Identity Withheld

by Sandra Orchard

  The tension leached from Jake’s body. “Thank God.”

  “He said he’d been so desperate to adopt a child to reverse his wife’s emotional collapse after their baby’s stillbirth that he hadn’t asked too many questions of the adoption agency. Of course, he’s swearing up and down that he didn’t hire any sniper. Claims he has no idea what the police are talking about. But Sam says he’s a terrible liar.”

  Jake chuckled. “Sam would know.”

  A nurse carrying a tray of meds nodded to them and slipped into Kara’s room.

  “So does this mean Kara will be free to go home now?” Or to stay? Jake’s pulse quickened at the thought of asking her.

  “Soon. The feds will want to make sure we haven’t missed anything.”

  “Hey.” A nurse stepped out of a room down the hall and motioned to the security guard. “Did you see where my tray of meds went?”

  “Kara!” Jake rammed past the marshal into Kara’s room and tore back the curtain around her bed.

  Her legs were kicking under the sheets as the woman smothered her face with a pillow. He grabbed the woman by the shoulders and flung her away from the bed just as Kara’s legs stilled.

  SIXTEEN

  Terror gripped Jake’s chest as he puffed another breath into Kara’s mouth. “Breathe,” he ordered, tilting his head to watch her chest rise and fall. He drew in another breath, expelled it into Kara’s lungs. Lord, please don’t let her die.

  A team of doctors and nurses rushed into the room with a crash cart and pulled him away.

  He crushed his fist to the pain tearing through his chest as he helplessly looked on. He’d never wanted to be in this place again. Losing one woman had been almost more than he could bear. Only...these past few nights, it hadn’t been his wife that his arms had been aching to hold.

  The marshal muscled the handcuffed “nurse” to the door with a white-knuckled grip.

  Jake stopped him, straining to keep his fisted hands at his side. “Did you hire the sniper?”

  “She should’ve minded her own business,” the woman hissed, looking through him with cold, soulless eyes. “I saw her snapping pictures on that cell phone of hers.”

  So the husband had been chasing down his psychotic wife?

  “Did your husband know you hired the sniper?”

  She lifted her chin with an indignant sniff. “My husband would’ve let them take our baby away.”

  “Jake?”

  Jake spun toward the sound of Kara’s sweet voice, his heart soaring. The doctor and nurses stepped back and he rushed to her side. “Hey, how are you feeling?” He clasped her hands.

  “You saved me.”

  He winked. “Any excuse to kiss a pretty woman works for me.”

  A rosy blush restored the color to her cheeks as her gaze dipped to his lips, then flicked to the nurses still crowding the room. “Is Tommy all better?”

  Reflexively, his grasp tightened, and he had to force his fingers to relax again. “My parents are with him.”

  She searched his eyes as if she sensed what he wasn’t saying.

  “The woman who attacked you is the one you saw in the car in Boston,” he said, not wanting to upset her by getting into Tommy’s condition. “She and her husband are in custody. You’re safe now.”

  She nodded, too many emotions to decipher swirling in her watery gaze. “Thanks to you.”

  “I told you I’d keep you safe. Remember? And now that you are, there’s something I need to ask—”

  A nurse burst into the room. “Are you Jake Steele?”

  His heart lurched. “Yes. What is it?”

  “There’s an urgent phone call for you at the nurse’s station. It’s about Tom—”

  Jake sprang toward the door.

  “Jake?” Kara called after him. “Is Tommy okay?”

  He paused at the door, digging his fingers into the frame to steel himself against the fears clamoring at his chest. “I don’t know.”

  * * *

  Clutching Rusty’s leash, Kara paused in the deserted lobby of Seattle Children’s Hospital. What would Jake say if he caught her here?

  To think that little more than twenty-four hours ago, Jake had clung to her hand and looked at her as if he’d never let go. Now...he wasn’t even returning her calls. Not that she blamed him after learning how emotionally traumatized Tommy was from the kidnapping. Sherri had tried to sugarcoat Jake’s silence by saying that he’d probably been putting off calling until he had better news to share. But as true as his wanting to spare her might be, he had to resent her for Tommy’s condition. How could he not?

  Except even if Jake couldn’t bear to face her, now that the marshal’s office had given her the green light to return home, she couldn’t leave without seeing Tommy. The last thing she wanted to do was cause Jake more pain. She owed him her life. But she had to at least try to help his son escape the dark world he’d sunk into.

  Sherri motioned for Kara to follow her.

  Kara’s grip on the leash tightened as she sneaked Rusty onto the hospital elevator behind Sherri. “Are you sure this will be okay?”

  “Yes, I already told you that the night nurse is a family friend. When I told her your idea of bringing Rusty to try to perk Tommy up, she thought it was fabulous. If he was an official therapy dog, we wouldn’t even have to sneak him in.”

  “Yeah, but visiting hours ended two hours ago. If a security guard catches—” She darted glances to the top corners of the elevator. Whew, no cameras. She breathed normally again.

  Sherri tapped the number for Tommy’s floor and gave Kara a wink. “Don’t worry. I asked my paramedic friend to preoccupy the security guard for a bit...if you know what I mean.”

  Kara forced a smile. She knew Sherri was trying to lighten the mood, but Kara was having a hard time finding anything amusing these days. Not like her last night with Jake at the cabin when they’d laughed until they’d cried over that silly game of Pictionary. She sighed, and Rusty leaned his body against her leg in silent comfort.

  Too soon, the elevator door slid open. An older woman smiled at them from the nurses’ station. “You’re right on time.” She led the way to the end of the hall.

  The click-click of Rusty’s toenails on the tile floor echoed off the walls loud enough to wake every child on the ward. “You’re sure Jake’s not here?” Kara whispered to Sherri. “Because I don’t think he’d be too happy about my bringing Rusty.”

  “You’d be surprised.”

  She gasped. “What? You promised me he wouldn’t have to know. I can’t—” The words lodged in her throat. As much as she wanted to see him, had hoped he’d call, she refused to put him on the spot. After the near smothering in her hospital room, she hadn’t missed the way he’d joked about “any excuse to kiss a pretty woman” to gently dissuade her from thinking he had feelings for her. He was so sweet and kind that he’d probably do or say anything to make her feel better, as he had the first time she’d asked after Tommy. If not for the phone call that had sent him running from her hospital room, she still might not have known that Tommy had scarcely talked, let alone shown any interest in eating or playing, since the kidnapping. At least, his apparent turn for the worse had been short-lived, if Sherri could be believed.

  Sherri hooked her arm through Kara’s and tugged her forward. “C’mon. I’ll make sure Jake’s not there. What I meant was that he has a new appreciation for Rusty. After all, he did find his boy.”

  A smile tugged at Kara’s lips, despite the churning in her stomach. She reached down and scratched behind Rusty’s ears. “How could anyone not love this face?”

  The nurse stopped in front of a door, and Kara’s insides grew downright choppy. She drew in a deep breath as Sherri spoke quietly with the nurse. Her friend nodded and then entered the ro
om as Sherri motioned Kara to wait. The swish of a curtain being drawn sounded, and a moment later the nurse returned smiling. “All set. Tommy’s in the first bed.”

  The nightlight was on and Kara could just see his muss of downy blond hair above the blanket. Her throat knotted. He looked so tiny and alone, curled under the blankets, that she scarcely checked the urge to scoop him into her arms. Rusty must’ve felt the same because he started to whine.

  “Shh,” she chastised, and brought him to Tommy’s bedside. Not wanting to frighten Tommy, she gently rubbed his arm and whispered, “Tommy, it’s Kara. I brought someone to see you.”

  She heard Sherri rustling on the other side of the room, but kept her focus on Tommy. His hand poked out from beneath the blanket, and Rusty gave it a sloppy kiss.

  Tommy’s eyes popped open. She hunched down so he could see her. He rubbed his eyes. “Kara?”

  She smiled. “Hi, sport. I’ve missed you. How you doing?”

  His head shifted sideways on the pillow, and one shoulder lifted in a shrug. Rusty gave Tommy’s hand another wash and Tommy’s eyes widened.

  Kara chuckled. “Someone else missed you, too. Mind if he snuggles up there with you for a while?”

  Tommy scooted his body back to make room. “You sure it’s okay?” he whispered conspiratorially.

  “Nope.” Kara grinned. “But I won’t tell if you won’t.” She patted the bed. “Rusty, up.”

  The dog didn’t need to be told twice. He jumped up and gave Tommy’s face a thorough lick. Tommy’s laughter between sputters was music to Kara’s ears. She threw a grin to Sherri over her shoulder, but...

  Jake, not Sherri, stood at the edge of the curtain, his expression unreadable in the shadows.

  The knot in Kara’s throat thickened. “I’m sorry. I know I probably should’ve asked you if it was okay. But I wasn’t sure you’d agree. And I so wanted to help Tommy. I knew that—”

  He stepped around the bed, the ravages of too many sleepless nights bruising his handsome face. Her breath bottled in her lungs as he closed the distance between them, his expression intense.

  Unable to get another word past the constriction in her throat, all she could do was stare at the emotions battling for dominance on his face.

  He lifted his hand to her cheek with a reverence that stole her breath. “You came,” he whispered, his gaze hungrily raking over her face as his lips stretched into a jubilant smile.

  “I would have come soon—”

  He swept her into his arms and swallowed the rest of her excuses in a world-tilting kiss. A kiss that reached into her heart and shattered all the barricades that had vigilantly guarded it for as long as she could remember. Pulling back from the kiss, he cradled her face and touched his forehead to hers. “I tried calling your hospital room this morning and they said you’d gone.”

  He’d called. Kara’s heart scrambled to find its footing. But Jake’s eyes shone with a love so tangible her heart didn’t stand a chance. Joy as she’d never known exploded in her chest. She drew his mouth back to hers and poured all her love for this man and his little boy, her gratitude for his protectiveness, her admiration of his solid faith, her hopes that he’d ask her to stay, into kissing him back.

  Beside them, Tommy giggled. And this time, she sensed it wasn’t thanks to the dog’s exuberant kisses. She and Jake opened their eyes, their lips still touching, and smiled as together they turned to look at Tommy. As if they could read each other’s minds, they grinned at each other again and then jumped on the bed to kiss Tommy. The dog got in a few more swipes of his own, and they were soon a giggling mass of people and dog.

  The overhead light clicked on. Sherri and the nurse stood in the doorway, grinning. “I told you it would work,” she said smugly, except Kara had the niggling suspicion she wasn’t talking about the dog cheering up Tommy. The nurse chuckled and, steering Sherri back into the hall, closed the door.

  Jake and Kara leaned against the pillows on the narrow hospital bed with Tommy and Rusty nestled between them. “Now that you’re better, you gonna come back and stay at Gran and Gramps’s?” he asked. “Daddy said they caught the bad man so you don’t have to stay in the cabin anymore.”

  Caught the bad woman, too, thanks to his daddy. Of course, the deputy marshal said their defense lawyers were already angling for an insanity plea, and the wealthy pair wouldn’t have any trouble making bail, but at least the baby had finally been safely returned to his desperate parents. And yeah, Kara was free to live wherever she wanted. She smiled at Tommy, her heart bursting with the yearning to say yes to living here. But she needed more than the invitation of a five-year-old boy to do that. And suddenly she couldn’t lift her gaze past Jake’s chest. Her heart raced. What if all this had been joy over Tommy’s awakening, not...?

  Jake shifted sideways, and reaching over Tommy’s head, cupped Kara’s jaw in his warm hands. The pad of his thumb traced her bottom lip. “I have a better idea.”

  Her heart jittered as she slowly lifted her gaze from his chest, to his chin, his lips, his nose and finally rested on his pure blue eyes brimming with love and yearning and...maybe a little uncertainty. “I love you, Kara. From the moment you turned into my arms to escape that reporter’s camera, I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you, wanting to protect you, wanting to be with you. You’ve awakened in me something I didn’t think I’d ever feel again. And Tommy adores you.”

  “Rusty, too,” Tommy chirped up.

  “There you go,” Jake said, as if that clinched everything. He grinned, the corners of his eyes crunching in the most heart-skipping way. “I know your home and family and teaching job are in Boston, and—”

  “But Uncle Sam says Stalwart’s way better than Boston. He just moved back. Tell her,” Tommy said.

  As if muffling a chuckle, Jake’s chest shuddered. “As I was saying, for the past few days, I’ve been trying to convince myself that it wasn’t fair to ask you to stay.”

  Kara’s heart swelled with anticipation. “Could you just spit out what you want to say, firefighter? Because if you keep me in suspense much longer, my heart might burst.”

  “I’m good at AR—mouth-to-mouth.” He winked. Then, holding her gaze, he offered a brief, tantalizingly sweet demonstration.

  “Mmm, you might be handy to keep around. You know? For emergencies.”

  Tommy pulled on his shirtsleeve. “What’s your better idea, Daddy?”

  Jake’s lip quivered as if he was suddenly nervous that she might not give him the answer that she suspected—hoped—he was fishing for.

  She opened her mouth to reassure him that she shared his feelings, but he pressed a finger to her lips.

  “Kara, Nicole, Connie Klumchuck—” his eyes twinkled “—or whatever you want me to call you, I have fallen utterly and completely in love with you. I want you in my life, my son’s life, not just as my parents’ houseguest.” He shot his son a lame-idea look and then slid his hands down her neck, gingerly past her wounded shoulder to her hands, which he clasped to his chest. “Would you do me the honor of becoming my wife?”

  Tears spilled down her cheeks, and she couldn’t stop her lips from quivering.

  “I promise I’ll take you to visit Boston as often as you want,” Jake quickly added.

  Kara laughed through her happy tears and, pulling her hands from his grasp, threw her arms around his neck. “Yes! Nothing would make me happier than being your wife.”

  “Mine, too!” Tommy chimed in, hugging her waist.

  Jake wrapped his arms around all of them. “She’ll be your mother, Tommy. How’s that sound?”

  “Cool!” Tommy cried.

  “Wonderful,” Kara agreed.

  Rusty woofed his agreement, too.

  “Yes, I see what you mean,” a deep male voice said from the doorway. A man wearing a lab co
at, a stethoscope curled around his neck, stood beside Sherri’s nurse friend. He strode to the bed, fixing his stethoscope into his ears.

  Sherri appeared at the door after him, pale and mouthing apologies as Kara scooted off the bed, dragging Rusty with her.

  Jake slid out the other side of the bed as the doctor listened to Tommy’s chest, took his pulse, looked at his eyes. “Yes,” he repeated. “Hospitals are for sick people, young man.” He made a notation on his clipboard, then handed it to the nurse. “I’m afraid you don’t qualify. It’s time you went home.” He cleared his throat. “And don’t forget to take your dog and new mom with you.” He winked at Kara as he turned on his heel and strode out.

  Sherri rushed forward and gave Kara a big hug. “Let me be the first to welcome you to the family.”

  Easing the dog leash from Kara’s hand, Jake tapped Sherri on the shoulder, then handed her the leash. “How about you help Tommy get dressed and call to let my mom and dad know we’ll soon be on our way home, while I show Kara a real family welcome?”

  As Sherri scurried out of his way, Jake slipped into her place and, tangling his fingers in her hair once again, said, “Now, where were we?”

  A smile so wide overtook her that she could feel it spread through her chest. “I believe that I had just said yes.” With supreme effort, she reined in her smile and proffered a serious tone. “But I’m afraid that I may have neglected to say something very important.”

  His fingers teasing the tiny hairs at the nape of her neck stilled. “Oh?”

  She hid a smile at the nervousness in his voice. “Yes, Mr. Jake Steele. Steele is my preferred last name, by the way.”

  “Duly noted,” he said with mock seriousness. “Is that what you neglected to tell me?”

  Her smile broke loose. “No...I think I might have neglected to mention that you are the bravest, most caring, tenderhearted, stubbornly protective man I have ever met, and the second happiest day of my life was the day you chased me down.”

  “Only the second happiest?”