Midway Between You and Me (Harlequin Super Romance)

by Rogenna Brewer

  Gunfire sounded behind them.

  “Get her out of here,” Stevens shouted as he returned fire.

  Bowie ran toward the cavern opening with Tam in his arms, but realized he needed his hands free, since he didn’t know what was waiting for them on the other side of that bowl.

  He veered off the path and put her down. He also wanted a good look at the explosives strapped around her chest. While he was busy doing that, she untied her ankles. “I can run,” she offered, reaching to take off the vest.

  “Not yet. And not on those feet,” he said. “Hop on.”

  He removed his pack and piggybacked her.

  “They didn’t follow,” Stevens said. “That was too easy.”

  “Speak for yourself,” Bowie said.

  “I’ll go through first. Don’t follow unless I give the all clear,” Stevens said. He stepped through and came back a few minutes later. “I don’t like it, but I can’t see anything.”

  They all stepped into the cavern. The boats appeared to be the fastest way out, so they hopped aboard one and started the engine. But just as they pulled away from the bank, a boat entered from the north and blocked their escape.

  Xang laughed as his men started shooting.

  Bowie threw himself over Tam while Stevens spun a hard left. Turning the boat one-eighty, he sped south.

  “Now would be a good time for either of you to tell me if you had any reason to tell Xang I was color-blind.” There should have been a whole mess of reference wires on this vest, but there were only two. A red. And a green. He knew that not because he could see the difference, but because he couldn’t.

  “What’s wrong?” she asked.

  The speedboat jumped across the rough surface, and it took all his concentration to cut the casing off each wire. “One of these is going to blow us up. And one isn’t. I need you to point out which wire casing is red and which is green.” His sunglasses wouldn’t do him much good in a dark cave working by flashlight. He could feel his hands wanting to tremble and willed them to stay steady.

  She pointed out the wires. His hand hovered over the green wire. Xang had wired her to an easy setup, giving him a fifty-fifty chance. If the man wanted to use Bowie’s color-blindness against him, would he make it that easy?

  “I trust you,” she said, urging him to make the cut. “Get me out of this, please.”

  “Honey, did you ever hear the one about the jealous husband who gave his wife’s lover a fifty-fifty chance? Behind the green door there’s a tiger and behind the red there’s a beautiful lady. The wife knows which is which. Which one would you choose for me?”

  “The red door.”

  Without giving either of them time to think, he pulled her into his arms and cut the red wire.

  “What if I’d have said green? I was thinking about it!”

  “I still would have picked the red one,” he said, holding her close. “I just wanted to hear how much you loved me.”

  She started crying, but Bowie turned his attention to helping Stevens.

  “We’re not being followed,” Stevens said, slowing the boat to a crawl.

  “He has it on remote!” Bowie tossed the jacket overboard. Not three heart beats later, it exploded. And then Stevens stopped the boat.

  The south tunnel exit was barred. And beyond the bars the tunnel narrowed.

  “Dead end,” Tam said.

  “Maybe not.” Bowie grabbed a flashlight and jumped over the side. He could go under the bars and come up on the other side. “Let me check it out and see how long it takes to get through the tunnel.” He checked his watch and dove under.

  Tam waited in the boat, counting every agonizing second until Bowie surfaced. Not even he could hold his breath that long.

  But then he was there.

  “We can make it, but the cave gets tight. It’s a stretch, almost four minutes one way,” he said with labored breath.

  “You’re the only one here who can hold your breath that long,” Tam said.

  “I’ll get you out of here,” Bowie promised as he climbed back on board.

  “Right now they’re just waiting us out,” Stevens said. “But eventually they’ll figure out what we’re doing in here and either come after us or go around.”

  “They weren’t out there yet,” Bowie told him.

  “You swim out,” Stevens said. “I’ve got a score to settle. I’m going to play chicken and see who swerves first.”

  “I’d just as soon take my chances on the boat,” Tam said.

  When Bowie hesitated, Stevens gave him a shove. “Get her out of here. When you’re clear start the fireworks.”

  “Okay,” Bowie agreed. “We’ll meet you on the southern peninsula. Good luck.”

  Stevens nodded.

  Tam and Bowie jumped over the side. Treading water, she watched for a while as the boat picked up speed and disappeared.

  “Is he going to be all right?” she asked.

  “Yeah.”

  “Are we?”

  “I guarantee it.” And then he kissed her.

  Tam had never tasted anything so sweet in her life. But she was scared. “Maybe you should go and I could wait here.”

  “That’s not an option. Relax. Take deep breaths.” He placed her hand over his heart. “We’re in sync, remember. If I can do this, you can.”

  She took one steadying breath, then the rest came easier.

  “I’m not going to let go of you,” he said. “And you don’t let go of me, and we’ll make it out.”

  Gunfire echoed in the cavern. She turned toward the sound, then back to him. She really didn’t have any other choice.

  One more deep breath and they were underwater. Even with the flashlight, it was dark. They cleared the bars easily.

  The tunnel narrowed, and she gasped for breath. Taking in water, she clutched at Bowie’s wrist and panicked, starting to feel herself slip into unconsciousness.

  And then they broke through the surface and precious air filled her lungs. She choked and gasped.

  “Are you all right?”

  She couldn’t speak so she nodded. He practically had to drag her, but they made it to shore, then jogged the short distance along the sand to an airstrip.

  Bowie put his headset on. “Is everyone accounted for?” He didn’t speak for a moment, then said, “Stand by. Give me ten minutes, then let her rip.”

  “Where are you going?” she asked, clutching his hands so he wouldn’t go.

  “To keep a promise,” he said, squeezing her hand.

  “I want to go with you,” she pleaded.

  “Stay here. And when McCain comes with the boat get on it,” he ordered. “Rob Stevens is your father. I’m going to go find him for you.”

  She stood there stunned. Rob Stevens was her father. She’d stared at his youthful picture for countless hours, yet hadn’t recognized the flesh-and-blood man.

  Bowie headed back in the direction from which they’d just come.

  The sun broke over the horizon to the east. On a cliff above the cave she spotted two men. Stevens and another man. She hurried toward them.

  Her father stood with his back toward the cliff. There was a ledge just below him, but beyond that a sheer drop. Xang pointed a gun at his head.

  “No!” Tam screamed.

  Xang turned, giving her father a chance to rush him. Xang fired, and her father staggered. Xang took aim again, but before he could shoot, Bowie burst past her and lunged at Xang. She watched in terror as they both went over the cliff.

  She ran to the edge.

  Xang was falling to the rocky surf below. Bowie lay on the ledge, his head against a rock.

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  0900 Saturday

  COAST GUARD HELICOPTER

  Northern Pacific Ocean

  TAM COULDN’T HOLD Bowie’s hand, because the emergency medical technician refused to let her near him. So she held on to her father’s hand instead.

  She tried not to think how far they were from Ha
waii and the nearest hospital. Or how battered and bruised Bowie’s body had been when they had taken him from that ledge.

  And when they landed at the helo pad at the Navy hospital, she tried not to cry out in sheer relief. The medical staff pulled his stretcher from the helicopter and headed to the emergency room.

  His brother ran along beside the stretcher. His sister-in-law had given up her seat to Tam, otherwise she wouldn’t have even been allowed on the flight, which could carry only four passengers and the crew.

  Additional medical staff brought a wheelchair for her father because of the bullet that had grazed his arm. Tam stepped out of the helicopter behind him, ducking beneath the whirling blades.

  He made a fuss about getting in the wheelchair but did it just the same. Zach was just closing up his cell phone when they entered. Since she didn’t have her father’s hand to hold anymore, she held his.

  “They’ve taken Bowie for tests,” Zach told her. “I don’t know what they’re looking for, but I’m scared as hell at what they’re going to find.”

  She didn’t know who was comforting whom, so she squeezed his hand. “He’s going to be all right. He has to be, because he’s no John Wayne.”

  Zach looked shocked.

  “It’s a private joke,” she told him.

  “How long have you known Bowie?”

  “All my life, it seems.”

  “I assumed you two were tight because of the will.”

  “Will?”

  “I don’t know if I should even be mentioning this now, but he wants to leave you a bird. Provided support as well.”

  “What? How?” She shook her head.

  “I’m executor of Bowie’s living will.”

  “I don’t want to talk about wills.”

  “Frankly, neither do I.”

  They waited for hours. Her father had joined them in the waiting room, no longer a patient. The doctor finally came out.

  “Your brother’s been moved to the ICU. The good news is, there is good news. He hasn’t broken anything—”

  “And the bad news?” Zach asked.

  “Head injuries are always a concern. But there is no skull fracture. He’s bruised his brain, which is what caused the swelling. We’ve drained the excess fluid through a shunt and the swelling has subsided somewhat. He remains unconscious, but right now that’s a good thing. We would have put him in a drug-induced coma to keep him as still and quiet if he wasn’t.”

  “When will he wake up?” Tam asked.

  “We don’t know,” the doctor said. “His vitals are strong. He’s breathing on his own. Those are all good things.”

  “When can we see him?” she asked.

  “Next of kin only.”

  TWO MONTHS LATER, Bowie had yet to regain consciousness. But he’d been moved to a regular room, and Tam could hold his hand. The scary thing was that now the doctor was starting to talk about long-term care.

  And if she didn’t get back to the island soon she’d have to take a leave of absence or risk losing her job. Tam didn’t know if sitting here holding Bowie’s hand meant anything to him or not, but it meant something to her and she was afraid to let go.

  She studied his long fingers. His nails needed cutting, maybe she’d mention it to a nurse or just trim them herself, next time. He had always kept them so neat before.

  She kissed his knuckles and put his hand down on the bed. Then she stood and pressed a kiss to the scar on his forehead where the bullet had grazed him. His family patiently waited in the hall. His mother, father and sister had joined his brother the day after Bowie’s accident.

  When she left his room, Rob Stevens stood by the door. “How about some lunch?” he asked. He spent time every day sitting with her at the hospital, but recently he’d started coming around at lunchtime to make sure she ate.

  She’d lost her appetite and had dropped a few pounds. “Lunch sounds good,” she lied, and only picked at her food once they were seated in the cafeteria.

  “Was your life hard growing up?” Rob asked.

  She didn’t know whether to think of him as Rob or Skully or Dad. They were still feeling their way around each other, but she appreciated his effort to get to know her.

  “No,” she answered in all honesty. “Life wasn’t hard at all.” Because now she had something to compare it to. Waiting was hard.

  “And your mother?” he asked.

  Curiously, it was the first time he’d asked about her. Tam didn’t know if he was asking if her mother’s life had been hard then. Or how she was doing now. She speared some lettuce with her fork.

  “She’s done well for herself.”

  “Remarried?” he asked. His sling still limited his movement, and he seemed to choose his movements as carefully as he’d chosen that word.

  “No, she never remarried.” She supposed she could have told him he was the love of her mother’s life or try to explain that Lan was still searching for him, but she put the forkful of food in her mouth instead. Maybe she wasn’t thinking clearly right now, but she had to know him better before she took the risk of telling her mother about him.

  He nodded. When they said goodbye, she hugged him for the very first time, even held on to him for a bit. She supposed it was only natural that she feel so melancholy under the circumstance. But when he left she went into the nearest bathroom for a good cry.

  After cleaning up, she decided to stock up on magazines in the gift shop. Maybe something she could read to Bowie. She also remembered the nail clippers. Killing time, she wandered around the little shop, which carried assorted sundries and over-the-counter medicines.

  Tam didn’t know why the home-pregnancy test made her heart stop until she counted backward to the last time she’d menstruated. She picked up one and read the back of the box, not yet convinced she was going to buy it. Or that she even needed it.

  She purchased the test and went back to that out-of-the-way bathroom where she’d had her cry. Then she had another one after seeing the results of her test.

  Positive.

  She was pregnant with Bowie’s baby. Now she would never have to let go. But when she didn’t have anyone to share her joy with, that made her miss him all the more.

  When she got back up to Bowie’s floor, she ran into his family leaving the conference room with the doctor. Zach walked with his head hanging and his arm wrapped around his wife. His mother wiped at tears with a handkerchief. And even his tough-as-nails father looked pale.

  “What’s wrong? What’s happened?” Tam demanded.

  “Nothing’s changed,” he said, forcing a smile to reassure her. Though, it didn’t work. “Bowie’s being transferred to the VA. He’ll be discharged from the hospital and medically retired from the Navy.”

  She wanted to scream at the unfairness of it all. The father of her baby was a healthy, vital man. Too young to be retired—never mind, spend the rest of his life in a care facility.

  “If you’ll excuse me.” It must have been the baby giving her the strength to say those words. It certainly wasn’t her.

  Tam left them all standing in the hall and didn’t shed one tear until she closed Bowie’s hospital door behind her. And then she crawled right up in bed beside him.

  She didn’t know how she managed to choke out the words, but she did. “Hi,” she whispered softly. “I know that it’s a wonderful place where you are. So deep and so blue, that you just want to hold your breath forever. But first I need to tell you why you can’t leave me. We’re going to have a ba-baby,” she stammered. “I can’t do this alone. My mother was a strong woman, but I’m not. I can’t think of the next thirty years without you.” She pressed her head to his chest to muffle her tears.

  She knew she had to lift her head, knew she had to get out of this bed, out of the room, but she just couldn’t make herself move.

  Finally she did lift her head, maybe hoping that by some miracle his eyes would be open, but they remained closed.

  “I can’t believe you left me
with that stupid bird,” she said, angry at him for disappointing her.

  She got off the bed, dried her eyes and blew her nose. But before she could leave the room she had to kiss him one last time. She pressed her lips to his, trying to keep the tears from flowing again. “Good night, sweet Prince. Toi khong biet, I love you. And I will never forget you, you sure made sure of that.”

  She walked past his family without stopping or even slowing down. She didn’t know when she would tell them about Bowie’s baby. She only knew that she would. Just not today. Today was a day for tears.

  “Tam?” Bowie’s mother called out to her. “Are you going to be all right?”

  She stopped and turned to face the woman. She managed a smile. “I’m going to be just fine.”

  She didn’t feel like going to her rented room near the hospital. So she headed toward the Arizona Memorial. She wandered around the monument for a while, then found a bench where she could sit down and talk to her baby.

  A pregnant woman strolled by on the arm of her lover, husband, friend, probably all of those things. Tam placed a hand over her flat stomach and tried to imagine the life growing inside her. She hoped her baby had green eyes, like his father.

  “Someday I’m going to tell you all about your father. He was a sailor, a Seabee,” she corrected herself. “He was so proud to wear that uniform. He loved John Wayne. And I loved him so much.”

  Before she spent the entire day in tears, she decided she had to do something constructive. There wasn’t much of anything she could do about her own circumstances right now, but she could help two people very much in love find happiness.

  She ran to the nearest pay phone and called her mother.

  “Hello,” Lan Nguyen said.

  Tam had called her mother several times since Bowie’s accident. But this time she told her mother everything that was in her heart. And about the baby. “Mama-san, I need you.”

  “I’ll be on the next flight out.”

  Summer 2002

  Honolulu, Hawaii

  THE NEXT AVAILABLE FLIGHT from San Francisco to Hawaii was the next day. Tam hadn’t told her mother about her father because she wanted it to be a surprise.