To Save His Child

by Margaret Watson

  If they didn’t get out of here right now, no one would ever know, he reminded himself harshly. Pushing away from the tree, he said, “Let’s go. No one’s found the Jeep, but if they’re looking for you it’s only a matter of time.”

  She nodded and scooped the baby up, replacing her in the shawl. For one insane moment he opened his mouth to offer to carry the kid. Lexie’s arms probably still ached from their last trek. Then he regained his senses. The last thing he needed was to have his hands full of baby. If there was trouble, he needed to have his hands free.

  “How far away from the village are we?” Lexie asked in a whisper.

  Disturbed by his sudden, inexplicable need to touch the baby, he was glad to have the distraction. “Far enough. This morning I pushed the car down to the road, then drove it five minutes away and hid it. You’re going to steer and I’ll push until we’re on the main road and heading away from the village. As long as no one hears us leaving, I think we’ll be safe.”

  “If they realize your car is gone and think we’ve left, won’t they be looking for us on the road?”

  He could hear the worry in her voice and wanted to reassure her. “No one saw us leave, so I’m hoping that they’ll assume I’ve done just what I did—hidden the car somewhere near the village. I’m counting on them continuing to look for us and the car for a while yet. By the time they realize that we’ve gotten away, we should be close to Limores.”

  She was silent for a while. Then she said quietly, “I’ve heard a lot of things about El Cuchillo, but never that he was stupid. Are you sure this isn’t a trap?”

  “If it is, there’s nothing we can do about it now.” His voice was too harsh, but he didn’t like the fact that she’d glossed over his reassurances and zeroed in on his main worry. “We’ll just have to deal with it if it happens.”

  The metal of the Jeep flashed at him through an opening in the brush, and he stopped her with an outthrust hand. “Wait here.”

  A quick inspection showed him that everything was just as he’d left it. Holding back the shrubbery, he motioned for her to join him. “I’ll clear out these branches and make sure there’s a path to the road. I’ll be right back.”

  Quickly he removed the camouflage he’d placed around the Jeep in the early morning. When there was a narrow path through the jungle to the road, which was just out of sight, he returned to the Jeep.

  Lexie was in the back seat, hunched over. “What are you doing?” he asked her.

  “I’m trying to get Ana strapped into the car with some semblance of safety. It’ll just take me a minute.”

  As he waited, sweat trickling down his back, he could feel his temper rising. “Maybe we ought to go back to the village and get a car seat for her,” he growled, anger tingeing his voice.

  She looked up then, a mutinous expression on her face. “Sarcasm isn’t necessary,” she snapped. “Do you want her to bounce out of the car, or get thrown into the windshield if we have to stop suddenly?”

  The visions she conjured up made him feel slightly sick and he was ashamed of himself for losing his temper. “Just hurry up,” he muttered. “The longer we sit here, the closer they’re getting.”

  “I’m finished,” she said after a few more minutes, and she slid into the front seat. “What do you want me to do?”

  “The road is straight ahead. There. Can you see it?”

  She peered through the greenery. “I can see a lighter area. ahead of us.”

  “That’s it. Just aim toward that. When we get to the road, turn right. The road is heading downhill, so we should be able to coast for a while before we have to turn on the engine.”

  “Should I stop for you to get in?” She turned to look at him, and all he saw in her eyes was a slight tension. He knew she had to be terrified, both for herself and her kid, and he admitted to himself with grudging respect that she was doing a lot better than he’d expected.

  “Just let it go. Don’t brake, whatever you do. We need to get as far away as possible before starting the engine. I can jump in while the car’s moving.”

  Her gaze held his for a moment. “Be careful,” she said finally as she turned away to look out toward the road. He saw her hands tighten on the steering wheel as she shifted slightly in the seat.

  Putting his shoulder to the back of the Jeep, he strained until he felt it begin to move. From now on, the weight of the vehicle would keep it moving, and all he had to do was urge it along. It began gliding silently through the jungle, but as they neared the road he tensed. He heard the sound of another car on the road, approaching them quickly.

  Lexie heard it, too, because she turned around to look at him, a question in her eyes. Gauging the sound of the engine, he realized that the car would probably reach them just as they were emerging from the jungle. Cursing the luck that had brought a vehicle down the seldom-used road just as they were trying to make their escape, he made his decision quickly.

  “Brake!”

  She stomped on the brake pedal and the Jeep shuddered to a halt, barely concealed by the few bushes between them and the road. The next instant a car roared past them, heading in the direction of Santa Ysabel.

  Lexie turned to face him, and this time the fear in her eyes was easy to read. “That was another jeep, and it was painted in camouflage. Do you think it was someone looking for...?”

  “We don’t have time to think about it,” he answered grimly. “Let’s get this car on the road and get going.” He put his shoulder to the Jeep again and began pushing. He didn’t want to think about whether or not the other car had seen them as it flashed past. The camouflaged jeep had been going awfully fast. On the other hand, if it belonged to El Cuchillo’s men, they would have been trained to be observant.

  The Jeep burst through the last of the bushes and Lexie turned it sharply to the right. Caine gave it one last push and felt it gain momentum as it rolled down the gentle incline. Swinging himself into the passenger seat, he handed Lexie the keys and watched her put them into the ignition with a hand that trembled slightly.

  He let the car roll for as long as he dared. When he felt it slowing down, he looked over at Lexie grimly. She clung to the steering wheel, staring at the road ahead of them. They weren’t as far away as he would have liked, but they didn’t have any choice. “Go ahead and start the engine.”

  Lexie sat in the passenger seat of the Jeep, feeling the hot, damp air flow past her face, and looked over again at Caine. Not long after she’d started the engine he’d told her to stop so he could drive, and she’d been happy to oblige him. Even now, three hours away from Santa Ysabel, she still couldn’t stop herself from turning around every few minutes to see if they were being followed.

  There had been no signs of pursuit, but she knew she wouldn’t feel safe until they were in Limores and she could lose herself in the urban bustle. She’d thought that as they got farther away from the village her feelings of betrayal and desolation would fade, but they came flooding back, stronger than ever, each time she thought about what she’d left behind.

  She twisted around in her seat again, this time to check on Ana. The baby had never ridden in a car before, and it was having a magical effect on her. She hadn’t woken once in the last three hours.

  “Is she okay?”

  Caine’s voice was gruff, and he didn’t look at her. Blinking in surprise at his sign of interest, she glanced over at him. “She’s fine. Still sleeping.”

  “Good. I don’t want to have to stop yet.”

  She should have known why he’d asked about Ana, she told herself, trying to ignore the tiny stab of pain in her heart. His actions the previous day had made it clear he wasn’t interested in the baby.

  She would never let him see how much his words hurt. Giving her daughter an assessing look, she said, “It doesn’t matter whether you want to stop or not. She’s going to need to eat soon.”

  “Can’t you feed her while I drive?”

  “It’s too dangerous,” she said instin
ctively. “What if you hit a hole in the road while I was holding her? She could get hurt.”

  He glanced over at her, a hard expression in his eyes. “You’d rather take the chance on the men behind us catching up? I can guarantee you she’ll get hurt if that happens.”

  “There haven’t been any signs that we’re being followed,” she protested. “Maybe they gave up when we got away.” From what she’d heard of El Cuchillo, that wasn’t very likely, but surely the rebel leader had bigger fish to fry than searching for one American woman.

  He glanced over at her again. “You want to pull over and wait awhile to see?”

  Swiveling around in the vinyl seat, she stared back the way they’d come. There was nothing to see but an endless ocean of green undulating into the distance on both sides of the highway. The asphalt was merely a tiny ribbon of dull black that only emphasized the vastness of the tropical forest behind them and the isolation surrounding them.

  “No,” she muttered. “I’ll feed her while you drive.”

  The only sign that he’d heard her was the slight relaxation of his hands on the steering wheel. It didn’t make her feel any better to realize how tense he was, even though there were no signs of pursuit.

  Braking suddenly, he pulled the car over to the side of the road. “Do it now,” he ordered, peering down the road ahead of them.

  Her heart turned over in her chest and began a slow, heavy thumping. “What’s wrong?” she whispered, staring at him.

  He didn’t answer for a moment as he continued to look down the road. Finally he said slowly, “I don’t know. I thought I saw a flash of light ahead of us, but I don’t see anything now.”

  “Maybe it’s another car coming toward us.” She didn’t like the sick dread she heard in her voice.

  “Maybe.” He didn’t sound convinced. “Go ahead and feed her while we wait here for a few minutes and see.”

  She climbed into the back seat, her fear making her feel clumsy and awkward. Ana was just beginning to stir now that the hypnotizing motion of the car had stopped. Quickly Lexie roused her and put the baby to her breast. They didn’t have time for a leisurely feeding session right now.

  Caine continued to stare into the distance, and his utter stillness only increased her fear. Finally she burst out, “What do you see? Is there a car coming?”

  “No.” He didn’t turn around to look at her. “I saw another flash of light, but there are no cars on the road ahead of us.”

  The contrast between the utter normalcy of Ana nursing at her breast and the fear that was beginning to pound through her veins was disorienting. She looked at Caine again, at his almost-frightening quiet. “What are we going to do?”

  He didn’t move or answer her for a long moment, then he turned around. She noticed that he was careful not to let his gaze drop below her face. “I’m going to hide the Jeep in the trees and go take a look. You do whatever you have to do to keep her quiet.”

  “She’ll be fine since she’s just eaten.” Gulping once, she asked, “How long do you think you’ll be?”

  Slowly he let his gaze drift below her neck. “Eager for my company, Lexie? That’s a change.”

  Flushing, she turned away and began to rebutton her blouse. “I just want to know how long to wait before I get worried.” Her hand shook as she fumbled with the buttons on her blouse, and she laid Ana on the seat so she could use both hands.

  “I’m sorry, Lexie.” Caine’s voice behind her sounded regretful, but she refused to turn around. “I shouldn’t have said that.”

  She lowered her head to force the last button through the impossibly tiny hole. “Forget it. It’s not important.”

  His hands settled on her shoulders, the warmth of his fingers burning through her thin T-shirt and starting the heat coiling deep inside her. Cursing her traitorous body, she tried to shrug away from him. His hands merely tightened on her.

  He turned her around in the seat with what seemed like very little effort. “It is important, and I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you.”

  She couldn’t interpret the expression flickering in his eyes. Shrugging again, she managed to pull away from his hands. “Don’t worry about it. I’m a big girl, Caine. It takes more than a few nasty words to hurt me now.” As she watched him she forced herself to remember how he’d left her eleven months earlier, and how, when he’d found her again, he’d ignored the child they’d created together. Pain throbbed dully through her chest, a pain she suspected would be there for a long time. “It takes a lot more than that,” she said softly. Turning away from him, she bent over Ana and fumbled in her pack for a clean diaper.

  She could feel his eyes on her for a long time. Finally he shifted in the seat and turned to face the road again. “There’s a spot over there where I can pull into the trees,” he said, his voice hard and abrupt. “Hold on.”

  The Jeep bumped off the road and over the uneven ground to the small gap in the trees. Clutching Ana with one hand and the back of the seat with the other, she felt a start of fear again when the green canopy closed over her and she was once again in the dim, shadowed light of the jungle. She hadn’t realized that in spite of her nervousness she’d begun to assume that everything was going to be all right.

  Caine didn’t give her a chance to let her fear grow. “Help me cover the car up,” he said as he jumped out and began to tug an armful of dead vines over the front of the Jeep. “I won’t be gone long, but I don’t want to take any chances.”

  Laying Ana back down on the seat, she eased out of the Jeep and felt the familiar squishy sensation as she stepped on the floor of the jungle. Even though they had only driven a few yards off the road, it was much hotter under the leaves than it was in the open. They were approaching the hottest part of the day, and she felt the sweat begin to trickle down between her breasts almost immediately.

  A few minutes later Caine stepped back and surveyed the Jeep. It was almost completely hidden under a layer of vines and dead branches they’d found on the ground. He nodded once, then turned to her.

  “Nobody will be able to see you from the road. I’m going to get close enough to find out what those flashes of light were.” His gaze softened. “It may take me a while, so don’t start to worry if I’m not back right away.” He examined her face, then reached out to skim her cheek below her right eye. “You look tired. Why don’t you take a nap?”

  Before she could answer, he turned and disappeared into the jungle. “Caine?” she called.

  He reappeared next to the Jeep. “What?”

  “Be careful.”

  He stared at her for a long moment, then raised his hand to cup her face. Brushing his fingers along her cheek, he murmured, “I’m always careful, Lexie. I’ll be back.”

  Her skin tingled where he had touched her, and she raised her hand to the place his fingers had been. Staring at the spot where he’d disappeared, she strained to hear him moving away from her but didn’t hear a sound other than the normal jungle noises.

  After a long time she turned back to Ana. The baby was wide-awake and staring at her, and Lexie smiled wearily down at her. To her surprised delight, Ana grinned back.

  She watched in awe for a moment, then snatched her daughter into her arms and held her tight. “You smiled at me. You really did this time!” she whispered. She knew she was grinning like an idiot, but she didn’t care. All the fear that had been building inside her seemed to fall away as if by magic, and she nuzzled the side of Ana’s neck.

  “If only your daddy had been here to see it, too,” she murmured without thinking. Ana gurgled as if to agree with her, and the sound nearly broke her heart when she realized what she’d said. Ana’s father had made it abundantly clear that he wouldn’t care if she ever smiled.

  “You can smile for me all you want, little girl.” Her voice was fierce as she laid Ana across her lap again. “Each time will be as precious to me as this first one was.”

  This was the first time in the past day and a half that she
’d been able to relax and enjoy Ana. Pushing thoughts of Caine and the danger they still faced away from her, she smiled down at her daughter and vowed to forget about the whole mess, at least for the next few minutes. Ana was going to get her full attention.

  She awoke with a start, her heart pounding. She didn’t know when she had fallen asleep, and she looked around frantically for Ana. Finding the baby tucked against her abdomen, she relaxed enough to raise her head and look around. Something had awakened her, and it hadn’t been Ana.

  There was a crunching of leaves underfoot, the barest whisper of a sound that she caught with straining ears. Someone or something was approaching the Jeep.

  Even if she’d had time to run, there was nowhere to go. The tangle of vines and low bushes surrounded the Jeep, and without Caine’s machete she was trapped in the middle of the greenery. The leaves crackled again, closer this time. It wasn’t Caine. She was certain of that. When he’d left, he’d moved away without a sound.

  Easing off the bench seat, she crouched on the floor, out of sight. Picking Ana up carefully, she laid her on the floor, protecting her with her body. If they were very lucky, whoever or whatever was out there wouldn’t get close enough to the Jeep to see them.

  The intruder wasn’t making any effort to conceal himself now. Lexie could hear every leaf as it crumbled beneath the approaching footsteps. Bracing herself, she laid one hand on Ana as she gathered herself to flee.

  The sound was right next to them now, and Lexie jerked her head up to face whatever was there. To her surprise, she didn’t see anything. The leaves continued to rustle, though, and now it sounded as if it was coming from underneath the Jeep. Swiveling around, she peered over the door just as an agouti appeared, strolling slowly and casually through the dead leaves.

  Lexie wasn’t sure who was more startled, her or the small, rabbit-like rodent. They stared at each other for a long moment, then the agouti scampered away into the underbrush.

  Closing her eyes, Lexie let out a long, shuddering breath. How had she managed to hear that one, small sound over the cacophony of the jungle during the day? Her heart pounding in her chest, Lexie bent over to pick up Ana and cradle her to her chest. She was afraid she knew the answer to that question.