The Fugitive's Secret Child

by Geri Krotow

  A mental image of what Vasin would do to the girls flashed in front of her, and she dug deep, reached for the last of her reserves.

  Instead of putting her arm out to catch the truck, she jumped. Her palms slammed against the steel rung and instinctively gripped, holding her to the back of the rapidly accelerating truck. Trina couldn’t risk looking over her shoulder to see if Rob knew what was happening. Her entire mission was to get to the truck’s cab and take out Vasin before he hurt the girls.

  * * *

  Rob thought if hearts could rupture, his would at the sight of Trina hanging on to the back of the fuel tank, her body no more that a third the height of the trailer. He worked his truck’s gears, grateful that Rosie had gone with her owner this time. His gut told him this was going to get ugly.

  “Trina, hang on. Do not climb that tanker.”

  “Too. Late.” He heard her breathing deepen as he trailed behind Vasin and saw her ascend the narrow ladder. There were overpasses and bridges and umpteen other ways she could be killed while traversing the fuel tanker. And he was powerless to stop her.

  “Talk to me, babe.” He had to hear what she was thinking.

  “I’ll get him to stop. If you take him out, I can drive the truck.” She’d been trained to operate heavy machinery and trucks just as he had. He’d learned a lot of it in the SEALs and knew that Trail Hikers covered it, too.

  “It’s too dangerous to fire a weapon. The fuel.”

  “Gas. I just read the label on the side.” Her voice was strong, but the wind interfered with their comms. He had to strain to pick out her words.

  “Get in the cab and stop him if you can, Trina.” Rob wanted to scream. No, not scream. He wanted to get Trina and take them far away. Where they could live safely with Jake. Nothing else mattered.

  “Damn it!” He knew it was his primal resistance flaring, knew that he’d complete this mission to the best of his ability. But he didn’t know if he’d survive, or worse, if Trina would. He’d never stared into such desolation.

  * * *

  Trina made it up to the cabin. This was a fancy rig, complete with a sunroof over the sleeping compartment. She looked into the back of the cabin through the glass and saw Oxana and Ekaterina, huddled together. It wasn’t easy hanging on to the top of the cab. She preferred the ladder. At least the rungs were sturdy. The slippery top of the cab was nothing but treacherous. But this was also the only way she’d save them.

  She pounded on the window twice and the girls looked up, their faces full of fear. A shot rang out and she realized that Vasin had heard her, too. He was shooting at her from the driver’s-side window. No concern about the probability of nine thousand gallons of liquid natural gas behind him. Trina had to get the girls out. She clung to the top of the cab, flattening herself against it as they neared another overpass. The three they’d already cleared had been so close, so tight a fit that she’d thought she was dead. This was no different. She looked up after her ears popped from the harrowing passage and saw where Vasin was headed. Silver Valley View Road.

  * * *

  Vasin turned the gas rig onto the four-lane country route, and Rob knew it was now or never. He had to draw alongside the tanker or he’d never catch up in time to make a difference. The road had wide enough shoulders for other vehicles to use as needed. Thankfully it looked clear for the next mile or so.

  It was all he’d need. He engaged his engine full throttle and eased into the left lane. Vasin immediately tried to edge him off the road, but Rob’s truck was more maneuverable that the huge can of gas. Within thirty seconds he was parallel with Vasin’s cab, and was rewarded by a bullet shattering his passenger-side window.

  Rob had ducked, anticipating the shot. When he risked another look, Vasin appeared to be distracted, and the criminal fired a shot into the air. Trying to get to Trina. Rob kept one eye on the road and one on Vasin. He had to keep his truck in the right position. He had to trust Trina that she’d paid attention during the moving vehicle portion of her Trail Hikers training, when she learned how to keep her balance while atop a truck going sixty miles an hour. Except at Trail Hikers they never practiced with trucks going faster than thirty miles an hour.

  * * *

  Trina saw Rob’s cab, and her training kicked in. All she had to do was get the girls over to his truck. They’d hang on until he stopped the trailer. She motioned at them through the window to break the glass and follow her, glad that at least she didn’t have to worry about overpasses on the country road. But the frequent hills made keeping her balance difficult.

  Oxana held up a fire extinguisher. Good girl. Trina crawled back six inches and held her breath. It took three hits but the sunroof shattered, the tempered glass disintegrating into clear shards that smarted as they whipped against her face. She waited for Vasin to shoot, but heard nothing. Reaching down, her hand was immediately grasped by one of the girls and she pulled, then up came Oxana.

  “Stay flat, right here,” Trina shouted as she moved forward again and reached down. Ekaterina followed Oxana’s example and was flat on the cab in seconds.

  “You have to jump onto the other truck.” Both girls looked at her like she spoke the gospel truth. It was the shock and fear. Pure survival mode.

  Trina lifted her head and then crawled backward until she could reach the ladder in the back of the cab. Standing between the cab and fuel tank, she grasped Oxana’s ankle and squeezed. Rob was next to them, far enough back that Vasin couldn’t get off a good shot with his weapon, but close enough to the tanker that they could drop onto his cab.

  Trina was loath to leave the girls alone and exposed on the moving truck, but there was no other way. She’d have to catch them once on Rob’s truck. Trina saw the top of the cab, knew that Rob was in it. All she had to do was trust.

  She jumped.

  * * *

  Rob heard the first thud on the cab’s roof and hit the ceiling with his fist. Yes! Trina had made it. He listened for the next two thuds, which came surprisingly quickly, one after another. He immediately slowed the truck down, praying all three women would hang on.

  “We’re all here.” Trina’s shout rang through his headset.

  “It’s just another couple of minutes, ladies.” The truck shuddered and shimmied on the weathered road as it slowed down. He watched Vasin continue to drive off and figured the crook was going to take the truck as far as he could as a means of escape. Rob would call it in to TH as soon as he stopped his truck. His speedometer read thirty miles per hour, falling.

  “Rob! Trouble!” Trina’s scream broke through his training protocol. He looked out at the road and saw that the tanker had made a U-turn at the only place wide enough in three counties to do so, a median pull-off area. Vasin was headed back straight toward them. Rob reached for his weapon, but he’d never get a good shot off, not from inside the cab.

  They were all dead. Vasin was going to run right over them, obviously not caring if he died along with them. It was a matter of honor to ROC. The truck finally came to a halt, and Rob put it in Reverse. The two Ukrainian girls climbed down from the top of the cab and got in via his passenger door.

  “Ladies, you need to make a run for it. Now!” The girls didn’t argue but slid out of the truck. There were plenty of trees to hide behind until backup arrived.

  “Trina, come down. I’m backing up. There’s no time!”

  “Rob, stop the truck. I’ve got the perfect shot from here.”

  “Damn it, Trina, get down.” He put the engine on idle and opened his door. If she wouldn’t listen, he’d go get her himself. Before he got a foot on the running board, he heard the sound of Trina’s gun firing. Two seconds later the night lit up with a light brighter than Fourth of July fireworks as the propane truck Vasin drove exploded.

  * * *

  “You okay, Trina?” It had been an hour since Vasin’s fiery death and there h
adn’t been time to check in with each other until now.

  “What?” She looked at him like she’d seen her life pass in front of her as she watched EMTs tend to the girls. They’d already checked Trina out and save for a few bruises from climbing onto a moving fuel truck, she was fine.

  Rob wrapped his arm around her shoulders, willing his body heat into her. “Come here, babe.” Maybe she needed to sit down. Shock could affect a law enforcement agent at any time, no matter their level of experience. He lifted her chin with his finger and peered into her eyes. Under the glare of emergency spotlights, her pupils were dilated, but no more than would be expected.

  She shook him off. “I’m fine. Thanks, by the way, for the truck bit—you got me out of an awfully tough spot.”

  “You did it on your own.” As she always did.

  “No. Rob, this time I was in a pickle, really. Did you see how he was driving it?” She nodded to where Vasin had breathed his last breath. The charred frame of the rig was still on fire, the Silver Valley Fire Department smothering it with foam.

  “If one of his shots had ricocheted and hit his tanker before I got the girls away, we wouldn’t be having this conversation.”

  “ It’s okay, Trina. You’re safe, and you saved the girls. Vasin got what he deserved.”

  “I never like seeing someone die, no matter how awful or downright evil they are. And for the record, Rob? We saved the girls. Did you know they belonged to him, to ROC?”

  “Yes.” He told her what he knew about the tats, and what he’d overheard in the bathroom.

  Her eyes widened. “Rob, both of the girls have tattoos behind her left ear. It looks like a crescent moon to the untrained eye, but I heard them say in Russian that it was a sickle. When you look really closely the line of the hammer is there—it has to be what you overheard. It must be the symbol of Ivanov’s girls.”

  He brought her in for a hug. “You can put it in your after-action report. All I care about is that you’re alive, and my son’s safe from a very bad man. We also have two young women we know will have a chance at true freedom, if they want it.” Trina knew the women would be offered witness protection if they wanted.

  Trina’s phone vibrated with a text from SVPD.

  “It’s SVPD. They’ve verified that the truck driver is dead. Vasin isn’t ever going to hurt another girl or woman.” She looked up at him. “But Ivanov is still out there, Rob. He could come after us, or punish the other girls as an example.”

  “Not likely. ROC will lie low, at least for a while. Ivanov doesn’t even get briefed on all of the awful things his subordinates do. It’s unlikely Vasin ever told him about us, period. It would only make Vasin look bad.”

  “I’d say Vasin had a lot more power than we thought, then.”

  “That’s not our problem any longer, Marshal Lopez. We solved our part of the case.”

  She looked bemused. “My first Trail Hikers op. Our first one together since the Navy. But Ivanov will be back, we know this. We’ll have to fight him again, Rob.”

  “Let’s celebrate completing our first TH op together. We can’t control what happens next with ROC. No one can.”

  “We can control what we do together, Rob.”

  He couldn’t wait any longer—he kissed her. It was in the middle of a truck stop, in front of first responders and the church volunteers, but Rob only cared about Trina’s reaction. Which was getting as heated as his.

  Trina pulled back enough to meet his gaze. “It’s our beginning.”

  “Yes.” He’d never let her go again.

  * * *

  Three days later, Rob knocked on Trina’s front door. His heart pounded in his chest as if this were his first undercover op. He laughed nervously at his unintentional joke. This was indeed an uncover op—it was time to tell Jake who he was.

  He heard the sound of Renegade’s barks followed by scampering feet, the sound he’d memorized that first night he’d met his son. The door flew open and revealed the boy who’d cemented a permanent place in Rob’s soul since the minute Trina had revealed he was a father.

  “Rob!” Rob knelt down and the little boy launched himself at Rob, wrapping his arms around Rob’s neck in what was now a familiar gesture.

  “Hey, Jake!” He hugged his son back, savoring how good it felt to be able to receive love as much as give it.

  “Hi, handsome.” Trina was behind Jake and Rob stood, lifting Jake with him. He leaned over and gave her a warm, lingering kiss.

  “Hi, yourself.”

  “Ick.” Jake’s observation made all three laugh.

  “Trina, do you mind if Jake and I have a man-to-man conversation? You can be there, but it’s just going to be us guys talking.” He watched his son as he spoke. He and Trina had already agreed that this was the time and place to tell Jake the truth.

  “Sure thing. How about the backyard?”

  “Yeah!” Jake wiggled out of his arms and raced through the house, heading for the back door. Renegade followed him, tail wagging.

  Trina hugged him tight. “You’ve got this, Rob.”

  “Thanks.” He wanted to stay in her arms forever, and he would, but first things first.

  Trina stayed on the back porch, where she sat on the steps holding Renegade as Rob walked toward the huge oak tree where Jake swung on his tire.

  “Do you want to try it, Rob?”

  Rob shook his head. “Not now. I need to talk to you about something, first.” He knelt next to the swing.

  “Okay.” Jake stopped swinging and stared intently at Rob.

  Rob swallowed. “Jake, do you know how your mom told you your dad was in the Navy and did a lot of military missions?”

  Jake nodded, never taking his wide eyes off of Rob. Rob didn’t think he’d ever get used to his son staring at him like this, as if everything he said was the Gospel.

  “Mom said my dad wished he could be here.”

  “Well, that’s just it, Jake. I am here. I’m your dad.”

  Rob started to go on, to tell Jake all that he’d memorized to include how different circumstances had kept them apart. But his son had a different take on things.

  “You mean you want to be my dad? I know that you love my mom.”

  Rob laughed. “You do?”

  Jake nodded.

  “Yes, I want to be your dad, Jake, but in fact, I am your dad. I’m the Navy guy your mom told you about.”

  “You’re the hero?” Jake’s eyes grew even wider.

  “I’m not a hero, Jake.”

  But Jake didn’t hear him as he slid through the tire to stand next to Rob. “You’re my hero, Rob.”

  “You can call me Dad, if you’d like.”

  “Is Daddy okay for now? And Dad, too?”

  Rob couldn’t speak past the lump in his throat so he nodded and opened his arms to his son.

  “Daddy or Dad, whichever you want, son.” As he hugged him he felt hands on his shoulders. Trina knelt next to him, joining their embrace. She kissed Jake on the cheek.

  “Mommy, why are you crying?”

  “I’m happy. These are tears of joy, Jake.”

  When she sought his gaze he saw the tears streaming down her cheeks. Rob still couldn’t find words, never having faced so much love in his lifetime. Trina smiled. “I love you so much.”

  “I love you, too.”

  Jake patted both of their cheeks with his hands. “Guess what, guys? I mean, Mommy and Daddy.” He giggled. “This is our first family hug!”

  “Yes, it is.” Trina’s voice was soft, her eyes luminous. Rob knew he must look the same. Besotted.

  “So are you going to get married or what?”

  Trina looked at him and Rob found his words. “If your mom will have me. But that’s an adult conversation that your mom and I will have later, Jake.”

 
“Fine. But Mom, please say yes.”

  Renegade jumped up and started licking Rob’s face, as if showing his agreement to the plan. Rob fell backward, dragging his family and dog with him. Amidst the barks and laughter, Rob knew he’d finally found his forever family.

  Epilogue

  Three months later

  “To the bride and groom!” Nolan Lopez held his glass of champagne high, and the wedding guests followed suit, echoing his toast.

  Glasses clinked and people laughed. Rob could not care less. All he wanted, all he ever desired, sat with him at the head table of his wedding reception. Trina and Jake. To his utter delight, she’d accepted his proposal of marriage and they’d put together a ceremony that they’d all appreciate, Jake included.

  His bride smiled over his son’s head. “How you holding up, Mr. Lopez?”

  “Wonderfully, Mrs. Bristol.” They kissed over Jake’s head, laughing as they did so. Unable to decide whose name to take with the reality of Jake bearing Rob’s original name, they’d decided to legally keep their current names, Trina Lopez and Robert Bristol. It was a necessity, as Rob was going to continue his civilian job as a social worker, and Trina would continue with the Marshals in a desk job. They’d both take Trail Hiker assignments as offered, sometimes together as long as her mother was available to watch Jake. And many women kept their maiden names, so it wasn’t anything major. Still, it made for good teasing between them. And if it got him an extra kiss from Trina, Rob was all for it.

  Rob was particularly pleased that they’d all agreed to change Jake’s name to Justin Lopez-Bristol. It was time for a new beginning for all of them. He watched his son charm Trina’s mother, who couldn’t resist adjusting the bow tie on Jake’s tux. He and Jake wore matching tuxedoes, and he felt it cemented their relationship so far. Today was a celebration of their father-son bond, which had grown leaps even as Rob stumbled over basic things like adhering to Jake’s set bedtime and not allowing him to have all the sweets he wanted, whenever he wanted. Trina helped him see that boundaries with his son were a good thing, and helped respect and love grow on both sides.