Waiting... On You (Force Recon Marines) (40 page)

He had admired the way she had stood
up to Chen in the tunnel, too. Her nerve and quick-wit had probably saved their
bacon a second time as well. Keeping her head in the midst of an extremely
lethal situation had given him the opportunity he’d needed to free them all
from Chen and his guards.

If only she’d run like he’d told her
afterwards. She’d waited for him, for Heaven’s sake! For as long as he lived,
he’d never forget the anxiety on her face for him, or the utter panic in her
eyes, seconds later, when she’d realized she’d been shot twice. If she died
because of his stupidity in risking her life, he’d never forgive himself. Damn
it! If she died, his life would be worthless!

A tap on his shoulder brought his head
up. Lance was standing beside him with two steaming cups of coffee in his
hands. Nick took one gratefully. It looked strong and black, just what he
needed. “How are your ribs? Did they give you a pain shot?”

“Still sore as hell, but yeah, they
gave me a shot. They wrapped me up good and tight, too. How about you? How’s
your shoulder?”

“I’ll live,” Nick responded in
self-disgust after a not so careful sip of his coffee. “It was just a flesh
wound— another one to add to the collection. The rest were only cuts and
bruises. Nothing that won’t heal quickly.”

Lance sat down on the sofa next to his
brother. “I haven’t had a chance yet to thank you for rescuing me, bro.” Nick
swiveled to look at him, and Lance grinned. “I was beginning to think no one
would ever find me. Until we got out of there, I didn’t even really know where
I was. When they brought me in, I was drugged and unconscious.”

Nick’s eyes narrowed. “Did they shoot
you up with their damn heroin?”

“No, thank God— just a heavy sedative
after they pulled me out of Discovery Bay. As soon as I surfaced from my dive,
I was yanked out of the water by two of Chen’s guards. A couple of Yancy’s men
were in the boat with them. They recognized me. Yancy had heard what Hanna and
I were up to. I found out later, he had men following both of us to make sure
we didn’t discover that they’d killed Dylan.

“I learned all this in bits in places.
Once I was onboard their speedboat that day, one of Chen’s men called someone
on his cell phone. Afterwards, he rammed a needle in my arm. When I came to, I
was in that tiny basement room you found me in. Li Chen was beside my cot. He
told me how you had killed his brother in Thailand a few years ago. Karma had
finally smiled on him and delivered his revenge, he said. A brother for a
brother. I thought he’d kill me right then. But he wanted to wait for you. He
figured you’d find me sooner or later. So, the guesthouse basement was home for
a month. The guards got bored after a week. That’s when they started the
beatings.”

“Shit! I’m sorry, bro.” Nick looked
stricken with renewed guilt. “I wish I could have found you sooner. Thomas and
Douglas kept telling me and the family that you ran off with your ex-wife.”

“As if any of you would believe that!
I had faith in you. And I knew Hanna and Mom wouldn’t rest until they found out
what had happened to me. I figured Mom would haul your butt home from
Afghanistan. I just wasn’t sure you’d be able to get leave anytime soon.”

Nick put his arm around his brother
and gave him an affectionate hug. “Mom and Christopher were pretty damn worried
about you. Hanna, too. Well, hell, so was I! I couldn’t seem to get a decent
lead on what happened to you. Hanna and I snatched a couple of containers of
China White from Yancy. When I got desperate, I traded them back to him for
your location.” Lance frowned, and Nick quickly eased his concern. “He won’t be
selling it on the streets. Thomas had him killed. They arrested me for it, but
Colleen got me out on bail.”

“Is that why Thomas said you had
violated your bail?”

Nick nodded. “But the judge who set
the bail knew what Hanna and I were up to. The charges will be officially
dropped as soon as the FBI and DEA give him a copy of their case files.”

“Speaking of Hanna....” Lance looked
toward the double doors of the operating room. “Has anyone come out to tell you
how it’s going in there?”

“Not since they took her in. The wait
is killing me.”

“I’m sorry I jumped all over you back
at Chen’s compound about bringing her along.”

Nick sent him a quick look. “Hanna
felt really guilty about letting you dive alone that day in Discovery Bay.”

“If she had been with me, Chen would
have gotten us both.”

“That’s what I told her, but you know
Hanna.”

Lance grinned. “Yeah, I do. She’s as
stubborn now as she was when we were kids.”

Nick gave his brother a long,
assessing look. “Are you two....”

“Romantically involved?”

“Yeah.”

Lance studied his brother closely for
a long moment. “No, though not for lack of trying on my part. I guess you know
how I’ve always felt about Hanna.”

“Yeah.” Nick glanced away.

Lance continued to study his profile.
“So how about you and Hanna? You two looked like you’ve gotten pretty close.”

“We’ve been working together for three
weeks to find you and discover the truth about Dylan’s death.”

“And?”

“And we’ve spent a lot of time
together. Hanna took two weeks off from the hospital, and I haven’t been home
this much since I was injured three years ago.”

“So, have the two of you....”

Nick had his elbows braced on his
widely spaced knees again. Avoiding his brother’s inquiring stare, he dropped
his head and pushed both hands through his hair. “I can’t talk about this right
now, bro.” Noises down the hallway caught his attention. He lifted his bent
head. “Here comes the family.”

A grim smile flickered at the corners
of his bruised, swollen mouth as he watched his mother, Christopher, Colleen,
and Christine, carrying Katie, walk towards them. The second Christopher
spotted his father, he broke into a run and shouted, “Daddy!”

Lance rose and met him halfway,
catching his son in mid-air to whirl him round and round in a big bear hug. A
few seconds slower than her grandson, Jessie hastened to her younger son’s side
and threw her arms around him, hugging him nearly as fiercely as Christopher.

Profoundly moved by the scene, Nick
felt his smile widen and his eyes glisten. This was the ending he had hoped
for.

Finally, Jessie turned to her oldest
son. Her eyes were brimming with tears as she sat down beside him on the vinyl
sofa. “Thank you, Nick!” Leaning forward, she kissed his beard-roughened cheek.
“I brought you some clean clothes.” She scanned what was left of his and handed
him the bundle of folded garments. “Why don’t you use the Doctor’s lounge to
shower and change? It might make you feel better.”

“I don’t want to leave, in case....”

Jessie smiled tenderly. “They’ll be in
there a while yet with her. You have time. I’ll come and get you if they come
out before you do.” She patted his cheek. “She’ll be okay, honey. I know she
will.”

Nick saw Colleen and Christine coming
toward them. “I should talk to Colleen.”

“Go shower and change. You can talk to
her later.”

TWENTY MINUTES LATER, dressed in clean
jeans, shirt, and tennis shoes, Nick returned to the waiting room. The family
had moved to a seating area with more chairs. Colleen sat in a corner, looking
older than Nick had ever seen her.

He walked up to her and took a seat in
the chair next to her. Guilt made his greeting grim and subdued. He’d promised
to keep Hanna safe, and he’d failed, miserably. Colleen had already lost her
grandson. She had to be in absolute dread of losing her granddaughter now, too.
She looked so tired and frail. He put a hand over hers.

“I’m so very, very sorry, Colleen. I
promised to keep her safe, and.... I never should have taken her along.”

Colleen turned her palm up and grasped
his big rough hand, weaving her gnarled fingers through his strong tanned ones.
“I don’t blame you, Nicholas. Hanna was probably trying to defend you or
Lance.” She met his eyes and saw the confirmation in them. “She’d die for you,
you know?”

“She nearly has.”

“She’ll make it. She’s not about to
leave you now.”

“God, I hope so, Colleen! I hope so.”

Across the hallway, Christine was
sitting next to Lance and Christopher, who had his head on his dad’s lap and
his sneakered feet on hers. The little boy’s eyes were closing with drowsiness.
Katie was asleep, snuggled in her downy blanket, in the infant carrier beside
Christine. She turned to Lance, then looked across the room to Nick and
Colleen.

“I’m sorry you had to go through what
you did these past four weeks,” she said to Lance. “Was it really awful?”

Lance looked at her, the baby beside
her, then down at his son. “The worst part was being away from Christopher,
knowing how upset he’d be that I had disappeared.”

“Nick kept his spirits up. And
Christopher has been his shadow most of the time.”

Lance glanced at his brother and
smiled. “Well, we finally caught the men responsible for Dylan’s death. Now his
name will be cleared, and he can rest in peace.” He looked over and saw the
tears rise in Christine’s blue eyes. “How are you managing?”

Pulling a hankie out of her jean
pocket, she wiped her eyes. “I’m still staying with Colleen and Hanna. Your
family and Dylan’s have been a wonderful blessing. I wouldn’t have made it
without them. Your brother is pretty amazing, too.”

“Yeah, he is.” Lance looked across the
room to his brother again. “No one else could have done what he did. Knowing
he’d find me and get me out of there sooner or later was really what kept me
going.” Lance returned his attention to Christine, then nodded toward Katie. “And
how’s your little angel?”

“She’s fine. She said her first
good-bye recently.” That made the young widow smile.

“Really?” Lance smiled broadly and
without thinking, slipped an arm around the back of Christine’s chair.

Across from them, Jessie smiled
inwardly, vastly relieved to have her youngest son home again. She’d been so
worried for weeks. It felt as if a huge stone had been lifted from her heart. She
thought he looked good, even better sitting next to Christine. The baby and
Christopher made them look like a family. She knew Lance would be helping
Christine cope with the loss of his best friend. It would take a while for the
young widow to move on. She had loved Dylan deeply, but maybe someday, she and
Lance would find a connection. It was long past time for Lance to move on from
his ex-wife and Hanna. And Jessie dearly wanted Christine to remain in Port
George. She’d have to start on a new set of prayers.

TWO MORE HOURS PASSED before Hanna’s
doctor finally came out to talk to the group in the waiting room. As he rose to
greet the surgeon, Nick searched his face for a sign of what he intended to
tell them.

“Doctor Wallace made it through
surgery okay,” he stated to everyone’s visible relief. “She’s still in critical
condition, but I think the worst is over. She lost a lot of blood— and a
kidney. The bullet that hit her in the shoulder chipped her collar bone, but
that should heal fairly quickly. She may be unconscious for a few days, but she
should recover completely if she takes it slow and easy for a while.”

“When can we see her?” Lance asked.

“They should have her in an intensive
care room now. You can look in on her, one or two at a time. She won’t know
you’re there yet, though.”

Nick let the rest of the family go
ahead of him, only because he knew he wouldn’t be going home with them. He was
holding Katie over one shoulder, gently rubbing her back, while he read a story
to Christopher, who was leaning against him on the sofa, half-listening, half-
asleep, when Jessie returned.

“Lance and Christine are waiting
outside Hanna’s room for Colleen. She’s in with Hanna now.”

Nick put the book down that he’d been
reading. Christopher hardly noticed. “How does she look?” he asked his mother
anxiously.

“She’s still unconscious. But she
looks like she’s resting well. Her color is getting better. They have her
hooked up to all kinds of monitors. Your FBI friend’s wife, Trisha, is going to
stay on duty through the night with Hanna. She said Kurt told her he wouldn’t
be here until tomorrow afternoon. He’s bringing the floatplane back, and he’s
going to take care of getting all the gear back where it belongs. Mr. Chen is
being transported to Victoria by the Canadian authorities. I guess there’s some
argument over which country will detain and prosecute him.”

“Doesn’t matter as long as the bastard
gets put behind bars for life.”

“Did he shoot Hanna?”

“No. Either one of his men did— or
Sheriff Thomas.”

“Oh my God! What a mess that man has
brought to this community.”

“He’s dead,” Nick said coldly, his
face devoid of emotion.

“I guess they’ll arrest Chief Douglas
next.”

“He deserves it. He was warned to get
out.”