Lia was very glad that Cav had been assigned to her. The other men looked hard and unforgiving, while Cav seemed, well, more approachable. She liked that he talked with her, asked her questions, and had avoided more serious questions he could have asked, and didn’t.
Cav opened her door, acting like a human shield as she slid off the seat, her feet touching the dusty, hard pack ground. His hand wrapped around her upper arm and he gently placed her in front of him so he had her back. Right now, that felt damn comforting to Lia as she walked over towards Robert and Dilara. Lia felt her heart break as she saw the devastation in their faces, looking at the rubble that had once been a school. Dilara was wiping her eyes.
As she approached the group, she saw the other contractors fanning out in a circle around them, alert, guns in harnesses across their chests, fingers near the trigger. They all wore shooting gloves, dark glasses and civilian clothes like jeans, t-shirts and baseball caps on their head. Cav didn’t wear anything on his head, and she saw the sun glinting against his black hair. She liked the way he looked, the way he walked, and the way he conducted himself like the warrior he obviously was.
“This is awful…” Dilara said softly, tears streaming down her cheeks.
Robert placed his arm around his wife, awkwardly patting her arm, his face grim.
Lia felt warm tears coming to her eyes. She swore she would not cry, and choked them back. “We’ll rebuild,” she told Dilara in a surprisingly strong voice. “We’re not going to let a drug lord chase us out of here.”
She saw the deep pain on Dilara’s face, and knew that the deaths of Maria and Sophia were haunting her. They haunted Lia, too, but she’d learned five years ago that tears only provided momentary relief. And Lia was tired of crying.
She swore to herself that she wasn’t going to let Medina and his murdering soldiers take away what was left of her soul. Not this time.
Cav watched the scene from afar, wanting to walk up to Lia and place an arm around her hunched shoulders, just as Robert was consoling his weeping wife. But he knew he couldn’t. That wasn’t part of his assignment.
“This place is safe enough,” Tanner said, coming up to him.
“The jungle is my only worry,” Cav confided.
Tanner nodded. “Those bastards hid in that jungle, came out in the dark and did their dirty work, and then faded back into it. Far as I know, there’s been no identification of Medina or his soldiers by anyone.”
“My detail doesn’t remember seeing any of them,” he said, making damn sure that Tanner didn’t know his growing emotional attachment to Lia.
Snorting, Tanner kicked up the red clay with the toe of his combat boot, disgust written in his hard face. A puff of dust followed his effort. “You know you’re in a shitload of trouble here by yourself, don’t you?”
Cav’s mouth quirked. “Nothing I’m not used to.”
“I think the General needs to give you more help.” Tanner looked toward Robert Culver. “Don’t you?”
“No.”
Tanner gave him a close look and then lifted his chin, studying the woman. “She’s a looker, scar or no scar on her face,” he muttered more to himself than to Cav. “You lucked out, Jordan.”
Holding on to his mounting desire to protect Lia, he shot a look at Tanner. “She’s hurting, bad.”
“Yeah, it’s obvious.” And then Tanner asked, “How close does the General want you to tail her?”
“Shadow.” Cav glared at Tanner, just daring him to say something.
Tanner’s looked at Cav, then said wryly, “Twice the luck, Jordan.”
Bristling inwardly, Cav knew Tanner was envious, and every protective cell in him rose. He wanted to deck the ex-SEAL for his interested look at Lia. “Go to hell, brother.”
Chuckling, Tanner clapped him on the shoulder, turned and walked away.
Cav resumed his casual walk, his gaze seeking anything that seemed out of place. Tanner was insinuating that because he had to stay in that small house with Lia at night, he might be able to sleep with her. Anger burned through him at the suggestion that he’d take advantage of his client.
Cav wasn’t sure what Lia would say about it, feeling that she’d be highly uncomfortable with a strange male in that tiny house with her. Hoping against hope he was wrong, Cave strolled around the edges of the burned school. He saw bullet marks on the walls of all three small stucco houses that the teachers and Lia lived in. Medina was leaving a clear message, no question about that.
Vaguely, he heard Dilara sobbing, and turned to see her, with Lia beside her. There was such heart in Lia as she reached out, sliding her arm around Dilara’s waist and witnessing the woman’s grief and tears.
Turning away, his gut tightening, Cav swallowed twice to tamp down his rising emotions. There was no place for feelings here, not for contractors. Emotions were a distraction of the worst kind.
As he wandered around, he saw Tanner call two of his operators over and watched as they headed for the line of jungle trees. It was a wise move, Cav thought, to check out the tree line. Who knew what lurked in there?
Continuing his walk around, he saw a group of children coming their way across the dirt field. They were all ages, dressed in colorful clothes, their black hair in braids, pony tails for the girls, or bowl-shaped cuts for the boy’s hair. It was a ragtag group of children from six-years old on up to the late teens, Cav guessed, checking them out.
CHAPTER 6
When Lia heard the cries of her children, she released Dilara. The poor woman was trying to blot away all her tears, and Lia understood better than anyone how devastating it was to stand here in the carnage. She excused herself, murmuring that she was going to meet some of their students. Robert nodded, and Dilara struggled to stop crying.
Cav immediately moved to her side. “Where are you going?”
Gesturing, Lia said, “To the kids…” They filled her heart with joy despite the terrible events that surrounded them. “They’re going to need someone to hold them,” she told him, quickening her stride across the hard-packed dirt.
Cav grunted in agreement and said nothing, remaining alert. He kept his stride steady, glad for the .45 pistol in the back of his belt, beneath his jacket. He was glad it was hidden from the children racing toward them, their faces mirroring joy.
To his relief, he could see no threat nearby. Further in the distance, he saw a number of adults now filtering out from between their homes, walking the half-mile to where the school had once rested. They were probably the parents of the children now racing like the wind to reach Lia.
He watched, captivated, as she knelt down on one knee, her arms wide open as the children flew to her side like a flock of frightened young birds. In just seconds, ten children of all ages surrounded Lia, holding on to her and hugging her, some crying, some not. They all huddled around her, clinging to her, their tiny heads buried into her slender frame until Cav couldn’t see her any more.
How could Lia give so much of herself when she was suffering and grief-stricken herself? It was beyond Cav’s understanding, but it touched him deeply as he stood awkwardly, watching the tears on the little faces of the children, their small bodies squirming around Lia, their branch-thin arms eager to hold onto her in any way they could.
Cav could hear her murmuring words in Spanish, picking up a word or two in the process. Their sobs tore at him because he remembered when he’d gone in hiding in the garage, burying himself among some old, smelly tarps tossed in a corner. He’d held his hand over his mouth and cried just as these children cried.
Yet, despite their fears, Lia’s soothing voice filtered through it all, calming, touching and holding them. How Cav wished he’d had his mother come to find him and hold him, just as Lia was holding the squirming mass of frightened children, loving them, caring for them.
But his mother had never done this. It had left a hollowness within Cav so deep that this wound had never healed. God! Just watching the children with Lia as she dried their ch
eeks, smiled at them and reassured them, he wished she would hold him like that. Something whispered to him that Lia could heal him, too. It was an insane thought, because Cav had gotten used to the feeling that a part of his heart was hollow, a deep hole that could never be filled.
The children were quieting now, calming down because Lia was giving them love and protection. How badly Cav wanted to give Lia that same sense of protection. He might not be whole, but he could at least do that for her because that’s all he knew: how to protect. And he was damned good at it.
He saw one little girl in a pair of blue coveralls and a pink tee gently touch the scar on the left side of Lia’s face, gently moving her small hand down its length. And Lia had not flinched, instead turning her head and kissing the little girl’s forehead, pulling her tightly to her.
Children were so honest and guileless, Cav thought as he remained on high alert, turning and looking around him. He liked hearing Lia’s low voice as she spoke to the children in their native Spanish. She was soothing them because they, too, were grieving, shaken by what had happened. He heard Lia explain that God called Maria and Sophia to heaven, and that they were happy to be there with Him. She told them that new teachers were coming, but that the children could go to the local Catholic Church and if they wanted, light a candle at the altar and pray for their teachers who were now in heaven.
Cav cursed softly and turned away, feeling vulnerable. He was struck by the simple displays of Lia’s courage as she cared for those ten shaken children, ignoring her own pain, focused only on helping them cope.
Cav saw Robert and Dilara move toward them, devastation written across Dilara’s face. Clearly the couple cared for their charities as if they were their own children.
When Dilara and Robert approached, Lia slowly stood, the children clinging to her legs, hips and waist, wherever they could hold on to her. They’d never seen the couple before, and Dilara put on a gentle smile for their benefit. Dilara and Robert halted a few feet away, giving Lia time to lean down and tell the children in Spanish that this was her family, and that they had built the school.
She repeated that it would be built again and that new teachers were going to come and teach them in two month’s time. The children stared at them with big eyes, their arms around Lia, unwilling to move.
Dilara smiled warmly and knelt down in the dirt, as did Robert. They spoke softly to the children in their native language, telling them how sorry they were that their school had burned to the ground. With smiles, they reinforced that there was good news: a new one would be built shortly.
Lia crouched down, the children still attached to her. But they were now curious about these two new people. Fear had been replaced by keen curiosity. They wiped their wet cheeks with their tiny hands, shyly staring at Robert and Dilara. Robert was a mountain of a man, tall and heavily muscled—a far cry from the small, lean build of typical Costa Rican men.
Then, one little girl slowly stepped toward Dilara, sucking her thumb. Lia whispered approval, urging her forward with her hand on her back. She told them that Dilara was like the mother of all of them. That did it. The girl took several steps toward her, taking her thumb out of her mouth, smiling.
Dilara melted. She was an incredibly compassionate person and had hoped the children would feel the sunlight of her smile. Now, she opened her arms to the little girl and when the child stepped into her embrace, several other girls left Lia’s embrace, heading for Dilara. Pretty soon, five little girls were in Dilara’s embrace, pressing themselves willingly against her, burying their heads in her breast.
Tears burned in Lia’s eyes and she looked up and saw Cav staring down at her, raw pain in his eyes. Lia gave him a gentle smile and then returned her attention to the five little boys still huddled in her arms.
The girls were bolder, and Lia’s smile widened as Dilara’s face turned to utter joy. No one loved children more than these two devoted people, and Lia saw Robert’s hard face open and become vulnerable. The instant he lost that general’s mask he wore so well, all the little boys flocked up to him, climbing in and around him, chattering in Spanish, wanting to be held by him, too.
Lia remained crouched, her smile deepening as Robert grinned and spoke to the boys in Spanish, taking them into his long, bear-like arms. She saw the boys snuggling deeply into his embrace as his eyes glittered with tears.
Kids did that to a person, Lia had discovered long ago. Their little hearts were so innocent, so full of life and love that no one could be around them long and not have it affect them deeply, as it was doing right now.
Standing, Lia caught Cav’s glance. “I’m going to meet the parents,” she said. There were at least twenty adults now walking across the low lands. They would have questions, worries and concerns, and Lia knew she was the one who had to take the helm and be there for them, as well.
Cav walked by her side as she strode quickly toward the group.
“Are you up for this?” he asked, concerned.
“I have to be,” she assured him. “So yes, I am.”
Cav heard the grit in her voice and saw the set of her jaw. “Isn’t’ there anyone who can help you?”
“No. Maria and Sophia were the only others who could.” She glanced up at him. “It’s up to me to hold the families together now, Cav. There’s no one else. I’ll be fine.”
Cav nodded, resisting the urge to protect her from the pain she would be dealing with from the children’s parents. He intuitively knew how much this would take out of her. “Who’s going to help you?” he asked again.
“No one, Cav. And that’s just the way it is.”
He slowed when the group of parents began to surround Lia. He knew he needed to be outside the group to watch and protect her, so he faded into the background as the worried parents quickly fired a barrage of questions at her.
Lia took it with grace and calm, and Cav could see that her confident demeanor was already helping the parents cope, just as it has soothed their frightened children.
He glanced over his shoulder, watching Dilara and Robert with the ten children. When they stood up, the little girls trailed around Dilara, the boys around Robert as they all walked toward where Cav stood with Lia.
Meanwhile, the other contractors were doing their job. He saw Tanner and his two men return from the jungle tree line. Nothing. Well, that was good.
The warmth of the mid-afternoon sun was making Cav sweat. He didn’t like wearing the lightweight jacket, but it was a necessity. A number of other contractors had formed a loose circle around the huddled group of parents with Lia. Cav wondered if they were equally touched by Lia’s magical touch with children as well as adults. Probably not.
For the next thirty minutes, Lia became the air control tower operator, introducing Dilara and Robert to the parents. When Robert told them in Spanish that they were not only rebuilding the school, but hiring three new teachers, a shout of joy went up among them. Cav found himself grinning and knew it was Lia’s serenity that kept everyone on calm. He marveled at her power and influence over people.
At first, Cav thought it was just with him, but now, as Lia interacted with the parents, he realized she was a natural leader. She could effectively influence her troops, whoever and wherever they might be.
The children had released Dilara and Robert, seeking their particular set of parents and everyone was asking Lia questions. He had a sudden feeling of gratitude that Tanner and the others were responsible for the entire group, allowing him to focus solely on Lia.
The breeze was humid, and Cav picked up the scent of the nearby jungle. The humidity had curled Lia’s short hair even more, and Cav noticed the blush of pink in her cheeks as she spoke animatedly to the parents. Sometimes, to help Lia with an answer, Dilara would answer a question, or Robert would. Neither of them wanted to be the center of attention. They, like Cav, had realized quickly that these parents relied heavily on Lia’s calm leadership.
Lia began to organize the parents, asking some of
the women to contact the other children’s parents. She gave them the name of a nearby resort, La Orquídea, “The Orchid,” hired by Robert’s team to “loan” them five separate rooms where children from various grade levels could go to school five days a week. The resort was being paid handsomely for their help.
She then asked the mothers to tell the other mothers that she needed help in the classrooms daily. If they could organize help for her, Lia would teach the material for each class. Although she wasn’t a certified teacher, Lia remembered the lesson plans. Further, Robert’s team had already obtained books, new desks and chairs for each of those five rooms. Everything would be taught from the books the children had been using, but now, everything would be new.
Dilara had made sure that new coloring books, crayons, paints, sketching pads and other creative tools were also included in the huge van that had driven up with the armada. A woman at the resort had been hired to fix two snacks and lunch for the children, taking that responsibility off Lia’s shoulders.
And speaking of snacks, Lia’s stomach was growling! In two days, she told the parents, the bus would show up at the same time to pick up their children and drive them to Orquídea Resort for a day’s worth of schooling and activities.
The parents came forward and hugged Lia and Dilara, crying and thanking both of them for their loyalty to their precious children.
Turning away, Lia caught a tender look from Cav’s, but just as quickly, it was gone. She was finding that when they were alone, he didn’t wear that professional, game face. Walking over to him, she said, “Robert just said that we’re all going to the Tabacon Resort for an early dinner.”
“Fine,” he said, placing his hand beneath her elbow, guiding her toward him.
As tired as she was, Lia felt heat where his hand briefly rested. She wanted his touch, looked forward to those unexpected times. Why had she not seen disgust in his eyes over her scars? Never once had she seen Cav look repulsed over them as all other men had.
Nowhere to Hide (Delos Series Book 1) Page 8
