GABRIEL HAWK'S LADY

by Beverly Barton

  Her words were a knife in his heart, piercing deep and cutting him wide open. I don't want you to hate me. I want you to love me. "I'm sorry," he said. "You'll never know how sorry I am."

  "How could you have let them kill Peter and Cipriana? How could you have—" Tears choked off her words.

  Hawk stood and reached for her. "Oh, God, Rorie. Don't, honey. Please, don't."

  She slapped his hands away and screamed, "You let me fall in love with you!" Tears streamed down her face. "I hate you! I hate you!" She pelted his chest with her tight fists. "I hate you!"

  He stood straight and unmoving, letting her vent her fury. She pummeled his chest repeatedly until she'd spent her energy. Hawk drew her into his arms, his embrace extremely tender. She fell against him, laying her head on his chest. Weeping so strongly that her body shook with spasmodic sobs, she clung to Hawk.

  He was her tormentor and her savior. Contemptible stranger and treasured lover. He personified both danger and survival. Both hatred and love.

  When her sobs subsided, Hawk led her back to the blanket and drew her down to the cave floor. With one arm draped around her, he reached over and wiped her face with his fingertips.

  "If I could have saved Peter and Cipriana, I would have," he told her. "But I couldn't."

  She sniffed several times. "I thought I knew what kind of man you were. I thought I understood about the life you'd lived. But I never … I never—"

  "It's all right, Rorie. Hate me if you must. But trust me." He cupped her face in his hands. "Believe me when I tell you that we have a chance of escaping. It will be dangerous, but if you'll trust me and come with me, I'll give my life, if necessary, to get you to safety."

  "What are you talking about?" She looked deep into his dark eyes and wanted desperately to believe him.

  "Didn't you hear what Paz told me?" Hawk ran the tip of his thumb across her bottom lip.

  "Not really," she said. "Something about following a river to the sea. It didn't make any sense to me."

  "These caves are part of an underground structure that water seeping through the pores in the rocks has sculpted. There is a labyrinth of deep sinkholes, huge caves and long underground passages all over San Miguel, especially in this area near the limestone cliffs."

  Rorie drew Hawk's hands from her face, but held them securely. "I'm afraid I don't understand."

  Turning his hands over, Hawk captured her hands between his. "I think Paz was trying to tell me that somewhere back there—" he nodded toward the black hole of the cave behind them "—in that cavern is a subterranean river that is a passageway straight to the ocean."

  "Are you saying that if we can find this river, we could swim our way to freedom?"

  "I think it's our only chance to survive." He brought her hands to his lips and kissed the top of each one. "Paz said when morning comes, find the river and follow it to the sea. The only reason to wait until morning is for the sunlight. So that must mean that somewhere inside this cave—possibly near the river—the sunlight can get through.

  "We can use the flashlights to guide us deeper into the cavern, but once we have to enter the river and start swimming, the flashlights will be of no use to us."

  Pulling her hands out of his, Rorie clutched the front of Hawk's shirt. "If we escape, you can get word to Murdock, can't you? He has to help us find a way to get Frankie away from Santos. You know that once Santos gets what he wants from Lazaro and King Julio, he'll kill Frankie."

  Hawk looked her square in the eye. "Do you trust me enough to follow me into the belly of this cave and find the river? Will you put your life in my hands once again?"

  "Yes." She released her tenacious hold on his shirt. "I'll follow wherever you lead and I'll do whatever you tell me to do. I will put my life in your hands." She turned away from him.

  He grasped her shoulders. "You'll trust your life to me because I'm your only hope for survival and maybe Frankie's only hope. But you won't trust your heart to me again, will you, Rorie?"

  She closed her eyes, wishing she could block out the pain as easily as she shut out the dim light inside the cave. But the pain wound its way around inside her like an insidious parasite, feeding on her emotions, growing stronger with her every doubt and fear.

  "Why should you care about my heart?" she asked. "You never wanted my love. All you wanted was my body."

  She clasped her hands together and held them in her lap, afraid if she didn't control herself, she would turn and throw her arms around Hawk's neck. Her body yearned for his. She could no more deny her desire to belong to him than she could deny that she still loved him.

  Loving Gabriel Hawk seemed like a betrayal of Peter, a betrayal of everything she believed in, everything she held dear. Gabriel was indeed a man chased by the demons of his past. He had lived a life of sin, associating with true evil when he became ensnared with Santos's band of renegades.

  Did she truly possess the goodness to save Gabriel, to cleanse his soul and bring him out of the darkness and into the light? Did she love him enough to forgive him? To offer him the redemption she alone could give?

  Hawk tightened his hold on Rorie's shoulders for one brief moment, then he released her. If she could never forgive him, never bring herself to love him again, she would be better off not knowing how he really felt about her. It would be better for her to think that all he'd ever wanted was her body.

  "We need to eat, then get some rest," he said. "Once we reach the river, if we can find it, I have no idea how long the swim will be from inside the caverns to the ocean. We'll need all our strength."

  Rorie glanced over her shoulder. "If I don't make it … if I don't have the strength to swim all the way, I want you to promise me that you'll do everything you can to save Frankie."

  The very thought that Rorie might die in their escape attempt was more than Hawk could bear. Didn't she realize that he would never leave her and swim away to freedom? Didn't she know that he would die himself before he would let anything happen to her? "We'll make it to the ocean together," he said. "And I promise you that we'll find a way to save Frankie."

  She nodded her head, then turned away from him again. Rummaging in the sack, she grasped a banana. Hawk was right; they needed to eat and rest. "Here," she said as she tossed the banana to him.

  He caught the fruit in midair. While Hawk peeled and ate the banana, Rorie retrieved another from the bag. They ate in silence. When they finished, she dipped into the sack again.

  "Ouch!" Rorie jerked her hand out of the sack and stuck her finger in her mouth.

  "What's wrong?"

  "I cut my finger on something in the bag." She sucked on her finger, licking the blood off the tip.

  Hawk emptied the sack. A melon and two papayas dropped onto the blanket, then a knife fell out, clinking against the limestone floor.

  "Well, I'll be damned!" Hawk picked up the small, carved-handled knife.

  "Paz Santos truly is a man of his word, isn't he?" Rorie asked. "He promised you my safety. So when his brother didn't honor his word, Paz tried to help us."

  "Few people are all good or evil," Hawk said. "And there is often honor in men who have committed crimes against the laws of their land, even against the laws of God."

  "I've always seen the world in black-and-white," Rorie admitted. "I suppose it was the way I was raised—to believe that there is a great distinction between good and evil, between right and wrong. But I'm beginning to understand, more and more, that real life is painted in various shades of gray."

  "Don't get too philosophical on me, honey." Hawk took the knife and split open the melon. "I want you to concentrate on getting out of this cave and making our way to Vieques. Eat and rest. And save all your strength for tomorrow."

  Despite the knots in her stomach and the sour taste in her mouth, Rorie consumed as much of the melon as she could. After finishing the meal, she lay down and curled into a fetal position. Hawk lifted the edge of her blanket and wrapped it around her.

 
He wanted to spread his blanket beside hers, slip his arms around her and hold her all night long. But he knew she wouldn't welcome his touch tonight. She would not accept him with open arms as she had done last night and the night before.

  He spread out his blanket a couple of feet away from hers. Then he reached out, picked up the flashlight and extinguished their only source of light.

  When he heard Rorie's indrawn breath, it took every ounce of his willpower not to pull her into his arms. "Do you want me to turn the flashlight back on?"

  "No," she said. "We don't know how far away the river is. We might need both flashlights. There's no need to waste, the energy."

  Hawk cleaned the knife on his sleeve, then slipped it into the side of his boot. He lay down, covered himself with half the blanket and closed his eyes. He'd never been a man who prayed. Bargaining with God for Rorie's life after the jeep wreck had been the first time he'd prayed since he was a kid. Back then he'd prayed that his real parents would appear out of nowhere and take him home with them. They would love him and promise to keep him with them forever. When he'd finally realized the foolishness of that prayer, he had asked God for good people to adopt him. And when that dream had proved as impossible as the first, he had stopped praying.

  Until he met Rorie Dean.

  He knew that only a power outside himself, a supernatural power, could help him and Rorie escape and find a way to save her nephew's life.

  In the dark, silent tomb of the cave, Hawk prayed once again. I don't care what happens to me. Just keep Rorie safe. And keep little Frankie safe. Punish me, if You have to, but if You're the God of love she believes in, take care of her. Please.

  * * *

  "Wake up, Rorie." Hawk shook her gently until she opened her eyes. "Time to head out. It's morning."

  Pulling herself into a sitting position, she looked at Hawk and nodded. He handed her a flashlight, then helped her to her feet.

  "Stay right behind me," he said. "And do whatever I tell you to do without question."

  "I will."

  Hawk held out his hand to her. She hesitated, then placed her hand in his. "We're going to make it."

  "Yes, we're going to make it," she repeated.

  Dark and damp, the cavern's stone walls surrounded them. They walked deeper and deeper into the interior of the mountainside, constantly aware that they faced the unknown. After a long trek, they came to a narrow passageway not high enough to walk through, so Rorie followed Hawk's lead when he got down on all fours. They crawled into the small opening, which eventually led them into an enormous cave.

  Hawk drew Rorie to her feet. The cavern floor was encrusted with pearl-like, limestone-coated snail shells. Overhead, huge stalactites hung from the ceiling like giant icicles.

  "Look!" Hawk pointed to the tiny hole in the dome of the cave. A thin shaft of sunlight shone straight down, like the beam from a miniature spotlight. "We're not that far from the surface."

  He grabbed her hand and led her slowly across the length of the central cave. The cavern soon narrowed again, but remained high enough for them to continue walking.

  Hawk stopped abruptly. "Listen."

  Rorie halted, her body only inches from his. "It sounds like running water."

  "We're getting close to the river."

  Within minutes they reached the source of the sound. The river flowed from along its subterranean course, bursting to life directly in front of them. Pouring through the opening where the gigantic cavern had collapsed, sunlight sparkled across the waterway, reflecting the green of shrubbery above. The river disappeared underground several yards away.

  "Are you ready?" Hawk asked. He wished he could spare her this treacherous swim, one that could easily end in death for both of them.

  "I'm ready."

  Hawk tested the depth of the river and found it quickly dropped from a couple of feet to well over his head. He swam back to the edge and motioned for Rorie to join him.

  "It's the only way out for us," he said.

  "I know." She followed him into the river, all the while praying repeatedly that they would make it to the sea.

  They swam to the end of the cavern and then plunged beneath the water's surface. Holding her breath, Rorie swam forward, wondering how long it would be before she could resurface and thankful for the two weeks of training Hawk had put her through.

  Just when she reached the point where she thought her lungs would burst, she saw daylight ahead. Hawk jerked her to the surface inside a small cavern near the entrance to the ocean. She gulped in huge swallows of air.

  "We're close, honey," he told her. "Listen carefully and you can hear the ocean."

  Breathless and weak, Rorie only nodded. She allowed Hawk to support her weight while he trod water.

  "I don't think it's much farther," he said. "You can make it, can't you, Rorie?"

  "I can make it."

  With aching arms and legs, Rorie swam underwater toward the sound of the sea. Telling herself over and over again that she had to survive, she had to rescue Frankie, she had to succeed, Rorie followed Hawk to freedom. The brief minutes underwater had seemed endless. When Hawk pulled her head above the water again, she looked straight up at the sky as she gasped for air. Ocean waves washed over them.

  Once she had caught her breath, Rorie took in her surroundings. Twelve-hundred-foot high limestone cliffs towered above them. Huge limestone boulders littered the coastline.

  "How—how are we going to get up there?" she asked. "We can't climb those bluffs."

  Circling her waist, Hawk drew Rorie along with him as he swam toward the rocky shore. Stopping short of the jagged stones guarding the rain-gouged gullies that sliced through the cliffs, he stood and lifted Rorie upright. The ocean swirled around her waist when her feet touched the bottom.

  "We can rest for a while." Hawk brushed the damp strands of her hair away from her face. "Then we'll have to swim about a half mile before we can go ashore. It's too dangerous here. There's a narrow beach several miles away from the cliffs."

  Half an hour later, drenched to the skin, badly bruised and covered with scratches, Hawk and Rorie crawled ashore on the sandy beach. After a short rest, they followed the shoreline for several miles until the cliffs disappeared and were replaced by softer hills. They climbed a grassy embankment. Atop the knoll, Hawk pulled Rorie into his arms and they looked down over the road that led from Mayari to Vieques.

  "We can't take the road," Hawk said. "It would be too dangerous. But we can follow the road, if we stay well hidden in the thicket."

  "How long will it take us to get to Vieques?" She rested her head on Hawk's chest, thankful for his strength.

  "On foot, I'd say a good four, maybe five hours."

  With every muscle in her body already screaming with pain, Rorie wondered how she could endure four or five more hours trudging through the underbrush, without totally collapsing.

  "Oh, dear Lord," she moaned quietly.

  Hawk grabbed her shoulders. When he shook her, she rolled her head from side to side, then flung it back and blew out a deep breath.

  "Come on, honey, show me how tough you are. What's a four-hour walk to a lady like you? The strongest, bravest lady I've ever known."

  * * *

  They arrived in the village of Vieques that afternoon. And although they received numerous curious stares, no one stopped them or questioned them. The first three people to whom Hawk spoke, asking if they knew Tito Alverez, shook their heads and scurried away. The fourth person, an elderly woman in a fish market, gave them directions to Tito's house.

  When they reached the small wooden shack at the edge of town, a tall, slender man with a thick black mustache motioned them inside, then quickly shut the door behind them.

  Rorie's weak knees gave way. Hawk lifted her into his arms, carried her into the interior of the one-room house and placed her on the bed.

  He turned to Tito. "I need to get a message through to Murdock as quickly as possible."

 
"And who are you, señor?" Tito asked.

  "I'm Hawk. And that is—" he nodded toward Rorie "—Señorita Aurora Dean. She is the sister of Peter Dean, the missionary who was married to Princess Cipriana."

  "Sí, sí. I have been expecting you and the señorita. Murdock, he say to bring you and the lady to La Vega."

  "Then Murdock knows we don't have Prince Francisco with us," Hawk said.

  "Murdock say if you come to see Tito, I tell you—" Tito scratched his head "—I tell you Lazaro make the deal and the prince is in La Vega."

  "Oh, dear God!" Rorie rose from the bed. "It's happening, isn't it? Santos is getting what he wants."

  Ignoring Rorie's outburst, Hawk grabbed Tito's arm. "How can we get to La Vega?"

  "I drive you in my car," Tito said. "We be there before sunset."

  Hawk patted Tito on the back. "Do you have some coffee and maybe a bite of something to eat for Señorita Dean and me?"

  "Plenty of coffee." Tito pointed to the wood-burning stove in the center of the room. "And bread and fish."

  * * *

  Late that evening, the guards at the entrance to La Vega detained them until they checked with the general. But once Lazaro issued orders that the threesome was to be allowed to come directly to the palace, the guards' attitude changed immediately.

  Murdock waited for them outside the palace, and rushed to meet them the minute Tito parked his battered old Chevy.

  Hawk swung open the door and stepped out, then turned to help Rorie. She slid across the seat and out of the car. After taking a couple of steps, her knees gave way to the weakness claiming her whole body. Catching her before she fell, Hawk lifted her into his arms.

  "Good God, you two look like hell," Murdock said. "What happened to y'all?"

  With one arm draped around Hawk's neck and her head resting on his shoulder, Rorie reached out to Murdock. "Where is Frankie? Is he here in La Vega?"

  "Come on inside and we'll talk." Turning to Tito Alverez, Murdock handed the man a packet. "Thanks for getting them here safely."

  Accepting the packet filled with gold pieces, Tito nodded several times as he thanked Murdock profusely.