Hazardous Holiday (Men of Valor)

by Liz Johnson

  “How did you find us?” Branden asked as he settled onto a couch, motioning that Zach and Kristi should do the same.

  When Kristi lifted her brown eyes toward him, Zach offered a pained smile. There’s no story better than the truth. Or so his dad always said.

  “I’m Zach McCloud.” He patted himself on the chest. “This guy is Cody, and this is my wife, Kristi.”

  She shivered at his side, and he wondered if she was responding to his use of the term. Yes, she was his wife. But the introduction never got any less strange.

  He pushed forward. “We live in San Diego. I’m with the navy.”

  As often happened when he introduced himself like that, his audience let out a little sigh. Toni, who had been perched on the edge of the couch as though looking for an excuse to bolt, relaxed. Her husband put his hand on her knee, and some of the ice in his posture melted.

  “When I came back from my last deployment, we were nearly run off the Coronado Bridge.” He kept his gaze glued on their faces, searching for a way to get through to them. “By three black vans.”

  Branden’s eyes flew open, and his hand flew to a spot at his side. Most likely where he’d sustained broken ribs. “Big ones? With fully tinted windows?”

  Zach agreed quickly, and Toni’s gaze ping-ponged back and forth between them, her eyes filled with something akin to fear.

  “They maneuvered you to the side?” her husband asked. Zach gave a silent nod, and Branden continued, his eyes focused on a wall in the distance. “Then they were in front and behind.” At some point in his trembling story, he’d moved from asking about Zach’s experience to retelling his own. “It felt like they were everywhere. I tried to slow down, but the one behind me rammed into us. Greta was screaming, so I swerved away from the guardrail. Thought maybe I could get the van to my left to move over.” He swallowed, closed his eyes and grabbed for his wife’s hand. “But it didn’t budge. Then suddenly the railing was gone, and we were over the edge, flying down the embankment before we slammed into the tree.”

  The story and every ounce of pain it carried hung over everyone in the room.

  “I’d let Greta sit in the front seat with me. But her air bag didn’t deploy.” Branden’s voice cracked and trailed off as Toni pressed his hand to her chest, tears dripping down her cheeks.

  Kristi’s eyes glistened, too, and she moved her hand to Zach’s knee. She seemed to need the reminder that she wasn’t alone listening to this story. He needed it, too.

  “We’re so sorry for your loss,” Kristi said for the second time.

  “Why would someone come after Greta?” Toni asked. “She was such a sweet girl, always laughing and reading, and she had so many friends when she was in school.”

  Toni’s gentle sob nearly undid Zach, and he squeezed a sleeping Cody a little bit harder, thanking God for another day with him, another chance to rescue him.

  “We hoped that if we compared notes, we might be able to find a pattern. A reason.”

  Branden nodded and launched into the story of the attempted kidnapping. It wasn’t anything that Drew hadn’t already told Zach, but he listened intently anyway. The details were all the same. The store. The parking lot. The van. The cop.

  Branden filled in the timeline from the attempted kidnapping to the accident to this moment. But it wasn’t new information. The FBI and local police had all of it.

  And were coming up empty-handed in finding the person responsible, too.

  That realization ate at Zach’s gut, taunting him. He couldn’t do more than dig up outdated information and run when they were being chased. It was a poor excuse for a mission if ever he’d seen one.

  “And you’re sure there was nothing else strange or out of the ordinary that you noticed leading up to the attacks?”

  Toni shook her head. “I don’t think so. You must know. Those first months after the diagnosis—well, it was hard to remember my own name let alone what was going on with Greta.”

  “Sure.” If she tried to hide the disappointment in her voice, Kristi failed. With slumped shoulders and a distinct quivering in her lower lip, she scooted to the edge of the couch. “Well, then. Thank you for—”

  Branden held up his hand. “There was one thing.”

  Toni looked surprised. “What thing?”

  Branden’s gaze shifted to the floor as hope bubbled in Zach’s chest. He began to squeeze Kristi’s hand, but she beat him to it.

  “I thought it was a joke. A sick one, but harmless.” He raised a shoulder in a stiff shrug as Toni glared at him through narrowed eyes. Meeting his wife’s gaze, he tried to explain. “You were already so stressed. I just thought you didn’t need something else on your plate, so I didn’t tell you.”

  “What?” The word was barely a breath, but it held a world of emotions—at the forefront, anger.

  “There was a phone call. Maybe a month before the attempted kidnapping.”

  Everything stilled. Even the dog, who had been barking, seemed to understand the need for silence. Zach prayed that this might be the clue they needed.

  His mouth went dry, but he managed to prod the stalled story. “What kind of call?”

  “A man said he was a lawyer. He wouldn’t give the name of his client, but he said the man wanted…” Branden shifted awkwardly in his seat. “He wanted the heart.”

  “What heart?” Kristi asked.

  “The one that would have been Greta’s. He said he’d pay—two million dollars.”

  Toni’s mouth hung open, her eyes wide and unblinking, her body utterly motionless.

  Even Kristi was stunned silent. Zach found his voice first. “This lawyer’s client wanted to buy Greta’s new heart?”

  “Yes. But it would have meant a death sentence for my daughter. I—I thought he was joking. I mean, who would even suggest something like that?” Branden caught Toni’s chin and angled it toward himself. “I told him it wasn’t funny and not to call again.”

  “And did he?” Zach said.

  “Call? No. Never. But, you don’t really think it’s related, do you? He couldn’t have been serious. Could he?”

  “Actually…” Zach pursed his lips to the side and tried to figure out how to be honest without scaring Kristi or the Gammers. “I don’t think it was a joke. He wanted that heart. He still wants a heart.”

  He didn’t have to connect the dots for anyone else in the room. Branden and Toni hugged each other as tears streamed down their cheeks. Now they knew why their daughter had been killed.

  Kristi nudged Zach’s knee. “We should go.”

  He nodded, and they tried to slip out without disturbing the grieving couple. But right as they reached the door, Branden caught up with them. Slipping a white business card into Zach’s hand, he said, “Keep in touch. Let us know when you catch the scum who’s doing this.”

  Zach nodded, shook the man’s hand and followed Kristi into the late-afternoon sunshine.

  When they reached the car, Kristi didn’t climb into the passenger seat. Instead, she followed Zach to the driver’s side and watched as he put Cody into his booster seat.

  Leaning her hip against the side of the car, she said, “Could someone really be trying to kill the kids at the top of the transplant list? Why would anyone do that?”

  He looked up at her and shook his head. “I think it’s just what he told Branden in that call. He wants the next available heart.” It didn’t make sense, though. If a man needed that heart so badly, he’d be on a list to receive it, right?

  Zach dropped his gaze back into the interior of the car and stooped to pick up the stuffed toy that Cody had dropped on the floorboard.

  Kristi said something else, but her words were lost to the sudden rushing through his ears. His lungs seized, and a lump lodged in his throat.

  A thin black wire ran along the edge of the carpeting before moving upward and disappearing beneath the seat. It wasn’t part of the car, and it certainly hadn’t been there when they’d left San Diego.

/>   His heart took up an erratic rhythm, even as he told himself to stay calm. Find the destination. Find the threat.

  Only he didn’t need to. All of a sudden, he knew. It was under Cody’s booster seat. Once again the little boy was the target of a madman.

  Zach’s fingers were already scrambling to release the seat belt before he could scream at Kristi to get moving. “Run!”

  “What?” She frowned like she’d heard but couldn’t understand his command. She was frozen in place, and Zach didn’t have time to explain. The device under the booster seat might have been triggered by Cody’s weight, which meant it could go off at any second. He needed his family as far away from the car as soon as possible.

  With Cody in one arm, he scooped Kristi off her feet with his other and raced for the house.

  Kristi squirmed, her confusion clear in her tone. “What’s going on? Wha—?”

  He kept running until he’d rounded the corner behind the protection of the house. Swinging them in front of him onto the ground, he tried to shield them with his own body.

  Just in time.

  The force of the explosion sent them flying.

  ELEVEN

  Kristi couldn’t stop shaking.

  Not when Zach scuttled over to her, pulled her into his arms and kissed her forehead before running his hands up and down her arms to check for scrapes or breaks.

  Not when Toni and Branden burst out of their house to check on them.

  Not even when the police arrived, red and blue lights flashing and sirens wailing.

  She could tell that they were talking at her, but all she could hear was the explosion.

  One of the paramedics had helped her to her feet, but her legs had refused to hold her. So she’d crawled to Cody. Of course, he was fascinated with the fire engine and ambulance—oblivious to the fact that they’d very nearly been killed.

  But she couldn’t stop shaking, couldn’t stop envisioning a moment where Zach hadn’t realized the problem in time.

  Zach must have handled explaining the situation to the police and arranging for a rental car. Kristi was aware of none of it. Yet somehow when she looked up from combing the grass out of Cody’s hair, there was a bright blue SUV sitting at the curb.

  She couldn’t find a single word to say the whole drive back to San Diego, but neither could she close her eyes and find any rest. Every time she so much as blinked, she saw her car in flames and felt the force of the blast throwing them around as if they were tumbleweeds in the wind.

  It seemed to take days to get home, the setting sun always in front of them, always glaring into the car. Zach had donned his aviator sunglasses and was both silent and thoughtful. While she tried to wipe her memory altogether, Zach’s jaw worked as if he was physically chewing on the events of the day.

  From the backseat, Cody’s video game—a gift from the Gammers—beeped and booped until she was sure it was just part of the sound of the road.

  She wasn’t aware of drifting off until she looked up and saw that they were pulling up to the house.

  “I must have dozed off.”

  She wasn’t entirely sure she’d spoken aloud until Zach responded. “Definitely.”

  What did that mean? “How do you know I wasn’t just resting my eyes?”

  He shot her a grin that was wholly at odds with frantic escapes and exploding cars. “You were snoring.”

  Embarrassment flooded through her, and she responded without even thinking. “I was not.”

  “If you say so.” His mouth twisted into a mock serious frown, and she couldn’t see his eyes to read what he was really thinking.

  Rolling her eyes, she opened the door and trudged to the house. Her limbs felt like they’d doubled in size, her joints stiff like they’d forgotten how to work. She waited until Zach checked the door to make sure they weren’t walking in on another trap before going inside, then fell to the couch, sapped of strength. She turned to reach for Cody, but Zach was already a third of the way up the stairs. “I can get him,” she called. But the words were as sluggish as she felt, and Zach chuckled.

  “I’ve got it covered.”

  She didn’t argue. The couch wrapped around her, holding her in place and promising a relief from the pounding behind her eyes. But it never came. As she stared at the far wall, the knot inside only grew tighter. Eventually a flood of tears let loose, and her hiccupping sobs—while silent—racked her whole body.

  “Whoa there.” From nowhere Zach was by her side, crawling onto the couch, putting his arm around her back, letting her rest her head on his shoulder. “It’s okay. It’s all right. We’ll make it through this.”

  His words rumbled on top of her head, sweet and soothing. And she leaned into his warmth. His chest was firm but comforting. There was something in his strength and kindness that made her insides flutter like they hadn’t since she was fifteen. Since she’d fallen in love with Aaron.

  But this was different. She wasn’t a child anymore, with everything fresh and exciting.

  This was somehow familiar but altogether new. And more terrifying than thrilling.

  She couldn’t deny that his presence pulled her back from a precipice she couldn’t name. As the panic ebbed, she heaved a loud sigh. “I’ve never…”

  “Seeing an explosion is a little different from having a bomb in your house, huh?”

  She nodded. “Yes. We were so close. Cody was so close.”

  A frown worked its way across his face. “I know. But we’re all okay. Everyone made it home safely. And it was a useful trip.”

  “It was?” They’d learned that Cody was definitely the target. How could that be useful if they still didn’t know who was after him?

  “Sure.”

  Her mind suddenly caught up. “Right. Because now we have even more of a reason to push for the transplant list from Denise. I’m going to call her.”

  Zach opened his mouth, then snapped it closed, clearly changing his mind about whatever he had been about to say. “Go for it,” he replied. “I’m going to do a little research.”

  She forced herself off the couch and found her phone in her purse. Denise didn’t answer, so she left a short but emphatic message. “We’re sure Cody is the target because of his heart. And we need to warn the other families near the top of the list. Call me back as soon as possible.”

  As she hung up the phone, a yawn cracked her jaw, and she eyed the stairs. Her bed called so loudly that it was almost audible. But a quick peek at Zach piqued her curiosity. He sat in the same spot where she’d left him, but he’d picked up his laptop and was rapidly scrolling and clicking. Whatever was on the screen had captured his full interest.

  “What are you looking at?”

  He didn’t look up but nodded toward the seat she’d vacated. “Come take a look.”

  She slipped into her spot and pressed into his arm to get a view of the screen.

  Sure. That’s why she was leaning so heavily against him.

  She’d just keep telling herself that.

  “So I got to thinking about that phone call that Branden got.” The short whiskers on his jaw shone in the overhead light as he spoke. She felt the urge to run her finger across his cheek and explore the angles, ridges and cleft right in the center of his chin.

  That wasn’t safe. At all.

  Wherever these feelings were coming from, she had to shut them down. She couldn’t afford to be distracted from caring for Cody.

  Besides, Aaron…

  Had been gone for more than two years.

  She no longer expected him to walk through the front door. Not since they’d left Montana.

  But a piece of her heart cried out that the butterflies and breathless moments with Zach might be disloyal to her husband. That she never should have let him kiss her. That she absolutely should not have thrilled in that moment as she had. And that she most certainly should not want him to kiss her again. Although she did. A lot.

  “He said the guy on the phone was a
lawyer who represented an anonymous client.”

  She jerked her chin in an affirmative, trying to focus on his theory and not on the things she had no business thinking about.

  “Doesn’t that sound like something a rich guy would do?”

  “I guess.”

  “I mean, we know the guy who wants the heart offered two million dollars. He didn’t try to bargain or make an emotional appeal—he went straight to money. Only someone who’s used to money fixing any problem would do that.”

  The pieces were falling into place like that video game Cody loved. “You think this guy wasn’t bluffing about the two million—that he really had access to that much cash and would have paid out if the Gammers had agreed?”

  “Yes, I think so.” He pointed at the computer, which displayed the front page of the local newspaper. “And I’m guessing that a man with that kind of money and an obvious interest in heart transplants might have made a donation. A public one.”

  “So you’re hunting for this guy in the newspaper.”

  Zach lifted a shoulder. “It’s the only thing I could think of. Maybe there’s an article about a fund-raiser or something like that. Maybe there’s a name we recognize or a picture of three black vans.” He tried for a smile, which faltered on his bad joke. “I’m tired of waiting for someone else to find the next lead.” His eyes seemed to simmer as his gaze zeroed in on her. “I’m not going to sit back while my family is at risk.”

  Family.

  She hadn’t thought about it, but they were. An unusual one to be sure. But Zach had put his life on the line more than once for her and Cody, and she never doubted his vow to guard them. Her strong, kind, protective husband. He’d become family. And not just on paper.

  Somewhere deep in her heart.

  When the urge hit her, she didn’t second-guess it. With a quick burst forward, she pressed her lips to his cheek in a quick kiss. As she settled her head onto his shoulder, she asked, “Why are you doing this for us?”

  *

  Zach lost his train of thought, his words and the normal rhythm of his heart.

  Why? Why had he gone to Montana to propose in the first place? Why had he given up his neat and ordered life in favor of something that more closely resembled chaos? Why had he taken a bullet that had been intended for Cody? And why was he so sure he’d do it again given the same situation?