Aftershock: A Donovan Nash Novel (A Donovan Nash Thriller)

by Philip Donlay

  Eva leaned back as Donovan pulled another chair around and placed it next to hers. She’d obviously searched the house and found some isopropyl alcohol, scissors, tape, and a roll of gauze. “You don’t ever do anything the easy way, do you? This is going to hurt.”

  “Just get it over with,” Eva said as she turned her head and looked away.

  Donovan gently positioned her arm and then unwrapped the saturated dressing and placed it under her arm to absorb the alcohol. Then he began cutting small sections of the tape. “I admire your courage. I’m not sure I’d be as patient, or go to such lengths, to punish the man who kidnapped you twenty-two years ago.”

  “I’ll never stop.”

  “Which is why I came back for you. I think we’re after the same person,” Donovan said, as he clutched her wrist firmly and then quickly poured the alcohol into the wound. Eva’s entire body tensed from the pain. She tried without success to pull her arm free as a low moan escaped her throat.

  Donovan dabbed her arm dry and began applying the sections of tape as makeshift butterfly stitches. Eva watched as he closed the wound and then gently wrapped her arm in gauze. When he was done, she sat back and tested her fingers.

  “You’re a very good medic.”

  “I’ve spent my whole life trying to heal certain wounds.”

  “That’s not what I meant.”

  “I know what you meant,” Donovan replied. “It took me a while, but I recognize the name Rocha. Tell me about Costa Rica. I’d like to hear your story.”

  “I’ve never talked about that time with anyone.”

  “I was there as well,” Donovan said.

  Eva’s eyes narrowed. “You weren’t one of them. I’d have remembered.”

  “Someone I know was kidnapped at the same time. I never saw her again.”

  “I won’t talk about her. I never have.” Eva’s eyes flooded with tears.

  “Why not?”

  “If I had, Vargas would have known that I am alive. He would have come after me before I could get to him. Hector Vargas is the man who killed my mother, the man who—”

  “Killed Meredith?” Donovan finished her sentence.

  Eva nodded, the memory triggering more tears as she impatiently wiped them away with the back of her hand.

  “Marie’s grandfather, Hector Vargas, killed your mother and Meredith Barnes?”

  Eva nodded. “And I’m going to kill him.”

  “Before we crashed, you told me that Marie’s mother was in California. Were you hired to recover Marie for her mother?”

  “No, not hired. I read about the death of Hector’s son in the newspaper. He was every bit the animal his father is; a drug deal went sideways, and he was shot and killed. I thought Hector might come to the United States for the funeral and I would have my chance to kill him. Instead, he sent his men to grab his granddaughter. I sought out Marie’s mother, Alicia, who was in hiding, terrified that Hector would have her killed. I liked her, felt a kinship. She’s a victim, as is Marie, so I offered to return her daughter.”

  “Whatever gave you the idea that you could take on a man like Vargas?”

  “When I escaped from Vargas in Costa Rica, I knew I couldn’t ever go home again. I moved north, trying to get to someone in California. Along the way, I did what I needed to do to survive, until one day I met up with a guy named Tyler. He wasn’t much older than me, a runaway with a motorcycle. I spent the next few years in Los Angeles with Tyler, until he went to prison for grand theft. After that, I spent time with a skip tracer. We’d find and bring in people who’d jumped bail. During that time, I honed my investigative skills, and started looking into Costa Rica.”

  “What happened to the person in California you were trying to get to when you left Costa Rica?”

  “He died in a plane crash before I could get there.” Eva swallowed hard and wiped at her eyes. “There was so much sadness. He was a very rich and powerful man with no real friends. After he died, I had nowhere to go.”

  “We are talking about Robert Huntington, aren’t we?”

  “How did you know?” Eva eyed him suspiciously.

  “It makes sense. Meredith Barnes, Robert Huntington. Did Meredith tell you to find him?”

  Eva nodded. “She and I spoke a great deal. We both figured we were going to be killed. She always told me that if I ever made it out alive to find Robert. She gave me something to give him. Not that it matters now.”

  “May I ask what that was?”

  “Proof that I wasn’t some crazy. You figure that all kinds of messed-up people try to get to someone like Robert Huntington, for any number of reasons.”

  “Yeah, I suppose. What did she give you?”

  “A locket she wore on a chain around her neck. When you open it, there’s this tiny gold planet Earth and a beautiful inscription.”

  “To Meredith from Robert, one love, one eternity.” Donovan recited the words he’d had engraved on the locket.

  Eva opened her mouth to say something, then hesitated, cocked her head, and the truth seemed to come over her slowly. Her expression went from disbelief to shock, until there was finally a knowing look in her eyes. “You’re him.”

  Donovan nodded without fear. “You finally found me.”

  “You bastard!” Eva jumped to her feet and swung at him with her good arm.

  Donovan caught her wrist inches from his face, shot to his feet, and stood toe to toe with the enraged woman. All he could feel was guilt. He wrapped her in his arms and held her close until her fury burnt itself out and she was quietly sobbing in his arms. He had it coming, he’d been her beacon of hope, and he’d selfishly dropped out, and in the process destroyed her chance of deliverance. In a life filled with regrets, Eva moved near the top. Had she reached him, he would have known who Meredith’s kidnappers were. He could have killed Hector Vargas twenty-two years ago. How many ways their lives would have been different had she gotten to him before Robert Huntington ceased to exist.

  “I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you,” Donovan whispered. “It seems that Costa Rica changed, damaged, both of us.”

  Eva pulled away and looked up at him. “Do you know how many nights I thought about her, the things she told me, and when I escaped, all I wanted to do was find you.”

  “You did find me. And Meredith was right, you’re safe now.”

  “Do you ever think about her?”

  “Every day.”

  “But you married someone else?”

  “I did, and you’ll meet her. She saved your life. I was ready to kill you at the house today.”

  “I remember. Does your new wife know about Meredith, your past?”

  “Yes. My past is the source of our ongoing conflict,” Donovan said and lowered his head at the thought. “We’re separated because I can’t seem to let go of the past, of Meredith.”

  “I understand, but I can promise you Meredith wouldn’t be happy,” Eva said. “The most important message she wanted me to give you was to move on. That life was short, and you of all people could accomplish remarkable things if you had the right partner to help keep you focused.”

  “She told you that?” Donovan remembered Meredith laughingly saying those very words one day as they walked on the beach in Malibu.

  “She said that her work was finished, and that her death would help further her message. She was right. She also said that your work was about to begin.”

  Donovan found his own eyes beginning to fill with tears. “Did she blame me for what happened?”

  “No, she didn’t blame you at all. In fact, she said it was her idea to leave the conference and go somewhere so the two of you could be alone. She confessed that there’d been threats she’d not told you about. She worried terribly that you’d blame yourself, like you did about your mother’s death. Meredith was brave. She accepted full responsibility for what happened to her.”

  “Were you there when she died?”

  “I was there when he came for her. She knew. She’d
been taken from the cell once already that day. It was when she spoke to you on the telephone, when she told you not to pay the ransom. She wasn’t sad.” Eva sniffed and wiped at her fresh tears. “I can’t tell you how happy I am that she still matters to you. She’d told me she’d never been happier than when she was with you.”

  Donovan could only nod, his vision clouded by tears. He leaned over the table and supported himself with his arms. He felt stripped of all of his defenses. He stood, exposed, years of rage and guilt seemed to slough away in huge chunks.

  “She loved you very much.”

  Unable to talk, Donovan nodded his head as a show of thanks. For years he’d pleaded with the heavens for the truth of what had happened to Meredith, and now that it was being handed to him by a woman he’d nearly killed it was almost too much to comprehend. That Meredith spoke to a fifteen-year-old Eva, who was now standing before him, impacted him in ways he couldn’t fully fathom. There was the sadness of imagining Meredith as she neared the end of her life. Followed by the immeasurable relief that she didn’t blame him, she loved him, and was at peace with her fate. Then there was a mountain of regret that Meredith had been insightful enough to send him this angel of mercy, and he’d bailed before Eva found him. The fact that he could actually act on this regret in a positive way was a miracle, and, for that, he was thankful. Even in death, Meredith had done what she always did, which was reach out to him and try to heal him. In her last hours on earth, she took a long shot to send a message he may never hear, and tried to soothe him, get him to move on and finish the life he was supposed to live. The same message he heard from Lauren. Despite how badly he’d failed at that mission, he felt warmth. Strength from Meredith’s memory that he’d never experienced before.

  “Is that why you faked your death? It was too painful for you to be without her?”

  “It was a horrible time in my life. I probably wouldn’t have survived as Robert Huntington.”

  “I understand. I wasn’t sure I was going to survive that time in my life, either.”

  “How did you escape Vargas?” Donovan asked.

  “It was the day after they killed Meredith. I think they underestimated the police response and the general chaos and rioting in the city. One of the other men, not Vargas, came to get me. He wouldn’t make eye contact, so I figured he was going to kill me. There was shooting upstairs that distracted him. I broke free and ran as more shots were fired. I found a storage room with a small window and I escaped into an alley. I’ve been running ever since.”

  “We’ve both been running.” Donovan held his hand out to her and she moved in close and clutched him as if she were never going to let go. They stood that way for a long time before Donovan finally spoke. “What would you have wanted me to do, had you found me all those years ago?

  “Make me feel safe. Meredith said she always felt safest when she was with you. She said with you she felt like she could do anything in the world. My family was gone, I had no one, and I wanted to feel like that.”

  The floor beneath their feet swayed, dishes tumbled from the open shelves. With Eva still in his arms, he pulled them both under the sturdy table and closed his eyes as dust from the ceiling came down in miniature avalanches. The tremor finally subsided and Donovan stood, found his Glock and the radio in the dust-choked room, took Eva by the hand, and ran for the door.

  Once outside, Donovan stopped at the sight of the volcano. Mt. Atitlán was boiling over with lava and ash. Two successive explosions erupted from the cone. Earth and lava flung into the sky, moments later, both thunderous reports reached their ears. Donovan winced at the fury. Without warning, another blast ripped the entire top of the mountain outward. Donovan pulled Eva to the ground and shielded her as best he could as the shock wave ripped into them. The cracking and splintering of trees, along with the sound of shredded buildings, filled the air. As the roar from the destruction of an entire mountain reached his ears, the oxygen was pushed from his lungs. Donovan fought for a breath. He held Eva tightly as they were whipped by sand and dirt. When he risked opening his eyes, he saw trees snapped in half, buildings destroyed.

  Donovan rolled over and squinted though through the dust at what was left of the volcano. Instead of a cone spewing ash into the sky, only part of the mountain remained. The entire southeastern section was gone. A half-mile-wide river of lava was pouring down the steep slope.

  “Eva, come on! We’ve got to go!”

  Her eyes grew wide when she saw the threat. “Oh, dear God!”

  Donovan put the radio to his mouth as they began to run toward the road. “Michael, Janie! Where are you?”

  CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE

  The instant the Gulfstream’s door was fully opened, Lauren hit the ground running. Janie and Eric had already landed. Lauren reached the open door of the helicopter and found the expectant faces of Stephanie and Marie. Lauren climbed aboard and hugged Stephanie, thankful she was alive. Her friend’s ankle was covered with an inflatable cast, but Lauren could still see the pain etched in her eyes.

  “Marie, this is my friend Lauren. I told you about her, remember?” Stephanie said. “She’s going to keep you safe while I go to the hospital.”

  “I want to stay with you,” Marie said.

  “I know, and I’ll see you soon, but they don’t let kids in hospitals. Remember when I said I’d keep you safe?”

  Marie nodded.

  “It’s still the promise I’m making to you, and Lauren can protect you even better than I can right now.”

  On the other side of the helicopter, a fuel truck pulled up to top off the tanks. Lauren reached out to Marie, and the eight-year-old tentatively took her hand. She pulled the child closer and was about to step out of the helicopter when William arrived. He pulled himself into the cabin and fiercely hugged his niece. They held on to each other for long moments.

  “I’m fine,” Stephanie finally said. “Thank you for coming to get me.”

  “I’ll always be there for you,” William said, and then turned to Lauren. “Thank you. I’m glad you did what you did.”

  “I’m sorry I doubted you.” Lauren hugged him. “Now that Stephanie is safe, I’ll make sure the photographs of her capture end up at the FBI. With some help, I’m sure we can get them to stop their investigation.”

  “I have faith,” William said.

  Lauren and Marie hopped out of the chopper and retreated to a safe distance. Stephanie blew Marie a kiss just as Cesar closed the door. Lauren knelt to be at eye level with Marie. “You must be hungry and thirsty. See that jet over there? How would you like a sandwich and some juice? There’s also a bathroom.”

  Marie nodded.

  Lauren took her hand and they walked toward the Galileo. She followed Marie up the stairs, but the girl abruptly stopped as she reached the top and found Michael standing there. “Marie, this is one of my closest friends, Michael Ross. He’s the captain of this airplane.

  “Michael, this is Marie. She’s our newest passenger.”

  “Hello, Marie,” Michael said.

  “Are we going flying?” Marie asked.

  Behind Lauren, the fuel truck pulled away from the helicopter, and its main rotor began to accelerate. Moments later, it lifted clear of the ground and accelerated across the field to the south. They were going to drop William and Stephanie at a hospital and then go get Donovan and Eva.

  “Are we getting fuel?” Lauren asked.

  “No, we’re good,” Michael replied. “We’re three times faster than the helicopter. We’ll give them a head start, and then we’ll go. You two get settled.”

  Lauren put her hands on Marie’s shoulders and walked her down the aisle, past John, until they were at the rear of the plane. Lauren opened the lavatory door and switched on the light. “There’s a sink, soap, and towels in there. Make yourself at home. I’ll be right outside the door if you need me.”

  Marie slipped into the small lavatory and latched the door. Lauren exhaled and leaned against the door. The m
oment the adrenaline stopped she was going to crash under the weight of Buck’s death. They’d lost Eco-Watch members before, but Lauren felt a special connection with Buck. They all did. He was the man who’d come to the rescue on so many occasions. It wasn’t as if they’d just lost a friend—they’d lost their guardian angel—and she felt exposed, vulnerable. She crossed her arms across her chest and fought the tears.

  Through the window, Lauren caught sight of Michael inspecting the plane. She saw him react to something unseen, as if he’d lost his balance. Confused, she moved toward the window as the floor of the Galileo jumped and shuddered beneath her feet. She managed to steady herself and sit heavily in one of the chairs. Even though Mt. Atitlán was a hundred miles away, she could see a monstrous curtain of ash boil up above the haze level, followed by what sounded like a massive sonic boom.

  Marie bolted out of the lavatory, terror in her young eyes. In the front of the plane, Michael rushed up the stairs.

  “Craig, start the engines, we’re going now!” Michael began closing the Galileo’s door and turned toward Lauren. “Buckle up, this is going to be fast and dirty!”

  “John, is the Scimitar okay?”

  “We’re fine, but I can’t fly any farther west until we get in the air.”

  Lauren situated Marie into one of the seats and made sure she was buckled in tight. She could hear the big Rolls-Royce engines light off and quickly settle into an idle. She took a seat across from Marie as Michael added power, and the Galileo barreled down the taxiway toward the end of the runway. Michael lined up on the centerline of the runway and pushed the throttles forward. As the Galileo lifted free of the runway, the gear retracted with a resounding thump, and they accelerated and climbed steeply.

  The Gulfstream burst from the low-hanging smog and haze into the clearer air above. High above, Lauren could see that the ash reached well into the stratosphere, propelled by strong upper winds. As the Gulfstream banked, her eyes followed the ash to its source. In the distance she saw that the entire southeastern quadrant of Atitlán had blown out. In a wedge that fanned out from the epicenter of what used to be the cone, she could see the destruction of the landscape. Trees lay flat, and fires had been ignited by a torrential flow of expelled lava. From where she sat, she had no idea where Donovan and Eva were in relation to the volcano, but if they had been directly in the blast zone, they never had a chance.