Dalton, Tymber - Fire and Ice [A Triple Trouble Prequel] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) (37 page)

He pulled her to him and hugged her. “I’m sure you will, sweetie. In your own time and way. It doesn’t have to be right now.”

The events of the past couple of years threatened to swamp her as it was. “I hope it doesn’t. There’s still a lot to do. They won’t stop until we stop them. They’re just laying low and regrouping.”

She didn’t have to clarify who she meant. “I know,” Zack said. “Ready to go?”

“Yeah.”

They returned to the car. He headed into downtown Seattle and found them a parking spot at a pay garage. Without questioning him, she let him lead her a few blocks away to a scenic side street filled with older buildings instead of monstrous skyscrapers.

A store tucked away on the second floor of an old, brick building and accessed by a staircase, was their destination.

She read the sign.

Fisher Books and Collectibles

He stopped at the door. “You okay?”

She nodded.

When they entered, a bell tinkled above the door. Floor to ceiling, the bookshelves were stuffed mostly with books, but also some small displays of baseball cards and other items.

An elderly man, grey and stoop-shouldered, looked up from his book. He glanced over his reading glasses at them. “Hello, welcome. Here to browse, or may I help you find something specific?”

Zack offered him a smile and pulled a piece of paper from his pocket. He handed it over. “I’m looking for this. Any chance you have it?”

The man studied the paper and turned to his computer. “Let me check.”

Lina wanted to hug the man, to say something, and found she couldn’t. Her gaze fell on pictures on the wall behind him. The man, approximately twenty years younger, with a woman and some grown children and what appeared to be grandchildren.

Then Zack nudged her and tipped his head, indicating another photo.

And old picture, a man and a woman. The man slightly resembled this one, but she knew it wasn’t him.

Zack squeezed her hand as her breath caught.

It looked nothing like them now, and yet…it felt familiar.

The man shook his head and looked up from his computer as he returned the paper to Zack. “Sorry. I don’t have this one in stock.”

“That’s quite all right.” He shook hands with the man. “Thank you for your time.”

Lina reached across the counter to shake with him, too. As she did, a flood of memories, clear as yesterday, slammed into her brain. Holding him in her arms when he was born, their youngest, three weeks early but healthy. Zack’s tears as he also looked at him. His tenth birthday, when their dog ended up with birthday cake frosting all over his whiskers. His wedding. The birth of his first child…

The sorrow on his face as she closed her eyes and knew it would be the last time she would ever take a breath.

The man’s eyes widened in shock.

She let go and stepped back, grabbing Zack’s arm for support. “Thank you for your time, Robbie.” She practically dragged Zack toward the door.

As it closed behind them, she heard the man’s stunned voice. “Wait! How did you know my name?”

She pulled Zack behind her as she headed toward the parking garage. He finally dug his heels in and stopped her, stepping into an alley and grabbing her in a bear hug.

She struggled for all of two breaths before she started sobbing.

“It’s okay, sweetie,” he whispered in her ear. “Let it out.”

She relaxed against him, letting his strong, warm embrace support her as she released her grief.

When she was able to compose herself, he kissed the top of her head. “It’ll be all right. It’s just a shock.” He smiled. “Maybe you should name this one after him.”

She stepped back, alarmed. “What?”

He smirked and laid a hand on her stomach. “You’re pregnant, sweetie. Nearly six weeks along. Believe me, I’ve seen all the signs with you enough times. That’s another reason you’re so volatile right now.”

“But…I can’t…not right now!”

“Yes, right now.” He kissed her forehead and pulled her close again. “It’s okay. It’ll be okay.”

“But I’ve only been with them a couple of years!”

“I know. The Universe willing, you’ll have eons more.”

They started walking again when they passed a Starbucks. She was about to suggest they go in when her vision went blue. She clamped down on Zack’s hand for support, then the Seattle landscape disappeared, replaced by a place she knew well from their many visits over the past couple of years.

The Lyall ranch.

She saw the gathered guests, including her and her men, preparing for a celebration. And she saw the same woman whose face had appeared to her in the vision back at Yellowstone when she and Brodey escaped the fire.

Like that, it was gone. Zack looked worried.

“Well?” he asked.

She smiled, then laughed. “Let’s get our coffee. Then we need to get our asses home to Florida. We’ve got a wedding to attend.”

“Um, whose wedding? And don’t forget, we have to meet up with Andel and the
flagyer
mucky-mucks in Brussels in two weeks.”

She frowned. “Crap. I forgot about that.” She closed her eyes as the last traces of the vision wisped away. “Oh, okay. We have a couple of months yet.” She laughed as she opened her eyes. “Brodey is going to be shocked as hell to see me. I’ll be as big as a house.”

She realized what she just said. “Oh, fuck.”

“What?”

She glared at him. “Why the hell didn’t you tell me it’s twins?”

He grinned. “I wanted there to be some surprise, sweetie.”

She was going to step inside the coffee shop when yet another vision hit her. Zack pulled her out of the way of other pedestrians and held her until she came out of it.

Her happy joy had evaporated.

“What’s wrong?” Zack asked. “Lina, fucking talk to me!”

“We have a little side trip we have to make,” she said. “We can’t tell anyone. We have to go. Now.”

“We’re supposed to fly home—”

“No.” She shook her head. “We need to get to get our stuff and head to the airport. Now.”

He took one last, longing look at the Starbucks before leading her toward the parking garage. “Rick and Jan will have a shit fit, you realize that?”

“I don’t care. We have to go. Now.” She knew if they didn’t, it might be too late.

They reached the car and before Zack started it, he asked, “Do you mind telling me where we’re going, exactly?”

She closed her eyes and thought about it. “Bolivia.”

“What the fuck? Are you
shitting
me?
Bolivia
? What the fuck’s in Bolivia?”

She swallowed hard as she met Zack’s irritated glare. “It’s going to get bad,” she whispered, barely able to get the words out. She’d not only seen what she had to do, but what could happen if she didn’t. “We have to get to him before anyone else does. If we don’t, and they get to him first…” She didn’t want to say it.

He rolled his eyes. “I know, I know. End of the world as we know it.” He backed the car out of the space. “You’re explaining this to Rick and Jan when we get home. They’ll want to castrate me for us taking off like this.”

“They can’t know.” She stared at the city as they passed through it. She’d hoped to have a couple of days here to sightsee and relax with Zack.

Now, that couldn’t happen.

Crap. A goddess’ work is never done.

Chapter Three

They collected their bags and stepped outside the tiny airport terminal at San Miguel. They had packed light, anticipating a weekend in Seattle and not a multi-continental journey to South America.

Zack looked around, doubt on his face. “Are you sure about this, sweetie?”

Lina shook her head. “I’m not sure about anything, except that if I don’t eat soon, I’m gonna not-so-randomly blow something up in a very flaming, barbecue kind of way. Like a cow or a pig.”

They threaded their way through street vendors and pedestrians, Lina cursing the heat with every step. Not even Florida felt this hot. The very air bore a damp, aromatic funk she hoped she never smelled again.

They finally found a restaurant nearby that didn’t look too condemnable. When the waitress walked up, Zack took over.

“
Dos Coke, por favor.
”

“
Sí
.” The waitress laid menus on the table before she turned and headed to the counter.

“I wanted water,” Lina griped.

Zack shook his head. “Not unless it comes from a bottle.”

“Oh.” She glanced at the menu then dropped the sticky, grungy thing onto the table. “You order for me. You know what I like.”

He smiled. “No problem.”

When the waitress returned with their cold, unopened cans of sodas, Zack chatted with her in Spanish, got her smiling. Then she wrote on her notepad and walked away.

Lina recognized only a few words of the conversation, like sandwich and pork. “What are we getting?”

“Oh, don’t you want to be surprised?”

“Not really.”

“Relax.”

Ten minutes later, the waitress returned with two delicious-smelling plates laden with pork sandwiches, rice, beans, and fried plantains.

Lina tore into hers. “Zack, this is delicious!”

Zack laughed. “Oh, ye of little faith and
mucho
incendiary powers. Not Cuban food, but still pretty good.”

They finished eating a little while later. With Lina’s tummy happily full, Zack herded her out of the restaurant and toward a hotel two blocks down.

“This looks ritzy,” she griped. Although compared to America, it was maybe as nice as a one-star hotel that hadn’t suffered a vice raid in the last forty-eight hours.

“It is. And if you think I’ll stay anywhere else, you’re crazy. They grow bedbugs as large as monkeys down here. This is the closest we’ll get to not needing a delousing before we clear Customs in Tampa when we leave here.”

After check-in, Zack spoke to the desk clerk before they headed to their room. “What was that about?” she asked.

“He’s going to get us a car.” He smiled. “And he gave me some info.”

An hour later, Lina had bathed, changed into jeans and sneakers, and felt reasonably more human. When their room phone rang, Zack answered.

“
Sí
? …
Bueno
.
Gracias
.” He hung up. “Let’s go. Our chariot awaits.”

Downstairs, she stared at the car. “You’ve got to be shitting me.” The rusted black Land Rover looked like it had seen far better days.

“Hey, we don’t want flashy,” he said after thanking and tipping the clerk. “Flashy will get us the wrong kind of attention.”

She climbed into the passenger seat. “Well, I hope you don’t consider AAA the wrong kind of attention because this thing looks horrible.”