Green Beret Bodyguard

by Carol Ericson

  Chapter Twelve

  A traitor. A wanted man.

  Diaz’s face, blurry and indistinct, swam before Jack’s eyes. He gripped the cold metal railings on the bed. His gut churned.

  “No!” Lola jumped up and the plastic chair bounced on the linoleum floor. “I don’t believe it.”

  Diaz pressed a hand to his eyes, tired of their game. He seemed to sink into the hospital bed as if all his words had been keeping him buoyant and their release had deflated him.

  Could Jack grill the old man for more?

  He straightened his spine. “Who came after you and why?”

  Diaz parted his fingers and stared at Jack through the spaces. “Someone was following me, watching me, maybe bugging my office. They didn’t want us to meet.”

  “Do you believe the allegations against me?” Jack clenched his jaw so tightly, it ached.

  “I don’t know.” Diaz dropped his stiff hand to the white covers and smoothed them across his chest. “When I heard the rumor, I dismissed it. I didn’t know you, but I’d heard enough about you—decorated Green Beret, covert operative, stellar reputation as a hostage negotiator—to make it hard to believe.”

  “Do you know anything about Prospero or its team members?”

  “No. Speculation only.” Diaz waved a hand. “That’s all I can tell you. You live in the shadows, Mr. Coburn. I suggest you stay there.”

  His spine stiff, Jack walked down the hospital corridor next to Lola as she slipped off the white lab coat. “How do you know it’s not all true? I could be your worst enemy right now. Gabe’s worst enemy.”

  “I don’t think so.” Lola ducked into a doctors’ lounge and tossed the coat into a hamper. “Just doesn’t sound like something you’d do.”

  Jack pulled her around the corner and pinned her shoulder blades to the wall. “You’ve known me five days.”

  Her hazel eyes widened, but not in fear. He’d wanted to scare her off. Make her think twice about associating with him. Keep her safe. From him.

  The brilliancy of her eyes revealed exasperation, even a touch of humor. She tilted her head, and her dark hair brushed the back of his hand. “I know you, Jack. You saved my life in this very hospital.”

  Jack opened his mouth and paused. Two nurses walked past them, suspending their conversation, averting their faces. A janitor, head bowed, shuffled past with his mop. Jack closed his eyes and started when Lola’s fingers touched his cheek.

  “You’re no traitor. You went to Afghanistan to rescue Gabe and lost your memory in the endeavor. Maybe somehow these people know that and are using the situation to set you up, discredit you with your own government.”

  Her hand curled into a fist and she thumped her chest. “I know it in here.”

  “Is this how you soothe your young patients?” He covered her small, smooth hand with his large, rough one.

  Her cheeks colored and she slipped her hand from beneath his. “You don’t need soothing, Jack. You’re trying to push me away, and I’m not going to budge.” She unfurled her fist and ticked off each finger. “We need to collect the new computer with Gabe’s hard drive. I need to speak to Detective Sorrentino. You need to visit Lesley.”

  “Sorrento.”

  “Yeah, him.” She shoved at his chest. “Go find Lesley. I’m going to drive over to the police station.”

  “Not by yourself.”

  “You can’t talk to the cops with me.”

  “No, but I can make sure you get there safely.”

  She poked a finger into his ribs. “That’s what I’m talking about. You’re not a bad guy.”

  After Jack saw Lola down to her car and out the parking structure, he reentered the hospital and made his way to Lesley’s office.

  He’d called her on the way over to the hospital, and she greeted him at the doorway to her office, expecting him.

  “I can take you to a more comfortable room, Jack. You can stretch out on a couch, just like at a traditional shrink’s place.”

  When they settled in the new office, complete with a comfortable leather couch, Lesley shoved a piece of paper across the desk. “It’s a waiver. Sign it.”

  Jack tapped the form with a pen. “Is it valid if I have no memory?”

  “I’m thinking you won’t sue for the same reason.”

  He signed the form with a flourish, his name flowing from the end of the pen as if he’d signed it a million times. He reclined on the couch as Lesley produced a syringe and a vial from a sterile plastic bag.

  “Make a fist. Let’s hope this works…at least enough to get you home to your family.”

  Jack closed his eyes. Home to his family? He hoped that family didn’t include a wife, because he’d never be able to give up Lola.

  The prick in his arm brought him back to his senses. Lola doesn’t belong to you. She’s not yours to give up…or not.

  Lesley dragged a chair close to the couch, and Jack began to tell her what he’d discovered about his life, including what he’d recently learned from Diaz. He ran his thick tongue along his teeth trying to dislodge the taste of garlic that flooded his mouth.

  Lesley encouraged him, asked questions until his eyelids became heavy. His voice became detached from his brain. The words he formed in his mind didn’t seem make it to his lips, but Lesley continued to question him.

  His parents? Dead. No siblings. He’d lived with his best friend’s family his senior year in high school.

  Lesley’s questions came in a smooth, steady stream. He laughed. Felt light-headed. Too much tequila.

  College. Scholarship to Stanford. Languages. He learned them quickly. French. German. Arabic. He tried out several phrases on Lesley.

  He used them in the Army. The Army used him. Special Forces. Prospero. Buzz. Ian. Riley. The images flashed through his brain. The Colonel. Colonel Scripps. The words spilled from his lips.

  Hostages. People needed his help. He couldn’t give it up. Couldn’t move on. Dr. Gabriel Famosa needed his help. Dr. Famosa’s sister needed his help. He’d seen her. Watched her as she’d dropped off the money at the bus depot.

  He had to find her brother, and then he’d return to her. What? Lesley. Lesley’s voice. Did he find Gabe in Afghanistan?

  He floated. He pressed his back against the cushion to stay grounded. Answer the question, Lieutenant.

  He’d found Gabe. Found him and stashed him away in a safe place. Then he’d gone back to Gabe’s kidnappers. Had to find out how Farouk was going to use the virus.

  Farouk. The enemy. His enemy. Prospero’s enemy.

  He knew. The virus is a weapon. And then? They’d found him. And he’d jumped off a cliff…into darkness.

  Darkness. He knew. He wanted. Lola.

  LOLA PERCHED ON THE EDGE of the couch, her mouth dry, her hands trembling as she smoothed a lock of Jack’s black hair from his brow. “Are you sure he’s okay?”

  Lesley snorted. “The man’s as strong as an ox. He’ll be fine, maybe a little nauseous when he comes out of it.” She shook a bottle of pills that clacked in her hand. “And I have something for that, too.”

  “W-was it successful?”

  “He made a great start. I don’t know how much he’ll remember of what he said, but I taped it.” She pressed a micro tape into Lola’s hand. “I asked him questions, and he answered many of them. The memories, bypassing that inhibitor in his brain, flowed to his tongue. I think the headaches are functioning in the same way as the truth serum—breaking down the blockage.”

  Lesley put the bottle of pills on the desk next to the mini recorder, a hospital-issued water pitcher and a paper cup. “Have him take one of these for the nausea when he wakes up. Call me if you need me. He has quite a story to tell.”

  She slipped out of the office, leaving Lola with Jack still stretched out on the couch. His dark, spiky lashes jumped up and down as his eyes rolled beneath his lids.

  Was he dreaming? Remembering? Longing for someone else?

  Taking one of his calloused
hands between hers, she leaned forward, the ends of her hair tickling his chin. She whispered. “Come back to me, Jack…and then never leave me.”

  She squeezed his hand as if that could steady the wild beating of her own heart. He’d come to mean so much to her in such a short time. Was he right? Did she know him at all?

  He’d protected her, taken on her cause as his own. Nobody had ever protected her before, not even Gabe, certainly not her parents.

  Because of that, had she bestowed some magical quality on him? Some sheen of golden glory that he didn’t possess? No. Jack Coburn was the real deal. The knight in shining armor. The man she’d waited her entire life for.

  The knight twitched and groaned. He shifted and licked his lips. One dark eye opened.

  “Jack?”

  He pinched the bridge of his nose and then slid his fingers into his tousled hair. “God.”

  “Are you okay?” She disengaged her fingers from his and reached for the pitcher of water. With a wobbly hand she poured some of the water into a cup.

  When she turned around, he was sitting up massaging his temples. She offered him the water and her hand collided with his as he reached to grab the cup.

  A stranger looking on would think she was the one who’d been sedated. She scooped in a lungful of air and blew it out in a gust. Jack wasn’t going to break down.

  He swished the water around in his mouth and swallowed. “Ugh, that stuff leaves a nasty taste in your mouth, sort of like crunching on a couple of cloves of raw garlic.”

  “Do you feel sick? Lesley left some antinausea medication for you.”

  He eyed the bottle on the desk with suspicion. “No thanks. I think I’ll pass on any more of Lesley’s prescriptions.”

  Lola’s knees bounced with anticipation, but she didn’t want to bombard him with questions. “More water?”

  “Yeah…please.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “Do you want the good news or the bad news first?”

  Butterflies beat wings against her belly and she pressed her hand against her stomach to still their flight. If Gabe were dead or if Jack were really a traitor, he wouldn’t be so cavalier about it. She planted her feet flat on the floor. “Give me the bad news first.”

  “I still don’t remember where Gabe is.”

  She nodded, clutching her hands in her lap. “I—I didn’t expect you to have total recall about your life and…and everything else.”

  “The good news is I rescued him and stashed him in a safe place.”

  Excitement shot up her spine like a jolt of electricity. She rocketed out of the chair and into Jack’s lap, throwing her arms around his neck. “I knew it. I knew you could do it.”

  He lightly clasped her arms and kissed the inside of her wrist. “Hold on. I haven’t done much of anything. Didn’t you hear the bad news part? I don’t remember where I put him.”

  “But he’s free. He must be free.” She slid off his lap and paced to the door. She had to give the man space.

  “We don’t know that, Lola. If he’s free, how come he hasn’t contacted anyone?”

  “I suppose it would be too much of a coincidence if he had amnesia, too.”

  “Umm, yeah, I’d say so.”

  “I know you’re thinking the worst—that the terrorists recaptured him or…injured him in some way. But if you led him to safety, I’m sure he’s safe.”

  His body stiffened and he swung his legs off the couch, sitting ramrod straight. “I’m not a god, Lola. I’m only a man, a man who still can’t put all the pieces of his life together.”

  “But you’re not a traitor. What else did you remember? Do you remember Prospero? The colonel’s name?”

  “Colonel Scripps.” He sipped the water, biting the edge of the paper cup. “I also remembered the third name of my Prospero team members—Ian. So it’s Buzz, Ian and Riley. Another name floated to my consciousness, too.”

  Lola waited.

  Lines bracketed Jack’s mouth. His dark brows painted a fierce scowl over his nose. He crushed the paper cup in his hand.

  Oh, God. Was it his wife?

  “Who, Jack? Who else did you remember?”

  “Farouk. The man’s name is Farouk. You know that virus your brother was working to cure? Farouk plans to use it as a weapon of mass destruction.”

  Chapter Thirteen

  A slow shudder worked its way through Lola’s body until it almost buckled her knees. She braced her hands on either side of the doorjamb. She choked. “Gabe.”

  “Your brother most likely responded to that area of Afghanistan to investigate the outbreak of a peculiar and deadly virus. The terrorists must’ve been developing it there.”

  “And this Farouk is their leader?”

  “Prospero battled Farouk for years, but we could never capture him. He’s involved in this scheme.”

  “They kidnapped Gabe because he was working on a vaccine for the virus, didn’t they? That’s why they never asked for ransom.” Her sweaty palms slid from the wood slats of the doorway. “Why wouldn’t they just destroy the formula…and him?”

  “If you plan to unleash a deadly virus on an unsuspecting populace, you’d better have access to a vaccine for yourself. There’s something else I remembered. Farouk was going to start with that newly formed African country, Burumanda. That must’ve fallen through, though, because the president is back in power. Anyway, that’s what they want. They need your brother’s formula. Maybe he gave it to them to stay alive, but he’d already stored it on his computer. They probably know that now.”

  “And that’s why they’re here. After me.”

  Jack stood up and swayed to the side. He planted his hands on the desk, hunching his shoulders.

  “You okay?” Lola pushed off the doorjamb and poured him another cup of water.

  He downed the water in one gulp and grabbed her arm, his grip sure and strong. “We need to get that formula from Gabe’s computer and turn it over to the CIA.”

  “Once you do that, they have to believe you didn’t steal the virus for yourself.”

  “Maybe, maybe not.” He released her arm and pocketed the antinausea medication. “But now I know I have people to vouch for me. I’m not alone.”

  Didn’t he realize he could count on her? She snapped up the paper cup from the desk and crushed it in her fist.

  “We can’t pick up the new computer until tomorrow. Since we’re here, I’m going to check up on Eddie.”

  “I’ll join you.”

  “Are you sure you don’t want to rest? This office is vacant.”

  He tapped his forehead. “I have a slight headache. Otherwise, I’m good to go.”

  Lola grabbed the handle of the door, and Jack covered her hand with his. “Wait. What happened at the police station?”

  She grimaced. “You were right. They found my fingerprints at the lab.”

  “Did you handle it?”

  “It’s like you said, I told them I had been in the lab before. Nothing unusual in that.”

  “And they bought it.”

  “Lock and stock but with more references to my criminal past.”

  “Your father’s criminal past.”

  “For some of these guys it’s the same thing.” She shrugged and slipped out the door.

  In the elevator, Lola stared at the illuminated numbers and cleared her throat. “Did you remember anything else important? I take it your entire life did not come flooding back into your consciousness.”

  “Lesley guided me with questions. I remembered almost everything she asked. My parents died when I was in high school. I remember them. I recall my college years, most of my time as a Green Beret.”

  “And Prospero?”

  “I remember the team. We had a bond so close, they were like family, like brothers. But Prospero broke up. We all retired from the Armed Services. They all moved on.”

  “Except you.” The elevator bell dinged and the doors slid open. “You’re still involved in the business of spying.”

>   On the pediatric ward, Lola checked in at the nurses’ station while Jack hit the vending machines in the waiting area for a soda. Was he still so fuzzy he didn’t realize she wanted info on his marital status?

  Once she’d ascertained Gabe’s safety and Jack’s integrity, the marriage question was number three on her list. She smiled automatically at the nurse and asked for Eddie’s chart.

  “I thought you were still on vacation, Dr. Famosa.”

  Lola looked up from the chart showing Eddie’s daily improvement. “My vacation plans changed. Since I’m home, anyway, I figured I could check up on Eddie.”

  The nurse shook her head. “He sure has taken a shine to you. I mean, all your patients do, but there’s something special between you and that little boy.”

  “He’s special.” Lola hugged the chart to her chest.

  “Yeah, he also has Jesús the orderly and Freddie the janitor checking in on him daily.” The nurse ducked her head and whispered, “I heard about the attack on you the other day down by the morgue. They say it was Eddie’s stepfather. Are you okay?”

  “Besides a bruise on the side of my neck, I’m fine. And that vile man isn’t Eddie’s stepfather. He and Eddie’s mother never married.”

  The nurse gave an exaggerated shiver and pulled her sweater tight. “I hate going down to the basement. Creeps me out.”

  “Yeah, me, too.” Lola tapped the edge of the clipboard on the desk. “I’ll bring this back when I’m done.”

  She glided down the hallway and almost bumped into Jack coming around the corner. Glancing at the can of cola in his hand, she said, “Going to pump some caffeine into your system?”

  “I’m still kind of groggy and I have a persistent pain behind my eyes.” He raised the can in the air. “Maybe this will help.”

  With Jack hovering behind her, Lola poked her head into Eddie’s room. The boy’s dark eyes lit up once he dragged his gaze away from the TV in the corner. “Dr. Lola!”

  She swept into the room, crossing the small space, and planted a kiss on the top of his head. “You are getting better every day. I brought my friend to see you, too. I heard you two met the other day.”