The Soldier's Mission (16 page)

Brice answered on the second ring. “Hello?”

“I need to talk to Paco,” she said.

“I'll put him on,” Brice replied. “I have you on speaker, Laura. So anything you can tell us…”

“Laura, sweetheart, talk to me.”

She heard the worry and fear in his words. But she knew this man. He was stronger than he realized. “We need the helicopter. You have ten minutes to get it ready.”

“Got it. But you won't be on that chopper. How's Lydia?”

“In labor. Selena's coaching her.”

Whitmyer stepped forward. “Enough. Hang up.”

Laura glanced at Selena then back to Whitmyer, her fingers touching the button to end the call. Then she put the phone down behind the water pitcher on the table by the bed. And left it on.

Please, Lord, don't let him notice
.

“Alex, I promise I'll go with you as soon as the baby is born. Then we can talk. I think I misjudged you.”

He shook his head. “It might take all night for that baby to be born. We don't have time, Laura. You have to go with me if you want them to live, understand?”

Laura didn't have a choice. “Okay. The helicopter should be ready soon. But before we go, you need to understand about Paco and me. This isn't his fault.”

Whitmyer's gaze darted here and there. “Then why were you traipsing all over Arizona with him? You love me, Laura. You don't love him.”

“You're right. I don't love him. I barely know him, but I'm his therapist and I found him so I could talk to him. I can do the same for you. We can get you the help you need.”

“I don't need anything, except you to come with me,” he shouted, his gun bobbing. “I had this big plan to make CSN into the best—better than CHAIM could ever be. But, I'll give that up just to be with you.”

Laura could see the desperation in his eyes. He believed he was in control but he wasn't. And now his misguided delusional scheme had collapsed. She had to make him listen to reason.

“Why did you do all of this, Alex? Why did you send out those inexperienced men to kill me? Why the cryptic messages on my business cards?”

His chuckle sent chills up her spine. “You don't get it, do you, Laura? You belong to me but you wouldn't see me anymore. I had to find a way back to you. I followed you that day, the day you met with Martinez. And I saw you with him. I couldn't take it.”

Laura's heart pumped so fast she felt disoriented. “You were at the café in the desert?”

He laughed again, his eyes wild with determination and madness. “I was the first shooter. I wanted to talk to Martinez but when I saw him with you I just wanted to kill him.” He shook his head. “Things got crazy after that.”

Slanting a look toward Selena and Lydia, Laura took advantage of the precious time. “But what about those other men? Why did they come after me?”

He scoffed, swung the gun around. “Those idiots? It started out with me getting information from your patients since you refused to talk to me. Then I used them as distractions. They wanted to be
somebody,
Laura. They thought if they worked for CSN, they could become security agents. I needed them to believe that so I could keep an eye on you. I brought them with me. They thought it was a training mission. “But
I
followed you to your hotel and I broke in and got your laptop so I can find out why you were after that loser Martinez. I left the first card for you in the desert but you didn't take the hint. So I fixed up another one and gave it to good ol' Howard and found him a delivery truck. Same with Rutherford—sent him into the desert with promises of a big promotion if he did the job. I knew Martinez would take them out. I knew because I was watching the whole time.” He shrugged, his smile smug, his eyes glassy. “I set up the shooter out on the road, too. And I tracked the chopper that brought you to Eagle Rock.”

Lydia cried out then, her hand flailing toward the table as another contraction moved through her body. She hit the water pitcher and sent it flying.

Whitmyer whirled toward Lydia, his gaze hitting on the phone's flashing light. Grabbing it, he stared at Laura. “You forgot to hang up?” His expression etched in rage, he held the phone to his ear then pulled her close. “You can never get away from me, Laura. And
Paco Martinez will never have you.” He shouted into the receiver. “Hear that, Martinez. You will never have her. Never.”

P
aco couldn't breathe.

Never.

That one word followed by a dial tone shouted at him with a laughing glee that seemed to sum up his entire miserable life.

“He's going to kill her,” he said, the words dropping out him like rocks hitting concrete.

“We won't let it go that far,” Devon replied, his cell phone in his hand. “Mr. Barton is releasing the chopper to you, Paco, because he trusts you to do the right thing. Laura was very brave in risking the open phone line, but she's a counselor. She's trying to talk this man down and give us information at the same time.”

“And she's trying to save Lydia and my child,” Devon said, a hand on Paco's arm. “I need to get to my wife. I'm just thankful she's still alive.”

Paco was thankful for all of that and more. But his heart, once so hard and closed, was now open and raw, exposed to the incredible power of love. He turned to Devon. “He said
never,
Dev. You heard him. This was his plan all along. If he can't have Laura, then no one ever will.”

Devon's gaze moved over the others then back to
Paco. “He's a very sick man, Warrior. But we have might on our side. We stay the course.”

Eli grunted, his arms crossed over his chest. “There's him and then there's us. I don't think he's gonna make it out of this,
mon ami
. Dev's right. We go by the book on this one.”

Paco stared over at his friend. “You tell me how to do that? Tell me how to focus, how to go on faith.” He sank down on a chair. “I don't think I can do this. I don't think I can take losing another person I care about. Especially Laura. You don't understand the thing about Laura.”

Shane sat down beside him. “We all understand, Paco. We've all fought the good fight for CHAIM. We've worked to save innocents all over the world and sometimes, we've failed at that or worse, we've been forced to take the lives of others. We did that for years, thinking we understood the true meaning of love and faith.” He rapped his fingers on the table. “And then, we each got handed these special assignments that changed our whole way of thinking. We love Christ and we believe. But falling in love with someone you want to spend your life with and knowing that very person is in danger—well, that puts a new wrinkle into the whole equation.”

“And makes this job unbearable at times,” Eli said from his spot against the wall.

Paco's eyes stung. The unfamiliarity of his tears floored him. He'd held these tears for so long and now they burned their way down his face. If he let go now, he'd never make it back. Fighting the pain, he closed his eyes, memories of dust and blood and gunfire covering him. And in those horrid murky memories he could hear a keening, a kind of wailing that shattered his resolve.
He fought against that wailing, against what it meant for him now, on this mission.

Then he opened his eyes and looked at Devon, the pastor. “It was me, man. I was the last one standing and…I saw that kid laying there, dying and I fell down and held him in my arms and…every time I relive that nightmare, I hear this horrible wailing.” He put his hands to his face, the tears flowing now. “It was me, Dev. I was wailing at God for doing this. For taking their lives and sparing mine.” He grabbed Devon's lapel, his heartbeat bursting through his temples. “I can't take that kind of pain again, man. I can't. What do I do? How do I do this? If I lose Laura—”

“You won't lose Laura,” Devon said. “Paco, do you hear me? God is with us even when we fail. Look around you. Look at us. Me, I hid the truth from Eli for years and I almost got Lydia and Eli both killed. Eli—he came back from his own nightmare to find out he had a son in danger because of mistakes from
his
past. He has a reason to live now. Brice was so in love with Selena, he failed to see her worst flaw—her misplaced loyalty to a man who was a criminal. And Shane—he had to fall long and hard before he could get over his fear of a true commitment, not to mention he had to tell the woman he loved her best friend had betrayed her. And that brings me to you, friend. Laura sought you out to help you overcome your post-traumatic stress and survivor's guilt and now you're being tested because of her concern and generosity. Laura believes in you, Paco. We believe in you. And God will see you through—no matter the outcome.”

Paco looked around at his friends, memories of all
their times together, memories of their trials and failures, rushing through his mind like an old movie.

“We've done good, haven't we, though?” He waited for Devon to respond.

Eli, Shane and Brice all stepped forward. “Yes, we've done good,” Devon replied in a quiet voice. “This can be one of those times, Paco. We're all here with you to make sure of that.”

Did he have the power to bring about a hopeful outcome instead of yet another tragedy in his life?

“Laura told me I might have one last mission,” he said, wiping at his face. “But she didn't tell me I might fail at that mission. Or that it would be this hard.”

“You aren't going to fail,” Shane said, grabbing Paco up out of the chair. “You have something to fight for now, Paco. And that means you aren't allowed to fail.” He blinked back his own tears, then straightened Paco's jacket. “Now, we're going to get things in order. While you sit here and have a quick talk to the Lord. Understand me?”

Paco nodded. “I don't have much time, do I?”

Devon slapped a hand on his back. “Just enough for the Lord to hear you. Then we take care of this so I can enjoy becoming a father.”

Paco waited for the others to leave then took a long breath. Normally in a situation such as this, he'd be the first one out the door—hot dog, hothead, whatever you wanted to call it, he lived for the chase. But that old adrenaline rush had turned into a dreaded beating pulse that lived to torment him.

So he looked up at the intricately woven iron cross centered on the wall, his heart warring between the need for battle and the need for peace. He stared at the
cross, taking in the way the iron twisted and turned and merged into itself to form a crossbar of strength.

And in his head, beyond all the tormented memories and the twisted guilt he'd carried for so long, he at last saw the strength forged in fire and steel and blood and tears. The strength of Christ's love guiding him and holding him, even when he'd believed himself to be alone.

“Are You there, Lord?” he asked now, his hands folded in prayer. “I'm not worth it but I need You now. I need You for Laura's sake, Lord. Spare her and I will gladly hand my life over to You. Not a bargain but a promise that I've failed to honor. I love her, Lord. I don't yet understand this love, but I love this woman. And I can't lose her.”

He stopped, hitched a breath. “One last mission, Lord. A mission to make up for all the others, to make up for all the loss and the pain and the guilt of my failures.”

Paco reached for the Bible that was always on the table, his fingers flipping through the pages. He settled on the book of Psalms, chapter fifty-five, verses four through six:

“‘My heart is severely pained within me, and the terrors of death have fallen upon me. Fearfulness and trembling have come upon me, and horror has overwhelmed me. And I said: “Oh, that I had wings like a dove! For then, I would fly away and be at rest.'”

He finished the entire chapter, amazed that some of the very things he felt inside his soul were written here in the Word.

Paco put the Bible down and closed his eyes, his prayers centered and concentrated, his wails of despair changing to silent and steady pleas for God's grace and
intervention. Then he opened his eyes and put on the mantle of the Lord so he could join his friends in this fight to save all that they held dear.

 

Shane and Eli stood back out of sight, watching as Paco went about doing a safety check on the whirling helicopter centered on the landing pad near the back of the big compound. Brice was inside helping Kissie to regain visual surveillance, hoping to make a last-ditch effort to rescue Laura and the others. And Devon was waiting for the go-ahead to break the door down so he could get to his wife before she gave birth.

Paco left the helicopter idling, then hopped out, his thoughts clear now, his on-edge nerve endings humming with purpose. The adrenaline was back, allowing him to keep the dark dread at bay. He had a new hope. And his friends were right. He had a reason to fight one more battle.

Running toward Shane and Eli, Paco did one more scan of the surrounding buildings. “He should be watching,” Paco said. “The man has to know I'm going to take him out once he clears the entry door.”

They were all geared up for warfare, each wearing a bulletproof vest and loaded with weapons. Shane rubbed his chin. “Of course he's factored that in, but he'll use Laura as a shield. He'll lock Selena and Lydia in the room then bring Laura out the passageway to the same door he entered with Dr. Haines. Still can't figure how he beat the system.”

“He's obviously an expert at security,” Eli retorted.

“He's gone overboard with this obsessive need to take over the world and get the girl.”

“It might be different if the man actually knew the
difference between right and wrong,” Shane said, his tone murderous. “But a jilted stalker who has grandiose ideas about how to run a company is an unstable person to begin with, so this could be tricky to the bitter end.”

Paco checked the high-powered sniper rifle he'd taken from the weapons closet. “I only need one shot.”

“Better make it a good one, bro,” Eli said.

Paco intended to do that. It would be a kill shot.

 

Laura held Lydia's hand on one side while Selena spoke to Lydia with soothing words on the other.

“You're doing great,” Selena said. “Your breathing is right on target.”

“The baby?” Lydia asked, her voice raw, tears of frustration streaming down her face. “Selena, what about my baby?”

Selena's smile was practiced and serene. “As far as I can tell, the baby is right on target, too. You're not quite there yet, though. You need to dilate a few more centimeters.”

Lydia nodded. “I'm trying to hold off. I want Devon to be here.”

Laura sent Alex Whitmyer a hard look. “Devon will be here soon, honey.”

Alex rolled his eyes and flexed his gun. “He won't if they don't call about that chopper.”

The phone rang a second later, jarring all of them into a nervous twitter. Laura picked it up, her heart doing laps against her ribs. “Yes?”

“The helicopter is ready,” Paco told her. “Laura, listen very carefully. I'm going to be watching. We're all watching. And I'm going to get you out of this.”

“I understand,” she said. She wanted to say so much more, but she didn't. She couldn't. Her one prayer shouted for God to watch over these people. And to help Alex, too.

And then Alex motioned for her to hand him the phone.

“Martinez? You don't want to make that shot, understand?”

Laura met Selena's knowing gaze as they listened. Had he heard what Paco had said?

“I'm not stupid,” Alex shouted into the phone. “You're trained to do this so I expected it. But I've left one little surprise for everyone here at Eagle Rock. And if you kill me, that surprise will blow up in your face, understand? I'm taking her out of here and there's nothing you can do to stop me.”

He hung up the phone then went into action. Motioning to Selena and Lydia, he said, “You two will have to stay in here and birth that baby, I'm afraid. I'm going to lock the door. They know where you are, but they might not make it in here to help you.”

He didn't elaborate but Laura got a sick feeling inside her stomach as he urged her toward the door. Alex Whitmyer wasn't through with CHAIM yet.

 

Paco hung up the phone then looked at the group. “He's planted a bomb.”

Kissie rushed out the side door and hurried to where they were hiding behind a garage fence, her eyes wild, tears streaming down her face. “It's Andre, Paco. He made Dr. Haines strap a bomb on my baby boy.” She grabbed Paco's arm then turned toward Eli. “Eli…”

Eli took her into a hug, looking over her shoulder at Paco. “He probably set it to go off after he's up in the air.”

Paco looked at the chopper then back to Eli. “Or to go off if he's shot. He could have the detonator centered somewhere on his body.”

Kissie lifted away from Eli, wiping her eyes. “You can't shoot him, Paco. This whole place will go up.”

“How did you discover the bomb?” Shane asked Kissie.

“I got the cameras back up,” Kissie said, then she shook her head. “No,
I
didn't. He must have a remote jamming the system covering that wing of the compound. He brought the surveillance back online so I'd see my baby strapped to a chair with a bomb ticking on his chest.”

Eli took Kissie by the shoulders. “Where is Andre?”

“In the chapel,” Kissie replied. “Inside the wing where he's been holding the others. I reckon no one thought to go in there to pray today.”

“Here they come,” Devon said, turning toward the chopper.

Paco watched Whitmyer and Laura moving toward the helicopter. He had Laura on his left side, using her as a shield. She looked scared but even from this distance Paco could see the resolve in her expression.

Then the house phone he'd brought out here rang again.

“Can you see us?” Whitmyer asked, flashing a grin.

“I see you.”

“Good. Now here's your dilemma, Martinez. By now,
you know where that kid Andre is and you also know that he has a bomb ticking right along with his heart. I can deactivate the bomb at anytime by hitting a button on my watch, but I'm giving you a choice here. You can take me out and save Laura, but everyone inside that big house will die. Or you can let me take her and save Andre and the rest of your band of brothers. It's your choice. I'll give you exactly one minute to decide what kind of hero you want to be.”