Danger Deception Devotion The Firsts

by Lorhainne Eckhart

  Abby took a deep breath. “Where do you want me to start?”

  “I want you to go back to when you first saw the other guy who was with you and Seyed on the boat and picture him. Close your eyes,” Eric said in his deep voice.

  She hesitated before closing her eyes, but then winced and pressed her hand to her lower back.

  Eric reached for a couple of pillows. “Here, settle back on these. Try and relax.”

  She had such a pretty smile, and it reminded him so much of a child’s. But she wasn’t a child, because children were innocent, or they were supposed to be, anyway.

  “Close your eyes again, and I want you to picture him and describe this guy in every detail. Start with what he looked like,” Eric said.

  “He had dark hair curling a bit just past his ears.” She had her eyes closed, and he could tell she was thinking as she gestured with her hand. “He didn’t have a beard, but he had facial hair, as though he hadn’t shaved for a few days.” She started to open her eyes.

  “No, Abby, keep your eyes closed. Don’t open them until I tell you. What color were his eyes? Did he have any scars, marks on his face, anything that would stand out? How old do you think he was, young? Was he fat or thin?”

  “He had dark eyes, his face was slender, and he was older. Not old, but maybe in his thirties, I think. He had this bump on his nose—it really stood out. I remember he was also dressed differently. He had a dark jacket on, slacks, and that was all I could tell. It was dark.”

  “When you first got on the boat, before you were taken down below, was there anyone around? What did you see? Was it a marina? How many boats were there?”

  She opened her eyes and gave him a look of confusion. “It happened so fast. I didn’t see anything, or anyone.”

  “Come on, Abby. Close your eyes.”

  Reluctantly, she did.

  “Tell me where you are as you’re walking to the boat. Tell me what you see.”

  “It’s so dark. I’m in the backseat, and Seyed grabs me, pulls me out. I walk behind them. I see buildings, and we’re at a marina. We walk on a boardwalk. There are many boats there, but I don’t see anyone. Wait—there was a whistle. I didn’t dare look up, but the other man in front of Seyed did this bird whistle back. I don’t know where it came from except it was over a ways from my left. Then I was on the boat and taken below. I fell asleep not long after, I was so tired.” She opened her eyes. “I’m sorry I can’t remember more.”

  He couldn’t help himself. He took her hand. “Are you kidding me? You were actually very helpful.”

  Joe moved forward and stood at the foot of the bed. “I’m going to get right on this.” He held up the notes and gave her a wink to break the mounting tension. “Thank you, Abby. You gave us more than you know.” Joe hesitated beside Eric and gave him a pointed glance, and Eric wondered for a minute whether his feelings were showing. “I’ll talk to you later,” said Joe, and then he left.

  “I didn’t think I told you anything more than I did yesterday.”

  Eric slid the chair back against the wall. “You did good, Abby.” He smiled down on her but kept his hands to himself. Each time he touched her was doing all kinds of wild things to his control. He couldn’t be the arrogant self-possessed man everyone knew on that ship, who barked orders, who demanded. With her, he needed to listen, and something about her made him care about everyone more.

  She shivered and wrapped her arms across her bosom.

  “Are you okay?” He slid his hand over her shoulder and down her arm. She didn’t pull away, and he wondered for a minute if she actually leaned into his touch or if he was just imagining it.

  “Yes, I’m fine. I just don’t like having to think about him. Eric, I mean, Captain, do you think I’ll have to see him again?”

  This time, Eric sat on the edge of the bed beside her and slid his arm across her shoulder. “Where would you ever get the idea you’d have to see him again? The man’s a criminal. He bought you--”

  “But this is his child,” she interrupted him. “Do you really believe he’ll just let me go? I’ve seen the monster he is. He’ll hunt to the ends of the earth for me, for this child, and then he’ll kill me.”

  “Abby, he will not get your child. You are going back to the US, where you’ll be safe.”

  The look she gave him told him loud and clear she didn’t believe him. “Seyed and his people have quite a reach in the US, too, you know. I’ve seen and heard things I wish I never had. Please don’t make promises you can’t keep.”

  Eric was stunned by her cool. There was something inside of him that wanted to scoop her up and make those promises, then hide her somewhere where nothing bad could ever touch her again. But he didn’t, because he couldn’t, so instead he moved away. “I’ll come back and see you later,” he said. He didn’t wait for her to respond. He strode to the door, running his fingers through his hair, and turned the door handle. He glanced over his shoulder and met her gaze, and he started to promise her something, anything, but stopped, because that wouldn’t be fair, not to her. So he gave her a stiff smile, one he knew never reached his eyes, and left.

  Several hours later, Joe knocked on Eric’s cabin door. He closed the door behind him. “Captain, I filled Edwin in on our talk with Abby. She’s very nice, by the way. A real trooper for what she’s been through.” Joe didn’t wait for him to respond, which was good, because he was still feeling like crap because his promises to keep her safe meant squat as soon as she left this ship. She knew it, and he knew it.

  “Eric, are you listening?” Joe asked.

  “Yeah, sorry, so what did Edwin say?”

  “They suspect the guy that Abby described was most likely part of the ring responsible for some of the sabotage that happened on one of the British destroyers last month. Edwin confirmed that he also believes it was Seyed who arrived on Kish Island, and right now, they’re tracking his whereabouts. He said he couldn’t reveal anything else right now, but he did say they suspect that whatever was planned, there was most likely another boat out there, and the plan changed when Abby clubbed this guy over the head and then disappeared on the dinghy.”

  As Eric listened, a sick feeling stirred in his gut.

  Joe said, “The CIA may try to get a hold of Abby to talk to her.”

  Eric vaulted out of his chair, sending it flying, and leaned over the desk, bracing both hands in front of him and glaring icily at Joe. “No way in hell are they going to talk to her, get their hands on her, or come anywhere near her.”

  His heart was pounding so hard he couldn’t hear anything over it. He was shaking. He was so angry, and he wanted to slam his fist into something, anything, because the CIA knowing anything about Abby being here was about the worst thing possible. They’d use and break her spirit for their own means. They didn’t give a crap who she was. “They’ll have to go through me if they want her!”

  Joe closed his eyes and looked away briefly before speaking. “Eric, get a grip. You and I know damn well that if the CIA wants her, they’ll find a way to get her. Right now, Edwin was giving me the heads up.”

  “How does the CIA know she’s here to begin with? Did Edwin tell them? I thought you told me he wouldn’t repeat whatever you said,” Eric barked.

  “It wasn’t Edwin, but someone did. Could be anyone, Eric, you know that. It went out on the wire when we found her. Command knows, the admiral—she’s the whole talk on this ship, with the fact that she’s still here.”

  Eric threw his hands in the air in answer.

  “You know it could mean your career if you interfered,” Joe said. “How far are you willing to go for her?”

  In reply, Eric fixed a dark, penetrating look on him. He was furious the CIA knew anything about Abby, and he pumped his fists a couple times, imagining pounding the crap out of whoever had filled them in on the matter.

  Joe sighed. “Look, Eric, hopefully it won’t go there, but you need to be prepared. Just what do you think you can do to protect
her, anyway? It’s not like you’re married to her.”

  Eric glared at Joe. “Stop it, would you? This is about a young woman who never asked for any of this to happen to her. She was kidnapped and sold like an animal, and you know what this animal did to her. She’s now pregnant with his kid, and she was beaten so badly.…” He stopped, unable to finish.

  “I know that, Eric. I was there when she was brought aboard.”

  “I will do what I need to do to protect her. Do you know what she said to me after you left?”

  Joe simply shook his head.

  “She said I can’t protect her, because when she goes back to the US, Seyed will still get her, and when he gets his hands on her, he’ll take the baby and kill her.” He shook his head. “As long as she’s here, though, on my ship, no one can get her. This Seyed Hossein—tell me Edwin at least gave you something on him? His whereabouts would be nice.”

  “He narrowed it down to some activity with sailboats in the Gulf a week ago. From what we understand, they were going out at night, possibly targeting military ships in the area. Unfortunately, Edwin’s information is sketchy. He assured me they will track this guy and find out what’s going on.”

  Troubled by the sudden iciness in the air, Eric paced the room.

  Joe rose from his chair. “Eric, I understand how you feel, but how long do you think you can keep her here?” He didn’t wait for Eric to answer. He must have seen that his stubborn friend had made up his mind and there was no reasoning with him, because the next thing Eric knew, Joe had pulled open the door and left.

  Eric dropped back in his leather chair and groaned. Not since he was a kid forced into the system had he remembered feeling so helpless. In that moment, he made the decision that he would do whatever was needed to protect her. For just a second, he allowed his thoughts to wander to the reason for this protective instinct. As commanding officer, he had taken her under his protection. “Yeah, right.” He spat the words out, shook his head, and cursed aloud at such a ridiculous argument.

  Pulling open the top drawer of the desk, he reached in and took out his medals. He looked down at them and tried to rekindle those powerful feelings of satisfaction, glory, and pride from when he had earned them on a mission years ago in the South China Sea. Try as he might, he couldn’t remember that feeling of excitement. He’d been lonely for so long he hadn’t even realized it, and for the first time all this glory meant nothing without someone special to share it with. Sighing, he returned the medals to the drawer and then closed it. He left the cabin, slamming the door after him, making a decision to do the one thing that had always worked before. He would bury himself in work: his first love, the sea.

  Heading up to the bridge, Eric made a mental note to do a surprise inspection at all the stations. His crew were really going to love him for this.

  Chapter Eleven

  “Captain!” someone yelled again. The pounding on his cabin door brought Eric from his bed and ripped him from the sound sleep he’d finally fallen into. He yanked open the door to young Petey, his corpsman, who looked barely old enough to enlist.

  “What the hell?” Eric barked. He shoved his arms in his shirt and buckled the pants he had shoved on when he jumped from bed, quickly lacing his black boots.

  “Captain, Doc said to get you. Abby’s in labor.”

  “What do you mean, she’s in labor?! I thought it was too early.” He tucked his tan shirt in his pants as he headed out the door, buttoning it as he walked at a hurried clip, Petey on his heels.

  “I don’t know what happened, except the guard heard her screaming. Scared the shit out of him, he thought someone was killing her. He got the doc, and he said to get you.”

  Eric made it in record time to sickbay. The guard jumped to attention and opened the door for him. Both the doc and Lynn were beside Abby, the lights blazing overhead. “What’s going on? Petey said she’s in labor.”

  “Deep breath in… blow it out. That’s it, Abby. Now relax,” said the doc as he pulled back the blanket covering her.

  Eric was right beside her as the doctor grabbed latex gloves and shoved his hands in.

  “She’s having contractions,” Larry said. “I need to check if she’s dilating.”

  Lieutenant Lynn wrapped a black cuff around her arm and checked her blood pressure. “One-eighty over sixty,” he said to the doc as he scribbled her vitals into a chart.

  “Deep breath in, Abby. That’s it. Don’t hold your breath.… Let it out slowly. Abby, I need you to relax and take a deep breath. I need to examine you. I want you to tell me as soon as you feel another contraction coming on, okay? Come on, legs up.”

  Eric moved to stand by her head as the doc spread her legs, resting his one hand on her knee.

  “You’re going to feel some pressure, Abby.”

  Abby sucked in a breath, and her hands went helplessly to her chest, reaching for anything to grab.

  Eric took her warm hand in his large, calloused one. “It’s all right, Abby.”

  The doc pulled his hand out and ripped off his gloves, dumping them in the receptacle behind him. “The cervix has thinned, but she’s only dilated about one centimeter. Let’s just wait and see how it goes for the next little bit.”

  “Am I in labor? I was dreaming. It was awful.” She was breathless as she spoke.

  “Abby, you were having a nightmare, thrashing about pretty good,” Larry said. “The poor guard heard you screaming and thought someone was in here trying to hurt you. You want to tell me about it?”

  Eric saw the fear light up her eyes as if she was facing the fires of hell. She shut her eyes, and a lone tear slipped out. She didn’t let go of Eric’s hand. In fact, she squeezed harder, and then she shook her head and stifled a frantic hiccup. She groaned and rolled to her side, clutching her belly, gasping for breath.

  “Another contraction, Abby. Come on, don’t hold your breath.”

  “It hurrrts,” she moaned.

  Eric could feel her starting to panic. He rubbed her shoulder and back with his other hand. “Look at me. Don’t hold your breath. Let it go.… Breathe in. Come on, that’s it. Good girl. Now let it out slowly.”

  She locked eyes with Eric, and he could feel how she needed him, someone to be here with her. He also knew that whatever she dreamed had put the fear of God into her.

  As soon as the contraction passed, she took a deep breath.

  “Captain, can I speak with you?” the doctor asked in a low voice.

  Eric stood and let go of her hand. “Abby, I’ll be right back.”

  When they emerged into the hall, Eric turned toward Larry. “Doc, what happened here? I thought the baby wasn’t due for a while.” His voice was sharp, and he knew he sounded annoyed.

  Larry shook his head. “The guard heard her scream and yell. When he came in, she was thrashing around. One hell of a bad dream, I’d say. It’s obvious the stress of it put her in early labor. I just examined her. The contractions are strong. It’s too early, so we have to get the contractions to stop. Best-case scenario is if they stop on their own. Keep her in bed, and help her relax. If they don’t stop, I need to give her some terbutaline. The only problem is side effects. The drug can increase the heart rate of both Abby and the baby, but right now it’s a moot point, as we don’t have it on board. We’d have to have it sent over from the hospital on base in Bahrain.”

  Abby groaned again and sounded as if she was almost whimpering. Eric could see the beads of sweat on her forehead, and she doubled over, clutching her belly and gritting her teeth. He could see her trying to breathe. Lieutenant Lynn was talking to her.

  “That was five minutes since the last one,” Todd said to the doctor as he approached. Eric took Abby’s hand again, and she held on.

  “Isn’t it too early for me to have my baby?” Her voice trembled.

  The doctor stood on the other side of the bed and leaned down so she could see him. “Listen to me. It’s early, but we’re going to try to stop it. First, though—and
this is important—I need you to relax. It looks like your nightmare brought on early labor. Right now, chances are really good that we can get it to stop. You haven’t dilated past the point of no return yet. If you continue past five centimeters or your water breaks, there will be nothing I can do to stop labor, so I need you to calm down, take some deep breaths, and try not to move. Lieutenant Lynn is going to check your vitals again while I talk to the captain.”

  Eric smiled gently, and gave her hand a reassuring squeeze. “Listen to the doc. I’ll be right back.”

  The doc stood in front of Eric with his back to Abby when he said, “By the time Todd and I got here, we heard her screaming, pleading, and crying. She was having a hell of a nightmare. This is something I’ve seen from soldiers with PTSD, and I’m talking pretty bad cases. When I woke her, her blood pressure was through the roof. She was trembling, and her eyes were wild with fear, something I can honestly say I’ve never seen before. She was so scared that I’m pretty sure it took her a minute to remember where she was. She was soaking wet, she was perspiring so much. This is the kind of stress that put her in early labor. I don’t know if we can get the contractions to stop.”

  Eric ran his hands over his face. “When will you know?”

  Shaking his head, the doctor let out a deep breath. “We’re going to have to play that by ear. Her water hasn’t broken, so that’s a good sign. We need to get her blood pressure down, keep her feet elevated, keep her calm, and I want to get some fluids into her. I will hook her up to an IV.”

  Eric glanced over his shoulder at Abby, meeting her eyes as the lieutenant moved aside to document the vitals in the chart at the counter beside the bed.

  “I’ll be staying here to keep an eye on her, so I’ll be sure to let you know of any change or if she progresses further.”