Winter Bride: A Loveswept Classic Romance

by Iris Johansen

  “And you intend to just walk out of there with him?”

  “The castillo isn’t a high-security installation, and Steven hasn’t tried to escape for the past three years. We’ll have the element of surprise.”

  “And what if he doesn’t want to escape? From what we can learn the boy’s not treated badly. He’s had tutors and good food and fine clothes. We weren’t even sure if he was a prisoner. No one can question Marino’s charisma when he wishes to exert it.”

  “Don’t worry, he wants to escape.”

  “How do you know, if you haven’t seen him for seven years?”

  “My last letter from him was only six months ago.” She smiled without mirth. “And I’m sure he hasn’t changed his mind about Marino. Marino shot my mother and foster father, John Belfort, to death before our eyes. It’s not a sight a boy would easily forget.”

  “Or a girl,” Jed murmured.

  “We’re not talking about me,” Ysabel said impatiently. “Señor Damirez, there’s a glade in the jungle a mile and a half from the castillo. All I ask is that Perez finds a way to get word to Ridelez and has a helicopter in the glade ready to take off at eight fifteen.”

  “All? There will be great danger,” Ramon said slowly.

  Ysabel could tell he was tempted and pushed the advantage. “Yes, but look at the story you’d have for your newspaper, and Marino would be wiping egg off his face for a year.”

  “True.” A sudden smile lit Ramon’s face. “A sight I’d love to see.”

  “Then do it—free him.” Her voice vibrated with intensity. “Help me.”

  “It’s too pat, too easy. You can’t be sure the situation at the castillo is the same as Ridelez described to you.”

  “Ridelez sent me a map of the terrain and told me there’s a deserted shack where he used to live about five miles from the castillo. I need you to take me there. I can stay there while I look over the security and make sure it’s safe to make a move. I’ll need you to take me to the shack early tomorrow morning.”

  “So now it’s not only Perez but I who am to become involved?”

  “I’m asking you only to drive a car, not fight for me.”

  “Even driving you may be a risk if we’re stopped by the guardia. The castillo is over a hundred miles from here.” Ramon hesitated. “We’ll see. I’ll contact Perez at his base in the hills and we’ll discuss it.”

  “When will I know?”

  He shrugged. “If we decide to help, I’ll be here tomorrow at dawn to take you to Ridelez’s shack. If I’m not here, I’d advise you to go back to your cruiser and leave San Miguel.”

  She shook her head. “If you’re not here, I’ll get Steven out myself. I’m not leaving San Miguel without him.”

  Grudging respect flickered over Ramon’s face. “Bold words. I almost believe you could do it.” He turned to Jed. “And what about you?”

  “I made her a promise,” Jed said. “I’ll keep it.”

  “It may be a very expensive promise.” Ramon nodded at the arched doorway across the room. “I took the precaution of bringing a few items of food for you. They’re on the counter in the kitchen.” His expression changed from sourness to sadness as his gaze traveled around the room, which had been stripped of every piece of furniture but a rickety table jammed against the wall. His glance lingered on the white outline of a cross on the wall where the priest’s precious crucifix must have been displayed. “Lord knows there’s nothing left in this village.” He strode toward the back door. “Perhaps I’ll see you in the morning.”

  “Wait,” Ysabel called.

  “I believe we’ve finished our discussion,” Ramon said.

  “Tell Perez he owes it to Rosa.”

  Ramon looked over his shoulder. “Rosa?”

  “He’ll know. Just tell him.”

  Ramon shrugged and swung the door closed behind him.

  Ronnie jumped down from the table and moved swiftly toward the kitchen. “I’ll fix supper. You notice how tactful I’m being? As a reward I’ll expect to be filled in on all the juicy details later, Jed.” She disappeared through the arched doorway and a moment later they heard the opening of the cabinets.

  “Ronnie, tactful?” Ysabel smiled. “Astounding.”

  “She has her moments,” Jed said. “Well, do I get to hear the rest of it?”

  “Yes, of course. I promised you I wouldn’t hold back anything once we reached San Miguel.” Now that the encounter with Ramon was over, tension was leaving her and her legs felt suddenly weak. She slid down the wall and linked her hands around her knees. “It was too important to chance—” She stopped as she saw his face. “I didn’t know you, Jed. Steven has been in that place for seven years. I didn’t have the right—”

  “Okay, okay. I can see your reasoning. It doesn’t make me feel any better, but I can see it. Let’s go back seven years. How did my dear father come into this?”

  “We’ll have to go back further than that. Twenty-four years.”

  “Before you were born?”

  She nodded jerkily. “Marino had just taken power, but there was already a resistance movement against his regime headed by Perez. My mother was Rosa Camina, one of the rebels Marino’s troops captured and threw into the prison at Saltillo. Marino saw her one day when he was visiting the prison. She was very beautiful. You can guess the rest. I was born a year later.”

  “In the prison?”

  “Yes, my first six years were spent in the prison. It amused Marino to visit my mother on occasion. He enjoyed her struggles and the fact that she hated him to touch her.”

  “He knew you were his daughter?”

  “Oh yes, no one was allowed to touch my mother but him.” She laughed huskily. “You think he should have shown me some affection? I told you he was a monster. I was only important as proof of his virility. However, when Steven was born six years later, it was a different matter. Marino had the usual wish for a male heir. He was planning on taking him away from my mother as soon as she had given him a good healthy start in life. Suddenly our cell was cleaner, the food better, and we were permitted time out in the sunlight. How I loved that sunlight.”

  She paused a moment remembering those moments of golden warmth after the darkness of the prison. “Two months later the rebels helped us escape from Saltillo, but Perez wouldn’t accept Marino’s children into his band. My mother refused to abandon us and fled into the jungle and hid us for over a year, dodging Marino’s patrols and living off the land. Marino was enraged and sent patrol after patrol searching for us.”

  “How does your foster father come into this?”

  “John Belfort was a Protestant clergyman who had founded a mission on the southern tip of San Miguel. My mother was growing desperate and knew Marino would find us eventually if she couldn’t find a place to hide us. She had heard of the mission and considered it her last hope. She persuaded John to take in Steven and me and raise us as his own.”

  “And your mother?”

  “It was too dangerous for us to have her nearby. Children’s looks change over the years, but she would have been recognized instantly. She joined the rebel forces in the hills but came to visit us as often as she could.”

  “Were you happy at the mission?”

  She nodded. “It doesn’t take much to make a child happy, and John treated us very well and even found a way to put through formal adoption papers. Yes, Steven and I were both happy.” She smiled gently, remembering. “He was more like my child than my brother. After my mother left, he was all mine.” She straightened her shoulders. “But you’re not interested in that, are you? You asked about your father.”

  “He seems a compatible figure in that hellish landscape.”

  “Marino found out who we were—an informer at the village the mission served.” She spoke quickly, eager to get it over with. “He staked out the mission and when my mother came to visit us, his troops killed her and my foster father and burned the mission.”

  “Good God.”


  “He took me and Steven back to the capital. Your father was a guest at his palazzo. At the time he was thinking of investing in several of Marino’s pet industries.”

  “And he saw you and found his Winter Bride,” he said grimly.

  She nodded. “He helped me escape and told me Steven would meet us at the helicopter. It was a lie. He considered rescuing Steven too dangerous and without benefit to him. I tried to get out of the helicopter, but he held me down until we were airborne and then he began to talk. He convinced me I’d be no good to Steven in San Miguel and if I were free, I could help him.”

  “So he offered you a deal you couldn’t refuse.”

  “Yes, he’d provide the money and influence to get Steven out of San Miguel if I’d do as he asked.” She closed her eyes. “It seemed so simple. I didn’t understand …”

  “How could you understand? You weren’t much more than a child.”

  “No, I was never a child. I couldn’t afford that indulgence.” Her eyes opened and she shrugged wearily. “I couldn’t leave Steven in prison when I was free.”

  “Free?”

  “Well, it was a prison of my own making.”

  “And my father’s design. I notice he never managed to get Steven out of San Miguel.”

  “The carrot. As you said, he was very good at that. He did set up contact with Ridelez, who smuggled letters in and out of the castillo. I lived for those letters.” She smiled bitterly. “He put Betty in charge of rationing them out to me. If I was meek and obedient, I received my reward. Once when I was particularly defiant, she burned one of his letters in front of my eyes. I never made that mistake again.”

  “Didn’t you realize what my father was doing to you?”

  “Not at first. He handled it all so cleverly. Every few months I’d have a glowing report on all the plans they were making to free Steven. About four years after I arrived at Winter Island he could see I was becoming restless and discouraged, and actually initiated an escape plan. It failed. I didn’t realize it at the time, but now I believe he meant it to fail. As long as Steven was in the castillo I would do anything to free him. After the escape attempt I became more cynical, but he always managed to instill a tiny bit of hope in me. Hope can be a trap too.” She met his gaze. “Will you forgive me?”

  “Don’t be absurd,” he said gruffly. “I don’t have anything to forgive.”

  “Yes, you do. I wasn’t completely honest with you.”

  “It’s a wonder you trusted me as far as you did. Your past experiences couldn’t have fostered any great faith in mankind.”

  She said unsteadily, “I want you to know I meant what I said. I have no intention of endangering you any further than I have already. Your part in this is over. If you’ll wait here until I come back, I’ll—”

  “No way,” Jed said flatly. “I’m going with you.”

  She shook her head. “This is my battle. Marino already has a grudge against you and I won’t put you in that kind of danger.”

  “You’re not putting me anywhere. My choice.” He grinned. “I refuse to be used and then thrown away.”

  The flippant words sounded vaguely familiar and she suddenly remembered where she had heard them. “That’s what Ronnie said at the hotel.”

  “Ronnie says a lot. Some of it even makes sense.” He frowned thoughtfully. “I think we’ll have to find a way to keep her off our heels. I wouldn’t put it past her to insist on filming the entire rescue from inside the castillo.”

  “And how do you intend to do that?”

  He snapped his fingers. “Perez. I’ll ask Ramon to take her to the rebel base in the hills after he drops us off at the shack. Then Perez’s pilot can bring her along for the helicopter pickup. Filming the rebels in action should be more of a draw for her than spinning her wheels reconnoitering the castillo.” He straightened away from the wall. “And speaking of Ronnie, I believe I’ll go and help her. I’d prefer not to start this particular endeavor with a bellyache.”

  She watched helplessly as he crossed the room toward the kitchen. “But I don’t need you, Jed. My mother was a resistance fighter from the time she was fourteen. Do you think she’d let me grow up without learning how to survive and protect myself?”

  He turned to face her. “A little help from your friend can’t hurt.”

  “Friend?” she whispered.

  A sudden smile lit his features with rare beauty. “Friend. We can address the more incendiary aspects of our relationship later, but I think you could use a friend now.”

  “Yes.” She couldn’t tear her gaze away from his face. “I’ve never had a friend except Steven.”

  His smile faded. “Lord, what are you trying to do to me?” He stood there looking at her for an Instant before abruptly turning on his heel and entering the kitchen.

  Ysabel vaguely heard Ronnie say something, but she couldn’t comprehend the meaning of the words. Everything was a wild jumble of sound and sensation as she stood there looking after Jed. Everything but the one crystal clear nugget of knowledge that had struck her like a lightning bolt.

  Dear heavens, how could she have been so blind? She should have realized what was happening to her. There had certainly been enough signs.

  She should have guessed she loved Jed Corbin.

  Ronnie lifted her gaze from the document she’d been reading on the countertop in front of her. “You’re really giving Jed your home?”

  “His home. It was never mine. I’ve never really had a home. Will you witness my signature please?”

  Ronnie hesitated and then accepted the pen Ysabel was holding out to her, and scrawled her name on the line Ysabel had indicated. “I’ve never had a home either,” she said wistfully. “I’ve never even had a country. I’ve always wanted—” She broke off and squared her shoulders. “Do you want me to sign anything else?”

  “No, I just wanted to be sure it was done legally.” Ronnie’s last words had piqued her curiosity. “I thought you told me you were American.”

  “I am but there are problems.…” Ronnie turned and moved toward the archway of the kitchen.

  It was clear Ronnie would not welcome any other questions on that subject. “Where are you going?”

  “Back to the cruiser to get our sleeping bags. If we’re going to spend the night here, I prefer not to bruise my rump on that floor.”

  “Should I go with you? Will you need help?”

  Ronnie shook her head. “Why? I’m strong enough to carry three down-filled sleeping bags, for goodness sake. See you.” She was gone before Ysabel could reply.

  Yes, Ronnie was strong, Ysabel thought, but the hint of vulnerability Ysabel had previously noticed was becoming more and more clear the longer she knew her.

  She carefully took the contract and placed it in Ronnie’s knapsack, feeling as if a weight had been lifted from her. Now she could spend these last days with Jed with no shadow of Winter Island hovering over her.

  “You’d better give that place a good debugging.” Ronnie peered out the window of the car at the small thatch-roofed shack across the clearing. “You don’t want any tarantulas in your sleeping bags.”

  “What a comforting thought.” Jed set the two sleeping bags on the ground before helping Ysabel out of the car.

  “You’re sure you don’t need me?” Ronnie asked. “I don’t really have to go to Perez’s base.”

  “And then we’d have you mooning around and playing the martyr. I believe we can survive without you until tomorrow.”

  “If you’re lucky.” Ronnie smiled impudently. “Come on, Ramon, let’s get going. I have work to do.”

  “Presently.” Ramon turned to Jed and Ysabel. “I’ll be back here at seven-fifteen tomorrow morning to pick you up and take you to the castillo.”

  Surprised, Ysabel said, “You don’t have to do that. It’s only five miles and I have a map.”

  “I’ll decide what I have to do,” Ramon said testily. “I have no intention of helping you with the esc
ape, but I’ll drop you off a mile from the castillo. You’ve caused me enough trouble and I don’t want my efforts wasted if you’re stupid enough to get yourself captured.” He put the car in gear and a moment later the ancient Ford was bouncing over the rutted road.

  Jed picked up the two sleeping bags. “I’ll store our gear and then we’ll hike over to the castillo and check it out.” He glanced at the shack. “Stay here. This place looks as if it hasn’t been used in years, and Ronnie may be right about the tarantulas.”

  “They’re usually no problem. I’ve dealt with tarantulas before.”

  “I’m sure you have.” He added soberly, “I imagine you’ve dealt with a hell of a lot of creepy crawlies in your short life. But do me a favor and let me handle these particular pests.”

  Happiness flooded through her as she watched him walk toward the shack. She couldn’t remember when she had ever had this precious sense of being treasured, guarded. She couldn’t allow it to continue, but surely it would do no harm to let it go on for a little while.

  “What, no arguments?” He glanced quickly over his shoulder and a smile lit his mobile features.

  Passion, intelligence, and curiosity.

  A bold, hard-edged Lancelot.

  Sweet Mary, she loved him.

  “No arguments.”

  “No guards on the ramparts,” Ysabel whispered, her gaze on the twin towers of the castillo a few hundred yards away. “And we’ve seen only one guard at the gate just as Ridelez wrote me.”

  Jed nodded as he let the branches of the bush screening them swing back in place. “It’s not a sure thing, but it all seems to check out.”

  She turned away from the castillo and started back down the path through the jungle. “Then it’s a go for tomorrow.”

  “Yes.” His brow furrowed, but he didn’t speak until they were halfway back to the shack. “I’ve been thinking. There’s no need for both of us to go after your brother.”