Betrayed by Trust

by Frankie Robertson

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  DAN

  Part of what my squad did in Southeast Asia was go where no one expected us to be, and find out what the enemy didn’t want us to know.” Dan spoke in the same tightly controlled tone he would have used to debrief after a mission. “That’s what we were doing the day most of us were killed.”

  Dan’s stomach tightened. He didn’t talk about his time in the service, except with Ringo, and not that often even with him. The one time Marianne had asked, Dan had changed the subject. Now he was opening up an old wound for her, so she would understand. He sat down on the bed beside her and took her hand between both of his. It was soft and warm and real, a tether to the here and now, even as his memories pulled him into the past.

  “Don’t. You don’t have to talk about it.”

  He went on as if she hadn’t spoken. Ringo was right. She needed to know. “There were eight of us. My lieutenant, me, and six others, including Ringo. We were deep in-country. We’d just entered a valley between two hills, massive walls of rock covered with vines, when we were ambushed.”

  He fell silent, staring into the middle distance, remembering how the jungle had grasped at their every step and the smothering humidity weighed down on them even in the misty dawn.

  “Going into the valley was risky, but we were following signs of enemy troop movements and Command needed the intel. They took down the lieutenant first; then our point man, Johnson; Kailani; Frampton; and Davis. A grenade dropped a branch on Ringo’s head, and shrapnel ripped through my side.”

  “But you don’t have any scars.”

  Dan barely registered that she’d spoken. “We were all down, dead or dying, and no one would ever know what had happened to us. We’d done our best, but we were so outnumbered … A Khmer soldier was standing over me, about to hack my head off with his machete, when the jungle erupted.”

  Marianne squeezed his hand. “Erupted?”

  “That’s the only way I can describe it.” The jungle had peeled back like the skin shed by a snake. The landscape had transformed from oppressive and overgrown to awe inspiring. “We were no longer between two hills. We were in a courtyard between two stone temples, and the Na-gá who lived there were pissed.”

  “Na-gá?”

  Dan rubbed a hand over his mouth. Should he tell her?

  If anyone would believe him, she would.

  “The locals call them gods. They’re Earth Elementals. Gaians. I didn’t know that’s what they were then. What I thought then, was that I must be hallucinating from the pain and adrenaline. What I saw was two giant cobras, with huge, flaring hoods.”

  Marianne leaned back as he extended his arms. “I couldn’t believe something that big could move so quickly. The Khmer who didn’t run fast enough were toast. Some, the snakes spit venom at, others they bit with fangs the length of scimitars. That’s what happened to the guy with the machete, and I was sure I was going to be next.” The memories pulled him under. His heart thrashed as if trying to escape the cage of his chest. The Na-gá had terrified him on a visceral level, far more than the Khmer.

  Marianne gaped, her expression horrified. But instead of telling him he was nuts, she asked, “What happened?”

  Her question jerked him back to the present. He wasn’t in the jungle. He wasn’t about to die. His bride was staring at him, concern filling her eyes. Dan took a deep breath and found he could go on. “I must have blacked out, because when I woke up the cobras were gone, and the most beautiful Asian woman I’d ever seen had her hand inside my fatigues.”

  Marianne lifted a brow in a perfect imitation of Spock. He knew what she was thinking. A beautiful woman with her hand in his pants sounded like a dream—or a fantasy.

  “She had her fingers over my wound—or the place where my wound had been. The pain was gone, my skin as smooth as the day I was born, but my cammies were still torn and soaked with blood.”

  “What happened then?”

  “She said, ‘You are restored.’” He laughed, but it had no humor in it. “I was a damn sight better than restored. I felt great. There were two men there, one fair, one Asian, standing behind her at the edge of the courtyard.”

  For a second alarm had flared with the thought they might be enemy. The blond guy could have been a Soviet military advisor, except he was wearing the same kind of richly colored silk sampot as the Asians were wearing, and he was unarmed as far Dan could tell. Dan had reached for his weapon, but the woman stopped him with just a touch. “The Asian man came over to us and said in perfect English, ‘We have punished the Kambhoj who spilled unsanctified blood in the temple. Leave Kambhuja, and do not return. Take the unsanctified with you.’”

  Dan looked over at a pensive Marianne. “He didn’t have to tell me twice.”

  “What did he mean, unsanctified?”

  “My squad-mates. He wanted their bodies out of there.”

  “What about the other man? What did he say?”

  Dan searched Marianne’s expression. She didn’t look like she thought he was nuts. “Nothing. He stayed on the far side of the courtyard. Maybe he was a Russian advisor. Maybe he was something else entirely. At that point, I wasn’t going to ask any questions. My only interest was in getting the hell out of there.”

  “Did she heal Ringo, too?”

  “I think she must have done something, because he was able to move under his own power even if he was still pretty out of it. I don’t know what that woman did, but somehow we had the energy to carry the bodies of our team-mates out of that valley. We buried them in a cave in the next valley, and brought their tags home.” The muscles in his jaw jumped. “We didn’t rest until we were ten klicks away.”

  Dan stood and walked over to the French doors, staring out at the gardens below for several minutes. He knew what his story sounded like. He hadn’t even told his sister. He wouldn’t blame Marianne if she thought he qualified for a Section 8. She wouldn’t be the first to doubt his sanity, but if anyone would believe him, it would be her, considering what she’d pledged herself to do. He hoped so. It mattered more to him that she believe than it ever had before.

  “Thank you for sharing that with me.”

  Her soft words unwound the tension that had been twisting in his gut. He turned back to her wide blue eyes.

  “There’s more, isn’t there?”

  He nodded. “I tried to skirt what happened at my debriefing. I knew that telling the brass that Ringo and I were saved by giant cobras wasn’t going to fly, but when you lose your commanding officer and three-fourths of your squad, the Army wants details. They saw I was being evasive, and kept after me until I finally told them everything. Then they asked me what kind of drugs I’d been taking. They wanted to know if I’d been so high that I’d shot my own men.”

  “Oh, no!”

  “Oh, yeah.” Ringo couldn’t back him up; his buddy had been concussed and didn’t remember a damn thing. Not that the brass would have believed him either. “I knew I was screwed. At best my military career was over, so when the CIA took their turn with me, I didn’t hold anything back. I no longer had anything to lose, so I just laid it all out. That’s when things got interesting. The spooks listened to what I had to say, took some notes, and said, ‘thank you very much.’ Two days later they shipped us back to the States. No charges. No reprimand. An early and honorable discharge. That’s when the Trust contacted me, told me that Gaians, in the form of Southeast Asian gods, had saved my life, and asked me if I wanted a job.”

  “No way! The CIA is sharing information with the Trust? Foxworth is better connected than I thought.”

  “That’s what surprises you?”

  Marianne blushed and lifted a shoulder. “Well, I already knew about Gaians.”

  Dan hung his head and chuckled softly at her unassailable logic. They were in this room, married and expecting a baby, because she was trying to rescue a Gaian, after all.

  “Fair enough. But here’s the reason I laid all this on you. I work for the
Trust because I know the world is a stranger place than most people suspect. Foxworth gave me the opportunity to learn more about what’s going on, and to help others deal with it. I’m grateful for that. But I’ve seen the earth change under my feet. I’ve been face to face with an Elemental. That kind of thing tends to change your priorities.”

  Marianne’s lips curved in wry acknowledgement. “Meeting Aldwyn was nothing compared to what you went through, but having a Gaian wolf-spirit look me in the eye as if he was reading my mind made an impression.”

  Dan nodded. “Then you should understand. The Trust hasn’t bought me. I choose my own path. I briefed you because it was my job. I chose to help you with your assignment because I could see you were in over your head. But I married you because the first time I saw you, that day you came into my office for your first briefing, I felt a different kind of magic than I’d felt before, but just as powerful. It was kind of like recognition, or finding a missing piece. Something about you fits into me like a key into a lock. I needed you to be mine from the moment I saw you, and the more time we spent together, the more I wanted you.”

  Dan watched Marianne, trying to read her response. He’d never stated his feelings so baldly to a woman. He’d never had these feelings before to say.

  She didn’t look horrified, at least. Or scornful. Marianne nibbled the corner of her lower lip, then said, “That didn’t stop you from helping me seduce Conrad.”

  Dan winced and ran a hand back through his already rumpled hair. “Letting you go out with him that night was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done. I wanted to talk you out of it, but it was your choice. I didn’t have any right to tell you what to do. Whether I like it or not, what you’re doing is important. We can’t leave the power of a Gaian in the hands of the Path. The best I could do was help prepare you, so you’d be as safe as possible, and ready to do what you had to. And wait.”

  Marianne’s eyes narrowed. She probably thinks I’m handing her a line, like Mackson did.

  “I believe you.”

  Three short words, but they relaxed the tight knot of worry twisting under his breast bone. “You do? I mean, good. But … why? After the way Mackson jerked you around, I can see why you might be slow to trust.”

  “I am. I was. But there were signs that Barry was a self-absorbed little prick. I just didn’t want to see. But with you …” She stopped and looked away.

  “With me?”

  Marianne brought her gaze back to his. “I don’t get that from you.”

  Dan let out a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding. As a vote of confidence, it was pretty weak, but he’d take it. Even more than her words, he’d take the softening expression on Marianne’s face. She’d stopped twisting her fingers, too, and she turned a smile on him that reached all the way to her eyes.

  She stood carefully, testing her balance, then came to him by the French doors. Outside, it was another beautiful San Diego afternoon, with sunlight streaming through a cloudless blue sky. Below them, a riot of white, pink, and fuchsia flowers bloomed in planters lining the walkways between buildings, but Dan only had eyes for her.

  Marianne slipped her arms around his waist and pressed her cheek against his chest. Under her ear, his heart beat in a quick rhythm as he pulled her close.

  “We’re together now,” she said. “Let’s not waste it.”

  Dan swept her up in his arms and she squeaked in surprise. “Let’s not,” he said, and carried her back to bed.

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  MARIANNE

  Thanks for doing this,” Dan said as we drove south from Harrisburg International Airport. “I know Pennsylvania in March isn’t what anyone would call a romantic honeymoon spot.”

  I chuckled and peered out at the gray sky. “It’s fine. I just hope your grandmother likes me.”

  “She will.” Dan took one hand off the steering wheel to squeeze my knee.

  I hoped he was right. Otherwise, the next few days would be pretty uncomfortable since we were staying with her.

  “Gran will love you, especially when she sees how happy I am.” He turned left onto Pecks Road, then north again.

  “Are you? Happy, I mean.” I wanted him to be. Our marriage was one of convenience, a contrivance to help hide my child from the Golden Path. But I found myself feeling happy and satisfied to be bound to Dan, and I wanted him to feel the same. I knew he wanted me physically as much as I wanted him. If good sex could make a man happy, Dan should be ecstatic, but he was deeper than that. Jill had said he was “lighter” than he’d been for years, and Dan had said I was a fit for him. Was that enough? Did that mean he was happy?

  Dan glanced over at me. “Can’t you tell?” The corner of his mouth curled up. “I don’t want to be too romantic, after all. I know how that bothers you …”

  I pressed my lips together and whapped him lightly on the shoulder. When had I become so needy? “Never mind.”

  “Okay. But if you change your mind, you can just ask Gran. She’ll know, and she won’t mince words.”

  At eighty-five, Dan’s maternal grandmother hadn’t felt up to traveling to the wedding, so we’d decided to visit her, instead. She’d insisted we stay with her. After two nights at the resort, we’d flown across the country to Pennsylvania and rented a car. Even though she lived fairly close to the state capital, this area was still largely rural; brown fields lay to the east of PA 441, and the Susquehanna river to the west. In the summer this area would be green and lush, but barely a week into spring, the landscape was still bleak, painted like the sky and the river with various shades of gray and brown.

  We pulled up in front of a farmhouse with a wide porch. A very plump woman with fluffy gray hair opened the door before Dan could raise his hand to knock.

  “Danny! It’s been too long!” She pulled him into a hug against her apron-covered bosom. Dan had to bend way over to wrap his arms around her.

  When he straightened, he kept one arm around her shoulders and held the other out to me. “Gran, this is my wife, Marianne.” He pitched his voice a little louder than normal.

  His wife. Once again I was struck by the rapid changes to my life, only this time it felt good. I was his wife. I was family.

  I smiled and held out my hand, but it was ignored. Gran pulled me into a hug as encompassing as the one she’d given Dan.

  “Welcome! Now come in out of the cold. We don’t want you taking a chill!”

  Dan brought in our luggage and Gran pointed us up the stairs to a small guest room that was almost filled by a double bed. The wrought iron bed frame had been painted white many years ago. Missing flakes of paint revealed an even older coat of turquoise beneath.

  For the next few hours Gran fed us, shared family gossip, and fed us again. Then she brought out snacks “to fill in the corners” while we played gin rummy. At bedtime, Dan and I snuggled close together under the faded hand-stitched quilt in the narrow bed.

  Dan spooned close behind me, pressing his erection against my butt. I wiggled against him, and the bed squeaked loudly.

  “Damn bed,” Dan muttered. “Why doesn’t she get rid of this thing?” He levered himself up on one elbow and pulled me onto my back and kissed me. The bed protested again.

  I laughed softly. “We can’t.”

  He was still for a moment, considering. Then he kissed me again and murmured. “We can. She’s hard of hearing, remember?”

  I bit my lip, considering. I could feel Dan’s heat and the firmness of his hard-on through my nightgown. He was only wearing briefs, and I couldn’t stop myself from running my hands down his long muscled back to squeeze his buns.

  Dan took that as assent and sat up. He urged me to do the same, then he pulled my gown off, over my head, accompanied by a frenzy of squeeks.

  “Are you sure?” I asked.

  “Don’t worry,” he said. “We’ll take it slow. She won’t hear a thing. And she’s a sound sleeper.” He bent to suck one of my nipples into his mouth.

&nbs
p; A geyser of pleasure shot through me. I wanted this. Wanted him.

  Neither one of us needed much warm-up. Dan settled between my legs and slipped slowly inside, filling not just my body, but my soul. He moved slowly at first, then faster, the bed squeaking in time. I choked back a giggle, then locked my ankles behind his back, rocking my hips upward to meet his thrusts, wanting to take him in as deeply as I could. Every stroke touched something within me, making me hungry for even more. My tension grew until every muscle was taught. I barely heard the bed anymore as I reached for release. Within me, Dan grew even more rigid, impaling me with his urgent need, pushing me higher.

  “Now baby,” he urged. “Let it go.”

  His words pushed me over the edge. My muscles contracted around his shaft and I groaned into Dan’s mouth. A moment later he followed me, his moan strangled behind a clenched jaw.

  As we floated down from the peak, Dan shifted, settling me over him, my head nestled against his chest. He pulled the coverlet over my boneless body, and I fell asleep surrounded by his warmth.

  The next morning, after fishing my nightgown out from under the bed, I wrapped myself in a robe and joined Dan and his Gran for breakfast. I eyed her warily, searching for signs that we’d disturbed her, but she just bustled around, frying bacon, scrambling eggs, and pulling fresh baked muffins from the oven. She flatly refused any help.

  “I have my routine, dear. You just sit.”

  She set two heavily laden platters on the table in front of us. It was a good thing we were only visiting a few days. The way she was feeding us, if we stayed any longer I’d gain half my pregnancy weight in the first trimester. She refilled our coffee cups and with a cheery smile said, “I hope you both had fun last night.”

  Dan coughed, choking on a bite of muffin. My gaze met his, then slid away as I bit my lips. His expression was carefully controlled, but color was rising in his cheeks.

  “I know I did,” Gran continued. “I haven’t played rummy in ages. Maybe we can play again when Sissy and Bob get here.”