by Dinah McCall
Jonah sensed her nervousness but was under the wrong impression, thinking she was concerned about Declyn’s progress. He glanced into the front seat at Carter and Sugarman, then clasped her hand and lowered his voice as he spoke.
“Don’t worry. Ruger said your dad has been moved out of intensive care into a private room. That’s a good sign, right?”
Macie nodded, then curled her fingers into fists.
Jonah had spent too many years reading body language not to know something besides the status of her father’s health was on her mind.
“Macie…?”
“What?”
“It’s not his health that’s bothering you, is it? You don’t really want to be here, do you?”
Macie shrugged, then turned away to stare out the window.
“Honey…talk to me.”
“From the time I was small, my father and my sister were my world. They fed off each other, and I was perfectly happy to settle for being the other child. Everything I did in life was to make sure they approved of my decisions. When I ‘meddled’ in Evan’s life, as Declyn called it, they not only shut me out, they disowned me.” Her voice started to shake. “It wasn’t losing the inheritance that mattered. I’ve made plenty of money on my own. It was losing the only people with whom I shared blood. You know what I mean?”
“And all because of me. Did I ever say thank you?”
Macie looked at him then, her eyes swimming with tears. “No, but now would be a good time, I think.”
Jonah’s gaze slid from her eyes to her mouth as he tilted her chin. He heard the catch in her breath as he leaned down. A moment later, his mouth was on her lips. It was a brief but tender kiss that reminded them of their passionate joining and the bone-melting climax that had followed.
Jonah very much wished they were somewhere other than the back seat of a car being driven by two Federal agents. Finally, and reluctantly, he broke contact.
“Macie?”
“Hmmm?”
“Thank you very much for making sure my son knew I hadn’t abandoned him.”
With her heart still pounding from the kiss, Macie managed to nod. Jonah leaned back, his eyes narrowing as he read the expression on her face. Along with the passion roused from their kiss, he saw something more. Suddenly he knew.
“You’re royally pissed off at Declyn, aren’t you?”
Macie’s eyes widened in surprise. “How did you know?” Then backtracked by adding, “I shouldn’t be. This isn’t the time to…I mean, after everything that’s happened, I should be elated that he’s still alive.”
“But you think the wrong person died, don’t you?”
Again Macie was stunned by his observations.
“You must be one hell of a spy.”
He shrugged. “I’ve been thinking it for days.”
“The better he feels, the more hell I’m going to catch,” she said.
Jonah frowned. “I don’t want to see the bastard, but I’ll go in with you if it will make you feel any better.”
She sighed. “No, but thank you just the same. I’m not afraid of him by any means, but with him in such fragile condition, I can’t bring myself to yell back at him, even though I want to.”
“I don’t have any inhibitions about it,” Jonah said. “If you need backup, remember I’m nearby.”
She managed a smile, then told herself to relax.
Sugarman looked over his shoulder. “We’re almost there. Carter’s going to let us out at the front entrance and then go park the car. I’ll accompany you to Mr. Blaine’s room. Carter will meet up with us there.”
“Thank you,” Macie said. “I won’t be there long.”
“It doesn’t matter, Miss Blaine. We’re happy to help.”
Macie leaned back, bracing herself for what was to come.
A few minutes later they were walking into the hospital lobby. Macie felt Jonah’s focus shifting to bodyguard mode, which made her remember the last time they’d been here. It also dawned on her that she couldn’t even remember what the man who’d bugged her purse looked like. It seemed surreal to realize that becoming a cohort in Calderone’s revenge had gotten him killed. However, this time as they crossed the lobby, they reached the elevator without incident. As the car stopped on the floor where Declyn was hospitalized, Macie’s stomach lurched. For a moment she thought she might throw up, but then Jonah slid his arm around her shoulders and the feeling passed.
As they started down the hall, Macie had a feeling of déjà vu. It took her a few moments to figure out why; then she realized that the floor Declyn was on now was the same floor on which her mother had been when she died. She swallowed around the sudden knot in her throat, then took a deep breath as they stopped to acknowledge the seated guard outside Declyn’s door.
“Hey, Watts, how’s it going?” Sugarman asked.
Watts nodded. “Good. The old man is gaining ground.” Then he glanced at Macie. “Sorry, Miss Blaine. No disrespect meant.”
“That’s quite all right,” she said, and started into the room, then looked back at Jonah.
“If you need me, I’ll be here,” he said.
Macie took a deep breath and walked into her father’s room.
Declyn Blaine was, by nature, a self-centered, insensitive man. To find himself naked beneath a well-washed and backless hospital gown that countless other patients had worn was the height of humiliation. Add to that the fact that each day total strangers were doing everything for him from washing his body to wiping his behind. It made him furious. Not only was he weak as hell and in constant pain, but he was grieving to the depths of his soul. He’d seen his daughter murdered and his only grandson kidnapped. When the bullets had ripped through his own body, he’d been sure he was dying.
But fate, it seemed, had other plans.
The first word out of his mouth had been “Evan.” And then he’d heard Macie’s voice. It had taken him a few moments to remember that he had banned her from his life, and he vaguely remembered a few mumbled words about vultures circling a dying body. Then he’d asked about the ransom demand, and she’d told him there hadn’t been one, and that they’d had no contact with the kidnappers whatsoever.
It was then that true fear had begun to seep into his soul. A man like him made enemies. It came with the power plays and takeovers. There were some who claimed that for every dollar he’d made, he made a new enemy, too. Drunk on the victory of another business success, he had laughed. But he wasn’t laughing now. There was only one reason for a kidnapping other than money, and that was revenge.
He’d felt Macie’s hand on his brow, and in his doped and fevered state, he’d pushed it away and blamed her, instead of himself, for what had happened. It was the last important thing he remembered until this morning, when they’d moved him into this private room. The nurses ignored his angry outbursts and met his demands without so much as a raised voice. For the first time in his privileged life, Declyn Blaine was frightened of the future. So when he heard the voices outside his room, he was afraid of the news they might bring, but when he saw Macie walk in, the fear turned to fury. He needed to lash out. She was the first one in line.
“Did you bring news of Evan?”
“No, Father, but—”
“Then get out,” Declyn said.
Macie flinched. The finality in his voice cut all the way to her soul, but she ignored his demand.
“How are you feeling?” she asked, then picked up a hairbrush from the bed stand. “Would you like me to brush your hair?”
Declyn knocked the brush out of her hand and pointed toward the door.
“You and I have nothing to say to each other,” he said, then frowned when Macie didn’t budge. Her defiance was slightly surprising. He began to wonder if there was more of himself in his youngest child than he had realized.
Macie picked up the brush and laid it back on the stand, then sat down in a chair near the bed. Several seconds passed without either of them speaking.
&
nbsp; Declyn glared.
Macie looked at him without comment.
Finally it was Declyn who broke the silence.
“Well…spit it out. What do you have to say?”
“Yesterday I scattered Felicity’s ashes in the ocean at La Jolla.”
Declyn went from flushed to pale. Macie saw his jaw clench and his throat muscles spasm, as if he were fighting to gain control of his emotions. When he spoke, it was in anger.
“You had no right!” he said. “She was my daughter.”
Macie’s control snapped. “And she was my sister. What did you expect me to do? Leave her remains on a shelf in a mortuary and wait to see if you were going to live or die? She told me years ago that when she died, that’s what she wanted. She said it was where she’d had some of her happiest times.”
Declyn glared. This time, Macie glared back.
“You don’t call the shots in my life anymore,” she said.
“Just because your sister is gone, that doesn’t mean you’re going to get any of her inheritance.”
Macie’s breath caught in the back of her throat. For a few moments she was so stunned she couldn’t find the words to speak. And then she shook her head and tried to laugh. It came out closer to a sob.
“You are pathetic. I never wanted your damned money…only your love. And now I’m not even sure I want anything more to do with that. You don’t know how to love. All you know is how to control, and quite frankly, Father, you can yell and curse at me all you want, but it doesn’t work anymore. Felicity is dead and Evan is missing, and all you want to do is yell at me? I don’t know how you can face yourself in the mirror.”
Declyn was so taken aback by her verbal attack that he was momentarily speechless. Before he could regain control of himself, the door to his room opened. Cold moved through him like a wave, chilling him from the tips of his toes all the way to his brain. He couldn’t think of what to say, and at the same time he was afraid to open his mouth.
The man coming toward him was a ghost from the past, but the ghost didn’t look like the young man he’d been fifteen years ago. There was a bitter twist to his mouth and a coldness to his countenance that hadn’t been there before.
Declyn stared first at Jonah, then at Macie, and as he did, realized who was responsible for the return of the man who, even in his absence, had been his nemesis. Suddenly he felt sick to his stomach and wished to God he wasn’t flat on his back in bed.
“What the hell is he doing here?”
“Trying to help us find his son,” Macie said.
Declyn clenched his jaw even tighter. He’d never struck a woman, but the urge to do so now was stronger than it had ever been in his life.
“You had no right,” he said.
“No, you sorry son of a bitch…you’re the one who had no right,” Jonah said.
Declyn went a whiter shade of pale.
“You said you weren’t going to come in,” Macie said.
Jonah looked her in the eye, daring her to deny him.
“I heard yelling,” he said.
She started to comment, then thrust her hands into her hair and momentarily closed her eyes, as if willing herself to a calm she didn’t feel.
Declyn stared, unable to believe what he was seeing. He was savvy enough to realize that something was going on between his youngest daughter and this man. He cursed beneath his breath, but it was loud enough that they heard.
“Would you like to repeat that loud enough for company, or are you too big a coward?” Jonah asked.
Declyn’s anger spiked. “You couldn’t have my oldest daughter, so you’re working your way back into my life by fucking my youngest. And don’t try to deny it. I’m not stupid.”
Macie gasped, but Jonah only laughed.
“If you remember…I already had your oldest daughter. Evan was a result of that. I do not want into your life. And what’s between Macie and me is none of your business. However, I’m going to have to disagree with your last remark, because I think you’re not only stupid, you’re pretty much an idiot. This lie…this perfect little lie that you persuaded Felicity to tell me, has put you and your entire family in jeopardy.”
Declyn began to sputter. “Me? What are you talking about?”
“Has it ever occurred to you to wonder why there’s been no request for ransom for Evan? Did Macie tell you that someone tried to kill her, too?”
Declyn’s jaw dropped. He looked at Macie and saw the truth on her face.
“You didn’t tell me….”
“You don’t care. Why bother?” she said shortly.
“If there’s no ransom, then it’s revenge,” Declyn said. “I’ve made a few enemies in my time.”
“Well, you do have a few brain cells after all,” Jonah drawled. “Only the revenge isn’t directed at you.”
Declyn frowned. “What do you mean?”
Despite the fact that her father was bedridden, Macie could tell that it wasn’t an issue that was going to slow either man from pursuing the fight. And while she understood Jonah’s fury, she still stepped between him and the bed where her father was lying before more than words started to fly.
“Jonah knows the man behind the attack,” she said.
This time Declyn was taken completely off guard. He stared first at Macie, then at Jonah.
“Is this true?”
“Oh, it’s true, all right,” Jonah said. “Because of the lie Felicity told me, I believed there wasn’t a person on this earth who cared if I lived or died. And because of that lie, I pursued a career that isn’t healthy for a family man.”
“What are you talking about?” Declyn asked. “What career?”
“Jonah works for the CIA. Undercover work,” Macie said.
Suddenly all the defiance on Declyn’s face disappeared. He wanted to look away, but Jonah held answers to questions that were driving him mad.
“What are you saying?”
“Felicity is dead because you lied to me. You were shot because of that lie, and my son—a son I didn’t know I had—is now in the hands of one of the most ruthless drug lords ever to come out of South America.”
“No,” Declyn said, but it wasn’t a denial as much as a plea for Jonah to stop talking.
“Yes,” Jonah said.
“Are you sure?” Declyn asked.
“They’re sure,” Macie said.
“But why us…and why take Evan?” Declyn asked.
“I’m guessing, but I’d say that they killed Felicity because she’s the mother of my son, and they shot you because you got in the way. They tried to kill Macie because she bears your name.”
“But why did they kidnap Evan? Why didn’t they just shoot him, too, like they did us?”
“Again, this is just a guess…but I think they want me to suffer like I made Miguel Calderone suffer.”
Declyn didn’t want to hear the answer, but at the same time, he had to know.
“What do you mean?”
“I killed his son. He saw it. He’s the kind of man who believes in an eye for an eye. His son is dead, so he’s going to kill mine. But he wants me to watch it happen. As long as they can’t find me, Evan has a better chance of staying alive.”
“Oh. God…I didn’t know…. I didn’t think…”
Jonah’s cheeks flushed a dark, angry red.
“That’s another lie. You might not have known about my lifestyle, but you did know what you did was wrong. You thought long and hard about it, then persuaded a weak, beautiful woman to go along with it so you could have your way. Now you need to pray, old man. You need to pray long and hard that we get a break in this case before it’s too late…if it’s not already.”
Having said that, Jonah turned on one heel and strode out of the room.
Declyn looked at Macie. “I didn’t know. If I had, I wouldn’t—”
“He’s right, Father. You’re still lying.” Then she turned toward the door.
“Wait! You’ve got to understand. I—”
“No. I don’t have to do anything you say anymore.” Then she took a deep, cleansing breath. “And don’t you forget it.”
Declyn was still talking as she walked out of the room, taking care to close the door firmly behind her.
The guard nodded at her as she came out. “How is your father, Miss Blaine?”
“His health is improving,” she said. “Thank you for asking.” Then she walked into Jonah’s arms and buried her face against his chest.
To say Jonah was surprised was an understatement. He’d expected her to be angry that he’d confronted her father without her permission. He glanced up at Sugarman and Carter, who politely chose to look away, then he put his arm around Macie and led her toward a window at the end of the hall.
“I thought you’d be mad,” he said.
Macie looked at him then, with the full light of day shining on his face through the windows. He was a man who’d seen the dark side of life. It was there in his eyes. But he was also a man with a good heart and a tender soul. Standing this close to him was like being thirteen all over again. She was dumbstruck and in love, and so far out of her depth she was in danger of drowning.
“Macie…?”
“What?”
“I’m sorry, but—”
She put her hand on his mouth, then shook her head.
“Don’t apologize. I’m not mad at you. I’m just mad at myself. I used to want his approval so badly, and now it seems so unimportant. All I want now is Evan.” And you.
But she couldn’t bring herself to say aloud what was in her heart. As she moved her hand from his mouth, she curled her fingers into a fist in a futile gesture to retain the warmth of his lips.
Jonah nodded, but he was still smarting from a remark Declyn had made, and he wondered if it was bothering Macie as much as it was him.
“I need you to know something. When we made love…it wasn’t because I was trying to get back at Declyn, or trying to regain something I’d lost with Felicity.”
Macie flushed and then ducked her head. “I know. It’s okay,” she said quickly. “It happened because I asked.”
