by Linda Bond
With a forceful shove, the hands pushed her head above water. She sputtered. Slapping her good arm against the surface of the bay, she fought to stay afloat, despite the fact that the left side of her body wasn’t cooperating.
“Rebecca.”
“Antonio.” The muscles in her arms burned as she circled them repeatedly.
“I knew this would happen, that son of a bitch.”
Water splashed up in her face.
Antonio grabbed her arm and then pulled her to him. “You have to relax and let me save you.”
She gasped, kicking her legs so hard she kicked his side accidently, their arms and legs entangled as they fought the dark bay.
“Rebecca, you’re making this difficult,” Antonio huffed. “Don’t fight me.”
She stilled.
“Don’t talk. Roll over on your back and float if you can.”
She did as he asked, her heart skipping beats because she realized at this moment that of all the men here tonight, it was Antonio who truly cared about her. Why else would he have risked what he’d risked to be here? He’d jumped in to rescue her despite all the flying bullets.
“I’ll pull you to shore. Don’t do anything. Just let me do the work.”
She could see the lights of the house, but it would be a good swim. She could feel Antonio struggling to pull her and swim at the same time. She heard the strain in his shallow and swift breathing. “Antonio, I can try…”
“Don’t argue with me.” He could barely get the words out.
Her legs were starting to cramp from dog-paddling, pain burning through her whole body now, not just her shoulder, and she was struggling to get enough air. Suddenly, she feared dying, because she had something new and powerful to live for. She prayed Antonio would have the strength to see this moment through and save them. She wanted desperately to live now—no matter what repercussions were waiting for them both on land.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Crawling onshore, her lungs screamed for more air. She collapsed, falling into a bed of rocks, her shoulder throbbing. Rolling over, she coughed until she puked up bay water, the effort to exhale the liquid so violent she could hardly breathe.
“Let it out. It’s okay.” Antonio collapsed to his knees, falling down by her side, pulling big chunks of her wet hair away from her face. “Just breathe, Rebecca. Breathe.” One of his hands found her back.
The comforting tone of his voice calmed her enough to do as he said. She took shallow breaths until she was able to breathe deeper. Then an image of her father pushing her overboard blinked like a strobe light in her mind. She jolted upright, a sharp pain ripping through her shoulder as she moved. She screamed from the distressing sting. “That bastard tried to kill me.”
“Rebecca.” Antonio’s voice had an odd ring to it. “Your father is gone. Not dead. Gone, as in left, probably heading back to Cuba.”
She wobbled to her knees, looking around for any sign of her father or the vessel he’d been on. She saw neither, but her eyes had trouble focusing, and she was so damn light-headed and nauseous.
Antonio stayed right beside her. “Don’t worry. The Coast Guard will run after them. Take deep breaths, Rebecca. Just concentrate on breathing. Forget everything else.”
Forget everything else? An ironic truth slugged her. “Antonio, why did you come when I asked you not to?” He couldn’t have known ahead of time that her father would try to kill her. Antonio had come here for another reason.
“Rebecca, I told you I was coming whether you liked it or not. I did not lie to you. I knew the bastard would try something.”
“You shot my father, didn’t you?” With a spurt of energy she didn’t know she had left, she staggered up onto all fours. “He was bleeding, too. You came here to kill him.” She could only take in small puffs of air again. Her lungs were failing to expand like they should. “But you shot me instead.”
She rocked back on her heels before catching herself. Yes, Antonio cared about her, but he loved his revenge even more. In trying to kill his enemy, he’d almost killed her. She raised her arm, but it sagged before she could point an accusing finger. Would this back-and-forth between them ever end?
Antonio jumped up as if a lightning bolt had struck him. “I didn’t kill your father. I wanted to. That son of a bitch was using you as a bulletproof vest. I didn’t shoot Arturo because I didn’t want to miss and hit you, and I didn’t want you to do this—accuse me and never forgive me.”
Her father had pushed her overboard, of that she was sure. She’d never forget the look in his eyes, or the terror in her heart as he forced her off the boat. She grabbed her left shoulder, which throbbed terribly.
“Then who shot my father?”
“I shot him.” Zack Hunter broke out of the mess of people now bustling across the backyard. Most of them uniformed cops.
Zack rushed to her side, taking a knee next to Antonio.
“We need help here.” Antonio grabbed Rebecca’s wrist and held it. “She’s been grazed. Pulse is still fine.”
A blast of air blew out of her lungs. “This is my fault. It’s all my fault.”
“Rebecca, are you okay?” Zack looked concerned. She must be dying.
“We need a paramedic here.” Antonio yelled over his shoulder, gesturing for one.
When had the ambulance arrived? Jesus, her clothes were wrapped around her like wet leaves, suffocating and heavy. She couldn’t move, and her world was blurring.
She tried to sit, but her wiggly arm gave way. Antonio caught her. She watched Zack’s gaze move to Antonio.
“I think it’s time you told me exactly who you are.” Zack’s narrowed eyes were burning question marks.
Rebecca’s eyes locked with Antonio’s, her heart crashing. Antonio was going to tell Zack everything. She read the intent in his eyes. She shook her head, silently warning Antonio to not say a word. At least not right now. Fear pierced her center.
Antonio hesitated, looking at her with sad eyes.
Her insides exploded. “Don’t do it,” she pleaded. “Don’t say anything to him. He’s a cop.”
Zack gave her sharp look. “Rebecca, I’m your friend. Let me help you.”
Zack still didn’t trust Antonio. She couldn’t have these two men face off right now.
Zack was staring at Antonio. “You are?” The detective rested one hand on his holstered weapon.
Antonio held his head high, and his back stiffened with that proud posture she’d come to know as her determined lover. “I am Antonio Vega.”
She shook her head, her heart aching almost as much as her shoulder.
“Tampa Police have been looking for you.” Zack’s voice was neither accusatory nor celebratory.
“I know.” Antonio was looking at her, an odd look in his eyes. “We need to get Rebecca to the hospital.”
“Wait—” She struggled to sit up. “I’ve told you, Zack, Antonio didn’t force me to do anything.”
“Rest, Rebecca.” Antonio pressed her back. “I’m going with her, agent.”
“Mr. Vega, I’m going to need a statement from you.”
Oh no. Please, no. She tried to swallow and then speak, but she didn’t have enough moisture in her throat.
“And I’m going to need you to contact my lawyer. His name is Don Fitzjohnson.”
“He’s your lawyer?”
She couldn’t see Zack’s eyes, but heard the concern in his voice.
“And Barry Lohen is representing Rebecca now.”
Antonio had hired the best in Tampa. Of course he had. But did he need to? If Ignado confessed that he was the mastermind, and Zack had admitted to shooting her father who was using her as a bulletproof vest, than Antonio should be in the clear, right?
“I see.” Zack made no move to stop or cuff Antonio. In fact he leaned over and winked at Rebecca.
At least that’s what she thought she saw.
“Yes, I’m glad you do.” Antonio pulled wet hair away from her mouth. “You
can call either of them to set up an interview. I’ll be at the hospital with Rebecca. I’m not running away. Tampa is my home. I’ve done nothing illegal.”
“Well, Mr. Vega, I’m sure I can trust you, but just in case, we’ll be sending a patrol officer to Tampa Hospital with the ambulance.”
Another man in a gray shirt dropped down next to her. He began to cut off the shirt around her injured shoulder. “Looks like the bullet grazed you. Missed the bone. That’s good news. Transport has arrived. Let’s get her in.”
The paramedic guy began to move her onto a board; her whole body burned as he lifted her. She moaned.
“Rebecca, focus on me.”
Antonio’s voice.
“You’re going to be okay. They’re just putting you on a gurney to take you to the ambulance. It’s a flesh wound. Don’t be afraid.”
Was that his hand on her face or the paramedic guy’s? At least she wasn’t going to die. They started moving, and every bump was torture on her shoulder.
“Before you pass out I need to tell you something.” Antonio grabbed her hand. “I have my family here, thanks to you. They’re safe. You’ve made it so my story has been heard all over the United States. The spotlight is now on Cuba and not on me.”
“Ignado confessed, Antonio.”
“He’s gone now. I don’t want to spend another second of my life wasting energy on either Ignado or your father.”
“I’m not feeling very good.”
“I’m here with you.” Antonio, walking along the right side of the gurney, squeezed her hand.
His flesh was warm against her clammy skin. “I know.” She wanted to squeeze back but couldn’t get her fingers to move.
“I’m here with you, and I’m not leaving this time.”
She exhaled, giving up and letting her grip on his hand relax. “Good.”
He smiled down at her as he walked alongside her. “You’re finally listening to me.” His eyes were wide, and his face looked paler than usual.
“Don’t count on it.” She tried to smile, but now even her face felt numb.
She felt the paramedics raising the gurney. “We’re going to lift you up into the ambulance. It might hurt for a moment.”
The lift and shove forward did send a jolt of raw pain through her injured shoulder. If this was a graze, what the hell did a bullet jammed in your body feel like?
The paramedic jumped up and returned to her side. “I’m going to give you some pain medicine through an IV. It will lessen the pain and make you sleepy.”
Like she wasn’t about to pass out already. “Okay.” She wheezed the word out.
Antonio hauled himself into the ambulance and reached for her hand. His fingers entwined with hers, sending a rush of warmth through her veins. Or was that the drugs in the IV?
He squeezed her hand gently. “I’ll be with you, by your side, until you wake up. Trust me.”
She wanted to laugh. “I do.”
“You do?”
“I do.” She closed her eyes, aware the vehicle had started moving. Red lights flashed against the darkness of her closed lids, and a siren wailed, rocking her pulse and causing it to beat in her ears like a bass drum. “Do you think the police will catch Arturo?” She opened her eyes, wanting to read Antonio’s features.
“I think that’s as uncertain as the future relationship between our two countries.” But there was no uncertainty in his eyes.
He knew.
She did, too.
The pain was lessening. Thank God. Maybe this was all a sign. A physical indicator of what was to come. “I want you to know when I agreed to wear that wire tonight, I was choosing you. I chose you over my father. If you can let go of your obsession with him, I can let go of mine, too.” She smiled to herself, knowing she would survive this latest crisis, but when she woke up, a hurricane of change would be brewing. She blinked, staring into the dark black orbs she’d grown to love. The way his concerned gaze bored into her made her heart melt.
“I’m still here. You’re going to be fine. We’re going to be fine. I love you,” Antonio whispered.
I love you. Antonio said it again, and she knew he meant it. Those three little words settled her nauseous stomach and took away the sting of anxiety. Maybe the drugs were helping, but she felt warm and safe. “What a story we have to tell.”
She barely felt his warm lips on her forehead, but understood the sentiment behind the gesture.
The ambulance made a sharp right turn. Her body shifted, but she didn’t feel any new jolt of pain. She felt soft, like the inside of a pillow.
“We have a common cause, and I believe we were brought together so we could help each other. When I heard you’d left Cuba with my sister and her son, I knew then you loved me, too. You risked your job, your reputation, and your future to help me.”
She blinked back tears, understanding completely. She’d agreed to go undercover in Cuba with him for the same reason. She just knew, even if she wasn’t able to clearly see it at that moment in the Everglades, she just knew he was the one. The one who would change her life, and save her from her past by providing her with a future. She’d gone undercover to expose a wrong, and in the process, found something so right.
“You have seen the real me, Rebecca. The good, the bad, and the ugly. And you still love me. You love the authentic me. What more could a man ask for?”
“And you have seen the worst of me, and yet you risked it all to come make sure I was okay. You saved my life tonight, Antonio.”
“My life is entwined with yours now.” Just as his fingers were securely wound within hers.
Now, although her life was totally uncovered for the entire world to see, and she had no idea what tomorrow would bring in terms of her job, her reputation, and her health, she’d never felt safer. “Stay with me, Antonio.”
“That’s my plan.”
“Your plan?”
“We’ll be in and out of the hospital, quickly.” He winked at her.
She smiled. The man always had a plan. Knowing that, she closed her eyes and drifted into a blissfully pain-free darkness, her future looking brighter than it ever had before.
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Acknowledgments
I want to thank my many critique partners and beta readers who helped me with Cuba Undercover. Thanks to Laura McElroy and members of the Tampa Police Department for their advice and information on proper police procedure, and to Eric Moore, who helped me give Dallas “Dawg” Jones a real voice.
Thank you to my editor Vanessa Mitchell for patiently working with me to make this story the best it could be for our readers.
And a special thank-you to my husband, Jorge Figueredo, who listened to and influenced every word of Cuba Undercover. He’s my real-life Antonio Vega, whom I met while reporting in Cuba back in 1995. Cuba Undercover was inspired by our love story. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. :)
About the Author
Linda Bond is an Emmy award winning journalist by day and an author of romantic adventures by night. She’s also the mother of five, four athletes and an adopted son from Cuba. She has a passion for world travel, classic movies, and alpha males. Linda currently lives in Florida, where the sun always shines and the day begins with endless possibilities. You can become a Bond girl and share in her continuing adventures at www.lindabond.com.
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