pointed back up the hill. “There were only two survivors from this caseta. Pablo, here, heard the little girl crying, so she was the first to be found. A paramedic took her by helicopter to Cuzco. I think she had some burns on her hands. Her hair was singed. But she looked okay to me.”
Mac came up behind Kathy, hearing the explanation. Seeing the tears running freely down her face, he wrapped his arm around her shoulders. Without a word, she leaned against him and pressed her face into his neck. “And the other person who survived, amigo?” Mac asked.
“The gardener. I do not know his name. He had a broken leg. They took him to Agua Caliente. The doctor at the medical clinic there is taking care of him.” Looking around, the man said, “I know others who survived but I do not have a list of names yet.”
“Thank you,” Mac murmured, holding Kathy tightly in his arms. “We’re glad the little girl survived.” He closed his eyes and pressed his cheek against Kathy’s hair. For the longest time, the world stopped for Mac. She was in his arms and leaning on him. They needed each other in that moment. For all the hell he’d gone through as a mole, it had had a damn good outcome. Tiki was alive. He was glad, too, for the gardener, a sweet old man who dearly loved the plants he tended. Good people shouldn’t die in such a situation, and too often, they did. This time, they’d had some luck.
He gave Kathy a gentle squeeze and lifted his head to whisper, “Come on, I’ll take you for an early dinner in Agua Caliente. We’ll hitch a helo flight into town. I’ll let your father know about Tiki and where we’re going.”
Kathy lifted her hands and with trembling fingers wiped the tears from her face. Sniffing, she said, “Yeah, fine. I—I just want to get out of here.” Looking around, she stated, “This place looks like how I feel—devastated.”
“A normal reaction,” Mac assured her. “I’ll meet you back where those jeeps are parked. We’ll get someone to drive us into town. You okay while I hunt your father down and give him the news?”
She nodded and said, “I’ll be fine, Mac. Thanks.”
“I’M SO GLAD Tiki survived,” Kathy confided wearily to Mac. They sat at the India Felize Restaurant in the heart of Agua Caliente. It was 1900 and they’d hitched a flight down the mountain to town.
“Yeah,” he murmured, cutting into his medium rare steak. “If anyone should have survived, she and that old gardener deserved to.”
Kathy dipped the spoon into her sopa criolla, a Peruvian style vegetable beef soup. “I’m so relieved. And thanks for making a call to the Cuzco hospital to see how she was doing. First degree burns on her arms and hands is getting off easy. I can’t believe she wasn’t hurt more than that, Mac.”
“It was my pleasure to get the info,” Mac said. “We’ll both sleep better tonight knowing she’s safe.”
“I know Tiki has relatives in Lima. Have they been contacted?”
“Yes. Her uncle is flying up as we speak. I’m sure Tiki will be absorbed into his family. It’s a big one and the man is honest as the day is long. Tiki will finally have a real family. In time, I think, she’ll deal with this loss, and with the steadying influence of her uncle and aunt, she’ll grow up to be a pretty nice kid”
He and Kathy sat up on the second floor, whereas most of the guests of the highly popular restaurant were dining on the ground floor. The owners sensed that they wanted privacy and so had given them the second floor all to themselves. Mac was grateful for that courtesy.
Kathy seemed exhausted. Her hair was crinkled from the high humidity and she wore a simple white blouse, jeans and hiking bo
ots someone had given her at the BJS base. She filled it out in the most provocative of ways.
“I wonder if Tiki saw much?” Kathy murmured, losing her appetite at that thought. She set the spoon back into the large bowl of delicious soup. “She has to be completely traumatized by it all.”
Perhaps the only good news—other than Tiki’s survival—was that Paloma had now been released forever from her heroin habit. As they’d left the caseta, Kathy spotted an important find. To her surprise, the laptop bearing all the vital information on Garcia’s operation was intact when she pulled it out from between two pieces of drywall that had fallen over it. Therese had been found earlier in the smoldering debris, one of the workers told them later. They’d also learned that Adelino, Tiki’s British schoolteacher, had been in Cuzco at the time and was spared. Most of the kitchen crew had survived because they’d run out the back door and into the jungle to escape. Kathy had been thrilled to hear the news. The people she’d grown fond of had been saved, much to her relief. And she silently admitted she was glad Garcia was dead.
“I hope Tiki didn’t see much at all, but we’ll never know,” Mac said. He saw the pained look on Kathy’s face and gripped her hand for a moment. “Listen, you did what you could. Tiki will now be fine in Lima, surrounded by her relatives. She’ll be okay there, raised by her uncle.”
Kathy savored the warmth of his hand and squeezed his strong fingers. “I guess you’re right,” she whispered, rallying beneath his searching look.
In an effort to cheer her up, Mac brightened his expression. “I got a message late this afternoon from ATF headquarters. They want us to fly back in a few days and start the debrief on this mission. Want to spend a little more time with me?” he asked in a teasing tone. Watching Kathy recover sent his heart skittering in his chest. He’d never forgotten that one, heart-stealing kiss they’d shared, and he wanted more. Much more. As she lifted her thick blond lashes and looked across the table at him, Mac felt his heart expand with joy. Her blue eyes were large, trusting and filled with an undeniable emotion aimed directly at him. Mac was afraid to call it love even though that’s what he wanted to do. Kathy had never said she loved him.
Enemy Mine Page 27
