“She’s right, baby,” Megan whispered. “You have to.”
Delta inhaled a deep breath and then pressed the knife into Gina’s belly, imagining exactly what Gina had told her to. As the knife slid through Gina’s skin, Delta concentrated on not cutting too deeply. Gina screamed once before biting her own hand. “Keep…cutting.”
Sweat, tears, and blood blended and slid down Delta’s face and arms as she finished cutting the last inch. Pulling the Bowie out, Delta glanced at Gina, who was chalky white now, her jaw clenched tightly. “The…baby…”
Setting the knife down, Delta put her hands on either side of the incision and opened it up much like Gina had described, causing Gina to cry out in pain.
“It’s a girl,” Delta whispered, reaching in and gently retrieving the baby from Gina’s body. “She’s beautiful.”
“Pre…mature,” Gina said softly.
“But still beautiful, honey.”
Connie, who hadn’t taken her eyes off Gina’s face, did not look at the baby until Delta placed her in Gina’s arms. Megan’s eyes beamed with a combination of intense pride and sadness at Delta, as one life gave way to another.
“She’s… beautiful,” Gina said, kissing the top of her baby’s head. Connie finally removed her hands from Gina’s thigh and wrapped her arms around mother and baby and kissed Gina’s cold cheek.
“I love you so much. Please don’t go. I need you.”
Gina swallowed hard, barely conscious now. Only a love that deep could keep someone alive long enough to say their goodbyes. She ran her fingers across Connie’s mouth. “Take care of our child, sweetheart. She is our love.”
“I will. I swear.” Connie laid her head on Gina’s chest, her arms wrapped tightly around her family.
As the last of Gina’s life bled from her body, she looked up at Delta, kissed the top of the baby’s forehead, mouthed, “thank you,” and died.
Connie kissed her on the forehead…paused a moment…then lifted her face and howled like a wounded animal.
She wasn’t the only one.
The moment Gina’s spirit left her, Delta knew their lives would never be the same.
“Thanks for patching me up,” Carducci said, gazing down at the makeshift bandage on his shoulder. Carducci’s wound was clean, as the bullet had gone straight through, and Flora had managed to bind his wound so it no longer bled.
After making sure Carducci’s shoulder, Taylor’s leg, and Delta’s head were patched up for the moment, Megan’s exhaustion hit her hard, and she sat propped on the deck next to Connie, who had not left Gina’s side. Taylor, who had been carried by Megan up from the raft, had regained consciousness a half hour earlier and was surprised at the events she had missed. She immediately fell in love with the baby girl and had volunteered to hold her while Connie said her final goodbyes to Gina’s spirit.
Logan, unfortunately, had been killed by a shot to the back of his head. Apparently, Zahn felt he could control a boat full of women but felt safer with the lone man dead. Megan placed his body next to Josh’s on the deck of the boat and covered them both with a blue tarp.
Sal sat with Josh’s body, alternating between tears and words as she said her goodbyes to the man who had repaid her father by saving his daughters’ life. With death around them, the survivors were thankful to be alive.
Delta had cleaned up the baby and wrapped her in one of the boat’s blankets before handing her to Taylor who, it seemed, had maternal instincts no one had guessed. After checking on the injured, Delta walked over to Flora and took both her hands. “It appears I owe you twice for saving my life, my friend.”
Everyone onboard stopped their goodbyes, their cooing, their prayers, and stared at Delta.
“You know each other?” Megan asked.
Delta put her arm around Flora’s shoulders. “If it wasn’t for Flora, her grandmother, and her father, I’d be dead. Flora nursed me back to health after fishing me out of the water.”
“Then, it isn’t a coincidence that she showed up here?” Sal asked.
Lowering her eyes, Flora shook her head.
Megan rose and pulled Flora to her. “Thank you so much, Flora. You are a very courageous woman.”
Blushing, Flora shook her head. “No, Delta is brave. She saved my family from…” Struggling to find the words, Flora blushed. “From bad men.”
“Your father will be worried, no?” Delta asked, casting a glance at Connie, wishing Connie would interpret for her. But Connie would not leave Gina’s side, and Delta would never ask her to.
“Thank you, Flora, for all of your help. If there is ever anything I can do for you and your family, just name it.”
A huge smile spread across Flora’s face. “Can you… help me to American school?”
Delta looked over at Megan, who nodded.
“I remember you telling me that’s what you really wanted.”
Flora nodded hopefully. “Sí.”
Delta wrapped her arms around her and squeezed her tightly. “Then American college it is.”
After dropping Taylor, Carducci, and Connie and her child off at the emergency hospital where Siobhan and the other hostages had been left, Delta had her head quickly sewn up before joining Megan in the waiting room. Taking Megan’s hand in hers, Delta just sat; quiet and thankful they were both alive. It was a long time before either of them spoke, and when they did, it was Megan who spoke first.
“Well, we made it.”
Delta nodded, not looking at Megan. “Sort of. It’s the shallowest victory I’ve ever felt.”
Megan gripped Delta’s hand tightly. “Think we’ll ever recover?”
Delta shrugged. “I don’t really know. I know we’ll never be the same.”
Megan sighed loudly. “I should never have left you. Should never have come down here.”
Delta finally turned and looked at Megan. “Now isn’t the time for second-guessing. Every one of us could be blaming ourselves for the choices we made. Two of our best friends can’t say the same. This isn’t your fault, Meg. This isn’t anyone’s fault.”
Megan sighed again. “I feel so empty.”
“I know. I feel it too.”
More time went by before Megan asked, “How’s Connie?”
Delta shrugged. “I have no idea. I can’t imagine the pain she’s in.”
Megan squeezed Delta’s hand again. “I’m really proud of the way you delivered that baby. It was an incredibly brave thing to do.”
Delta didn’t respond to the compliment. She’d delivered a baby from the jaws of death but had been incapable of saving one of her best friends. She didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
When the doctor came out, he wasn’t wearing a white lab coat but sported a t-shirt and khaki pants. His dark hair was cut short, and his caramel skin had a hint of golfer’s tan. Delta wondered if even Central American doctors played golf on Wednesdays.
“Your friend and the baby are fine,” he said in slightly accented English. “But, did I understand her correctly? One of you delivered the baby by cesarean using a Bowie knife?”
Delta and Megan exchanged glances as they rose in unison. “Stranger things have happened, Doctor. Can we see them now?”
The doctor, appearing perplexed, nodded and pointed in the direction of the room they’d left Connie and the baby in.
“I’ve sedated your friend. She’s suffering from emotional duress, so I thought that might calm her. The baby will have to stay with us for a while, but your friend can sleep on the cot next to her.”
Delta started for the door and then turned to the doctor. “Can you set up two more cots in there?”
Again, the look of puzzlement. “I suppose so. Can I ask why?”
Delta nodded. “That’s my goddaughter in there.”
“That’s our family,” Megan said, threading her arm through Delta’s. With heavy hearts and exhausted bodies, Delta and Megan joined a slumbering infant and Connie in the only place where Gina Tarabini existed for t
hem now.
In their dreams.
The next morning, after showering and eating the first real meal they’d had in days, Delta, Megan, and Sal talked Connie into leaving the baby for a short while so they could visit the others. As reluctant as Connie was to leave, Delta found it equally difficult. The baby, now all cleaned up and cared for, had a shock of jet-black hair. Connie had wanted a baby of Native American descent, and this one was a dandy. Her tiny fingers moved as if she was trying to play the piano, and she kept wriggling her way out of the blanket. For a preemie, this little girl was ready for life.
The night before, Delta had watched Connie watch the baby until her eyes could no longer stay open, and then Delta had put Connie to bed and watched the infant for her. This precious bundle of joy was her goddaughter. This was the little girl she would watch in school plays, listen to in school choirs, yell for during ball games, and cry for when seeing her off to the prom with a date. This was a child brought into the world by two women who loved each other so much, that they had created a life with which to share that love. Delta made a promise to her that she would never let anything happen to her or her mother.
Never.
Shortly after the doctor had taken the baby for some tests and made arrangements for Connie’s body, the four women entered Taylor’s hospital room. Taylor was sitting up reading a magazine and talking on the phone. When she saw them come in, she said her goodbyes to the person on the other end and hung up. Less than twenty-four hours had passed since they’d left her, and already she was looking eighty percent better.
“Where’s that precious baby?”
“Sleeping, like you should be,” Delta answered, walking over to Taylor and planting a kiss on the top of her head. “How’re you feeling? You sure look better than last night.”
Taylor grinned at her. “You’re such a sweet talker. They pinned it, pumped some shit into me, and here I am. Only a little worse for wear. Doesn’t look like I’ll be leaping any tall buildings at a single bound anymore.”
“No? So you’re retired for good?”
Taylor shrugged. “Unless you get yourself into another jam that I have to bail you out of.”
“You can come stay with us,” Megan offered.
The others exploded. “What?”
“Meg, she’s wanted by just about every industrialized nation,” Delta explained. “As much fun as it would be to have her around, she can’t return to the States.”
Taylor shook her head sadly. “I wish I could. I could sure use some friends like you guys to make my life more interesting.” Taylor reached over and took Connie’s hand, her cheery demeanor replaced by a more serious one. “I am so sorry for your loss.”
Connie, who was still sedated, nodded before lifting the covers to look at Taylor’s leg. Denial was now part of her grieving process, and Connie couldn’t, wouldn’t talk about Gina. “I was afraid you might lose it.”
Taylor shot a questioning glance over to Delta, who nodded that it was okay to have such a normal conversation. One doesn’t lose a lover and handle the onslaught of emotions within the first forty-eight hours. Connie would need time. Until then, she would act as if nothing bad had really happened.
“I would have lost it, but the doctors said whatever magic potion our new warrior woman put on the wound kept infection out.”
Delta stroked Taylor’s hair. “Ancient Bribri secret.”
Taylor reached for Sal’s hand and repeated her condolences. Sal’s eyes welled up and she nodded, but that was all she could do.
“So, did everyone else sleep like a rock?” Taylor asked. “And how is that hunk named Carducci?”
Sal found her voice long enough to answer. “He’s fine. The bullet went clean through. He’ll be out this afternoon.”
Taylor suddenly realized what this meant. She would not be getting out that quickly. Her leg was fractured in several places, and she wouldn’t be leaving the hospital any time soon.
“I see. Well, I suppose you guys need to be heading back,” she said in a voice of forced cheer.
Delta took her hand and give it a quick squeeze. “After all we’ve been through, you still don’t get it, do you?”
Taylor looked over at Megan, who grinned warmly. “What? Don’t get what?”
“We’re not leaving until all of us are okay to leave.”
“But…”
“But nothing. We can’t go home until the baby is ready, and even then, we’re going to have to take a ship. So, don’t you worry your little head, Taylor. You’re stuck with us.”
Taylor glanced over at Megan, who nodded. “You’re part of our family now, Taylor.”
Taylor’s eyes teared up, and she impatiently wiped at them. “I’d really like that.”
Megan grinned. “So would we.”
The group looked at each other and saw the faces of strangers, women who would forever be changed by what had transpired in the middle of a jungle. Life would never be the same for any of them, and as an uneasy quiet descended, Delta wondered if the baby down the hall would ever experience friendships like the one binding everyone in this room.
She certainly hoped so.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I am a better writer because of the impact of the following fabulous females
Chris Convissor: In the dictionary, there is a photo of you next you the words friend, loyal, and authentic. Your friendship means the world to me.
Rita Mae Brown: You opened every door the rest of us have been lucky enough to walk through. Thank you for all your words of wit and wisdom.
Tracey Fuller: When I needed a writing buddy, there you were. Now we are best of friends, and my life is better for it. Thank you for all the laughs and green bananas.
Kachita Silva: Though you’re gone now, you taught me to stand on my own two feet…and boy have these feet been places. I am the woman I am because of you and in spite of you. Thanks, mom, for giving me a titanium backbone.
Sara Slack: You not only help me be better at the craft of writing, you have given me a completely new platform from which to do it. Thank you so much for all your hard work and belief in me and my characters.
Elizabeth Peters: The only writer whose novels I buy in hardback. I know you’re not resting in peace…not because you don’t deserve it, but because you’re a doer. Thank you for the many, many hours of Amelia Peabody.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Linda Kay Silva (aka Alex Westmore) is a 5 time award-winning author of 35 novels in 6 series. She’s a professor at a military university where she teaches American, World, and British Literature.
When not writing, Alex is traveling around the world living a wild life being an adventurer and a collector of stories.
And boy has she collected some whoppers!
Alex has lived in a haunted house, been charged by an elephant, jumped from an airplane, rode rapids in several countries, and taken many Harley trips. She has spent time with the Vodoun in New Orleans, medicine men in the Southwest, and a Shaman in the Amazon. She’s been a cop, a sportswriter, an ostrich rider, and a partridge in a pear tree.
Okay, maybe that last one isn’t true…
Alex is a series writers and her series include time travel, supernatural, police adventure, post-apocalypse, demon hunting, and historical romance.
Find the author via her website: www.alexwestmore.net
OTHER SERIES FROM THIS AUTHOR
The Plundered Chronicles
Pirate’s Booty
Shiver Her Timbers
Fire in the Hole
Cutthroat Crusades
The Silver Legacy
Darkness Descends
Demon Within
Blood of the Demon
Coven Betrayed
Riders of the Apocalypse
Ride for Tomorrow
Burning Rubber
Eat Asphalt
Pedal to the Metal
Royal Roadblock
The Timeless Love Saga
Together i
n Time
The Future of Yesterday
An African Odyssey
The Red Spear
All Available from Amazon
Storm Surge (Delta Stevens Crime Logs Book 6) Page 26