TWICE UPON A TIME

by Jennifer Wagner

  His accent clinched it. Brooke would love it.

  "Men killed the Balangerios," he said, drawing out the 0. "If it be revenge she's lookin' for, she's goin' to kill anyone military or official that stands in her way."

  This set off a whole round of discussion, and Anna prayed the plane would stay quiet while they argued it out.

  Feeling the stare of someone, she turned her head to find Irish studying her. The stare held no anger, no teasing or sexual interest. He examined her, and her chin rose on its own in challenge.

  He nodded slowly. "Aye, lass. I'm thinkin' ye have a bit of the Irish in ye."

  "And I'm thinkin' ye have a bit of the blarney in ye," she said, punctuating it with an arched brow.

  Behind her, the argument died and someone guffawed. She couldn't identify the person who said, "I like her, Rico."

  But she knew his rough timbre. "I like her, too." Lucky had joined Irish by the tree, and the two of them talked in low voices.

  "What are you two planning, Lucky?" Mike asked.

  "Something you're not going to like."

  The serious cloud settled back over the men. Anna could feel their tense readiness and knew if she reached out to Rico, she would feel the muscles of his arm wound tight.

  Even though they could laugh at the drop of a hat, all of them were like cats ready to spring.

  "We've got enough men here to protect anyone who approaches the plane. We can get more into position. But we need someone who won't set this girl off. Someone she'll trust."

  Anna ticked off the possibilities in her head, but none would work. Unless…

  Her head snapped up and met the bright-blue gaze of Irish. "Aye, lass. I knew you'd be figurin' it out 'fore the rest of 'em."

  "No." Rico couldn't read Anna's reaction in her wide-eyed gaze, but his came from deep in his gut.

  "We don't send someone with no training into a dangerous situation like this. Especially a woman whose children are being held hostage. If anyone has a huge emotional stake in this, it's Anna."

  None of them said a word.

  "Mike, tell me you don't agree with this?"

  Mike gazed unseeingly into the trees, but you could see him going through the pros and cons.

  "We'd need solid planning. But it's an option."

  He focused on Rico's face, then looked around at the men. "I say we go with Cal first."

  They all agreed, but Irish caught Rico's eye.

  The bad thing about getting to know the men in your unit so well was that silent communication worked even when you didn't want it to.

  Irish felt Anna was the best choice.

  Well, Rico hadn't had much good luck in his life. He wouldn't risk Anna for anything in the world.

  The words would come back to haunt him.

  * * *

  The metallic sounds of guns being checked shot her blood pressure up a few notches. These weren't the guns from TV or the play ones Rafe always wanted as toys.

  These were the ones from her past.

  Rico stood before her, yet another stranger. Mike had brought extra gear for him, again proving to be the detail planner of the squad. Rico wore the same fatigues as the other men and a headset, heavy black belt laden with a gun and other weapons and big black boots that added an inch or so to his height.

  He looked big and dangerous.

  He looked like a soldier.

  A pain clenched her heart, and she waited for old scars to reopen. After a few breaths it eased and she looked at him again, trying to see through the curtain of the past.

  Still a soldier. Not the old Rico, not Gage. But a new man whose ease in the uniform told her how much he'd missed it.

  Mike gave him a gun, and Rico's hands went over it like a lover's. He checked the chamber, pulled out the clip and slid it back in, aimed it away from them and sighted down something in the forest. His nod and small smile said it all.

  She hated it. She hated his ease with the weapons, his absolute comfort in a situation that terrified and enraged her even though another part of her recognized his ability. She wanted to scream and cry and rush into that plane and grab her children.

  Instead, she stood silent. Apart from the group and their weapons check, she closed her eyes and continued to pray.

  * * *

  "Is she going to make it?" Kid asked him. Rico put his gun in the waistband against the small of his back and followed Kid's gaze. Anna stood under a huge oak tree, her eyes clenched tight and lips moving silently.

  "I don't know. She's strong, but I don't know many parents who wouldn't break going through this kind of fear."

  Kid assessed him and his lips thinned. "We'll get your babies, Rico."

  "I know we will, Kid. We have to."

  * * *

  Each man confirmed his readiness through the headset. Anna learned by observing and bit her lip to keep from asking questions, although it proved difficult when they fell into their lingo of acronyms.

  Cal stood in the middle of the big circle of men. He'd changed from his fatigues into jeans and a somewhat loose plaid shirt with the sleeves cut off. His arms, tan and muscular, bulged with every movement and would hopefully distract from the disguised bulk of his bullet-proof vest.

  If he was going for the construction-worker-stripper look, he had it down. Unless her appetite for men had been an act, Dana would fall for Cal the moment she laid eyes on him.

  "Cal, if you get in trouble and need backup, say, 'It sure is hot out here.' Otherwise use the old codes."

  Cal nodded.

  Anna couldn't hold back her questions any longer. "What if Dana doesn't believe Cal's the owner of this land? Don't you think she knows who owns it?"

  Mike, whose patience with her knew no bounds, answered while the men finished checking their equipment. "I'm guessing she's researched the property. Thing is, it's in holding companies so deep, it would be difficult to find out who actually owns it. If she found the correct name, it's a corporation. It doesn't matter if he's an officer, he can be looking after the corporation's interests. If she doesn't fall for that…"

  Cal interrupted with a huge grin and exaggerated wiggle of his eyebrows. "All hell breaks loose."

  As much as she wanted her children safe, the thought of Cal or any of these men dying, horrified her.

  "Hey, Anna, don't worry," Cal added, obviously seeing her dismay. "I'm a professional."

  With a jaunty salute and a blown kiss that had the others shaking their heads, Cal led the group away and into their positions.

  Rico didn't follow, he stood watching her, as he'd done continuously as the minutes wore on.

  "Mike will stay back here, coordinating. You can stay by him, if you'd like. Or, you can stay with the cars and meet the rest of the men. They should be here in fifteen."

  She nodded, trying to sort out the emotions going through her and the ones she saw on his face.

  He tilted his head and smiled at her. She wondered if he knew how sad it looked.

  "Hug?"

  She walked into his arms, burrowing into him. "Don't die."

  He rubbed his hands up and down her back and with his forearms, pulled her into him, revealing the soreness of his hands. "I won't. I already told you I have too much to live for."

  She gritted her teeth and willed back tears. "Don't do anything stupid!"

  He grinned, although it didn't hold its usual impact. She could tell it was all for show.

  "Hey, you know I love to be a hero."

  His words brought back the kind words of comfort people had said at his funeral. War hero. Hero for this country.

  Not again. Please, not again.

  "What did I say? Bella, look at me!"

  "Nothing, nothing. Just be careful. Get all of you back safe," she said, unable to speak in other than a subdued tone.

  He nodded, looked as if he would say more, then turned away. Five steps later he stopped and faced her.

  "I love you, Anna."

  His words pierced her, rip
ping through old hurts and new hopes. Her mouth opened and closed and her mind raced, trying to say what her heart wanted and fighting what her mind urged.

  "Don't say anything. It doesn't matter." He smiled the sweetest smile and the utter honesty on his face undid her. "I know you love me. I don't need the words. Not yet, anyway. But someday you'll say them again, and they'll be one of the greatest gifts of my life."

  And he walked away.

  * * *

  Anna stood by Mike, both of them using binoculars while Pete directed what looked like a small satellite in the plane's direction. Cal walked from the woods in front of the plane, from the direction of a homestead on that side of the ridge. Hands on his hips and brow furrowed, he walked to within ten feet of the door.

  Anna gasped, shocked to see Dana. Even though she'd known, it surprised the part of her hoping her friend wasn't responsible. Long black hair in a ponytail at the base of her neck and a small white top plastered to her stunning figure, she presented quite a picture hanging out from the airplane's doorway.

  Cal stopped and grinned, the tilt of his head flirtatious and inviting her to play.

  Pete adjusted the sound up a notch so she and Mike could hear their conversation.

  "Well, well. I have to admit, finding a plane here was a surprise. But finding you, pretty lady, tells me the Lord answered my prayers this mornin'. I asked for an angel and he gave me one with her own wings."

  Dana's smile bloomed. Mike switched his headset to Anna's head for a minute and all she could hear was gagging noises. One of the guys, she forgot which one, had another listening device so that from his angle, it could be pointed inside the plane.

  "What's a gorgeous man like yourself doing in the middle of this field?" she asked, stepping out of the plane and onto the top step. Jeans encased her legs, and the hips she always complained about held up the belly-baring pants.

  "It's my job," he shrugged.

  "Your job is lookin' at fields," she flirted, flashing him a wide smile.

  He ducked his head. Anna thought he was doing a wonderful job pretending to be sheepish and caught off guard by a beautiful woman.

  "Sort of. My boss owns this spread and I have to make sure the local kids don't use it for their Friday-night hangout."

  Anna kept the binoculars focused on Dana's face, looking for any hit that she might be figuring out the truth.

  "Oh. I thought it was abandoned. Unfortunately we had to do an emergency landing and I was so grateful to see this here," she flashed another smile and made a show of swiveling her hips as she went down another step.

  "Can I get you some help?"

  "Oh, no! We have a mechanic on the way. We'll be out of your hair in a few minutes."

  Cal smiled at her, and from their angle, to the back and right of him, it looked as if he turned the charm on full force.

  "Can't say as I'm too happy about that."

  She smiled again and this time added a sultry gaze and lick of her red lips.

  "How about you keep me company until the mechanic arrives?"

  "I'd be honored," he teased and followed her into the plane.

  Anna held her breath. It seemed as if the entire forest around them waited, suspended in hope and fear.

  A gunshot blasted the silence.

  Followed by the tiny sounds of her children's screams.

  * * *

  Chapter 13

  «^»

  My babies!

  Anna was up and running through the trees without conscious thought. A strong arm encircled her waist after only a few steps and pulled her back against a huge body. A quick glance up showed Pete's attention fixed on the plane although he easily held her suspended with his left arm.

  "Wait," he ordered, subduing her struggling and pulling her down into a crouch beside him.

  "Pete, let me go!"

  He never looked at her and his hand remained clamped around her wrist.

  "Hold on, Anna," he encouraged, his whole being focused on the plane.

  They stared at the small jet. All noise had stopped abruptly within seconds after the gunshot.

  Oh, please. Please let my babies be all right. Please let Cal be all right.

  All of a sudden Rebecca appeared in the doorway. Anna backpedaled clumsily, half looking over her shoulder as she made her way back to Mike.

  She picked up the binoculars, and her precious daughter's face filled her view.

  As well as Dana's, peering over her daughter's shoulder.

  She was using Rebecca as a shield.

  Terror rushed through her, and she couldn't catch her breath. Her view started shaking and she tightened her hands, holding on to the binoculars as if they were a lifeline to her daughter.

  Tear tracks were visible on her small face. As well as something else. Her little lips pressed together, she stared into the forest with narrowed eyes.

  Dana said something to her and she shook her head.

  That's when Anna realized her daughter was furious.

  That fury, combined with the tears, gave Anna strength. Her four-year-old stood there with more courage than most adults.

  She would not fail her by breaking down.

  Rebecca shook her head again and then she wiggled like a rag doll. Dana had shaken her.

  The anger in Anna built so rapidly her vision blurred and deafened her to Mike and Pete's hushed whispers.

  Rebecca lowered her little chin and took a deep breath before letting out one of her earth-shattering bellows.

  "Mommmyyyyyy."

  Rico thought he'd known fear. Thought he'd known terror.

  He'd been wrong.

  Seeing his daughter held in the grip of a madwoman literally weakened him. A madwoman who'd just shot Cal. He couldn't imagine how Anna was dealing with it.

  Lucky lay flat next to him amidst the bushes, arms bent and elbows supporting the hands holding his binoculars. Rico didn't need the extra vision. Close enough to see the color of his daughter's eyes, he stayed frozen.

  If Dana saw them now, there was no telling what she'd do.

  A megaphone stuck out above Rebecca's head.

  "You must think I'm very stupid to fall for that," Dana said in clipped words. Rebecca's hands shot up to cover her ears and as she tried to crouch onto the floor away from the noise, Dana's hand on her neck pulled her back up.

  Rico wanted to kill.

  "Anna, I know you're out there. I'm not sure who's with you, but I'm sure you're there. You have three minutes. If you're not down here in the plane, you'll be very, very sorry."

  She shook Rebecca again before dragging her into the plane's darkness.

  Pulling the mike closer to his mouth, he asked, "How's Anna?"

  "Holding her own. She wants to go."

  Rico racked his brain.

  "We don't have a choice here. Cal's probably dead," Lucky said emotionlessly. But Rico heard the rage in the carefully spaced words.

  "There's always a choice," he responded. "Mike, put Anna on."

  After a few seconds of rustling, her soft voice reached him. "I'm going."

  Reassured about her emotional well-being by her angry statement, he wanted to argue, anyway. "We'll find another way."

  Dana's voice echoed from inside the plane. "Two minutes."

  "There is no other way," Anna said.

  "Yes, there is. She wants me. I'll go."

  "She'll kill you before you get in the plane," Anna said, sighing. "If you do get inside, what are the chances she'll let you get the kids out?"

  "I can't let you—"

  "You're not letting me!" Her furious voice whipped even at a whisper. "She asked for me, she's getting me."

  Irish's voice intervened. "Anna, try and maneuver her to the back of the plane with you and the children up near the door. Also, if ye can open one of the window shades even a crack to give us visual."

  "Done," Anna said, and he could tell from her voice she was moving around.

  "We're getting a vest on her," Joncalu
so said.

  He could hear Mike talking to her, telling her how to hold her body, how to talk Dana down.

  "One minute!" Dana's shout stepped up the urgency. "Anna." He paused, searching for something that might give her courage. There was nothing. "Don't be a hero, love."

  Her soft chuckle vibrated in his ear. "Hey, I'm leaving that to you guys. I know you won't let me down."

  In her words he heard her reassurance to him, her understanding that he would be there.

  More rustling in his ear.

  "Does anyone have a visual inside?" Rico asked, hoping.

  All answers were negative.

  Then he heard Anna's voice from far away.

  "…me a gun."

  "No!" he said into the mike, keeping the scream in his head down to a mere whisper.

  "Think about it, man," Joncaluso whispered back.

  "She's never fired one."

  "Dana probably knows that. It may give Anna an advantage. If nothing else, it gives her a chance."

  He sighed heavily. There wasn't even time to give her detailed instructions.

  Movement on his left caught his eye and Anna appeared from the trees, walking with long strides. Hands closing in fists, then opening into claws and closing again, Rico wondered if Dana had invited the most dangerous of them all.

  Pride and fear filled his chest.

  Dana's laughter from the megaphone didn't affect Anna's stride. She reached the steps, taking the four of them two at a time, and ducked into the plane.

  Lucky whistled soundlessly. "She's one brave lady."

  Something he'd known, but never truly seen until today. Bella had grown up, become a courageous, strong-willed woman. He had a feeling her strength outmatched his in the ways that counted.

  He stared at the plane, waiting for any sound other than a gunshot. Hoping against hope that Anna would appear with the twins and walk out into safety, that he hadn't just let the woman he loved risk her life.

  Praying God hadn't allowed him to live only to take away everything he had that was worth living for.

  * * *

  Anna ducked into the darkened interior, determined to focus only on her rage at Dana. The sight that greeted her shook her.

  Cal lay sprawled across two side-by-side, blue-patterned seats, blood covering his entire right shoulder, his eyes closed. She couldn't see if he was breathing.