Chained (9 page)

At the same time, she spoke to the unconscious man she had
brought here.

“Matt, we’re at the ranch. Your body was at Garrison Care in
Los Angeles, but your soul came here. You have to bring the two parts back
together.”

He didn’t answer, but she kept talking to him, touching him.

“You recognized me when I came here to hide out. Come back
to me now. We were so close out here. Please, I want that again. For both of
us.”

When he didn’t respond she had to hold back a sob. “Don’t
you feel the power of this place? Feel it all around you. It’s like a vibration
in the air. A healing vibration.”

Again when he didn’t move or speak, she looked back over her
shoulder to make sure Decorah couldn’t see them.

Fear and uncertainty clawed at her. If her plan didn’t work,
her heart would fracture.

With a little sob, she climbed onto the stretcher, lying on
top of the unconscious man, holding him, kissing his face, stroking his arms,
trying in every way she could to make him aware of his physical body.

“You came to me here. You recognized me. Matthew, you know
me. And you want to come back to your body. Please do it now. For me. And for
yourself. Don’t throw your life away. Please don’t do that.”

For long moments, nothing happened. Then she sensed him
stirring.

“Isabella?”

“Yes. Matthew, thank God. Matthew.”

He shuddered. He had been like a man who knew nothing,
sensed nothing. Now she felt the real Matthew Houseman coming back to his body.

But the words he spoke were not the ones she wanted to hear.

“After all this time, I’m finally free,” he whispered. “I
should have left long ago.”

“No!
Dios
, no.”

As his voice faded, she felt his soul seeping out of him,
rising toward the heavens.

“No!” Isabella cried out again. “
Dios
, what have I
done?”

But even as she protested, she felt the essence of Matthew
Houseman rising upward, departing to a place where no living person could
follow.

With that terrible knowledge, she felt her own spirit start
to die. It was the worst agony she had ever felt in her life.

Maybe that was what made her able to stay with him.

Or perhaps it was her resolve. She would
not
let him
leave her. Not now. Not when she had found him again after all these years. Not
when she knew how he felt about her.

She was going to bring him back.

Or die trying.

Tears streamed down her face as she clung to him with her
arms, her hands, her legs, and her spirit, pressing herself to him.

And as his soul drifted upward, she traveled with him.

She closed her eyes, feeling the two of them hovering
somewhere above the earth. Even with her eyes closed, in the distance she could
see a bright light. He was going there. To a warm, sweet place where he would
be at peace.

She felt the strong, seductive pull. But she had to stop
him. He didn’t understand what had happened. His body and soul were united, but
it wasn’t his time to depart. Not now.

“Matthew, you have to stay with me.”

“Go back.”

“Not without you.”

“I’m not supposed to be on earth.”

“Of course you are.” She gulped. “You’re confused.”

“Am I?”

“Yes. Your body and your soul came back together so you can
be yourself again. Not leave.”

“Is that true?”

“Yes! You have to stay here. For me. For yourself. For us.”

A long, empty silence followed. It might have lasted for
seconds or minutes or hours.

She didn’t know precisely where she and Matthew were. She
could no longer feel his body or her own, but she knew that she must be
suspended somewhere between life and death. With Matthew. And if she couldn’t
pull him back to the world, she didn’t want to go back, either.

Physical sensation was beyond her now, but somehow she still
clung to him with her spirit, calling on the power of the vortex and on the
power of her love for him.

She couldn’t even form words with her lips now. But she
called to him in her mind

Matthew. Stay with me Matthew. You have to do that, for
both of us. If you die, I will too.

No. It’s not your time.

And not your time, either. Matthew, I love you. And I
think you love me. That’s why you have to let us be together. It’s up to you.
You’re the only one who can make it happen. Let yourself come back to where
you’re supposed to be. But whatever happens, I’m staying with you.

CHAPTER TEN

I can’t let you die, he whispered in her head. You have
your whole life ahead of you.

We both do.

She sensed the balance shifting. For both of them. Gradually
she felt her own body, felt her arms wrapped around Matthew, felt her breasts
pressed to his chest as he lay on the stretcher on which they had wheeled him
into the desert

Because she had been so sure it was the right thing to do.

“Matthew! You’re here. I know you’re here.”

“Isabella?” he asked, as though he couldn’t believe she was
really with him.

“Yes. Oh, yes.”

She felt his arms come up and clasp her. Not tightly, but it
made her heart race and moisture sting her eyes.

She lifted her head and stared down at him through a film of
tears, seeing confusion and wonder on his face.

“Isabella?”

“
Gracias a
Dios
.”

“I was . . . I should be . . . gone.”

“Of course not.”

He turned his head to the side, staring at the red rocks.
“Where am I?”

“At the ranch.”

“In Sedona?”

“Yes. Do you remember? I came here to hide out from El
Jefe’s men. You were here first in the wind. Then you came to my bedroom. We
met in the grove. You saved me from falling off a stool. And you saved me from
one of the
hombres
.”

He blinked. “That’s like a dream. Was that real?”

“Yes.”

He raised his hand, looking at it. “But I wasn’t . . . myself.”

“You were shot during a raid at a militia compound. Powder
Keg it was called. You told me that.”

“Did I?”

“Yes. You were badly wounded. You were in a coma. Your body
was in Los Angeles, but your spirit was here. Waiting for me.”

As she clung to him, more tears welled in her eyes, and she
struggled to hold them back.

She had won. They had won. She might have given in to sobs
of joy, but the sound of a man clearing his throat made her head whip around.

Frank Decorah was standing beside one of the red rocks,
staring at them with an astonished expression on his face.

“Matthew?”

“Frank? What are you doing here?”

“Taking a crazy chance.” He stepped forward. “Matthew,
you’re awake.”

“Looks like it.”

Embarrassed beyond anything she could imagine, Isabella
scrambled off the stretcher, but she kept her hand on Matthew’s arm, unwilling
to break the contact with him.

Shifting away from the other man, she asked Matthew, “How do
you feel?”

“Shaky. But good,” he answered, taking a deep breath of the
desert air and letting it out slowly. “Lord, this place smells clean and
fresh.”

“Yes.” She looked toward Frank Decorah. “I hope you’re not
going to have me arrested.”

“For what?” Matthew demanded.

“For dragging you out of the extended care facility where
you’ve been since Powder Keg. I thought that stunt of hers was going to kill
you,” Decorah answered.

“It seems you were wrong.”

Frank’s expression turned regretful. “I’ve built Decorah
Security by being innovative. By recruiting agents with out of the ordinary
talents and taking on cases others ran away from. Cases with a touch of the
weird. But when it came to trusting your life to Isabella’s plan, I was
terrified. Then I realized that if I didn’t give her a chance, I might regret
it for the rest of my life.”

Isabella didn’t tell him how close a call it had been.

When Matthew pushed himself to a sitting position, she
tensed, ready to catch him if he tumbled to the side. But he sat for a moment,
testing his balance, then swung his legs over the side.

She looked at the uneven ground. “Not the best place for
your first walk in five years.”

“That long?”

“Yes.”

He turned to Decorah. “Give us a minute, would you?”

The other man ducked back behind the rocks, and Matthew
faced her.

“When I was guarding you and your father, I couldn’t tell
you I loved you. But I can tell you now.”

“Oh, Matthew. Matthew. I love you so much.”

“And you had the faith and the courage to bring me back.”

He lowered his head to hers for a kiss that was full of
passion and gratitude.

When they broke apart, she whispered. “Let’s get you back to
L.A. Gloria wants to see you.”

“Gloria?”

“One of the nurses who’s been taking care of you. At a
facility called Garrison Care.”

“I don’t remember her. Or being there.”

“Pretend you know her, or she’ll be devastated. I think she
had a crush on you. I mean, she’s old enough to be your mom, but she was very
protective of you. And she helped me sneak you out of there.”

The ambulance driver took the vehicle back to L.A., and they
rode in the helicopter, with the doctor who had accompanied Decorah. He checked
Matthew out and pronounced him in astonishingly good health. From the heliport,
Frank drove them to Garrison Care, where Gloria was indeed waiting.

When she saw Matthew walk in the door, Isabella was afraid
the nurse was going to faint. Instead she rushed to her former patient.

“Matthew. Oh Lord, Matthew. I prayed for you to come back
like this.”

He reached for her, and they hugged. As he held her, he told
her how much he appreciated what she’d done for him.

“And I understand you helped Isabella spring me from this
place.”

Gloria nodded.

“That took guts.”

“At first, I wasn’t sure what to do. But then I realized I
had to take a chance—for you.”

“I’m so glad you did.”

Next Dr. Berman examined Matthew and looked like he’d
witnessed a miracle.

“It’s nothing I did,” the doctor muttered as he stared at
the man who had been unresponsive for five years.

“It was Isabella,” Matthew said. “She figured out what she
needed to do.”

While he had some further tests, Isabella took the
opportunity to call her father and tell him she’d be coming to see him
tomorrow. With Matthew Houseman.

“Verdad?” her father asked.

“
Si.
”

“How is that possible? I thought he was killed in a raid on
a militia compound.”

“So did I. What really happened is a long story. But you’ll
have to wait until tomorrow.”

“Don’t get off before you tell me—is he all right?”

“Yes.”

“What a blessing.”

Next she reserved a suite for herself and Matthew at the
Beverly Wilshire Hotel. And finally, she rushed to a nearby department store and
bought him a couple of sports shirts, slacks, and underwear.

Hours after they’d left the ranch, they pulled up in the
driveway between the two wings of the Beverly Wilshire.

The suite was overlooking the pool and had a comfortable
living room, a bedroom and two bathrooms.

As soon as the bellman had left, Matthew reached for her,
and she came into his arms.

He held her tightly. “I’ve been aching to get you alone.”

“Oh yes.”

“It’s just sinking in what you did for me.”

“For us.”

“Because you had the guts to try something radical—then keep
me from leaving the earth when I thought that’s what I was supposed to do.”

“I had to.”

“You could have died.”

“I wanted to if I couldn’t have you back. But it worked
out.”

“Thank the Lord. I think nobody else could have done it.
Only you.”

“Because I love you.”

“And because you have courage.”

 He took her mouth in a long, hungry kiss.

When they finally came up for air, she ran her hands up and
down his arms. “You’re sure you’re all right?”

He grinned. “I will be.”

He led her into the bedroom, then wrapped her close again.

“Things are coming back to me. I remember being with you at
the ranch a few days ago. Holding you. Kissing you. But it’s like a dream. It
won’t be real until we make it real.”

She might have argued that he needed to take it easy, but
she knew he needed something more urgent, to affirm that he’d gotten his life
back.

“I’m a little out of practice,” he whispered as he began
opening the buttons down the front of her blouse.

She shook her head. “At the ranch, you seemed to know what
you were doing.”

She helped him get the blouse off before he reached for the
hook at the back of her bra, sending it to the floor with the blouse.

His eyes seemed to shine as he looked at her.

“I pictured you like this,
querida
. But you’re even
more beautiful than I imagined.”

Her hands were shaking as she reached for the buttons of his
shirt, opening them as quickly as she could, then pushing the garment off his
shoulders.

He shrugged out of it, and she ran her hand across his broad
chest, ruffling the crinkly hair she found there.

“I always wanted to touch you like this.”

“Oh yeah.”

He pulled her close, swaying her breasts against his chest,
wringing a glad cry from her.

He ran his fingers through her hair as he brought his mouth
back to hers, silently asking her to open for him. She did, closing her eyes as
he explored the line of her teeth and stroked the sensitive insides of her
lips. He eased far enough away to cup her breasts in his hands and slide his
fingers over the taut peaks.

She heard herself make a sound of approval deep in her
throat, telling him how much she liked what he was doing.