by Ronie Kendig
CHAPTER 37
Relief warred with fear. Dani rolled off her shoulder, twisting her body at an odd angle that enabled her to see Canyon. Her heart rate bleeped through the room, thanks to the machine attached to her finger. The man who’d captured her heart—unflappable, gentle, quiet—stood at the foot of the bed, staring at her. Hard. By his taut expression and stance, she guessed he’d been told about the baby. What was he thinking? What she saw in his face, what was that? Was he upset? No she’d seen him angry. This wasn’t anger. Sickened?
Dr. Henderson glanced between them, obviously noting the chilling silence. Finally he spoke. “You shouldn’t be in here.”
Nostrils flared, Canyon’s eyes rolled to the doc with a warning look that dared him to interfere.
The doctor shrank away.
Canyon returned his blues to her face. “Roark.”
As he stormed around the doctor, Dani felt her pulse leap. “I’m sorry,” she blurted through sniffling. All the anger, all the hurt, vanished at the sight of him. Though it frustrated her, she was too tired of the drama. Too tired of fighting. She wanted peace.
The angst in his expression smoothed out, then knotted.
“Now, look,” Dr. Henderson said. When he caught his shoulder, Canyon rounded on him. Wrested free.
“It’s my fault,” she blurted out again as he came to her side. His handsome face blurred beneath hot tears. “I didn’t know.”
Canyon dropped onto the edge of the mattress and scooped her into his arms.
Fingers coiled around his shirt, Dani clung to him. Tears ruptured. She buried her face in his shoulder and sobbed. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry …” Why was she blubbering—had to be the hormones, right?
Large, powerful hands held her firmly against his chest. “Shh.” He kissed the side of her head. “It’s my fault. I’m sorry, Roark.” His biceps squeezed her in closer as he nestled his face against her neck. “I’ve been a fool.”
“You didn’t come see me. I didn’t know if you were done with me, if you hated me.”
He eased back and cupped her face in his hands. Ferocity filled his normally quiet demeanor. “You are the most important thing in my life.”
“I am?” Her voice croaked. Did he mean that? A stuttering breath wormed through her chest as she took in his face, ignoring the stabs of pain in her neck and ribs from the explosion injuries. Was that vehemence what she’d earlier mistaken for anger?
“I’ve been so stupid.” He smoothed her hair, his blue eyes darting over her face. “I tried to do everything in my own power, my way. And we see how good that turned out.” He smirked. “I’m sorry I didn’t honor you, didn’t treat you better. You deserve the best. It’s just that you make me crazy.”
Sniffling, she gave a soft laugh and slumped against him. “I’m good at that.” There, safe again in his arms, she let out another stuttering breath. “I thought you’d hate me.”
“Not possible.”
“Give me a few days.”
He arched his back out and looked into her eyes. “I love you, Roark. There’s no one else I want.”
She threw her arms around his neck again, relieved that he was here. That she wasn’t alone facing this horrible nightmare. “They think I lost the baby. I didn’t even know about it, but I already feel like this is the biggest loss of my life.”
Canyon held her close, his hands pressing her farther into his hold. “Shh. Together. We’ll face it together. You should lie back and relax,” Canyon said, his voice quiet.
Reluctantly she released him and eased against the propped mattress but held on to his arms, unwilling to let him go. “Why didn’t you come see me?”
He scooted next to her. “When I found out you were left behind—”
“Found out? You walked out of there.”
“I was drugged and dragged out.”
Dani blinked. Swallowed. “They showed me the video.”
“Roark, I don’t know what they showed you, but I didn’t walk out of that prison on my own willpower.” His lips were flat, thin.
“You’re mad?”
He smirked. Swept a hand along her face. “Not at you. At them. I’d told them I wouldn’t leave you, and they put a dart in my neck and hauled me out.” He craned his neck forward. “Understand—that’s the only way they could get me out of there without you.”
Disbelief wove through her but she knew he wouldn’t lie. “That doesn’t explain why you didn’t come see me here. A month, Canyon, with bruised ribs and swelling on the brain.”
“In this, I’m guilty.” When she started to object, he kissed her. “Please—give me a chance.” A sheepish expression stole over his face. “After they left you, the only way to get back down there and find you was to recruit help from Range.”
Range? Range had helped?
“He said if I wanted his help, I had to agree to stay out of the way for the first month you were back.” He offered a lame grin. “He wanted a chance with you.”
“But I told you that night—”
“I know. But I was desperate to find you, knowing you’re a woman of your word. You said you’d kill yourself and I knew time was short. Also, since you’d told me you loved me, not him, I figured that month he was asking for wouldn’t change those feelings.”
“Wow.”
“But understand—the last thirty days have been the most brutal I’ve endured in a very long time.” Another classic-Canyon smirk. “And I’m pretty sure Range hates my guts right now.”
“He knows?”
A nod. “Not about the baby. But that I’m here. And I think his shattered leg didn’t help; he blew it on the jump back into Venezuela.”
Admiration warm and reassuring swirled through her. “So … you set off on a harebrained rescue attempt?”
“It wasn’t harebrained.” This time, a full-out grin bled into his face. “Okay, yeah. It was harebrained. But I didn’t care. I had to get you back.”
“You did that … for me?”
He leaned closer. “Yeah. Told you, you make me crazy.”
Dani smiled and whispered, “Ditto.”
His lips swept hers, testing at first, then firmer and loving.
Behind them, a voice cleared. Heat trickled into Dani’s face as she glanced over his shoulder and saw Dr. Henderson.
“I think it’s time for another sonogram.” Dr. Henderson motioned to a nurse, who waited to the side with a machine. To Canyon, “If you’ll give us a few minutes …”
As Canyon eased off the bed, Dani snatched his hand. “No!” Her heart thumped erratically. “I want him to stay.” She looked at Canyon and threaded her fingers through his. “Please.”
“Like I said, we’ll face it together.”
The nurse wheeled the cart closer and plugged it into an outlet. Then she constructed a small tentlike partition from Dani’s waist down, protecting her modesty.
Canyon angled himself so he couldn’t see what they were doing, his gaze locked on hers and her hand gripped tightly in his.
Dr. Henderson manipulated her belly, then used the probe. Belly—weird. To think, a baby had been there. She’d never known. All the things she went through … Thank God the general hadn’t raped her again. It just seemed infinitely worse knowing she’d been carrying Canyon’s baby.
“My mom is going to rake me over the coals for this.” He shifted on his feet as the doctor worked. “Then she’ll crank the heat and baste me for the next few weeks.”
And a new worry folded into her bed of anxiety. What would his family think of her getting pregnant? “What will she do to me?”
“Look, what happened was wrong. I dishonored you—and I’m very sorry.” He roughed a hand over his mouth. “I wanted to do things right with you, to show you I could be the good guy, the hero. My mom is not going to hold a grudge against us for this. She won’t be happy, and she’ll remind us of what God’s Word says. But she’ll say that God forgives and loves us and so does she.”
With a halfhearted smile,
she tried to move on. “I like your mom.”
“She likes you. Of course, she thinks you’re marrying one of her sons, but she’s thinking of the wrong son.”
Marrying?
“Okay.”
They both stilled, Canyon’s confidence and playfulness gone at the sound of Dr. Henderson’s voice, who came to the side of the bed where the raised rail provided the perfect prop for his hands. He looked at Canyon. “Are you the one responsible for putting this young lady in this position?”
Though she expected Canyon to rail or argue, he merely straightened—his face a shade darker with the crimson flush—and nodded, their hands still joined. “Yes, sir.”
But Dani wouldn’t tolerate him getting berated. “What’s the verdict, Doc? Am I okay? Will you release me to go home?” She’d been waiting for that news the last several days.
“One thing at a time.” He let out a sigh. “Your uterine wall is still agitated.” He glanced between them. “Using the probe, I was able to see a heartbeat. But there’s still some bleeding.”
“Heartbeat?” Canyon’s face now paled.
A twinkle came to the doctor’s eye. “I am cautiously optimistic the pregnancy is viable.”
“Viable?” Dani whispered, her heart tripping and tumbling. “You mean …”
“You’re still pregnant.”
“I need to tell you about someone.”
Wariness crowded out Roark’s near-euphoric expression as she stepped from the bathroom where she’d changed into jeans and a sweatshirt. Canyon watched her glide across the room, his heart full … of trepidation.
“That sounds ominous.” She brushed her hair from her face and sat on the bed, then began putting on her socks and shoes.
Here goes … everything. From a chair, Canyon recounted the events of Tres Kruces, told her about his tribal ceremony with Chesa, and about Tala, the daughter he’d just met a week ago.
“So, you’re becoming a father for the second time.” Jealousy and anger leeched into her words.
“It’s messed up, I know.” Elbows on his knees, he rubbed his knuckles. “I had no idea about Chesa. I thought she died there.” He shook his head. “It’s like my whole life is dumping all my screwups on my head at once. I deserve it, but I feel like I’m stumbling through it all right now.”
“But you were married to her?”
He nodded, hating that he had to tell her now, in the middle of their own personal drama. Too, he had this perfect moment of bliss—confirming his love for Roark, her echoing the sentiments, then the doctor announcing she was still pregnant.
Shoes tied, she crossed her arms. “Did you love her?” More jealousy.
Canyon’s eye twitched. He pushed against the back of the chair and sat straight. “I was a cocky, midtwenties Green Beret captain. I married her out of obligation and duty, but there was a definite attraction. It became more. Did I love her?” He shrugged, looking sheepish. “Yeah. I did. But … Roark, it’s got nothing on what I feel for you. If anything happened to you, I don’t think I could go on.”
Her eyes became pools of melting caramel.
Canyon pivoted his position and lowered himself next to her, liking her jealousy but hating that she questioned her place in his life. “You don’t look good in green.” He kissed her again. “It’s you and me. No one else.”
“Tala.”
Okay, there was her.
“And our baby.”
Our baby. Whoa. What a mouthful. He smoothed a hand over her head and hair.
She sniffled. “It’s a tad crowded already.”
His pulse misfired. “What’re you saying?”
Her eyes bounced to his as a tear slipped over her lid. “Besides the fact that I’m a hormonal wreck?” A smile wavered on her lips. “We’ll need a big house.”
Air whooshed from his lungs. He smirked. “It’s definitely not my first option for newlyweds.”
“Newlyweds?”
That knock-her-breath-out cockeyed grin gleamed back at her. “Yeah.”
Her spunky nature reared its head over the cloud of doom trying to strangle their lives. “If you want me to marry you, I expect a decent proposal. And a ring.” A gleam stole into her eye. “A big one.”
Lambert Resident, Maryland 26 June
“People—and when I say people, I mean politician people who could make our lives really ugly—are not happy.”
Olin sipped from a mug, the steam spiraling up and warming his face. “That’s never bothered you before.”
“True.” The man laughed. “It’s been weeks since the incident, and they’re still digging for a connection.”
“Let them dig. There’s nothing to connect, thanks to you.”
“There is a curious piece of evidence—Bruzon did not die from the explosion. He was shot through the head. The bullet retrieved was from a revolver.”
“A revolver? Only those wanting to make a statement use those anymore.”
“I guess the killer made a statement.” The man sighed. “I have to say, Lambert, this team of yours … I’m impressed. If you want to hire them out—”
“Sorry, but they’re not mercenaries.”
“So you say, so you say, old friend. At least you got the images you needed to clear the girl and prove what was happening right under our noses. Good job. Oh—one thing. Keep your eyes open. There might be a small problem.”
News like this from an asset made Olin shift at his desk and ease back, the leather high-backed chair creaking as he did. “Go on.”
“We’re missing a body.”
Olin pulled forward, reaching for a pen. “Who?”
“Navas.”
Olin hung up. That wasn’t a small problem. That was a deadly problem. Navas knew the team, knew Canyon’s name. And that meant he could come back for retribution.
CHAPTER 38
En Route to Metcalfe Residence, Virginia
1 July
Wait.” Dani’s heart jammed into her throat as they turned onto the street that led to his mother’s home. “Pull over.”
“What? We’re almost—”
She stabbed a finger to the curb. “Pull over. Now.”
Canyon guided the Camaro to the side of the street and shifted the gear into PARK. “What’s wrong? Are you in pain?”
“Yes.” She blinked. “No, not that kind of pain anyway.” She glanced down at her jeans, and her gaze invariably went to her tummy.
“Roark?”
What would his mother think of her? “What if she hates me?”
“Who?”
“Your mother! She’s Mrs. Perfection—strong, she’s raised five kids, she believes so firmly in God, and she’s always so … happy. Peaceful.”
He cupped her face. “Roark …” He smiled. “You’re so much like my mom, it isn’t funny. Your strength, your character—”
“I’m pregnant with your baby—outside of marriage. That’s not character!” Maybe this was one of the reasons the Bible said not to have sex outside of marriage. “Why … why does the Bible say not to do that?”
Canyon’s relaxed expression tightened.
“I’m serious, Canyon. Help me understand this. I was raised Catholic, but I see people all the time—”
“I don’t want to be ‘people’ to you. I want to be set apart, for God.” He held out his hands and seemed to pat the air. “Okay, the way I see it is this is about measuring a level of commitment. By having sex outside of marriage, the commitment comes into question.”
“No, I never—”
“Tell me”—his voice crackled with intensity—“that you didn’t question my commitment to you after we slept together. Tell me you didn’t wonder if I wasn’t coming back.”
The heat drained from her face.
“By breaking my promise to God, by not obeying His command, I opened a vulnerability in our relationship that should never have existed. I hurt you.” His words sounded thick. Painful. “That is not acceptable.”
She swallowed
.
“It’s not just hard rules by an omnipotent God who wants to spoil our fun. He knows us better than we know ourselves. He knows the future—we don’t. I never could’ve predicted we would get captured, that we’d be separated. That you’d sit there in a prison wondering if I took what I wanted and left.”
A tear slipped loose. He’d read her soul. Read her pain. She just wanted things to be better. She wasn’t a fool—she knew Canyon was an amazing man and would not let go of him. But now she understood his grief because she understood more of God.
Canyon brushed the tear from her cheek. “I trust God with my life, with our future. Do you?”
Blinking away more tears, she nodded. “I think so…. I want to. I just don’t know how.”
He smirked. “You and me both. It’s an every-day, every-minute journey. But we’re going to do this together. And that peace you see in my mom, Roark?” He leaned closer, his brow knotted. “That’s the Lord, her letting Him have control even when things turn out different than she hoped.” He bent forward and kissed her. “Now, let’s go test that theory.”
They drove to the house and climbed out of the car. Canyon helped her up the steps from the garage that led into the laundry room, then to the kitchen. Inside, the din quickly died down. Small feet padded over the wood floors.
“Daddy!”
Canyon bent and hoisted a little girl into his arms and planted a kiss on her cheek. “How’s my girl?” He turned to Dani. “Meet Tala, ball of boundless energy.”
Jealousy slithered through Dani’s veins. “Hey, sweetie.”
“Danielle?” The sweet voice of Moira Metcalfe sailed through the home. “Is that really you, my dear?” She came forward, a white sweater draped over her thin, bony shoulders, and hugged her.
“Careful, Mom. Her ribs—”
After a gentle squeeze around Dani’s shoulders, Moira turned to Canyon. She brushed crumbs that had dribbled from Tala’s animal crackers onto Canyon’s black shirt. “Well, come on into the den. We’re all here. Again. Just as you asked.” Her gaze flicked to Dani. “We’ve missed you. I’m so glad you’re feeling better. Can I get you anything?”
