Desert Rose

by Laura Taylor

  Desert Rose

  by

  Laura Taylor

  www.authorandeditor.com

  Copyright ©2011 by Laura Taylor

  Published in the United States by Blue Jay Media Group

  ebook ISBN: 978–1–936724–07–9

  252 pages

  Copyright ©1994 by Laura Taylor

  ISBN-10: 0553442341

  Bantam Loveswept

  Cover design ©2011 Blue Jay Media Group

  All rights reserved. No portion of this book, whether in print or electronic format, may be duplicated or transmitted without written permission of the publisher, except where permitted by law.

  Other Books by Laura Taylor

  Intimate Strangers, based on the novel Tender Mercy

  Fallen Angel

  Desert Rose

  Midnight Storm

  Troubled Waters

  Wildflower

  Jade's Passion

  Starfire

  Promises

  Just Friends

  Heartbreaker

  Wilder's Woman

  Winter Heart

  Lonesome Tonight

  Seduced

  Dangerous Surrender

  Slightly Scandalous

  Cloud Dancer

  Anticipation

  The Christmas Gift

  Smoke and Mirrors

  Honorbound, hard cover and paperback

  For thriller writer Andrew Peterson and his beautiful Carla—with love.

  Table of Contents

  Cover

  Title

  Dedication

  Prologue

  1

  2

  3

  4

  5

  6

  7

  8

  9

  10

  11

  Prologue

  David Winslow dreamed with all of his senses engaged. He craved the heat and willingness of a sensual woman, a rare steak, and a six–pack of ice–cold American beer—just a few of the pleasures he’d been denied during the endless days and nights of isolation, hunger, and torture that he’d endured since his captivity and imprisonment.

  Sprawled on his back atop a rank–smelling pallet that failed to accommodate his large–framed body, he shifted restlessly. He groaned in his sleep, the ache in his empty belly nearly as severe as the ache in his loins.

  Reaching out, David sought comfort where none existed in his nightmares. He found nothing more substantial than air. Disappointment and frustration made him groan a second time. A volley of rifle shots suddenly exploded in the courtyard adjacent to his cellblock.

  He jerked upright into a seated position. He crossed his arms in front of his face and upper torso, an instinctive defensive posture against any and all threats. His chest heaved, the air raging in and out of his body scalding his lungs even as he scanned the shadowed corners of his small cell through narrowed eyes.

  David scowled and brought himself under control. He stilled his body, and he slowed his breathing as he listened for the subtlest hint that he might no longer be the sole occupant of the cellblock.

  Several tense minutes passed.

  Finally convinced that he was still alone, he pushed himself up to his feet and prowled the cell like the caged animal he knew he’d become. He remained in motion for nearly an hour, the exercise tiring but also an integral part of his morning ritual.

  David eventually paused in front of his makeshift calendar. He simmered with renewed fury as he stared at the grooves he’d already made in the wall with a metal tab removed from a zipper on his flight suit. Digging into his pocket, he fingered the sharpened tab and resigned himself to making the fifty–seventh mark.

  Fighting the despair that fought for dominance in his mind as he completed his task, David returned to his pallet. As he sat, spine rigid and fists clenched so tightly that they began to ache, he fought for a mental state somewhere between self–pity and hopefulness.

  He longed for the luxury of companionship and conversation, just as he craved decent food, a hot shower, and clean clothes. He whispered a prayer for freedom, but he couldn’t keep himself from wondering if anyone even knew he was alive and if they would ever respond to his fervent entreaty.

  David closed his eyes, bowed his head, and massaged the back of his neck. He calmed himself with steadying breaths. And in the silence of his cell, he once again vowed to survive this Middle East hellhole in spite of the odds stacked against him.

  An objective observer would understand and empathize with his frustration, his loneliness, and his constant fear of being executed without a trial. But his captors would never permit an observer, not even one from the International Red Cross. The Geneva Convention meant nothing here.

  Instead, David Winslow, a defiantly stubborn thirty–five year–old aviator, American citizen, and officer in the United States Marine Corps—the same man who refused to succumb to starvation or to surrender to the other acts of violence inflicted upon him by his guards—consciously and steadfastly endured.

  An unexpected sound jarred him from his thoughts. He surged to his feet and moved into the shadowed corner of his cell. Tension tightened every muscle in his body when he heard more than one set of footsteps rushing down the cellblock’s center aisle.

  Squaring his shoulders, David worked at mastering his anxiety over the prospect of yet another torture session with his interrogators. He counted each second that passed. A fine sheen of perspiration covered his face, and he grimaced as he recalled the beatings he’d experienced during two long months of captivity.

  Raking a hand through his dark hair, David froze when the barred door of the cell next to his was shoved open. One of the guards shouted in an Arabic dialect, his ire evident. David took a shallow breath, then another.

  Another prisoner? he wondered.

  The shouting continued, and then something—or someone—landed on the cell floor. The barred door slammed closed, the squealing resistance of the rusty tracks a lingering punctuation mark in the otherwise silent cellblock. The guards quickly departed without even glancing in his direction.

  Bewildered, he gave into his curiosity and cautiously emerged from the shadowed corner. He slid along the wall, but the sound of sobbing brought him up short. He exhaled as compassion and comprehension blunted his surprise.

  Understanding the man’s need for privacy, he remained silent as he stood there. He would give his fellow prisoner time to compose himself, time to come to terms with the shock and horror he felt. David leaned back against the wall, closed his eyes, and wondered if they spoke a common language.

  "This cannot be happening."

  David stiffened, unable to believe his ears.

  "This is not happening to me," the female voice groaned again through her weeping.

  A woman? An English–speaking woman?

  He shook his head in denial. He was losing it, he realized. He’d dreamed nightly about the soft, welcoming embrace of a woman, and he’d finally been reduced to fantasizing that one now occupied the adjacent cell.

  He tried to speak, tried to verify her existence, but each time he opened his mouth, words failed him. Disgusted with his own uncertainty and afraid that he’d manufactured a companion out of desperation, he retreated to his pallet.

  Her sobbing eventually abated, and he welcomed the respite from her shattered emotions. His own emotions, he realized, were unsettled enough. Still, disbelief and doubt lingered within him, and he felt compelled to make certain that he hadn’t imagined her.

  "Are you alright?" David Winslow asked in a voice ragged from lack of use.

  1

  "Are you alright?"

  The question came out of nowhere, starling Emma so thoroughly that she dropped the tote bag she�
�d been clutching against her chest. Certain she’d imagined the masculine voice, she groaned, "Oh, God."

  "Can you hear me?" the man asked. "Are you alright?"

  Wondering if she’d crossed the fine line that separated sanity from insanity, she tilted her head to one side and listened as she knelt on the filth encrusted floor of her narrow cell.

  "Okay, we’ll try this one more time."

  Emma found the mellow resonance of his deep voice oddly reassuring, but she still didn’t quite trust her own ears.

  "Are you alright?"

  "Who’s there?" she whispered, finally willing to believe she wasn’t alone.

  "David Winslow. Major, United States Marine Corps."

  "You’ve got to be kidding!"

  "Don’t I wish," he responded.

  "What… how… I don’t understand."

  "Try to stay calm, miss," he advised. "When you can manage it, I want you to tell me your name."

  "Emma… Emma Hamilton."

  "Are you alright, Emma Hamilton? Have you been injured in any way?"

  She didn’t even attempt to varnish the part of the truth she was willing to reveal. "My pride’s dented, I’m scared out of my mind, and I’d kill for a shower, clean clothes, and a way out of this nightmare I seem to be having." Emma swallowed against her rising panic. "It isn’t a nightmare, though, is it? I’m really in a prison cell."

  "I’m afraid so." David paused. Then, he asked, "Where are you from?"

  "San Diego," she replied, relieved to be asked a question she could actually answer, and even more relieved that this man sounded so… so normal.

  "A California girl, huh?"

  "Sorry to disappoint you, but I left my bikini at home and my hair’s jet black."

  "I am mortally wounded."

  Laughter burst out of her, and she briefly forgot that she might never see her family again. "What about you? Where are you from?"

  "Billings, Montana. Born and bred."

  Amazed, she said, "A cowboy?"

  "A Marine, miss."

  She heard his pride and found it endearing, but a wisp of suspicion unexpectedly filtered into her consciousness. "This isn’t some kind of a trick, is it? Did the secret police put you in here to test me?"

  She waited for him to answer, but his silence made her start to wonder if he would ever speak to her again. She urged, "Please don’t stop talking to me. I’m… I’m holding onto my wits with my fingernails right now, and I really need to believe you’re real."

  "I’ve been thinking the secret police might have put you in here," David admitted.

  Emma nodded and tried to sound in control of her emotions. "I guess that’s understandable." Curious, she asked, "So, what are you really doing here?"

  "Counting the days," he quipped, but the anger edging his voice made his attempt at levity fall flat.

  "Americans aren’t exactly welcome in this part of the world," she said, "unless, of course, we happen to be providing food, medical supplies, or money for weapons."

  "That much I’ve figured out."

  "Please don’t tell me you work for the CIA."

  He laughed then, the sound blessedly normal and possessed of no small amount of seduction. "Now I know you aren’t a plant. You’re too blunt."

  Emma didn’t appreciate his observation, having been accused for years, especially by her diplomat brother, Sam, of having little or no tact. Nor was she prepared for the underlying sensuality of his laughter, which made her fumble for her next comment. "I guess you aren’t allowed to discuss your… mission, are you?"

  The humor remained in his voice. "Reconnaissance isn’t considered a secret when routine visual recon missions are agreed upon by both sides."

  "Then you’re a pilot?"

  "Second seat of an F–18D."

  "Second seat?"

  "Behind the pilot. I’m a Weapons Systems Officer," David clarified.

  "I know almost nothing about military airplanes."

  He chuckled. "Most people don’t, but I won’t take it personally."

  A door squeaked open and slammed against a wall at the far end of the corridor, followed by footsteps advancing toward her cell. Emma, jerked back to the reality of imprisonment, stiffened with apprehension.

  "David?" she whispered.

  "Stay calm and don’t speak to the guard, Emma. It’s the safest thing to do with these people."

  She felt pure terror at the possibility of additional interrogation—and the rubber hoses. Dear God, not another beating with those rubber hoses as she writhed on the floor while her interrogators jeered at her and called her a whore. "I don’t expect to ever feel safe again, and I’m starting to wonder if I’ll ever feel anything but fear."

  David muttered a harsh word, but he didn’t say anything more to her. She remained motionless on the floor in the center of her cell. And as she knelt there, her mind filled to overflowing with images of cruelty and violence, Emma suddenly wondered how long David Winslow had been incarcerated.

  A uniformed guard paused in front of her cell. Her heart thundered against her ribs as she kept her eyes fastened on the scuffed surface of his boots. Hugging her tote bag, she said silent prayers and kept her head bowed.

  The guard finally moved on, paused in front of what Emma assumed was David’s cell, lingered there for a long silent minute, and then retraced his footsteps. She began to breathe normally again only after she heard the cellblock door at the end of the hallway slam shut.

  "Emma?"

  "Yes?" She loathed the quiver she heard in her voice, but she couldn’t stem the tide of anxiety that threatened to engulf her. The consequences of imprisonment in a Middle East country considered renegade by the rest of the world were almost too shocking to fully grasp.

  "The guards check the cells nearly every hour. You’ve just experienced routine rounds. That guy’s one of the regulars in this cellblock."

  She managed, "I’ll have to trust you."

  He hesitated before cautioning, "We’ll have to trust each other as long as we’re in here together."

  Her mouth went as dry as dust. She began to shake. She couldn’t stop the violent trembling of her body or the sudden chattering of her teeth.

  "Talk to me, Emma," David ordered sharply. "It’ll help you deal with the stress."

  "Can’t!" she gasped.

  "If you’re having the shakes, get up and move around your cell. You can walk off the tension you’re feeling. It’s normal, so don’t start thinking that you’re cracking up, because you’re not. I experienced the same thing you’re going through right now when I first checked into this hotel from hell."

  She heard compassion in his rough voice, but she lacked the strength to move just yet. "I think I’d rather listen for now, if that’s okay with you. I’m still a little too shaky to do much chatting or hiking."

  "Try."

  "My legs feel like rubber bands right now. Soon, though," she promised. "Just give me a few minutes."

  After a brief silence, he seemed to accept her decision. "Alright, Emma. You need to know the rules around here. I’ve discovered that these guys aren’t real patient if you don’t observe them. Understand?"

  "Yes. Tell me the rules, David."

  "Don’t ever initiate conversation of any kind, not unless you’re prepared to confess to whatever crimes they’re accusing you of having committed. Always keep your eyes averted unless ordered to do otherwise. Study a shoulder or a spot on the wall when they speak to you or if you have to answer a question. These guys consider prisoners of war and women about ten notches down from second–class citizens."

  "How enlightened," she croaked.

  "Have you… have you been interrogated?" he asked in a somber tone that revealed his familiarly with the experience.

  She nodded, forgetting for a moment that they couldn’t see each other.

  "Emma?"

  "Sorry. Yes. I’ve been interrogated."

  "How long did it last?"

  "They started arou
nd dusk yesterday. They hammered at me all night long and then for most of this morning…" Her voice splintered, and it took her several silent minutes to slow her racing heart.

  She vividly recalled the angry smack of a hard rubber hose as it snapped against her legs and arms when they’d wanted to rouse her after she’d fainted, the further humiliation of being allowed to stand before being knocked to the floor for another round with the rubber hoses, and the endless questioning by a series of interrogators who possessed less humanity than a pile of rocks.

  And then there’d been the constant threat of rape. Never stated, of course, but it had been there like a separate entity in the hard eyes of the leering men who’d questioned her. She suppressed a shudder, refusing to fall apart. She’d be damned if she gave those bastards the satisfaction.

  "Your breathing’s calmer now."

  "Yes," she agreed. "I still don’t understand why they think I’m some kind of a spy. I haven’t done anything wrong."

  "You’re tired, aren’t you?"

  "Yes." Tears welled in her eyes at the concern in his voice, but she blinked them away.

  "And you’re more frightened than you ever thought you could be."

  "Totally."

  "Me, too."

  "You don’t sound scared." And he didn’t, she realized, suddenly jealous of his composure. "In fact, you sound very calm and collected."

  "I’ve just had more practice at this. Fear and fatigue work in their favor," he reminded her. "The secret is to use their system against them. Never overtly challenge your captors, simply undermine their tactics."

  "You’re trained for this, aren’t you?"

  "Yes, but it doesn’t always…" He broke off, not bothering to complete the sentence.

  "It doesn’t what?"

  Silence followed, stretching out into a tautness that seemed to speak volumes. He finally said, "It doesn’t always matter."

  "Have you been tortured?" she asked.

  "Part of the package."

  Hard, dismissive, clipped–sounding voice. Matter of fact tone. She felt more chilled than before. She didn’t ask what they’d done to him. It was enough that she knew what they’d done to her—their cruelty would be much worse for a man— especially a man in uniform who represented a foreign power.