MURDOCK'S LAST STAND

by Beverly Barton

  "Yeah, I know, honey." He reached out, grabbed her by the back of the neck and hauled her forward until her mouth was almost touching his. "You don't like me, but you want me."

  She held her breath, knowing he was going to kiss her and that she was helpless to stop him. You don't want to stop him, an inner voice taunted. Murdock's gold-flecked hazel eyes burned with barely contained passion. His hand momentarily tightened around her neck. His parted lips hovered over hers. Her heartbeat accelerated with anticipation.

  With a sudden thrust, Murdock shoved Catherine away from him. Shivering from head to toe, she stared at him, her gaze questioning his actions.

  "Consider yourself lucky," he said. "I could have had you. Right here. Right now. In the car. And you wouldn't have done a thing to stop me."

  Catherine gasped as she willed her heart to slow its breakneck speed. Lifting her hand to slap him, she screamed, "You arrogant son of a bitch!"

  He deflected her blow, taking the brunt of her attack on the shoulder. She flung open the car door, jumped out and raced to the hotel's back entrance. Murdock groaned. Damn! He pocketed the car keys and then got out and followed her. She was his responsibility and it was his duty to protect her, no matter what. But once he put her on that plane this afternoon, she'd be Lanny's problem. He figured his old buddy had his work cut out for him to regain Catherine's respect and love.

  Two things he would never have, he reminded himself.

  * * *

  When Catherine and Murdock arrived at the San Carlos airport shortly before one, they found the place buzzing with activity. Manuel whispered to Murdock, as he handed their suitcases to him, that he'd been told every flight out of Zaraza was booked solid. Had the rumors of Sabino's first wave attack on San Carlos reached the public? Murdock wondered. Or had the populace simply sensed something in the air? His own sixth sense was certainly acting up, sending off warning signals, but he couldn't pinpoint the danger. Just a general uneasy feeling. The sooner he got Catherine out of the country, the better.

  "I will say goodbye." Manuel shook hands with Murdock, then nodded to and smiled at Catherine. "Safe journey, señora."

  "Thank you, Manuel. Safe journey to you, too."

  When Manuel left them, Murdock guided Catherine through the customs check. All the while, he stayed on guard. Waiting. Watching. Halfway expecting the worst. But they passed inspection quickly, without a moment's pause.

  Murdock checked his watch. "They should start boarding soon. Your flight leaves at one-fifty."

  "I'll be so glad to get out of this country." Clutching her purse containing her passport, boarding pass and billfold, Catherine sat down to wait for her flight's departure.

  "When I get back to the States, I'll come by to see Lanny." Murdock squeezed his big body into one of the narrow airport seats.

  "Don't you mean if you get back to the States?"

  "I plan on making it back. Sooner or later."

  Catherine folded her arms across her chest, tilted her nose slightly, as if she'd smelled something unpleasant, and deliberately turned her head away from Murdock.

  "I'm glad Jose got a call through to us before we left the hotel," Murdock said. "It's good to know that Lanny arrived safely and that Jose whisked him off to a private sanitarium."

  "I want to take Lanny back to the United States as soon as I can. That's where he'll get the best medical treatment possible."

  "Lanny may need to spend a few days in Lima. Enough to build up his strength some more, before the long flight home."

  Catherine cleared her throat. "If … when you get back to the States, please, let us know. Lanny will worry about you."

  "Yeah, honey. Sure thing. I wouldn't want Lanny worrying about me, would I?"

  "And you're welcome to visit us in Huntington any time you'd like."

  Murdock grinned. Catherine was trying so damn hard to act like a lady, to remember her manners and to pretend that he didn't mean anything more to her than any old friend of Lanny's would. All right, he told himself. Two can play that game. After all, they were both better off ignoring their attraction to each other.

  "Don't expect too much too soon from Lanny," Murdock advised.

  "I don't expect anything from my father," she said, gracing Murdock with one of her snooty little looks. "I intend to see that he receives the best medical care possible and afterward offer him a home with me. Lanny may be my father, but he's a stranger to me, as I am to him. I assume it will take some time for us to become acquainted and to find out if we can build any type of relationship together."

  "Ever the dutiful daughter."

  "You have your loyalties and I have mine," Catherine said. "Nothing is more important to me than family. Where you've chosen a jaded life-style that leaves no room for love or family, I want love and a family and a lifetime commitment. No matter what Lanny has done, no matter how much he disappointed me and hurt my mother, he is still my father."

  "And he's a fortunate man. I'm glad you're willing to give him a second chance. He deserves it."

  "You take care of yourself." Temporarily lowering her defenses, Catherine looked at Murdock, concern in her eyes. "If anything happens to you, I'm afraid Lanny might blame himself. After all, he's the one who told you about the assassination threat."

  "If Lanny was physically capable of doing this job himself, he'd do it," Murdock told her. "He paid with twenty years of his life to aid Sabino's rebels. I can't let Juan Sabino's death, twenty years of your father's life, and a just cause go down the tubes."

  "No, I don't suppose you can." She lifted her hand, but refrained from actually touching him. "Good luck. I hope—" her voice cracked "—you accomplish your mission."

  Before he could reply, the announcer called Catherine's flight and said that they would begin boarding passengers immediately. Catherine and Murdock stood, exchanged a long, tense glance and then Catherine stuck out her hand. Murdock stared at her hand for several seconds, then grasped it in his.

  "Goodbye." Catherine clutched his hand tenaciously, as if she never meant to let go. "And thank you for helping me get my father out of Zaraza."

  Murdock tightened his grip on her hand, then pulled her forward. She almost tripped in her effort to avoid their bodies touching. He grabbed her shoulders to steady her. She gazed at him, her feelings so plainly visible in her expression.

  Catherine Price was damn lucky to be leaving today, he thought. Otherwise, he'd never let her go. "Go. Now."

  She nodded, pulled her hand from his and practically ran toward the departure gate. Don't look back, she told herself. And don't cry. Don't you dare cry!

  The pain in Murdock's chest radiated out and spread through his body. God help him, he didn't want her to leave him. He'd never needed a woman. Not ever. Not even when he'd been madly in love with Barbara. But on some basic level and for reasons he couldn't even begin to fathom, he needed Catherine.

  But she already had everything she needed—a great career, a hefty bank account and her father back from the dead. She sure as hell didn't need him. No way. She was better off without him. If he really cared about her, he'd let her go—now and forever.

  She'd been right when she'd said he had his loyalties and she had hers. Her life was back in Tennessee, presiding over that fancy private school and hobnobbing with the social elite. She'd take care of Lanny, shower him with love and attention and ease him into her world. A world guys like Aloysius Murdock could never enter. He had his own life, back in Atlanta, working for Dundee. But before he could return, he had a mission to accomplish. An assassination to prevent. A nation to save.

  Suddenly and without warning, an explosion rocked the airport. Billowing smoke. Screaming people. Confusion and fear. Murdock froze as he assimilated what had happened. Something had blown sky-high outside on the runway—where the plane to Lima was boarding.

  Catherine! He had to get to Catherine.

  Before he could form a plan of action in his mind, another explosion ripped through the ter
minal, sending debris and body parts flying through the air.

  The airport was under attack! A strategically planned attack to hit the airport when the most planes were on the ground. Damn! Why had the rebels moved up the day of the attack? Manuel had been so sure that the assault on San Carlos was days away.

  Where the hell was Catherine? Had she boarded the plane before it had been destroyed? Or was she trapped between the airstrip and the terminal? He didn't care where she was as long as she was still alive. He had to find her!

  Murdock hadn't prayed much over the years, but he prayed now. If there was any justice in this world, any at all, then he'd find Catherine alive. He had promised Lanny that he'd take care of his daughter and he had arrogantly assumed he could. Hell, why hadn't he stood at the gate and watched her until she boarded the plane?

  Shoving his way through the horde of frightened and wounded people, Murdock sought the woman whose life he'd be willing to exchange for his own. While he searched, another explosion ripped through the parking area, setting cars aflame and shooting fire into the sky. Screams of the injured and dying echoed in Murdock's ears as he frantically hunted for any sign of Catherine.

  Fear more powerful and deadly than any he'd ever known took firm control of him. Like a madman on a suicide mission, Murdock ripped through the airport, calling out Catherine's name. He had to find her. He had to find her alive!

  "Murdock!"

  As utter chaos ruled, he barely heard his name being screamed through the racket of human suffering and panic. He scanned right and left, forward and behind, uncertain from which direction the voice had come.

  "Murdock!"

  Then he saw her. Clawing her way through the mass of frightened people trying to escape the burning building. At six feet tall in her heels, she stood out in the crowd. Her beautiful face was covered in soot. Her filthy blouse had a rip in the sleeve. But she was alive and standing. And calling out to him from thirty feet away.

  Stomping his way toward Catherine, his presence alone parted the crowd that separated him from his objective. Catherine accelerated her approach and started running. Murdock hurled himself toward her, his arms open, reaching out for her. Their bodies collided in an emotional reunion. He swept her off her feet. She wrapped her arms around his neck and hung on for dear life.

  "Oh, God, Cat, I thought I'd lost you!"

  Their gazes met and held as they visually devoured each other. And then he took her mouth in a ravaging kiss, plundering her in a show of possession and thankfulness. She clung to him, returning his kiss, responding with the same fervent gratitude and passion that commanded his actions.

  Murdock ended the kiss, then ran his hands over her face and down her arms. "Are you all right?"

  She nodded. "Yes. Just shook up a little and scared senseless. What happened?"

  "My guess is that Sabino's front guard has arrived in San Carlos and that putting the airport out of commission was their first order of business."

  "What—what are we going to do?" she asked.

  "We're going to get the hell out of here."

  "But where are we going?"

  "I have to get you out of the city as soon as possible. You aren't safe here. No one is." Murdock wrapped his arm around her waist and led her over and around the rubble and through the confused crowd of people, who were still trying to figure out what had happened.

  When they entered the street, Murdock realized that the rebel troops had bombed more than the airport. Rows of nearby buildings lay in crumbled ruins. Bodies littered the streets. And in the distance, they heard the distinct sound of artillery fire drawing closer and closer.

  "We've got to find a safe place to hide, until I can make plans to get us out of the city. It'll be safer leaving late tonight." Taking her hand, he guided her away from the airport and in the opposite direction of the burning buildings.

  "Why can't we go back to Hotel Dulce de Rosa?" she asked breathlessly, as she tried to keep step with his longer gait.

  "It's too far away. Besides, unless I miss my guess, General Ramos's army will have all the main streets blocked. Our best bet is to head in the other direction."

  Catherine tugged on Murdock's hand, temporarily halting him. "I'm scared," she admitted.

  He pulled her into his arms and hugged her ferociously. "I'm going to take care of you. Do you hear me? No matter what it takes, I'll get you out of Zaraza!"

  "I know you will."

  "Come on."

  He grabbed her hand and together they ran into a nearby alley. The escape route ended abruptly at a six-foot wooden fence that separated one alley from the next.

  "I'll give you a boost over," he told her.

  She nodded agreement, then lifted her leg and placed her foot in Murdock's open palm. He gave her a forceful shove. She caught the top of the fence with both hands and hoisted first one leg and then the other over the wooden rails. Jumping without looking, she landed on something large and soft that partially cushioned her fall. Using her hands as leverage, she placed them, palms down, on each side of her and pushed herself onto her feet. That's when she saw what had eased her downward plunge. A body! A dead soldier! And to his left, lay another unmoving form. Another soldier!

  Catherine screamed. Murdock scaled the fence and dropped to the other side in a split second. Then he saw what had frightened Catherine. Damn! He grabbed her shoulders and shook her soundly, until she stopped screaming.

  "Take a couple of deep breaths," he told her. "I know this isn't a pleasant sight, honey, but you'd better get used to it. I'm sure there's worse ahead of us."

  "I'm all right. I've just never… Who are they?"

  "By the their uniforms, I'd say they're Zarazaian soldiers who got caught in a bomb blast."

  When he noticed Catherine shaking, Murdock shoved her up against the fence, spread his hands out on either side of her head and looked her square in the eye. "Our best bet of getting out of the city in one piece is if we hide until night and head out sometime after midnight. And we'll have a better chance, in case we're seen at a distance, if we're posing as soldiers. Since my guess is that Ramos's army has control of this part of San Carlos, then we're lucky we ran across these two."

  "What—what do you mean we're lucky we ran across these two?"

  "The smaller man—" Murdock pointed to the young man whose body had broken Catherine's fall '—is about your size. His entire uniform should fit you. And it's in pretty good shape. Looks like he got it in the head. The blood that's on the uniform is dried, so—" He left his sentence unfinished the minute he noticed the horrified look on her face. "This other one—" he nodded to the heavyset man who lay facedown several feet away "—is big enough that I think his shirt might fit me. Even if his pants weren't in shreds, I figure they'd be way too short."

  "Are you saying that we … that you expect me to—"

  "I expect you to follow orders. Remember what I told you on the way to Lima—that if I have to stop to explain my orders, that delay could cost us both our lives."

  Shivering uncontrollably, Catherine shook her head and keened softly. Murdock grasped her face between his big hands.

  "You can do this, Cat. I know you can."

  He released her and then hurriedly stripped the young soldier down to his underwear. After tossing Catherine the tan uniform, Murdock removed the other man's shirt. He hurriedly tugged his own shirt over his head and replaced it with the tan shirt bearing the Zarazaian government emblem on the sleeves.

  Catherine stared at the uniform she held in her hands. These garments belonged to a dead man and had only moments before been on his body. She swallowed hard, then slid the pants up under her skirt, jerked up the zipper and snapped them closed. She removed her skirt, tossed it onto the dirty street and then removed her blouse.

  Murdock inspected the soldier's weapons—a pair of M-16s. He slipped the rifles away from the stiff bodies and then retrieved the ammunition belts. When he glanced up at Catherine, he saw how badly she was still sha
king, so much so that she couldn't button the shirt she'd just slipped into.

  After slinging one M-16 and both ammunition belts over his shoulder, he reached out for Catherine. She fell hard against his side. He forked his fingers through her disarrayed hair and held her head against his shoulder.

  "I'm sorry you're a part of this," he said, his voice deep and soothing. "All I can do now is take you with me. And that means you're going to have to not only cooperate, but you're going to have to be strong and brave."

  She wrapped her arms around his waist, but when she felt the weapon and the ammunition belt, she withdrew from him and stared at the offensive objects.

  Murdock grabbed her chin. "I need for you to show me that you're Lanny McCroskey's daughter. Can you do that?"

  She closed her eyes for a moment, then when she reopened them she nodded and said, "Yes. I can do that."

  "Good!"

  Murdock lifted the other M-16 and handed it to Catherine. Her mouth rounded in a silent gasp, but she gripped the gun tightly and then slung it over her shoulder. Murdock picked up the soldiers' berets. He stuck one cap on his head and then lifted Catherine's hair and shoved it under the other beret before he pulled it down over her ears. He looked into her familiar blue eyes and saw her father's grit and determination. Hell, he thought, they just might have a chance to come out of this alive, after all.

  * * *

  Chapter 8

  « ^ »

  Murdock led Catherine along the nearly deserted back streets and alleys of San Carlos. When a squad of Zarazaian soldiers swept through Tripoli Avenue

  , Murdock jerked Catherine into a doorway and motioned for her to go up the stairs leading to the second floor of a deserted building that had once housed a restaurant. She held her breath as General Ramos's men marched by, their weapons drawn and ready for combat. As their boot steps echoed in her ears, Catherine reached the top of the stairs. Halting at the closed door, she grabbed the handle and found the door locked.

  "This might be a good place to stay until dark," Murdock whispered.

  After setting her aside, he rammed his shoulder against the door. The force of his powerful body broke the lock. The door swung open, giving them a view of a long, narrow hallway. Catherine followed him down the corridor. He flung open three doors, checking the upstairs rooms for any occupants. Empty. Behind the fourth and final door at the end of the hallway, they found a small, partially furnished apartment.