Trinity: Military War Dog (53 page)

“I always wonder what my mom’s last days were like.”

Heath stilled, his somber gaze coming to hers.

She knew what he was thinking—that she shouldn’t be talking about last days. But … this is how she dealt with things, talking or thinking about her mom. “She was martyred.” Why did she want him to know everything about her all of a sudden? “Taken in the middle of the day while my father was out of the country. We never saw her again.”

Heath eased down and drew up a leg to his chest. “In China?”

With a nod, she gave away a key piece of information. Weird. Darci didn’t mind. She trusted him with this. Besides, if they died … “She was a Christian. And my father was very influential and powerful, and of course that couldn’t be tolerated. They’d tried to convince him to do away with her, but he loved her too much. He’d been trying to make arrangements to move her back to the States, but …”

“Jia—”

“Darci.” Oh no. Had she just done that? Okay, well … it was okay. “I want you to know my real name.”

Something slid through his expression. “Darci. I like it.” Though small, his smile was thousand-watt power. “Thank you.”

She smiled.
Oh good grief. Can we say “schoolgirl”? Stick with facts. Those I can handle
. “I was born Jia, but when my father and I fled China after they murdered my mom, I took her name for safety’s sake.”

He nodded.

“Anyway … sorry … don’t know why I’m rambling.” Heat again soaked her cheeks.

“I like it.”

She rolled her eyes. “Don’t get all romantic on me, cowboy.”

“How’d you know?”

“What?”

“That I’m a cowboy—well, not really, but I grew up in Texas.” He shrugged and looked so adorable and boyish, she couldn’t help the smile. “Doesn’t that make me an honorary cowboy?”

“Do you mean ornery cowboy?” The laugh made her stiffen, then she relaxed out of the fiery breath. “I’d love to see you in a cowboy hat.”

“Nothing doing.” He looked sheepish and ran a hand along the nape of his neck. “My head’s too big.”

Darci threw her head back and laughed. It made her insides hurt, but it also made her insides giddy. Curling an arm around her waist, she pulled herself up.

“Whoa.” Heath’s smile vanished as he reached for her. “Where are you going?”

“Nowhere. I’m sick of lying down.”

“Lying down gets you better.”

She cocked her head at him. “It gets me dead.”

His lips flattened. “Not on my watch.”

A strange twisting and warming melted through her frozen exterior. Was he feeling what she felt when they were together? Did it matter? Burnett would go ballistic if he knew she hadn’t severed their connection. She’d lose her job.

“Why do you do it?” he asked as she propped herself against the wall.

“Do what?” Wow, sitting up hurt like crazy. On second thought … She slumped a little, alleviating the pressure on her ribs.

“Be a spy.”

Darci frowned at him. “Why are you a soldier?”

“I felt called.”

“Felt?”

“Exactly.” He nodded. “Your story first.”

She smiled again. It felt so good. When had she smiled so much? A real smile, not one to get what she needed? “My mom.”

Heath watched her, his amazing gray eyes penetrating her barriers. And strangest of strange things—she let him. “Justice. You wanted justice for her.”

“Yeah.”

“Have you gotten it?”

She let out a soft snort. “Several times.”

Arm dangling over his leg, he didn’t let up. “And has it worked? Has it given you what you were looking for?”

How had he seen straight to the dark chamber where she kept that secret buried? She hadn’t thought it possible anyone would understand that mission after mission left her only with more emptiness. Not a sense of justice. Doing this—spying, intelligence work—had driven her to fill the hole. To somehow give to others what nobody had given her mother—a chance, a way out. She didn’t blame her father … much. He’d been out of country when the police snatched her off the street.

Heath gave a breathless laugh. “I see …”

Why did she feel like clawing that smile off his face? “Shouldn’t you be looking for a way out?”

With a stiff shake of his head, he pushed onto his haunches. “Point taken.” He angled toward the back, darkness drenching her vision and mood.

Panic swooped in on her. He was gone. Gone! “Heath?”

“Don’t worry.” Boots scritched over hard earth. “I’m not going far.”

Darci laughed at his joke—there wasn’t
anywhere
to go. Had he said that because he knew it’d scared her? As stillness and quiet vied for her sanity—pulling at her common sense that there was nothing to be afraid of, that Heath wasn’t going to vanish and leave her alone …

“Hey.”

She sucked in a quick breath at his voice.

“Might’a found something.”

“What?” A way out? Would it be that easy, that quick?

“A whole.”

“A whole what?”

“No—
hole
. At the very back. Missed it when I looked before. It’s not much bigger than me. And …”

“And what?”

“It goes straight down.”

Heath stretched his arm into the space and wagged his arm. Nothing but icy air, but … was that a breeze? Or was that just him stirring up the air? He aimed his SureFire down, hoping to see how far it was.

His stomach flipped when the darkness ate up the light. No bottom? There had to be. Nothing was infinite. Except God.

Lying on his side, he scanned the area around himself for a rock. He dragged a golf-ball-size one within reach and flopped back onto his belly. SureFire aimed over the chasm, he dropped the rock. It whipped out of sight. The darkness ate it, too. Finally, a plunk—distant and almost inaudible.

C’mon. Don’t do this to me
. They needed to get out of here.

Heath eased away from the chasm, mind chugging. Trapped in here, did they have much of a choice? He roughed a hand over his chin and cringed at the stubble.

“Down how far?”

In a squat, he eased himself out from the compressed space and strode back to Ji—Darci. “It seems bottomless. As far as I can tell, there’s nothing but emptiness down there.”

“That’s not possible.”

“I know.” He lowered himself to her side, noting she was once again upright. “I told you, you should be lying down.”

“Yeah,” she said, wrinkling her nose at him. “I never have done too well under orders.”

“They weren’t orders.” Man, she got under his skin fast and deep. “Just strong suggestions.”

She grinned, and Heath looked away before his mind could wander.
Could
wander? It already had. What was he…? Oh yeah. The hole. Chasm. No way out. Heath ran a hand along his neck and scratched it. They were out of options, but if the gentle stirring of air
was
a breeze, at least they wouldn’t run out of air.

Ice could be melted for water.

Three days. They’d be okay for three days.

Food … that was another thing. What was in his pack? Heath turned, and the light cut through the darkness to where his pack … had been. Now lost to the avalanche. Maybe it wasn’t buried too deep and he could reach it. On his knees he moved to the barricade of snow, ice, and rocks. Crap. He couldn’t even dig—his shovel was in his pack.

Tension wrapped a vise around him. Heath balled up his fists. Couldn’t a guy just get a break? He punched the ground. Everything for survival was in that pack. His shovel, his ammo, MREs … His fist impacted dirt. Pain spiked through his elbow and shoulder. Jammed into his neck.

“What now?”

“Nothing.” He wouldn’t fail her. As he bent forward, it felt like his entire brain dumped into his forehead. Heath swung out a hand to steady himself. Pounding returned with a voracious roar.

Hands cradling his head, he clenched his eyes shut.
Father in heaven … please
.

Heath … Heath …

Was that God calling?

Rolling out of the pain, he wriggled his shoulders and neck as his eyes opened—he jerked. Darci knelt in front of him. Her face wrought.

“Heath … you there?” She tucked her chin and peered up into his eyes.

Did she have any idea how beautiful she was? How her concern for him felt like a warm salve over his wounded heart and mind?

But it was embarrassing. Humiliating. He edged away. “Yeah. Just … a little pain.”

“I think you need to go back to kindergarten and learn what
little
means.”

“Funny.”

“It’s killing you, isn’t it?”

Cowed beneath the intense pressure, he slumped against the wall.

“Let me try something.” She touched his shoulder again. “Okay?”

Heath waved a hand. “Sure.” Whatever. It wouldn’t work. He’d hoped the chiropractor would help. And it did. But obviously it was limited. Would he ever be pain-free again?

“This won’t be fun,” Darci said. “But you’re a tough guy, so …”

Iciness draped his neck. Heath tensed and hissed against it. Waited for it to wear off. Instead, it grew stronger. Colder—was that even possible? He ground his teeth and hissed.

“Grit through it,” Darci said, her voice weak.

“You should be—”

“Quit being the boss.”

Heath snorted—but quickly lost his humor as the frigid ball of ice bit into his muscles. He fisted a hand. Tight … tighter.

“Relax, Heath.”

“Why don’t you drive a stake through my skull?”

“Would it help?”

Freezer burn had nothing on this. Heath clamped his teeth again. Watched his knuckles whiten. The icy fire streaked through his shoulders.

“How’s the head?”

The what? Heath let his shoulders slump … searched … “It’s … gone.”

“Wimp.”

Arching his eyebrow, he faced her full-on. “You just turned my neck into a deep freeze.”

“I thought you were a tough Green Beret.”

“
Former
Green Beret.” The truth hurt. A lot. Former in so many meanings of the word. Mentally, physically, emotionally. Jabbing his fingers through his hair, Heath sat back against the cave wall. But here, with Darci, maybe he knew why he was here. Not just to let go of what he’d lost, but to cling to something he’d found—new faith and … Darci.

“Don’t think about it too hard or long.”

He flicked his gaze to Darci, who curled a protective arm around her side. She was right. Thinking got him stupid, depressed. “Ya know, I think God brought me out here just to show me how wrong I was.”

“About what?”

“Everything.” Heath breathed a laugh. “Life, myself, what I wanted—”

“What did you want?”

“Action. Adrenaline. The beret. The whole shebang.”

“You don’t want that now?”

Why did her voice hitch on that question? He rolled his head back and forth. “Not the way I thought I did. It cut me to get sidelined. Injured more than my thick skull—hit my pride.”

“You still have a lot left over.”

With a smile, Heath nodded. “Ouch.”

“You ready?”

Heath frowned as he looked at her. “For what?”

“To go down that hole.”

                Forty