All three people on the beach heard the sound of the automobile as it pulled to a stop on the road in front of Nate's house. Three startled gazes watched while an enormous mountain of a man emerged from the driver's side.
Pulling Cyn tightly against him and placing the dagger's tip over her heart, Ryker shouted at Nate. "I told you to come alone."
"I did come alone. I swear."
"Then who's our company?" Ryker asked, nodding toward the two men who stood beside the limo.
What the hell was going on? Nate wondered. Having Carranza show up wasn't too surprising, but Ryker pretending he had no idea who the man was didn't make any sense.
"I don't know who the bloody hell you are, but you can stop right there or I'll kill her," Ryker said.
"I suggest that if you want to live you should release Señora Porter. There are three of us, you see, and if you harm her, one of us is bound to kill you," Ramon Carranza said, never slowing his stride as he neared the beach.
Ryker laughed, the sound shrilly hysterical as it carried on the night air. "There may be three of you, but I've got friends coming. A small army of friends who'll be carrying weapons. I suggest that you get back in that big limo of yours and leave, old man."
Carranza continued moving closer and closer to Ryker. Nate wanted to reach out and grab him, but he was too far away. Carranza avoided getting anywhere near Nate.
"I'm warning you to stop." Ryker's hand trembled. Cyn could feel the knife pressing into her flesh.
"What are you doing here?" Nate, bewildered by Ryker and Carranza's conversation, knew he couldn't allow his own confusion to dull his senses or make him any less alert. This whole scene could be some elaborate hoax on Carranza's part. It was obvious the old man liked to play games. Just because Ryker didn't recognize him didn't mean they weren't on the same side in this battle.
Carranza spoke to Nate, but he never removed his gaze from Ian Ryker. "I had some important news for Señor Ryker. News that could not wait."
"What kind of crap is this?" Ryker asked. "Who are you? What sort of news have you got for me?"
"I am Ramon Rafael Carranza."
Ryker blanched, his face contorting into a frown. "What... what's the news you have for me?"
The sound in Nate's ears began as a loud buzzing, then quickly escalated into a thunderous roar. The old man had said his name was Ramon Rafael Carranza.
"My good friend, Carlos Marquez, regrets that he must sever his relationship with you," Carranza said. "He sends his apologies that he cannot assist you in this little kidnapping and murder scheme."
"You're lying. Marquez owes me. He's sending a chopper for me." Ryker's gaze searched the predawn sky as he cocked his head, listening to the silence.
Carranza took several steps forward. He was within a few feet of Ryker and Cyn. "Such a pity. In our business, a man cannot afford to put his trust in the wrong people. Marquez may, as you say, owe you, but his debt to me was far larger and much older."
Nate moved away from the trees. Good God, Carranza was going to try to jump Ryker. Was he a fool? Nate knew he had to intercede. If he didn't, Cyn would die. His nightmare would come true.
"Don't move, either of you." Ryker cursed Marquez, then dropped the dagger on the sand as he grabbed the Uzi and opened fire.
With trained instincts, Nate dropped to his belly as the shots rang out over his head. Suddenly, the Uzi's menacing roar quietened. Nate raised his head slightly and glanced around. Ramon Carranza lay on the sandy ground, blood pouring from his wounds. Ryker's lifeless body lay only a few feet away.
Nate jumped to his feet as Cyn struggled to hers, tears streaming down her face. Grabbing her, he jerked the gag out of her mouth.
"Oh, Nate."
He pulled her into his arms as he stroked her hair, kissed her face, and worked frantically to untie her bound wrists. Once Cyn was free, Nate looked down at Ryker. A small round bullet hole marred his smooth forehead. Nate could well imagine what the back of his head looked like. He didn't want Cyn to see it.
"Señor Carranza," Cyn said, her voice ragged and hoarse. "He's hurt." She tugged on Nate's arm, the gesture pleading.
Together they knelt down beside Carranza. Cyn took his head into her lap as she brushed back the strands of white hair that had fallen into his eyes. "You're going to be all right, Ramon," Cyn said. "We're not going to let you die."
Ramon Carranza looked up at Cyn as blood trickled from the corner of his mouth. "You will take care of him," he said as he gazed up at Nate.
Nate saw Emilio standing over them, the revolver that had killed Ian Ryker still in his hand.
"We must get him to a hospital," Emilio said, dropping the gun onto the sand, then reaching down to lift his employer up into his arms.
Nate helped Cyn to her feet and walked her toward the black limousine. Cyn got in first, then Nate helped Emilio place Ramon across the seat, his head resting in Cyn's lap.
Once Emilio started the engine and turned the big Cadillac around, Cyn looked over at Nate. "He saved our lives."
"I know," Nate said.
Chapter 16
Cyn sat beside Nate on the orange vinyl sofa. His head was thrown back, his eyes were closed, and his big arms were crossed over his chest. She wished he would allow her to comfort him as he had comforted her when they had first arrived at the hospital. While the emergency room staff had gone to work on Ramon, Nate had insisted that Cyn's scrapes and bruises needed immediate attention.
He had held her when the reality of what they'd lived through finally hit her. The nightmare was over. Ian Ryker was dead. Cyn and Nate were alive.
Cyn glanced around the surgery waiting room. A plump, middle-aged woman stood at the pay telephone, her voice hushed as she told the listener that her mother was still in surgery. In the corner chair, a teenaged boy flipped through the pages of a magazine with bored indifference. A young couple stood by the windows, his arm draped around her shoulders as he wiped her tears with a handkerchief and promised her that their little girl was going to be all right.
Two coffee machines sat on a metal table by the doorway. One glass pot was empty, the other contained no more than a cup of liquid. The wastepaper basket beneath the table was littered with dozens of foam cups, plastic spoons and empty sugar and creamer packs.
Emilio Rivera stood outside in the hallway, his back braced against the wall. No one had given comfort to the big, quiet man, whose silent eyes and hard face gave away none of his emotions. Cyn wondered how long Emilio had worked for Ramon, how close their relationship was.
"I'm going to talk to Emilio," she told Nate. "I'll be right back."
Nate grunted an acknowledgment, but didn't open his eyes or move a muscle. Seeing Nate like this, so cold and withdrawn, broke Cyn's heart. It was as if he'd closed himself off from her, from the whole world, and refused to allow anyone near. Perhaps it was the only way he knew how to deal with everything that had happened, Cyn thought. Her kidnapping. Ryker's death. The knowledge that Ramon Carranza had risked his life to save them.
Emilio gave her a welcoming glance when she approached him. "How is Nathan?"
"I honestly don't know." Cyn touched Emilio's meaty forearm and looked up into his squinty black eyes. "Ever since they took Ramon up to surgery, he just sits there. He won't talk to me. He won't let me help him."
"Si, he is like his padre. A strong man who thinks he needs no one." Emilio patted her hand where it rested on his arm. "He needs you. He will accept your help, later."
As his words began to sink into her consciousness, Cyn wanted to deny her suspicions, but the facts could not be dismissed. Clutching Emilio's rock-solid arm, she asked him for the truth. "Is Ramon Carranza Nate's father?"
"Si." A hint of a smile softened Emilio's battered face. "I have worked for Señor Carranza since before he met Nathan's mother. Since I was a boy of sixteen."
"You knew Nate's mother?"
"A most beautiful woman, Señorita Grace
Hodges. As beautiful as you with her long blond hair and big green eyes. Señor Carranza loved her greatly." Emilio's eyes glazed over with memories.
"But Nate thought his father was dead."
"Si, it was his mother's wish, and they agreed it would be best for the child. Under the circumstances."
"You have to tell Nate, tell him everything. He has a right to know, and there is no one else who can tell him." She realized she was taking a chance that Nate would respond in a positive manner to the revelation that Ramon Carranza was his father. But regardless of how he would react to the news, he had to be told the truth.
"You think he wants to know?" Ernilio asked, giving Cyn a skeptical look. "He is a hard man. His heart may be closed to the truth."
"There's no way to know unless we try."
Emilio nodded, the tentative smile widening as Cyn took his hand, and together they entered the waiting room. Cyn sat down beside Nate. Emiho took a chair opposite the sofa. When she touched Nate's shoulder, he flinched, but still didn't open his eyes.
Cyn felt his big body tense beneath her touch. "Nate, Emilio wants to tell you—"
"That Ramon Rafael Carranza is my father."
"You knew?"
"No, not until... Sitting here, I finally figured it out."
"He was never your enemy." Cyn couldn't tell what Nate was thinking, but she could guess, knowing him as she did. "His interest in you was personal."
"Yeah, I guess it was." Nate opened his eyes and stared up at the ceiling, then darted his gaze at Cyn. "But he was a little late in showing fatherly concern, don't you think?"
Nate closed his eyes again, and Cyn knew he was trying to blot out the truth—a truth he had yet to understand.
"Emilio can tell you about your parents," she said, longing to comfort him, to ease the pain she saw in his eyes, to remove the anger she knew was barely hidden beneath the surface of his falsely calm exterior.
Nate opened his eyes, uncrossed his arms and sat up straight. "What about them?" he asked, glaring at the huge man sitting across from him.
"You will listen, Nathan Hodges?" Emilio's dark eyes pleaded with Nate. "You will let me tell it all so that you will understand why you mustn't hate your father."
Cyn held her breath, praying for Nate's acquiescence. "Don't you think you owe it to yourself as well as your parents to know the truth?" she asked.
"So talk," Nate said, his voice brutally harsh. "I'm listening." Bending over slightly, he let his hands drop between his knees as he looked down at the shiny tile floor.
"Señor Carranza owned a casino in Havana. He was already rich and successful at thirty-five, and had very influential friends. The most prominent friend was his father-in-law, Luis Arnaz." Emilio hesitated briefly as he watched Nate for a sign of reaction. Seeing none, he continued. "Arnaz had arranged his daughter's marriage to Señor Carranza... a business arrangement ten years before ... before your mother came to Havana."
"What was my mother doing in Havana?" Nate asked, finally glancing over at Emilio.
"She had just graduated from college and came down on a holiday with some of her friends. You must remember that Havana in 1949 was a playground for the rich and famous."
"She met him at his casino?" Nate couldn't imagine the sadly beautiful woman who had been his mother as a carefree young woman jaunting off to Cuba with her friends.
"I was there... that night." Emilio's voice cracked with emotion. "It was magic between them the moment they saw each other."
The words were like a tight fist squeezing at Nate's heart. Once, he would have thought the notion of love-at-first-sight ludicrous, but since meeting Cyn, he admitted that it was possible. Hadn't she trapped him in her spell the first night he'd seen her on the beach? Had it been that way for his father the first moment he'd seen the young and beautiful Grace Hodges?
"They were very much in love," Emilio said. "He wanted to marry her, was willing to give up everything to have her."
"Then why didn't he?" Nate asked, hating Ramon Car-ranza for allowing his sweet mother to have gone through the shame of giving birth to an illegitimate child.
"Luis Arnaz found out about your mother. He threatened her life." Emilio placed his hands on Nate's shoulders, his thick fingers tightening. "Arnaz demanded that your father break all ties with your mother. He swore that he would have her killed. Señor Carranza knew that his father-in-law was capable of carrying out the threat."
Jerking away from Emilio, Nate stood. He felt like running, hard and fast. But he knew he couldn't run away from the truth. Ramon Carranza was his father. He had loved Grace Hodges, and had deserted her in order to save her life. All the bitterness and hatred of a lifetime churned inside Nate, his anger nearing the boiling point. He needed something to hit, some faceless enemy to pulverize.
He balled his hands into tight fists, corded the muscles in his back and neck with such tension he could feel the strain in every nerve ending. And then she touched him. Gentle, soft, loving, her touch ignited the tinderbox of emotions within him. He turned on her, his eyes fierce with a slow burning heat that became white-hot.
Cyn gazed up into the eyes of the man she loved and saw such torment, such pent-up rage, that she couldn't bear to look at him. Mindless of anything except the need to comfort him, Cyn wrapped her arms around his tightly coiled body.
Swiftly, brutally, he encompassed her in his arms, hugging her to him with the savagery of a dying man holding on to his last hope for survival. "Cyn... Cyn..."
"I'm here. I'll always be here. I'll never leave you." She felt his body shaking as she held him, her hands caressing his broad back.
They heard a woman's commanding voice ask, "Is there someone here with the Carranza family?"
Nate and Cyn turned around. Emilio stood. All three of them moved toward the nurse who was waiting in the doorway.
"I'm Ramon Carranza's son," Nate said. "How is my father?"
"They've brought him down from surgery," the white-uniformed woman said. "You may go in to see him shortly, but Dr. Brittnell wants to talk to you first." * * *
Ramon Carranza was dying. The doctors gave them no hope. It was only a matter of hours, perhaps even minutes. Emilio had sent for a priest.
For forty-two years, Nate had wondered about his unknown father, sometimes hating him, sometimes longing for him as only a child can long for a missing parent.
In the last few minutes he had remembered everything his mother had ever told him about his father. She had painted the man in glowing terms. Nate had never doubted that she loved his father, the mysterious man she had called Rafael. Grace Hodges had told her son that his father had been half Cuban and half Seminole Indian. That he had been a handsome man with a smile that could charm the birds from the trees.
When Nate had questioned her about why his father wasn't with them, Grace Hodges had told her son that his father was dead. As a child, he had not understood; as an adult he had accepted his mother's explanation as the truth.
"We can go in to see Ramon now," Cyn said, squeezing Nate's hand.
They entered the critical care unit together, hand in hand. Ramon looked very old and very tired as he lay on the pristine white sheets. But even surrounded by monitors and life-saving machinery, the big, dark-skinned Cuban dominated the room.
As he neared his father's bedside, Nate experienced a battle of emotions raging within him, creating uncertainty and dread. What could he say to this man? What would Ramon Carranza want from his only son?
The minute Nate and Cyn stopped by his bedside, Ramon opened his eyes. "Nathan." His deep voice was a whisper.
"I'm here." Dammit all, I don't want to be here, Nate thought. I don't want to have to confront this man, to have to face all the ghosts from my childhood.
Ramon tried to lift his hand, but was unable to do more than wiggle his fingers. Nate reached down and clasped the old man's hand in his.
"I promised her that... you would never be...
a part of my sordid life." Each word seemed torn from Ramon, as if the utterance was painful. "I loved her so."
"It's all right," Nate said, squeezing his father's hand. "Don't try to talk."
"The day she died..." Ramon gasped for air, his lungs struggling for each breath.
"Hush, now," Cyn pleaded, her eyes filled with tears. This shouldn't be happening, she thought. Not now, when these two had just found each other.
"She called... she was so sick. I went to her." Ramon's limp hand tightened slightly around his son's tenacious grip. "I promised to leave you...with her brother...to never tell you..."
"It doesn't matter." Nate tried to reassure the dying man. "It was so long ago. Another lifetime."
"I wanted you...my son, but she did not want you growing up... in my world." Ramon's soft grip loosened, his hand falling limp within Nate's grasp.
"Father." Nate's voice trembled, his throat tortured with unshed tears.
"I love you. Always, I have loved you...my son." And with those tender words that said far more than the sentimental confessions of a dying man, Ramon Rafael Car-ranza accepted death.
"Father? Father!" Not yet. Not yet, his mind screamed. We haven't had enough time.
Emilio Rivera stepped forward from his watchful position by the door. With her arms around Nate, Cyn turned in time to see the tears streaming down Emilio's battered old face.
Nate pulled out of her arms, staring at her with moist eyes, the look of a lost child on his face. "I need to be alone. Just for a while. Try to understand."
Cyn watched him walk away, stunned that he didn't want her with him, hurt that at the most traumatic time in his life, he didn't need her.
"So like his padre," Emilio said, placing his enormous arm protectively around Cyn's shoulder. "So much a man that he does not want his woman to see him cry."
"See him... Oh, Emilio, I didn't understand."
Emilio hugged Cyn to him, as together, Ramon Carran-za's gargantuan bodyguard and Nate Hodges's woman cried for a father who had loved a son he could never claim, a mother with the courage to bear her married lover's child and a boy who had grown into a man without the love and protection his parents were powerless to give him. * * *
This Side of Heaven tp-1 Page 23
