Never Let Go (20 page)

"Here we are. Look. This is the cavern I told you about."

"Hmmm. Oh, Rucker! Oh, my."

"Look there. See how the walls glow when the light hits 'em? Phosphorescence. Minerals from millions of little fossilized sea critters. It's like a cathedral underground. Ahhh. A streak of purple. Gold. Every color. I think a rainbow got trapped in here. In the middle of all this darkness, the beauty still shines. It's you and me and a million years of magic. Babe? Babe, are you listenin'?"

"I could learn to like slimy places."

"Your voice sounds funny. You okay?"

"I'm crying."

"Dee? Do you want to leave?"

"No. You've given me something I'll never forget. Can't a girl cry over your poetry? What are . . . you're laughing at me."

"No, babe. But me a poet? I can't even think up a rhyme."

Oh, Rucker, if only this damned cellar had your rainbow in it.

***

The cellar shook. Dinah jerked awake from a strained sleep and cried out in confusion. A booming sound drowned out her voice, and vibrations showered her with bits of dirt and wood.

Were they having an earthquake? The terror of being helpless and trapped underground made her writhe desperately against her bonds.

But then she heard other sounds; staccato popping noises, the thud of running feet overhead, men shouting, and other garbled noises that signaled violence.

Revolution
, she decided breathlessly. What if the rebels took over and there was no one left to tell them that she was a captive down here?

Her nerves screamed from the tension. The blood rushed against her eardrums so forcefully that she had trouble hearing. Dinah made herself take slow breaths and listen to the continuing sounds of battle upstairs.

Then she heard the dull groan of the cellar's heavy double doors opening. A single pair of feet hurried down a flight of stone stairs.

Dinah's mouth went dry as the footsteps came toward her across the uneven stone floor. The sharp brightness of a flashlight invaded her blindfold. A hand wound into her hair.

"We're going to put on a little show,
querida
." Valdlvia told her pleasantly. "It will be my finale, I'm afraid. But I'll enjoy it."

She had no time to ask questions. The commotion upstairs birthed only one identifiable sound—that of another man coming down the cellar steps and then across the floor.

"Careful, Señor," Valdivia called. "Drop your gun or I'll shoot her."

The footsteps halted. There was a deadly pause, followed by the sound of a heavy weapon being placed on the floor. And then a dear voice shook Dinah to the core.

"If you hurt her, I'll make sure you die slow."

"Rucker," Dinah exclaimed softly, all her love in the name.

"Sit tight, ladybug."

"I will. Be careful."

Rucker's tone was low and deceptively casual. "You're done for, Valdlvia. Killin' your own agent won't change anything."

Valdlvia laughed softly. "Killing my own agent, Señor? But Dinah has never been my agent." His voice rang with malicious pride. "Do you know how I acquired your wife, Señor?
I stole her from you.
"

"I don't care how you convinced her to work for you. She's changed her mind. Let her go."

Valdivia's voice was suddenly somber. "You still don't understand. Amazing. You think she came to me of her own free will, yet you risk your life to save her? I salute your love for her. I envy her love for you. Yes, your wife loves you, Señor."

Dinah felt his hand loosen in her hair. She tilted her head back as if she were looking up at him. "Diego, nothing you do will change that."

Valdlvia stroked her hair for an instant, then let his hand trail away. "I learned that long ago,
querida
," he said wearily. Then his tone became cheerful again. " Señor! Understand the truth! I kidnapped your wife! Now I give her back!"

More footsteps. A new voice spoke. "Get her out of here, Rucker. This bastard has called for government soldiers. He's stalling for time."

"Ah, Señor Surprise. How appropriate."

"Jeopard, I can't leave you here alone," Rucker interjected. "This is my fight, too."

"You've got Dinah back. I'll never get my brother back. Valdivia and I have to settle that. Go."

Dinah heard Rucker's footsteps come to her and stop. Then his hands were under her elbows, raising her up. With her feet bound, she tottered. He lifted her into his arms. She rested her head against his shoulder and gloried in the scent and feel of him.

"Good-bye,
querida
." Valdlvia murmured. "May we meet again."

"God help you," she answered.

"Burn in hell," Rucker told him.

Dinah burrowed her face into Rucker's neck and rubbed off the blindfold as he carried her upstairs. She glanced back. The last thing she saw was Jeopard setting a lantern on the floor between himself and Valdivia.

Rucker kicked the cellar doors shut. He walked down a long hallway and out into one of the hacienda's courtyards. A full moon shone overhead.

He set her down carefully and knelt by her feet, his big hands fumbling with the nylon rope that bound her ankles. When they were free he stood and gently untied her hands. Then he simply stood still, gazing down at her in the golden moonlight.

"When you disappeared in Florida—you'd been kidnapped by Valdivia?" he asked.

She nodded and rose on tiptoe to kiss his tears.

***

The small band of rebels, worried about an attack by Suradoran soldiers, whisked Dinah and Rucker out of the hacienda. Rucker motioned to them to stop. "Tell them we can't leave Jeopard," he instructed Dinah.

She spoke to them in Spanish. Their leader answered. Dinah nodded. "They've stationed two men by the cellar doors to wait for him."

There was no more time for talk after that. The rebels led them in darkness and silence along narrow paths in the rain forest. Dinah's white dress was already a dirty, clinging mess from the hours she'd spent in the cellar; Rucker helped her rip a two-foot width of material from the bottom of the full skirt.

She was barefoot, so a rather large woman with the group offered a spare pair of brogans from her backpack. Dinah stuffed torn dress material into the toes to make them fit. Clumping along beside Rucker with her ragged skirt flapping around her thighs, Dinah imagined him grinning.

"Stop it," she whispered, and punched his arm.

The faint sound of his chuckle confirmed her suspicions.

Three hours later they reached the rebel camp. Drake Lancaster, who'd stayed behind with the herbicide, rose from a group of people seated around a fire and came toward them, his expression troubled as he searched for Jeopard.

Rucker briefly explained what Jeopard had done to avenge his brother's death. Drake shook his head and cursed softly. "I wish he'd known. Kyle's alive."

Stunned, Dinah stared at him speechlessly. Finally she managed, "No, he can't be. Sara and I were forced to watch. And when the dogs finished . . . and Valdivia's men dragged him away ... It was terrible. Valdivia said he was dead."

"He wasn't, and Valdivia knew it. He sent Kyle to one of his other plantations and held him prisoner. The rebels just brought word that he escaped about a week ago. He's with them in the mountains. We've sent for him."

Dinah turned excitedly toward Rucker and grasped his hands. "Kyle knows the truth. He knows everything that Valdivia did to make Sara and Anna and me work for him. He can testify for us."

"Thank God," Rucker said gruffly. "But I still don't know how any of this happened." His hands tightened around hers. Their eyes held, and Valdivia's revelation hung in the air as if he had just spoken it. "Kidnapped," Rucker repeated, his gaze dark.

Dinah rested her head against his shoulder. "Yes. Sara, too."

Sara and Teodora came out of a small tent and ran up to them, squinting in the light of camp fires and lanterns. They grabbed Dinah and hugged her.

Sara turned toward Rucker. "Stubborn man," she muttered. Then she threw her arms around him. One second after she let go, Teodora took her place.

"Bless you, Señor. Bless you."

Dinah touched Sara's arm anxiously. "Katie?"

"Asleep in the tent. She's fine."

A pained, bitter look came over Sara's face. "What happened to Valdivia?"

Dinah told her about him and Jeopard. "All we can do is wait."

The biologist nodded, her gaze distracted as if she were seeing the hell of the past months. "Valdivia isn't human. He can't be killed. Poor Jeopard."

"Sara? Rucker knows that we were kidnapped."

Sara nodded, her thoughts still dazed. In a low, vague tone she said, "I can't believe it's over. It's not real." Teodora patted her arm sympathetically, then guided her toward the fire.

The young Suradoran woman spoke over her shoulder to Rucker and Dinah. "Come. We'll get you food and something to drink."

Dinah looked up at Rucker and found that his gaze was already on her. They shared a tender look that shut out the rest of the world.

"Let's go see Katie first," he said gruffly.

Dinah slipped her hand through his and they walked to the small, dome-shaped tent. Inside it was dark and cool. A screened opening overhead outlined a patch of stars and the first traces of dawn.

Katie lay on her stomach atop a folded blanket. She was asleep, but when Dinah knelt and stroked her hair with a finger, she yawned.

Rucker curved one arm out in a beckoning gesture to Dinah. She nestled into the crook of it and they sat down. He was filthy and sweat stained. When he rested his jaw against her forehead his beard stubble scrubbed her skin. She didn't mind a bit.

Dinah smiled joyfully and pressed so close to him that she felt the rhythm of his heart against her own rib cage. They sat in silence for several minutes, just watching Katie sleep.

"I agree with Sara. None of this seems real," Dinah whispered. "What made you decide to come back for me?"

"Teodora broke down and told me that you planned everybody's escape, and that Valdivia would kill you because of it."

"But you still thought I was working for him?"

Rucker's voice was a low rumble. "Didn't matter anymore. You are the woman I love." He paused, and she felt his chest move harshly. "Why wouldn't you tell me the real story to begin with?"

Dinah slid a hand across the soft material of his khaki T-shirt and stroked the area over his heart. "Because you'd have stopped at nothing to help me and Katie. Even when you thought the worst, you were willing to take risks for me. I can imagine what you'd have done if you'd known the truth."

Dinah cleared her throat roughly. "Valdivia knew that the real story would create an international incident if it ever got out. A Russian agent sneaks into a U.S. resort town and kidnaps two innocent American civilians. Not exactly a plus for
glasnost
, hmmm? Valdivia's superiors would have had to sacrifice him if his activities were discovered."

Dinah shuddered. "So he made it very clear to me what kind of revenge he'd take if I ever told. When he found out that I was pregnant, he knew he had all the leverage he needed to make me do whatever he wanted. I saw how he hurt Kyle Surprise. Valdivia was capable of doing inhuman things to Katie and you. I couldn't take that chance, no matter how much I wanted to tell you the truth."

Rucker held her tighter. His voice ragged, he whispered. "There isn't a word good enough to describe your kind of courage. Dear lord, I was so bad to you. I nearly died when you disappeared, and when I thought that you'd run off with Valdivia, I wanted to hate you. I was so bad to you." he repeated,

"Sssh. You were reacting reasonably, under the circumstances. I knew that. It only hurt me because you were suffering and I desperately wanted to make things right again." He shivered with emotion. She caressed his face tenderly. "My darling, everything you've done over the past week and a half has only made me love you more."

She tilted her head back. Silent understanding brought him to her for a lingering kiss. His breath was soft against her mouth. "I'm gonna be overprotective of you and Katie. You'd better get used to the idea, 'cause I'll probably be a pain in the butt."

"I'm going to have trouble letting you out of my sight. You'd better get used to that, sir."

"Ain't no place I wanna go without you, ma'am."

She put her head back on his shoulder and they held each other possessively.

"Dee?"

"Hmmm?"

'There's still one thing I don't understand."

She could practically read his mind. "How I became involved with Sara and Anna's work."

"Yeah."

"They were trying to create a herbicide, but not the kind Valdivia wanted. Sara has done research in Surador for years. She discovered a plant-killing virus carried by certain species of butterflies, and she decided that it had potential as a mild, natural weed killer for agricultural use.

"I told you that I met Valdivia at the Conference of the Americas, two years ago. That's true. We talked casually and he said that he knew of Sara Scarborough's work. He was charming—and he didn't hide the fact that he was interested in me. I politely refused an invitation to spend the night with him and that was the end of it."

"Or so you thought," Rucker interjected. "That aggressive s.o.b."

Dinah nodded. "Anna started telling me about this Suradoran businessman named Valdivia who wanted to sponsor Sara's research. Sara was pleased until she learned that he was using his government connections to intercept mail from her mother. That made her mad and scared her. She told him to bug off—pardon the pun."

"But what did that have to do with you?"

"Anna wanted to send Sara some important notes and some butterfly cocoons, but she was afraid Valdivia would interfere again. When she heard that you and I were going to Florida on vacation, she arranged for Sara to meet me there."

Dinah raised her hands in supplication. "I was just supposed to give Sara the package. Butterfly cocoons. How simple." Her voice became sheepish. "I didn't tell you because the intrigue seemed so silly that I was embarrassed."