Healing Love: Saints Protection & Investigation (23 page)

“Does he speak for you, Ms. Delaro?” one of the DEA agents growled.

She turned her head back to stare at the man and then up to Cam. Smiling wide, she nodded. “I can always speak for myself, gentlemen. And have been for a couple of hours. But in this? Yeah, he speaks for me.”

With that, she threw her arm around his waist as he tossed his arm over her shoulders and pulled her in tight, grinning down on her.

As the couple walked out into the main room the other Saints watched them, smiles on their faces. Having heard and watched their friend carefully, they nodded approval.

“Looks like another one of us has found something good,” Blaise said, as the men moved over to stand with the couple.

*

Cam chuckled as
he watched Miriam bouncing in her seat. The DEA plane had just touched down and taxied to another undisclosed hangar.

“Will they be here? I can’t see anyone,” she said, leaning over Cam’s lap to look out of the window.

He smiled, knowing that her family was just inside one of the offices waiting on her. Marc had talked to Jobe and he had gathered her parents and sisters to meet them.

Once again, he held her hand as they alighted from the much larger aircraft, his eyes carefully scanning the area, unable to shake the feeling that she might be in danger. His mind trailed back to the conversation they had before the flight had taken off.

Blaise had spoken to the DEA agents and then talked to Cam afterwards, when Miriam was not with him. “She’s given them a lot of information and while most of it they knew, it helped getting both of your descriptions of the compound, location, and inner-sanctum hierarchy. While none of it was really new, you two solidified some of their intel.”

“So, what do they think of her safety?” Cam asked, concern in his voice.

Blaise watched his friend struggle, understanding what Cam felt for Miriam went way beyond rescuer. Placing his hand on Cam’s shoulder, he answered, “They don’t think that she needs protecting. She was never in a position to gather more intel than what they had, she had no dealings with anyone who was here in the US, so they think she’s good.”

“What about the media?” Monty asked, walking up and catching the end of Blaise’s explanation.

“They’re keeping her name out of it and advised her to do the same, which as you can imagine, she has no intention of blabbing to anyone about her ordeal,” Blaise continued.

Bart looked at his friend and asked, “Cam? What’s the deal with her? You involved more than a mission? Were the looks I saw pass between the two of you just looks between a rescuer and victim? Or is there something else brewing?”

Cam looked away, running his hand through his hair, seeing Miriam standing to the side talking to one of the nurses who had examined her. “Fuck if I know,” he admitted. “She’s amazing, strong, smart, and I’ll admit only to you all, I’m falling hard for that girl and think she feels the same. But…”

The silence hung between the Saints for a moment and then Monty prodded, “But what, man?”

Cam turned back and looked at them. “What if that’s all this was? She may have just been reacting to an intense situation when you don’t know if you’re gonna live or die. I want to explore it. See if it’s real. Hope like hell she does too, but…now that we’re back and she’ll have her own life, then I don’t know.”

Bart clapped him on the shoulder, saying, “Tell you the same thing we told Jack months ago. You find something like that, you just don’t let it slip through your fingers. Work at it, man. Work to see if what you discovered back there in the wilds of Mexico is something that you can build on here.”

Now they were back in Virginia, off of the plane, and walking toward the office where she would be reunited with her family. He was glad…this was what the mission had been all about.
So why do I feel so fuckin’ afraid?

T
he door from
the hangar’s office flew open as Jobe threw it against the wall, his eyes on his sister. Miriam jumped at the sound then immediately saw him, followed closely by the rest of her family.

Screaming, she left Cam’s side, running to meet Jobe, jumping into his arms at the last minute. She hit him so hard that as large as he was, he had to take a step back when her body crashed into his.

She could barely catch a breath as he twirled her around, before becoming aware of the crying of her mother, Rachel. Jobe set her down only to have her engulfed by her mother and father. Joseph Delaro had thought seeing each of his children as they were born was the most beautiful sight he had ever seen…but nothing matched holding his daughter once more after they had feared the worst. Miriam’s sisters, Rebecca and Hannah, crowded in as well, a group hug that made it impossible for the observers to tell whose arms belonged to whom.

Choking back tears, Miriam assured over and over, “I’m fine, I’m fine.”

As the family continued its reunion, Cam and the others stood back giving them privacy. He wanted to join…wanted to walk over, interrupt and say something stupid like,
Here’s your daughter and by the way I’m in love with her.
Instead, he stood rock steady, the doubt of what they had in the wild and what they could have in the real world creeping in.

Jobe separated from the family and walked over to Cam, his arm stretched out. Cam took his hand, then found himself pulled into a man-hug.

Jobe’s voice choked, “Graditude man, you gotta know it.”

Cam wanted to offer comfort but knew that if anyone had taken one of his sisters, he would be beside himself with worry and overjoyed to have her returned.

“The last month’s been hell on my family. Never knowing. Jesus,” Jobe continued, pulling back to hold Cam’s eyes. “Owe you. Whatever, whenever. I owe you.”

Shaking his head, he reached around placing his hand on Jobe’s shoulder. “Nah, man. I took this as a mission, but I gotta tell you, your sister’s fuckin’ amazing. She held her shit together, did what she had to do to survive and then, when I got to her and we got out, she was right on point. Never wavered. Never faltered.”

Jobe nodded, but added, “I can’t begin to imagine what the hell you two went through.” He turned to watch Miriam smiling with her parents still hovering. Turning his gaze back to Cam’s he asked, “You think she’s gonna be okay?”

Nodding, Cam responded, “Yeah. She’s gonna be fine.” He glanced over at the DEA agents still in the area. “They’ve questioned her pretty hard and she was checked out by the medical staff when we first landed. She’s exhausted but, for the most part, she seems fine.” He watched Jobe carefully, knowing Jobe had faced issues with PTSD after his time in Afghanistan. “They mentioned that she should seek a trauma counselor and I don’t think that’s a bad idea.”

Jobe’s gaze shot to his immediately, a heavy sigh leaving his body. Rubbing his hand through his hair, he nodded. “They’re right. No matter how she’s coping now, this is gonna fuck with her head.”

Cam wanted to tell Jobe that he would be around. That he would be seeing to Miriam personally. That he would take care of her himself. But the words caught in his throat as he continued to watch her with her family.
She needs time with them. I need to back off…for now.

*

Miriam’s tears ceased
as she convinced her parents she was not going to disappear in a puff of smoke. While talking to them she watched her brother approach Cam and smiled as the two hugged. She wondered when he would reunite with his family.
But he was on a mission, not kidnapped, so his family might not have even known he was out of the country.
Biting her bottom lip, she allowed her mind to wonder if he did this often—go to foreign countries to save maidens in distress.
Maybe so, but I was special…what we shared was special…wasn’t it?

Fatigue and emotional exhaustion crowded into her thoughts, making them a jumbled mess instead of the clear knowledge that the man who had held her through the night was hers. Hers to still lean on, still need, still…
love.

Her thoughts were interrupted when her father declared, “We need go. We need to get Miriam home. My girl has been through enough.”

Jobe walked over, hearing his father’s words, and pulled his sister back into another embrace. “We’re done here, sis. Let’s go.”

“I…I have to say goodbye to Cam.”

Walking away from her family she approached Cam tentatively, seeing that he was standing with his co-workers. The wall of muscular testosterone in front of her was impressive…and intimidating, but she only had eyes for Cam.

He stepped away from the others and met her in the middle of the hangar, aware he wanted to spirit her away from the curious eyes all around and take her somewhere private. They stopped two feet apart, her head still having to lean back to look into his eyes.

“Hey,” she said softly. “I…I guess my family is ready to go.”

“Yeah,” he answered, suddenly unsure of himself and who they were now that she was safe.

She picked up on his reticence, sucking her lips between her teeth in nervousness. “I want to make sure you know…um…well, how much…well, thank you for everything.” Her words sounded lame to her, but with a crowd surrounding them, she did not dare throw herself into his arms and declare her undying love.

Her uncertainty screamed out to Cam and he lifted his hand toward her, saying, “The pleasure was all mine, Miriam. I’m glad you’re with your family now and…well…it was very nice to get to know you.”

She looked down at his outstretched hand and, not knowing what else to do, placed her much smaller one into his, accepting his shake.
No Cariña. Just Miriam.

He watched her carefully, looking for a sign that she wanted more, but only saw her looking down at their clasped hands.

She battled back the tears, wishing he would pull her in for a hug…something to indicate that what they shared was special to him as well.

With half-hearted smiles, they dropped their hands, neither saying anything.

“Well, um…goodbye, Cam,” she said, trying to make her voice sound stronger than she felt.

Nodding slowly, he added, “Goodbye, Miriam.”

With that, she turned and started to walk away, when he called her name again. Smiling she moved back. Looking up expectantly, she watched as he pulled out a pen and piece of paper from his pocket. He scribbled something and then handed it to her.

“It’s my phone number, in case…well, if you ever need anything.”

She stared at the paper as she had his handshake a moment earlier, before looking up. Steeling her expression to mask her confusion, she nodded her thanks before walking back to her family. Accepting Jobe’s arm across her shoulders as they walked to their vehicle. Once inside, she spared a glance at the assembly, but only had eyes for the large man who had rescued her…and stolen her heart. And she watched him until he was out of view and another tear slid down her cheek.

*

The DEA agents,
including Alberto, were packing up as Marc walked over to Cam, clapping him on the shoulder. “You wanna tell me what the hell that was?”

Cam’s lips tightened into a thin line as he let out a deep breath through his nose. “Don’t go there,” he warned.