Healing Love: Saints Protection & Investigation (21 page)

His black hair, lightly curling on the ends, beckoned her fingers. When he turned his head to the side, she could see the dark stubble of beard on his face.

He exuded danger…a man on a mission.
Me. I’m that mission.
How could a man like that ever be interested in me?
She knew she had fallen in love with her rescuer and tried to convince herself that the emotions were only due to their extreme circumstances. But when he held her last night, all doubts flew from her mind and she knew her love was real. Based on the man and not the mission.
Is this one-sided?
Doubts filled her, but she pushed them to the back of her mind as she watched him disconnect his call. His face was etched in thought and she instinctively knew his mind was on the day’s necessities.

Forcing her mind to the same, she prayed,
Please God, help us get home.

*

Cam walked back
over to where he had left a sleeping Miriam only to find her awake and staring at him.

“Did I wake you?” he asked, kneeling in front of her, lifting his hand to tuck a wayward strand of hair behind her ear.

Smiling, she shook her head as she stretched her body from its cramped position. Sitting up, she peered into his face searching for his thoughts. His face blank, she asked, “Is everything okay?”

“Yeah,” he replied, wondering how much to tell her.

“There’s something you’re not saying.”

Chuckling, he deflected, “You think you can read me that well?”

Lifting an eyebrow, she cocked her head and answered, “Um, yeah. I think, Mr. Perez, that after the time we’ve spent together, I know you very well.”

Throwing his head back in laughter, he agreed. “Okay, Ms. Delaro. I guess you’re right.” Lowering his head back to hers, he leaned forward placing a kiss on her cheek. “I reckon you do know me,
cariña
.”

Her eyes flashed with desire and he wanted nothing more than to take her again, here on the beach, and prove to her the depths of his feelings for her. But regretfully, now was not the time.

She saw his flare of interest and then watched as it died in his eyes. Sighing, she said, “I suppose you’re all business this morning?”

Chuckling again, he replied, “Babe, I’d give anything if we were on this beach as a getaway vacation. Swear to God, I’d be doing nothing but worshiping your body right now in a way that would leave no doubt in your mind how I felt.” Sighing heavily, he added, “But I need to let you know that according to Marc, the cartel definitely knows you and I left together.”

He watched as her expression hardened and he wished to fuck he could make it soft again. Plunging on, he continued. “It was them doing flyovers on the river and checking out the shore last night.” Hearing her sharp intake of breath, he plunged on. “Marc’s ETA is about two hours so we need to be vigilant, be ready, and stay on target.”

She nodded slowly, letting his warnings take root. “Okay,” she said softly. Her gaze moved to the blue waters beyond his back and asked, “How does this work?”

Sliding easily into mission planning mode, he answered, “Marc’s bringing our DEA contact along with him to provide extra security. He’ll fly in and maneuver as close as he can, but he may have to stay back from the shore. We’ll need to get to him.”

He watched her face carefully, but so far her expression had not shown concern…just concentration.
That’s my girl.
His thoughts stumbled as he realized,
My girl. Fuck yeah, she’s my girl.

“Cam?”

“Right here, babe,” he responded.

“Um…I’m a decent swimmer, but not great. And I’ve never swam in the ocean,” she confessed.

“Gotcha.” He looked thoughtful for a moment and then said, “As soon as we can, we’ll get in the water when we know he’s close and then you swim as hard and fast as you can. Once beyond the waves, it’ll be just like swimming anywhere else. I’ll be right with you and if you get tired before we make it to the plane, I’ll get you the rest of the way. Okay?”

Sucking in a huge breath, she agreed.

“That’s my girl,” he stated firmly, touching his lips to her forehead.

She looked up in surprise at his declaration, hoping it was more than just a phrase. Smiling, she moved forward slightly and kissed his lips. She could tell he was surprised for only a second until he took over the kiss. Long. Hard. Wet. And full of promise.

*

At the appointed
time, the whir of a plane’s engine could be heard over the surf and Cam grabbed Miriam’s hand, leading her into the water. They watched as the aircraft flew over and then circled around, its nose aiming toward the water. At the last minute, the plane leveled and the floats touched the surface.

“Let’s go,” Cam ordered, tugging her further into the surf.

The waves were difficult to manage, but she dove under a few and swam out trying to keep moving. He did not leave her side even though she knew he could have made the swim much faster. A large wave hit causing her to swallow water. Coughing as she came up, she felt his arms latch around her waist and hold her above the surface until she could catch her breath.

“You good?” he asked, worry lacing his voice.

Nodding her answer, they continued to swim toward the approaching plane. Its engines were propelling it forward slowly.
Almost there,
she thought with excitement.

The side door popped open and a man stepped out onto the pontoon. It was hard to focus on him and try to keep her head above the surface at the same time. A loud bang was heard and she jerked her head up at the same time she felt Cam’s body stiffen. The other man was pointing a gun toward the back of the plane and firing.

“Fuck! We’ve got company,” Cam yelled. “Go and keep your head down!”

She pushed off, adrenaline coursing through her system and she forced her arms and legs to swim faster than she ever had. She could not see what was happening but was determined to get to the plane.

Touching the pontoon with her hand, she heard the pilot yell through his open window, “Hold on!”

The water splashed over her as the plane created waves on the surf, but she could still hear the ping of the gun.

“Now!” the pilot yelled and before she knew it, Cam was behind, boosting her up. The man with the gun reached down with one arm and easily hauled her out of the water onto her knees on the slick pontoon.

Cam hoisted himself up beside her and with a quick glance to the right, saw a boat veering to the side. He grabbed her around the waist and shoved her through the open cabin door, realizing he was rougher than he meant to be, but urgency was needed. He followed quickly and Alberto jumped in behind as well, shouting, “Go, go!” as he closed the plane’s door.

Before the passengers could be seated, the pilot engaged and the plane lurched forward, tossing Miriam against the floor. Scrambling to pull herself up, Cam grabbed her head and pushed her back.

“Stay down!” he yelled, throwing open the window and firing out of one side while the other man was doing the same from his side.

Cam focused on the boat that had circled around and was making another pass.

“Marc! They’re trying to come around to the front.”

“Got ’em,” came the response.

Miriam could not see anything from her position on the floor, but knew Cam expected her to stay where she was. The plane rattled as it picked up speed and she wondered if they would be able to get airborne. Heart pounding, she clutched the leg of the seat to keep from rolling back again as the aircraft’s nose tipped up.

Lifting off of the water, Marc turned the plane toward land to get away from the men firing at them from the boat. As it banked in the curve, Miriam rolled in the other direction, bumping into Cam’s legs.

Seeing they were away from immediate danger, he handed his gun to Alberto and crouched over her. “You okay, baby?” he asked, as he assisted her into a seat and buckled her in tightly, noting her shaking.

He buckled into the seat next to hers and threw his arm around her shoulders, maneuvering her body so that it was pulled in close to his.

“Was that them?” she asked, twisting her head to look up into his face.

He nodded, then before he could answer a towel was thrust toward them from Alberto. Offering him their thanks, he dried her arms and face quickly before using it himself.

“Miriam, let me introduce you to our rescuers. That’s Marc up front piloting and this is Alberto. Gentlemen, this brave lady is Miriam Delaro.”

“Pleased to make your acquaintance, Ms. Delaro,” Alberto said, offering her a blanket, which she took gratefully. Her scrubs were soaked and plastered to her skin. Wrapping the blanket around her body, she tried to calm the adrenaline shivers.

Her eyes shot toward the pilot, who threw up his hand in salutation before looking back, a broad smile on his face.

“Marc,” Cam started, “you’re one helluva pilot to get us outta there. And Alberto, thank fuck you came along with some firepower.”

“You’re the one who made it outta the viper’s den,” Marc said, with Alberto’s nod in agreement. “You and Ms. Delaro.”

“Please, call me Miriam,” she said softly, her voice raspy from the salt water that she had swallowed.

Alberto moved to a chest next to him, saying, “It’s not prime rib, but we know you two haven’t eaten much.” He pulled out water bottles and protein bars.

Her hands still shaking, Miriam took the bar then struggled to get it unwrapped. Cam’s hand came over and pulled it from her.

“Here you go, babe,” he said, handing the unwrapped bar to her. “Now, eat and drink slowly.” He made sure she was taken care of then gratefully accepted the food himself.

Marc moved the aircraft back over the water now that they were safely airborne and the threat from the boat was over. Twisting around, he caught Cam’s actions as he hovered over Miriam. “You good?” he asked.

“We are now,” Cam sighed heavily, the adrenaline slowly draining from him.

“I…I want to thank you,” Miriam said, looking toward Marc. Then she turned to Alberto, adding, “Both of you.”

“From what I hear, Miriam, you should be standing up taking bows for how you handled the past month,” Marc said sincerely.

“Agreed,” Alberto said.

“Abso-fuckin’-lutely,” Cam added, throwing his arm back around her once more, making sure the blanket was tucked around her carefully.

“What now?” she asked, chewing the bar.

“We’ve got permission to land in Texas at an undisclosed airfield. We’ll change planes and be flown to Virginia,” Marc commented.

Cam watched as a confused look appeared on her face. She kept her eyes on Marc as she asked, “Is that all?”

Chuckling, Marc said, “No, but I was just trying to give you the easy version.”

“I think you’d better sock it to me, Marc.”

Cam saw Marc quickly twist around and catch his eyes, a questioning look on Marc’s face. “You’ll find out,” Cam explained, “Miriam’s as tough as they come, so yeah, go ahead and let us know what’s in store, but uh…maybe the abbreviated version.”

“You got it,” came the response. “All right, Miriam, here’s what’s gonna happen. When we get to Texas, we’ll be in a hangar and the only people around will be DEA and FBI. They’ve got a doctor and nurse waiting for us and will check you and Cam out first. That may take a while because they will want to be thorough, and then you’ll be fed. After that, DEA and FBI will speak to each of you individually.”

Cam heard her sudden intake of breath and tightened his embrace. “It’s gonna be fine, babe. They gotta find out whatever you know. So you just answer all of their questions and give them as much information as you can. I’ll be doin’ the same.”

His eyes cut over to Alberto, “You know these guys? Don’t want any dirty DEAs talking to Miriam.” He knew it was a cut to Alberto, implying that there were DEA personnel on the take with the cartels, but every agency had them.

“I talked to the lead investigator. Know him. Know his family. Known him for years. His name’s Manuel Reyes. He’s clean and his team’s clean.”

Cam held his gaze and then nodded. Miriam glanced between the three men, not understanding their conversation but trusting Cam enough to take care of her.