Rescue Mission

by Danica Winters

  Summer couldn’t believe that this was what it had come down to: to save the people she loved, she had to leave them alone.

  “Don’t worry,” Mike said, reaching over and touching her on the shoulder like she was nothing more than a friend. “I will take great care of Joe. If I need any help, I can always turn to Jess. You don’t need to worry about us, you just need to get to a safe location before something else happens.”

  She just couldn’t wrap her mind around this. She had made a promise to herself that she wouldn’t leave Joe again; not when there were people out there who were willing and able to get their hands on him and put him in the ground to get to her.

  Why did she have to make the choice between two men who had promised her the world, one out of love and the other with her career—but both central to her past, present and future? Mike had hurt her, deeply. Yet, there was no doubt in her mind that she could trust him with Joe. There were no safer hands.

  Kevin’s phone pinged with some kind of message. “I’ll be right back,” he said, turning away from them and stepping outside to answer.

  “Are you really sure you can trust this man?” Mike murmured quietly, a look of total disgust marring his handsome face.

  “Why do you ask?” Summer didn’t want to tell Mike she didn’t know if she could or she couldn’t; she didn’t know what to do or what the right answer was.

  “Everything about him makes me want to tell you to run. I can keep you safe. I can keep both you and Joe safe.”

  “I have a feeling that you would say that about any man I have in my life. Ben as evidence.”

  He wrinkled his nose. “I don’t like Ben and I don’t like Kevin. And to my credit, I ended up being right about Ben.” He gave her a long, studying look. “What are you not telling me about Kevin?”

  There were many things she could have told Mike about Kevin, from how he took his coffee to how he had an odd penchant for liking to use Helvetica font in his emails. On the variety of field exercises and cases she had worked with him, she had started to pick up on some of his quirks. When he was nervous, Kevin always tapped his fingertips on his left thigh. He was rarely nervous, but when he was, it normally led to more trouble than she could handle.

  “What do you want to know?”

  The door opened and Kevin strode back into the apartment. “Our plane got delayed. There are heavy winds coming out of the north. Winter storm warnings tonight, and they are projecting at least a foot of snow in the overnight hours. Looks like we won’t be traveling anywhere. However, the pilot says he thinks we can get out midmorning tomorrow.”

  Summer let out a breath she hadn’t realized she was holding. From the back room came the soft cries of Joe as he began to wake up. “I need to go take care of him. Just let me know what time you want me to meet up in the morning. In the meantime, I will make some arrangements for the night...anywhere but here.”

  Mike smirked. “Why don’t you just go ahead and track her like you did earlier.”

  She twitched. “What are you talking about?”

  “Your boss tracked you down thanks to your phone.” Mike started to say something else but was cut off when Kevin moved between them.

  “How else was I going to find you? You haven’t been answering your phone. I needed to find you.”

  She felt violated. Sure, Kevin had the right and the permission to look into her whereabouts, but she couldn’t remember actually ignoring any phone calls from him. Then again, she had been putting her phone in and out of the Faraday bag all day. Maybe she had missed some.

  “I thought you were hurt. That Rockwood may have already gotten to you after the handoff,” Kevin continued, “And I feel that it’s absolutely ridiculous that I have to explain myself to you, Mike, or anyone else. You work for me.”

  Mike tried to say something, but Kevin shut him down with a backhanded wave. “Before things get even more out of hand here, I am going to leave. If you need help finding accommodations for the night, or if you want me to get you additional security, all you have to do is let me know. We are here for you.” He walked out without another look in Mike’s direction, closing the door behind him with a thump.

  Joe let out a piercing wail from the bedroom and Summer rushed out of the room. What was she going to do? Should she just hit the road with Joe and not look back? And what about Mike? Should she take him with them? Or should she follow the rules and honor the oaths she had made to her job? She could just quit and hand over everything she had been working on. There were plenty of people who could do what she could do.

  But Kevin really did seem to care. Sure, her boss had made mistakes in his handling of this situation, but he had personally come down to see her. He had set up a private jet to fly them somewhere he felt she could be safe. He had offered to be her escort to safety.

  And so had Mike.

  She ran her hands over her face as she walked into the bedroom. Joe was sitting up in his crib, looking out at her as tears welled in his eyes. “Baby...” she cooed. “Did we wake you up, sweetheart? Mama is so sorry.” She reached in and scooped him up into her arms, pressing his warm, pudgy body against her chest like he was her security blanket and not the other way around.

  She wished she could get him to her pediatrician for a quick checkup just to make sure those thugs hadn’t done anything to him when they’d had him. She’d have to figure out how to do that soon. He looked healthy and well-fed, though, and she hadn’t seen a bruise or a scratch on him.

  Humming “Two Little Blackbirds,” she rocked back and forth taking comfort in these stolen moments of presumed safety. She pulled the rich odor of baby deep into her lungs. He smelled so good. She would never forget that smell and the feeling in her chest it created.

  This little being...this was her world. What else really mattered?

  Her thoughts moved to Mike, to the day he had left her standing at the altar. In that moment, he had chosen to keep her safe in the only way he’d known how—by leaving her. Now, all of a sudden, standing here with a similar choice to make, she finally understood the level of love and pain he had to have been feeling to have made such a devastating choice.

  Until now, she had thought that his actions had been out of some misguided fear and paranoia; that he had walked away out of cowardice. More, when he had broken her heart, he had dishonored the promises he had made to her.

  She had been wrong.

  Though she didn’t believe he could love her in the same way she loved Joe, Summer could understand what Mike must have been feeling...the conflicting need to honor or to protect.

  In their lines of work, to have the ability to do both was idealistic. They lived in a world of “either-or” but never “and.”

  What she could have was this one night.

  She looked down at Joe, who had drifted off to sleep. Ever so gently, she placed him back in his crib, covering him up with her favorite elephant blanket. If only she could feel as safe and as loved, but also have the ability to forget the fear when he had disappeared.

  Turning from the crib, she found Mike standing in the doorway of the bedroom. “I could watch that every night for the rest of my life.”

  “I hate to tell you this, but Joe won’t stay a baby forever.” She smiled, taking pleasure in this simple moment of them acting as a family, though it was edged with the sadness that came with growing children.

  “What if Joe wasn’t our only baby?” he asked.

  But he had to have been teasing.

  She stayed quiet as she tiptoed out of the room, having him move behind her.

  “I mean, how many kids do you think you would want, if you could...” Mike added.

  Just when she thought her life couldn’t get any more complicated, there he went throwing this kind of talk at her. But maybe Mike was trying to help her take her mind off the danger that could be lurking just outside.
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  “I thought we talked about this,” she said with a tired smile. “I always wanted a boy and a girl. If that didn’t happen, I would want to keep trying until I had both sexes.”

  “I know you said that, but you know that isn’t really an answer. According to that answer, we could end up having a dozen boys and still be trying for a girl.”

  “We?” She couldn’t help the smile that spread on her face. “Are you saying you want to have more kids with me?”

  He shrugged, suddenly taken with looking at the floor. “When and if things between us are right, I mean.”

  “Are you saying that you want to start over?” she pressed, excitement coursing through her as she spoke. Mike wasn’t the kind who had been overly talkative when it came to his feelings, his wants, or the future.

  Sure, they’d had a few conversations, but it had been years since the last one like this.

  He finally looked up. “Summer, I told you how sorry I am for what happened.”

  She stopped him as she nodded and took his hand in hers. “Don’t worry. For the first time, I think I understand. Truly. I don’t envy the choices you’ve had to make and I never want you to have to make them again. From here on out, let’s just be honest with one another. If you are afraid, if you feel like running, then tell me. We can talk about it. If nothing else, we can run away together—as a family.”

  The fear that seemed to have permanently settled on his features lately lifted as he pulled her close. “Babe, I have loved you forever. I will love you forever. Do you remember the first time we met?” he asked, levity in his voice.

  She laughed at the memory. It had been in Las Vegas, at a George Strait concert. For once, it had been raining in the desert city and everyone lined up outside was being drenched by the dust-laden droplets. Jess had been there with her, their annual girl’s trip to the city. They had spent hours getting ready, curling their hair and styling their eyebrows on point. And with each torrent, their hair flattened and their makeup smeared farther and farther down their faces. She could still remember how Jessica’s mascara had run down so far that it had made a black streak on her neck.

  When Mike had first walked up, with his brother AJ, she and Jessica had been laughing about the state of themselves and trying to hide under their purses to no avail.

  “You have always thought of yourself as quite the hero, haven’t you?” she teased, thinking about how Mike had produced—out of seemingly nowhere—two ponchos for the women.

  “I was definitely your hero that day.” He laughed. “Not to mention, your hero when we poured you into the cab later that night.”

  “Oh yeah...” She had forgotten that part.

  In truth, she hadn’t planned on ever seeing Mike and AJ after that, but Jess had, at some point in the night, given the guys their phone numbers.

  “If you hadn’t badgered me,” she continued, “you know I wouldn’t have gone out with you again.”

  He laughed. “Yeah, but I could tell in the way you professed your love to me that night that you were the girl I wanted to spend the rest of my life with.”

  Summer covered her face in embarrassment. “Not one of my proudest moments. I told you then, and I think it begs repeating, but you know I’m not usually that kind of girl. I never cut loose like I did that night. I just...”

  “Felt safe?” he said, finishing her sentence.

  She nodded.

  “You will always be safe with me. I will never hurt you again. Ever.”

  That wasn’t a promise anyone in the world could make and keep, but she appreciated the thought. It was enough to know he would always be her guardian, the keeper of her heart, and the father of her child.

  Not to mention that she loved him. She loved him so, so much.

  And yet she didn’t have time for that right now... They had to get out of here and away from this choke point before Rockwood’s people came knocking.

  She looked up at him and gave him a gentle kiss on his cheek. “I love you, too, Mike. But I won’t make a promise I know I can’t keep.” She pulled out of his arms and turned away before he could see any of the pain she knew had to be registering on her face. It would have been the perfect moment to tell him she promised him the world too, but perfection was an illusion.

  She’d rather have something that was real—and something she could keep forever.

  “Do you mind grabbing my bag? I can make a hotel reservation once we hit the road.” She didn’t look back at him. Not yet, she needed a moment to get control of herself.

  Safety had to come first. Then they could talk all he wanted. In the morning, though, she would have to leave them...no matter what. With love came the responsibility to protect.

  There was the creak of the bedroom door as he went for her things.

  This was going to be their last night together, possibly forever. If something happened to her at Kirtland, this could be the last night she spent with Joe.

  The thought made her feel as though her heart was being ripped from her chest.

  How could she leave her son? But how could she justify putting him in harm’s way just so that she could be a constant in his life?

  From the very beginning of Mike’s entrance back into their lives, she had told Mike he couldn’t just come and go from Joe’s life at the drop of a hat and according to his schedule. And yet she was doing exactly what she had told him not to. To say she felt like a hypocrite was a major understatement.

  If she did get to see the boys again, there was no way she could ever draw lines in the sand. They would be equal...which maybe wasn’t a bad thing. She had wanted Mike to be a co-parent. Cooperation and compromise. And maybe, someday, something more.

  Mike came out of the bedroom, her bag and the diaper bag in one arm and Joe cradled in the other, his sleeping face lying on his daddy’s shoulder. A lump swelled in her throat at the wholesome sight; a sight she couldn’t have imagined just a few months ago.

  How fast and how dramatically life had a way of changing.

  “If you grab the door, I will take everything outside.” He looked her in the eyes. “And don’t worry, this time I won’t leave Joe alone. Not even for a second. We will meet you out there.”

  She answered with a dip of her head. “Just wait, let’s go together,” she said, opening the front door for them.

  The apartment complex was quiet, but its peace was merely an illusion. Kevin and his team may well have been perched outside, watching and keeping guard. And on their heels could have been the Rockwood crew.

  Would she ever really feel safe again?

  Mike had his head on a swivel as he stepped out the door. She looked back, around her apartment. This was probably the last time she would be here. There wasn’t much, a chair and a few boxes, and she wouldn’t miss any of her things; but she would miss having a home.

  Someday, maybe she would have stability in her life again. Until then, she’d say goodbye.

  Chapter Seventeen

  The snow had started to fall, coating the world in a silent blanket as they arrived at the hotel. After checking them in under a false name and acting like a happy little family of three, Mike got Joe and Summer into their room and then moved the car. He parked it two miles away, in front of another hotel, making sure to leave Summer’s phone inside the glovebox, should anyone try to track her down again.

  He expected they had been followed by Summer’s people at the DTRA. That was exactly what he would have done—have a shadow surveillance team securing the perimeter at all times. If they didn’t, and something happened, it would be even more of a black eye for the agency when they had to write up the reports. Congress would have a field day if they found out a baby had been put in danger, especially when it came time to allot funding for the program.

  If Kevin was smart, he would be on his toes making sure that no further harm came to them.<
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  Here was hoping. It was naive and idiotic to assume anyone was going to protect them. It was like the law enforcement adage about rural areas: “we aren’t your first line of defense, we are merely the report takers after the fact.”

  More times than not, he had seen that sentiment in action. And he would be damned if he was going to be complacent and fall for the dupe of assumed safety.

  Walking back to the hotel, he let the snowflakes land on his face. The chill felt good on his skin, invigorating. He had only been in Montana for less than a year; it had been a long time since he had been a part of a true winter. It was no secret that the place could be brutal, winds up to a hundred miles an hour sending snow sideways, blinding and freezing the world as it tore through the countryside.

  If that was what they were in for tonight, it was no wonder the pilot had put a stop to them flying out. Truth be told, Mike was thankful she had been forced to stay for one more night. It was greedy and more than dangerous to keep Summer here, with her enemies possibly on the hunt for her, but he wanted as much time with her as he could get.

  He quickened his pace, jogging toward the hotel as he carefully picked his way around icy patches on the sidewalks and the ever-growing snowdrifts starting to build alongside the road.

  By the time he got back, he was breathing hard and the light layer of sweat that had started to accumulate on his skin just as quickly evaporated into the dry winter air. The blast of warmth hit him like a freight train as he entered the hotel lobby. The man behind the registration desk looked up and, recognizing him, sent him an acknowledging tip of the head.

  Ah, small towns. They were part of the world in which only a few things, things in the darkness of the night, went unnoticed or, at least, unspoken.

  He hadn’t missed that aspect of Montana. He had always loved the anonymity that came with being a member of STEALTH. But tonight, for once, he was just a man...at least as far as the people in this hotel needed to know. He didn’t need them being suspicious if he acted outside of the norm. For now, the best thing he could do was to merely blend in and hope he had a forgettable face.