She watched as Risto disarmed the man and proceeded to beat the shit out of him. Hearing sirens, she got to her feet with the help of the bus driver. “You okay, miss?”
“Yes. I need to stop Risto—I’m the only one who can.” She observed two other men imploring Risto to stop. Her attacker was no longer fighting back and looked unconscious. Risto would kill him. “Marine? I need you. Please … please, Risto … I’m so dizzy.” She wove an unsteady path toward him. He held the limp man up by his jacket and looked over his shoulder.
“Callie?” He tossed the man to the floor as if he were garbage and came to enfold her within his arms. “What’s wrong?” Holding her tightly against his body, he stroked a bloody, but gentle hand over her face, her hair. “Conn said you were sick. Did that bastard hurt you? Did I hurt you when I shoved you away? God, baby, tell me.” His eyes filled with worry, he searched her body frantically for any wounds.
Now that he was here, she wasn’t sure how to tell him that the woman he just proposed to was going to make him a father. She shook her head and buried her face on his chest.
“Fuck it, baby, you’re scaring me.” He picked her up, then carried her to a booth in the small station’s diner.
The bus driver picked up her bags and placed them in the booth, patted her arm. He addressed Risto. “She was pretty sick in Milwaukee, according to one of the female passengers. She slept most of the trip, when that bastard wasn’t bothering her.”
“Callie, do we need an ambulance?” He brushed her sweaty hair off her face and placed a gentle kiss on her lips.
“No.” She sighed and kissed him back. “I just need to eat something … something mild.” She ran a finger along Risto’s five o’clock shadow. “You’re really here. I missed you. I…”
“Hush.” He kissed her again, then pulled her tightly against his side, blocking her from the view of the interested onlookers. “While we give statements to the cops, we’ll feed you. Then, if you look better than death warmed over, we’ll hit the road for Osprey’s Point and my island.”
She nodded and rested her head on his shoulder, her eyes drifting shut, and let him take over. He needed to care for her—and she needed him to do so.
“Callie? Does chicken noodle soup sound good?” She looked up and realized she must’ve dozed off for a few minutes. A waitress stood by the table, smiling at her. A police officer sat in the booth across from them, his face kind and patient.
“Sorry, I must have … I was tired.” She yawned. “Um, yes, I think I could eat the soup. Some saltines. And Seven-Up or Sprite.” The waitress nodded and said, “be right back.”
“Callie, I’ve told the officer my end of it.” Risto rubbed his cheek over her hair. “The bus driver and everyone on the bus from Milwaukee gave statements about the man stalking you. But we need to hear your side.”
“Okay.” She took a deep breath and told the police officer everything that had happened since Milwaukee. The man nodded and made sounds, asking few questions.
He flipped his notebook closed and looked at both of them. “That should do it. We’ll book him for assault, stalking, attempted kidnapping, possession of an illegal firearm—and for the drugs he had on him. With all the eye witness testimony and the fact he’d purposely changed his ticket from his original destination of Duluth to an open-ended ticket and followed you onto the bus to Escanaba, it’s a pretty cut-and-dry case.”
“He saw me in Milwaukee and changed his plans so he could follow me?” She glanced at the officer who nodded, then looked at Risto whose face was dark and grim. “I … God, that’s crazy. I ignored him. Told him no—and he…” She shivered and snuggled into Risto’s comforting embrace, his warmth and his scent calming her.
“It’s okay, Callie. I expect the police will find he has a record of stalking and assaulting women.” Risto spoke over her head at the police officer. “My fiancée will be with me. You have my address. Please tell the prosecutor that we’ll be at the trial if it goes that far.”
“Thank you, Mr. Smith. Ms. Meyers, you put this behind you. You did good—and from the witness accounts, you saved your fiancé from being shot. Good work.”
“Thank you.” She looked up from the comfort of Risto’s sheltering arms. Her right arm trapped tightly against Risto’s side, she held out her left hand to shake the officer’s when she saw the ring. A cushion cut emerald surrounded in sparkling white diamonds and set in platinum. The officer shook her hand gently then left.
She held her hand up and let the ceiling lights shine off the exquisite ring. “Oh, Risto. It’s beautiful.” She looked at his smiling face. “When did you get it? When did you know you wanted to marry me?” Suspicion crossed her mind. “What did Conn tell you?”
He frowned, puzzled. “What does Conn have to do with anything?”
Thank God, he doesn’t know about the baby. He proposed because he wants me. She shook her head. “Never mind. Answer the other questions, please.” She stroked his jaw and watched the ring sparkle. It made her insides melt. He wanted her—forever.
“Baby, I knew within twenty-four hours of leaving you I’d made a mistake letting you go, but…” He swore under his breath. “I wanted to give you a chance to recover. To think. Then I wanted to court you properly.”
“Not a word for two months, Risto.” She punched him in his rock-solid abs. He didn’t even have the courtesy to wince. “I was dying, missing you. I worried about you. No one would tell me where you were or what you were doing or if you were even alive. I was going to call, but, dammit, I didn’t even know if you’d want me to. I figured you were out with other women.” She started to cry.
“God, Callie. Don’t cry.” He pulled her face into his chest and kissed the top of her head, stroking his hand over the length of her hair. “There’s been no one else. I thought about you every day. I bought the ring in Cartagena from a jeweler friend of Conn’s my last trip there. I would’ve come to Chicago this week and started courting.” He exhaled. “But when I saw that fucktard take a hold of you, I knew I had to stake my claim immediately—you accepted, so no going back for us. I’ll just have to court you after we get married.”
She laughed, a watery sound. “Well, your timing was impeccable.” She hiccupped then sniffed.
“Here, wipe.” He plucked a napkin from the holder on the table.
She took the napkin and wiped her face, then blew her nose. “Thanks.” She straightened up, but remained within the embrace of his left arm. “How far is it to your island?”
“A little over three hours. You can sleep some more in the Jeep.” She nodded and yawned. “Ren already filled me in about Cruz being in the US. By the way, your brothers made it to Sanctuary.”
“Then they’re safe.” She breathed out a sigh of relief, then stiffened as his other words penetrated the fog in her head. “Cruz is actually in the States?” Risto massaged the top of her shoulder. “I’d hoped he just hired some mercs.”
“You made it too hot for him to remain in Colombia. According to the latest intel I got from Ren, Cruz has been ousted as a para-leader and told by Paco he’d be piranha food if he ever returned.”
“Oh, God, he’ll want to kill me.” She held her stomach and choked back the bile threatening to come up. She reached for the lemon-lime soda the waitress had dropped off and sipped some to calm her stomach. “Crackers. I need saltines.”
Risto signaled the waitress. “Can we have some saltines right away, please?” The woman nodded, throwing a concerned glance at Callie.
“I won’t let Cruz get you. I protect what’s mine.” He rubbed his cheek over hers. “Now, tell me about your illness? You have the stomach flu?”
She turned into his body and cradled his rugged face. “I’ve been feeling unwell for weeks. I went to the doctor yesterday and I found out…” his eyes filled with fear at her words, “…no, it’s nothing fatal.” She took a breath and blew it out. “I’m pregnant. You’re going to be a father in about seven months.”
&n
bsp; His dark eyes warmed and his lips broke into a wide smile. “How? We only … um, you had birth … um, how?”
He kissed her before she could answer. His tongue thrusting into her mouth. He angled her face to take the kiss even deeper. She moaned and placed her arms around his neck to pull him closer, to keep him kissing her forever. God, she’d missed this, missed his taste, his scent, his touch. And now, she wore his ring and carried his baby. Her life was looking good—except for the serpent in the garden, Cruz, her life would’ve been fabulous.
Risto broke the kiss and then peppered her face, hair and neck with dozens of smaller kisses. “God, baby…” Kiss. Kiss. Kiss. “…I love you.” Kiss. Kiss. Kiss. “A baby. Our baby.” He touched his forehead to hers and looked lovingly into her eyes. “But how?”
“The birth control failed.” She peered at him. “You really don’t mind being a husband and a father so quickly?”
“Hell, no. I envied Ren when he found Keely and she got pregnant right away. Never thought I’d be lucky enough to find a woman who’d fit into the world I’d chosen.” He kissed the tip of her nose. “Then you leapt into my arms in Colombia and from that moment on proved there was such a woman. And, damn, baby, you wanted me back. How freaking lucky are we?”
“Very lucky.” Her stomach gurgled loudly and she laughed. “That is your son or daughter, though I’m leaning toward it being a boy, telling me he is done making me throw up for a while and I need to eat.”
Risto cuddled her. He picked up a package of saltines, opened them and handed one to her. “Been bad?”
She munched on the cracker, signaling one minute, then took another sip of the soda. “God, I needed that. Yeah, it’s been hell. There doesn’t seem to be a schedule. I just get sick. The doctor says I have an extreme case. Hormones, lots and lots of hormones. We’re hoping I’ll get over it by the end of the third month.”
“So, you’re two months along.” He counted on his fingers as she ate her soup. “That means our baby will come sometime in late June of next year.”
“Yep. The shower room in Ungaía will always hold fond memories for me,” she said. He grinned. She crumbled some crackers into the soup. “So, we’ll be living in the U.P.? I’ll need to get pre-natal care set up soon. The doctor in Chicago did an ultrasound to make sure the fetus was attached solidly.” She dug into her tote and pulled out a small manila envelope and handed it to Risto.
He opened it and looked at the images. His smile was broad. “Yep, that is a fetus. No way to tell the sex yet.”
“No, but I’m pretty sure we’ll have a boy. I remember Mrs. Walsh saying she was the sickest with all her boys and then Keely was a dream pregnancy. Probably not scientific, but I’m going with it until proven otherwise. Do you want to know? The doctor said we could try another ultrasound in a few months and see if the baby would pose so we could tell.” She giggled and Risto’s eyes lit up at her laughter.
“What’s so funny?”
“He was a jumping bean. He moved the whole time they did the ultrasound. I’m surprised you don’t see wave motion in the images. I suspect when he gets bigger, he’ll be an active baby and keep his momma up nights.”
“I’ll be up with you, then. Rubbing your tummy, your back and telling him to settle down and let his momma sleep.” He kissed her, his hand covering her stomach. “I love you. And as to where we’ll live—once we take care of Cruz, we’ll go to Idaho. We can get married there in less than twenty-four hours. I have a large apartment in the main house at Sanctuary. We’ll make that our base until I can build us a cabin there.”
“But what about your Michigan place?” She frowned, her hand covered his on her stomach. “We can live here. I don’t mind. I adore the Midwest.”
“Too isolated. Sanctuary, while also isolated, has people I trust to guard you while I’m on assignment during your pregnancy. Plus, you can work alongside Keely and Tweeter. She has a good ob-gyn in Coeur d’Alene and Ren is talking about attracting a doctor for the Sanctuary area, for operatives and their families and the other employees who work and live in the area.”
“Fine. But I’d like to visit Michigan from time to time—it’s closer to my brothers and their college.”
“Not a problem, honey. I inherited the island. It’ll be a great vacation place for your brothers. Plus, Ren wants to use the island as SSI-East. I would head it up, but for now, someone else can run it. Until the baby is born and we make sure the DOD traitor doesn’t come after you, I feel better about you being at Sanctuary with Keely and the others.” He frowned.
“Why the frown?” She traced the downward curve of his lips. When he didn’t answer, she added, “For your information, I’m sure I’d be fine in Michigan on your island. I’m betting you already have excellent security in place. Plus, you’ll be there, and when you aren’t, I can go to Idaho.”
“We can discuss where we’ll live later. We have more pressing concerns. Conn and Berto are heading here. The plan was to use you as bait to draw Cruz to the island in order to take him down.” His brow creased with worry. “You’re pregnant. Sick with it. We’ll have to figure another way.”
“I’m pregnant. Not disabled—and not so sick I can’t help. We need to get him out of the way now while he’s on the run and off-centered, before he can regroup. Now is better than later, when I’ll be as big as a Hummer and unable to move.”
Risto’s lips thinned. His eyes were dark and stormy. But she knew she’d won when he let out a long, slow sigh. “You’re right. Now is better than later.”
“Good. I need to eat something else. Then can we leave? I want to see your island fortress.” She was already planning her campaign for living in Michigan. Idaho was fine for a visit from time to time, but she wanted to live in Risto’s home and closer to her brothers—the DOD traitor be damned.
He grinned. “You having cravings already?”
“Yeah. Banana cream pie. I want some, and I see a piece with my name on it.” She pointed to a refrigerated shelf under the cash register.
“You got it.” He signaled the waitress and placed the order.
Callie sighed and nestled against him. What had been a horrible and stressful twenty-four hours had turned into one of the best days she’d ever lived. She laid her head against Risto’s shoulder and enjoyed the flashes her ring made as she massaged his chest.
Chapter Seventeen
Early Wednesday morning, Highway 2 in Upper Peninsula Michigan.
For what could’ve been the hundredth time since they’d left the bus station in Escanaba, Risto glanced over to check on Callie. One hand on the wheel, he reached over and swept a lock of hair from her eyes. She murmured briefly then went still. She was in a deep sleep. He cursed silently as he noted once again the dark circles under her eyes and the lack of color in her face. He’d make sure she took better care of herself in the future. He could see the need for him to be with her at all future obstetrician visits so he’d know what she needed to be doing for both herself and their baby. His little soldier had a way of not telling him what she needed or when she felt bad.
Their baby. A smile formed as he placed his hand over where their child was safely ensconced. A boy. A girl. He didn’t care as long as both Callie and the baby were healthy.
Both hands back on the wheel, he concentrated on getting them all to Osprey’s Point, the small town on Thousand Island Lake. At least he had a safe and secure place from which to launch the final battle to eliminate Cruz from Callie’s life. His paternal grandfather had been an architect trained in the schools of Saarinen and the mid-twentieth-century Brutalists. The house, a modern masterpiece of glass, metal and cement, was built into the side of a hill overlooking the lake. Other houses on the island, used for guests, were as equally sturdy and looked as if they had grown out of the rock formations. The whole island and all of the permanent structures and several limestone caves had all been wired for security. No one stepped onto the island, or even approached it by air or water, without Risto kno
wing. Last Spring, Keely while still in her second trimester of her pregnancy, along with her brother Tweeter, had helped him install the same three-dimensional security system they had at Sanctuary. His island was literally Sanctuary East, and as much as he looked forward to heading up this branch, he could wait until after all danger to the women of SSI was eliminated. Callie was not only targeted by Cruz, but like Keely was also a target of the DOD traitor.
He smiled grimly, his hands fisting on the steering wheel. No one was going to take Callie from him. Anyone stupid enough to try was a dead man.
His phone rang. He answered it through the steering wheel, chancing a glance to see if the noise had bothered Callie. Her gray eyes blinked at him and she yawned. “Sorry, baby,” Risto said.
“When did you start calling me baby, you dumb fuck?” Conn’s baritone rumbled over the open line.
“Conn. Callie’s here with me. Watch your language, asshole.”
Callie giggled. Color came into her cheeks. He grinned and winked at her. “Say hello to Conn and Berto, sweetheart.”
“Hi, guys. Ignore Risto, he’s still in shock about the baby.” She looked around her and frowned. “It’s really bad outside. Where are you guys?”
“Hey, sweet cheeks. Berto says hola. Glad your man found you.” Conn paused. “We’re in Marquette, trying to find a small plane to charter to get to Watersmeet.”
“Risto?” Callie sent him a scared look. “It’s not safe … is it? This is a blizzard.”
“Yeah, Conn. Callie’s right. It might be okay in Marquette right now, but this shit is heading your way. You’d be flying in a whiteout.” A particularly fierce wind hit the Jeep and Risto wrestled with the steering wheel to keep the vehicle in the middle of the barely plowed lane. “The conditions are deteriorating fast. We’ll be pushing it to get to Osprey’s Point and then to the island.”
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