At midmorning, Beatrice found herself again on the slope across from the fortress. Exhausted from her treks through the woods, she sat leaning against a tree eating stale bread and chewing on a leathery strip of beef jerky while Joe knelt a short distance away, peering through the binoculars.
“Doesn’t look like they’re very concerned about Manuel’s and my escape.” He’d been silently studying the stone bulwarks and surrounding landscape for the past half-hour. Now he turned to Beatrice as if he expected her to come up with an explanation.
“Maybe they sent a search party out before we got back. Or maybe they called Sanchez and he ordered them to remain on guard at the fortress while he sent some of his other men here to conduct the hunt.”
“Or maybe you were supposed to rescue us,” Joe added another possibility. “A few days ago, I was certain they were going to let me die. Then suddenly, they were giving me food and water, and allowing me a lamp and daily excursions to the courtyard. Also, until the day before yesterday there were at least thirty of Sanchez’s soldiers here. They had an arsenal of stolen weapons stashed, in preparation for a sale. And I’m certain that sale wasn’t to take place for a few more days. Then, late afternoon three days ago, they began to evacuate men and equipment. By yesterday morning, the place was nearly deserted. And don’t you think finding that ladder on the outside perimeter was an amazing stroke of luck? That tree had fallen before I was even brought here. I saw the top of it resting on the wall. No one paid any attention to it. I got the distinct feeling they liked it there. It added to the look of the place being unused and uncared for. Then, yesterday morning they suddenly began to show signs of preparing to repair the wall.”
She had to admit he had a point. She’d been too preoccupied with seeing him again to spend any time sorting out the events of the rescue. All the while he’d been watching the fortress, she’d been unable to keep herself from watching him. He looked much older and grimmer than the last time she’d seen him but that was, no doubt, due to his imprisonment. And he could muddle her emotions. As angry as she was at his deception, there was an equally strong joy that he was alive. “Sometimes a person gets lucky,” she replied, but without conviction. Glancing around, she wondered if she’d walked into the spider’s web, been snagged and didn’t even know it.
“How did you find out I was still alive?” He was sitting back now, leaning against a tree, studying her, his expression unreadable.
“I didn’t know for sure until I spoke to Tobias a few days ago,” she hedged.
“And what prompted that? We all thought you’d retired.”
Her shoulders stiffened. He was questioning her as if she were suspect. “I had retired and I’d accepted the fact that you were dead.” The anger that had been near the surface burst forth. “How could you do that to me? Even if you didn’t care for me, I cared for you. I wouldn’t have held you to a marriage you didn’t want. I would have set you free. You didn’t need to fake your death to be rid of me.”
“It seemed like a reasonable solution at the time,” he replied coolly.
“I must have been nuts to have fallen in love with you,”
“You seemed to have gotten over it.”
She was about to ask him how he would know what she was feeling, but bit back the words. That could make him think she still cared, and she refused to give that impression. “We all mature. It just takes some of us longer than others.”
He grinned wryly. “So it would seem.” The grin vanished and his expression once again became shuttered. “You never told me what made you, after all this time, begin to suspect I might still be alive.”
She knew he would detect a lie. He’d always been able to read her. “Do I have your word this will go no further?”
He shrugged. “Sure.”
“A psychic acquaintance of mine told me.”
He smiled cynically. “You have learned to lie expertly. Your gaze never wavered and you showed no signs of discomfort.”
“I’m not lying.”
His smile disappeared and his eyes seemed to bore into her. “And how did this acquaintance know about me in the first place?”
“I’ve never talked about you, if that’s what you’re implying,” she snapped back. “And she didn’t know about you, not in the way you mean. She had no idea who you were. The only reason she made the connection between us was because she saw me in her crystal ball as well.”
“So you came looking for me because a psychic saw me in that fortress in a crystal ball.” Skepticism dripped from his voice.
“Actually, she didn’t see the fortress. All she knew was that you looked as if you’d been beaten and were being held in some sort of underground cell.”
“And from that you deduced that I was here.” His voice mocked her.
She continued to meet his gaze with proud defiance. “No. To locate your whereabouts, I contacted someone else whose psychic powers lean toward finding things. She described the mountain fortress. Tobias recognized it from what she said.”
“And you expect me to believe that?”
“The police are using psychics more and more.”
“You have changed, or maybe you were never the honest, straightforward woman I thought you were.”
Righteous anger flared in her eyes. “Don’t talk to me about honesty. You were the one who sneaked out of my life by a back door instead of confronting me with the truth.”
He stretched and rose. She figured he was going to go looking for some privacy, when suddenly he approached. Before she could react, she felt a prick on her neck.
“What? Why?” she managed to gasp just before the world went black.
She woke to find herself in the tent, stretched out on a sleeping bag. Dusk had fallen. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see that Joe was stretched out on the other sleeping bag. Groggy and confused about his actions, she tried to bring her hands up to rub her face, only to discover something pulling on her left wrist. She looked down and saw the bracelet of a handcuff. The other bracelet was attached to Joe’s wrist.
“So you’re awake.” Sitting up, he unfastened the cuffs and set them both free.
Rubbing her wrist, she maneuvered herself into a sitting position, as well. “Why did you drug me and then handcuff me?” she demanded.
“I needed to get some sleep, and I didn’t want to have to worry about what you were up to.”
She glared at him. “What did you think I was going to do? I was as exhausted as you. More, even.”
“You’ve always had a knack for finding trouble.”
“Me? I’m not the one who spent the last few days in a wine cellar.”
“Anytime you’re ready to tell me the truth about how you knew to look for me here, I’m ready to listen,” he replied over his shoulder as he left the tent.
“I told you the truth,” she said to his departing back. Following him outside, she noticed that night had fallen.
Remaining silent, he concentrated on the walled estate.
“According to Rafael, the federales believed this place was abandoned by Sanchez. I don’t understand how he could be using it and no one knew,” she said.
“Maybe you should ask your crystal-ball seer.”
She scowled up at him. “If you know the answer, why don’t you humor me and tell me?”
He gave an indifferent shrug. “If anyone decides to send a plane over to check for activity, there’s a radar system that warns the men when it’s near. An alarm sounds and they duck underground. Some of the buildings were gutted to provide garage room for the trucks and other vehicles. When they’re not in use, they’re kept inside. Any that are out when the alarm sounds, are quickly hidden. When the plane flies over, the place looks deserted. As for the locals, the population around here is sparse. Those who do live near, Sanchez has either intimidated into silence or paid to keep their mouths shut.”
“So what do we do now? Do you think he’ll actually come here to conduct the search for you?” she asked. “Then you’ll have your evidence that he was involved in your imprisonment.”
Joe frowned at her. “Sanchez never comes here. That’s another reason the federales think he has no interest in this place. He only uses it to stash whatever illegal goods he has to barter.”
“Then why are we here?” His reticence was grating on her nerves. When they’d first started working together, all the information he’d given her had been strictly on a need-toknow basis. Later, once he’d learned to trust her, he’d discussed the operations with her beforehand. Apparently they were now back to playing by the need-to-know rules again, and she didn’t like it.
“I just want to take a look around. Make certain I don’t leave anything that can be used against Sanchez behind. And if I’m wrong about the arsenal they had stashed here and they haven’t moved all of it out, I intend to make certain they have nothing left to barter.”
She nodded. “I’ll help.”
For a moment he hesitated, then he tossed her a tin of canned meat and took one out for himself. “We’ll eat, then get started.”
She had the distinct feeling he wasn’t happy about having her accompany him. “If you’re worried that I might be rusty and ruin the operation, put your mind at ease. I still recall a few tricks of the trade,” she assured him.
“I figured you did,” came his reply.
She frowned at him. If he wasn’t worried about her ability in the field, then what was his problem? She recalled how ultraprotective he’d become after their marriage. But he didn’t look as if he was feeling protective. “Then how about sharing whatever is gnawing at you about me?”
His gaze turned on her. It was cold. “I want to know how you found me.”
“I told you the truth.”
“Yeah, right,” he muttered, putting aside his emptied tin of meat. “You about ready to go?”
“Anytime,” she replied, washing down her final bite with a gulp of water.
After making their way down to the fortress, they began to circle the perimeter. She was surprised to find the ladder they’d used the night before still in place. “I suppose they figured we wouldn’t be coming back.”
“Or they didn’t care if we did,” he countered. Unexpectedly, he stepped aside. “You can take point. I’ll protect our rear.”
Finding it hard to believe he’d given her the lead, she climbed the ladder and peered cautiously over the top of the wall. She saw and heard nothing to indicate occupancy—not a single light, not a single movement. Slipping over the wall onto the catwalk, she knelt, blending in with the shadows, and scanned the interior once again. It looked completely deserted.
He joined her. “Two four-wheel-drive vehicles pulled out soon after you were asleep—”
“After you drugged me,” she corrected in a curt whisper.
“That must have been the last of them,” he finished, ignoring her short tirade. “But, just in case they left any booby traps, we’ll do this by the book.” He motioned toward the ladder leading down into the belly of the fort. “You keep the point.”
Again surprise swept through her. He’d never liked giving her the point when they’d worked together before. Now he appeared to prefer her in that position. Moving swiftly but carefully, she descended and began her exploration.
An hour later, she came out of the last building. Every munitions, every piece of radar equipment, everything was gone. “Looks like they’ve completely abandoned this place.”
“So it would seem,” he replied.
A frightening thought shook her. “If Elena and I had been a day later, we’d have missed rescuing you and Manuel.” When he made no response, she looked at him. His jaw set in a hard line, he looked like a man angry with the world.
Abruptly, his gaze swung to her. “Let’s get out of here.”
Joe did not speak again until they’d reached their campsite. He was afraid to—afraid of what he might say. He knew what he had to do, but even with all of his training, he found this particular duty impossible to accept. Heading to the tent, he said, “It’ll be dawn in a couple of hours. We’ll sleep until then.” It was an order. Without watching to see if she was going to obey, he entered the tent and stretched out.
He’d taken no precautions this time to ensure that she would be there when he awoke. He was giving her a chance to take off on her own. It wasn’t professional. But he’d done a lot for his country. Tonight, right this minute, he would do no more. This time, duty asked too much of him.
His practical side knew that even if she did take off on her own, she wouldn’t stay hidden from him for long. Eventually he would have to deal with her. But maybe later it would be easier.
Beatrice frowned at the entrance of the tent. Joe’s indifference stung. His distrust hurt. Her fair side forced her to admit that her story of how she’d found him did sound farfetched. But at one time, they’d trusted each other with their lives. She’d even trusted him with her heart. A definite mistake, she reminded herself.
The desire to take some food and water and hike out on her own was strong. She’d done her part. She’d rescued him. Now she should feel free to walk away. He’d walked away from her without a backward glance. Instead, she leaned against a tree and continued to glare at the tent, her mind on its occupant. He was still a little weak from his captivity. The pace he’d set for their hike to and from the fortress had been slower than she’d expected. Inside, when he’d thought she wouldn’t notice, he’d paused to lean against a wall to steady himself a couple of times during their search.
She breathed a disgruntled sigh. Her conscience wouldn’t allow her to call the rescue complete until she’d gotten him back to civilization. The frown on her face darkened. However, she had no desire to join him in that tent. She would rather sleep out here with the bugs and other creepycrawlies.
She switched her flashlight back on and aimed it at the ground, looking for a soft spot. A beetle as thick and long as her thumb scurried over the toe of her boot. For a long moment she stood indecisively, then headed to the tent.
“So you decided to stay,” Joe said as she entered, ignoring the tightening in his stomach.
That he’d guessed so correctly what was on her mind, shook her. “I figured two would have a better chance of getting out of this forest in one piece than one alone.”
“You always did have a practical head on your shoulders.” His tone made this sound like an insult.
“I’ve always considered that an asset,” she snapped back.
Not this time, he thought tiredly. “Go to sleep, Tess.” He closed his eyes to let her know that as far as he was concerned, this conversation was over.
Lying on her back, she turned her head to glare at his harsh profile. She was the one who had the right to feel bitter and angry. He should be grateful she’d shown up.
Her intuition told her something was wrong. He’d always been a difficult man to understand. There was a lot of himself he’d kept hidden. But he’d always been fair in his dealings with her. Although his faked death hurt, she could even understand why he’d traveled that path.
She recalled another night, long ago. It was during one of their short breaks between assignments and they’d gone off to spend a quiet weekend alone. They were lying cuddled in a big double sleeping bag under a clear, starlit Colorado sky. She’d brought up the subject of them both leaving the service, settling down somewhere, leading more normal lives, maybe even having children. That was when she’d learned what was driving him.
He’d rolled away from her and lain gazing skyward. “Those are possibilities I cannot consider,” he’d said.
“Cannot or don’t want to?” she’d asked, admitting to herself how much she wanted the life she’d described.
“Cannot,” he’d replied.
“We all have choices,” she’d argued.
“I had a brother…Sam. He had a wife and a baby daughter. He was a rancher, a peaceful man who never caused anyone any harm. He and his wife and child were on vacation when a terrorist group blew the plane in which they were flying to bits. The munitions they used were armaments stolen from one of our own bases. I vowed that I would do all that was in my power to see that never happened to another family.”
He’d never spoken of his brother and his brother’s family before. Now she knew why. Joe was very good at hiding his feelings. But the pain this loss had caused was evident in his voice. Behind it, she’d heard the determination to live by his vow and she’d made her choice. She would stand by him. She’d been too much in love to want a life without him.
Now, she forced herself to face the full truth about their marriage. After that night, he’d apologized several times for not being able to give her the life she wanted. Her assurances that she was happy merely being with him, had obviously fallen on deaf ears. His purported death had set her free.
And set him free, she added, more certain than ever that he’d never truly loved her. He’d married her out of guilt and then felt guilty because he’d married her and robbed her of the life he thought she wanted.
A thought struck her. Could his hostility be because he was worried that she would want to take up where they’d left off? Did he think she was still pie-eyed in love with him and wanted him back? Well, if he did, he was going to find out he was wrong. She’d learned to live without him just fine!
She shifted her gaze to the ceiling, closed her eyes and went to sleep.
“It’s time to get going.”
Beatrice opened her eyes to see Joe frowning down at her.
Leaving the tent, she discovered he’d heated water and made coffee. He’d also already eaten. While she gulped down a quick breakfast, he returned their sleeping bags to their backpacks and repacked the tent.
She’d considered offering to help but got the impression he preferred to work alone.
After breaking camp, he took the lead, heading directly for the road. She couldn’t fault his choice. The going would be much faster than trying to make their way through the forest. And, if someone should decide to return to the fortress, she and Joe could hear any traffic approaching soon enough to leave the road and hide.
His strength was clearly returning. He set a faster pace than he had the day before, causing her to nearly jog to keep up. For the first mile, she matched his gait, then the heat began to take its toll. Giving up, she set a pace she knew she could maintain. If he wanted to hike out on his own, that was fine with her.
She’d caught a glimpse of his face before she’d begun to lag behind. He had the look of a man whose mind was elsewhere and she wondered if he would even notice she was missing.
Apparently he did, she mused, rounding a bend and finding him standing in the middle of the road, his arms akimbo, his expression shuttered. Perspiration streamed down his face. He wiped at it with the sleeve of his shirt.
“I figured it would be stupid for both of us to collapse from heatstroke,” she said, coming to a halt a few feet in front of him.
He raked a hand through his sweat-soaked hair, combing it away from his face. He was giving her every chance, he told himself. Without a word, he took the lead again. At first he set a reasonable pace, then began to increase it again.
Watching him, she could sense his anger as if it was a physical force driving him forward.
Reaching the gate well ahead of her, he was again forced to wait until she caught up.
The coldness in his eyes rankled her. “If I’m slowing you down too much, feel free to go ahead without me,” she told him curtly. “I can make it back on my own.”
“I’m sure you can.” He shoved the gate open and waited for her to pass.
That was not the response she’d expected. What she had expected was for him to give her one of his dry looks as if to say she was being foolish. The realization that he wouldn’t have minded in the least if she’d taken off on her own caused a jab of hurt. Again she told herself she didn’t care how he felt about her. Remaining where she was, she glared at him. “I only stayed with you because I thought you might need some help getting back. You seemed a little weak yesterday. But since you appear to have regained your health, we can part company anytime. Now seems as good as any.”
A silence hung between them while she waited for him to make the next move. For what seemed like an eternity, he stood studying her icily, then said in a low growl, “I should have already killed you. But, even knowing the death and destruction your actions have caused, I can’t. I’d convinced myself I could let you go. But I can’t do that, either. Eventually either I or someone else will have to come after you. I’m taking you back to Tobias. He can deal with you.”
Shocked, she took a step back. “What are you talking about? What death and destruction? Has the sun cooked your brain?”
“Don’t play dumb with me,” he sneered.
“Then stop talking crazy,” she countered.
“Did you really think I wouldn’t figure out you’re the one I’ve been looking for?”
Recalling her conversation with Tobias, the pieces began to fit together. Joe had insisted they travel without a radio because he hadn’t wanted her to be able to contact anyone. And he’d had her take the lead position because he’d wanted to guard his back, not hers. Anger replaced her shock. “You think I’m the traitor you’ve been looking for? I’ve been out of the loop for four years!”
“Maybe not. Maybe you’ve been keeping in touch with contacts within The Unit or even other branches that Tobias isn’t aware of. He trusted you. He wouldn’t have kept an eye on you after you retired. You’re a very pretty woman. You could be carrying on secret liaisons with other operatives. Raven would be happy to put his shoes under your bed anytime. And he or any of the others would have felt safe in divulging information to you. After all, you had the highest security clearance.”
“I’ve never been good at playing the femme fatale. You know that,” she retorted.
“Maybe that’s what you wanted me to think.”
“Whatever they did to you in that fortress has turned you into a raving lunatic.” She took another step back. Joe, she knew, could be deadly and she wanted some response time in case he decided he could kill her.
“I had begun to suspect our traitor was a woman. But until you showed up, you were never on my list of possibilities.”
“My being the one you’re looking for doesn’t make any sense. Why would I come to rescue you if I was the person you were after?”
“Five, six, maybe seven days ago—it’s been a little hard for me to keep track of the time—I was certain I was a dead man. They’d pumped me full of drugs and beaten me to get information. They knew they’d gotten all they were going to get out of me and I figured they’d decided to let me die. They hadn’t fed me or given me water for days. Then suddenly they brought me clean clothes, food, water and started taking me up into the daylight to get exercise.”
“So maybe they decided you were more valuable alive than dead. Maybe they figured they could use you, like Manuel, for a hostage exchange.”
His gaze became even darker. “You should have warned Sanchez to tell his men to be more discreet. I heard a couple of them talking, joking about how I was being spared as a favor for someone important. And that this someone had a soft spot for me…that this someone had been my partner once.”
“And you thought I’d been pining over you all these years…that you still had a hold on my heart?” Her voice took on a cynical edge. “You do have a gigantic ego.”
“You had me convinced you were in love with me,” he returned with equal cynicism.
That he thought she’d been lying about her feelings stung deep. “I was in love with you, but that was a long time ago. Like I said before, I’ve matured. I have a new life I’m very content with.”
“And a seer with a crystal ball told you I needed help, so you left this new life you’re so content with and came to rescue me.”
“We were partners once. I figured I owed you.”
“I’m not buying your story.” He took a step toward her. “We’re going back to see Tobias and see if he buys it.”
She took another step back and held up her hand like a cop stopping traffic. “You’re not getting any closer to me until we’ve talked this out.”
He continued toward her. “I’m wise to you, Tess. You’re not going to fool me this time.”
She continued to move backward, keeping a distance between them. “You said their behavior toward you changed six or seven days ago. That would be about the same time I contacted The Unit trying to see Tobias to find out if you were still alive.”
He stopped and regarded her icily. “They called you by name. One said it must have been real interesting working with Thistle. Then they laughed about how truly dangerous your thorns are and that they’d never want to get close enough to get pricked. ‘A deadly flower’ was how they described you.”
He raised a disbelieving eyebrow.
“You’d never heard them mention me until then, right?” she demanded.
He shrugged a noncommittal yes.
More pieces of the puzzle began to fit together in her mind. “Your inside person must have learned that I’d resurfaced and saw an opportunity to point you in my direction. If I hadn’t shown up to rescue you, they probably would have arranged for you to escape just so you could ‘expose’ me and dispose of me. Then you’d think you were free of your traitor and whoever the real traitor is would be free to get on with their life, especially if they chose this time to retire.”
The disbelief remained on his face. “If you aren’t in league with them, how did they know exactly when to evacuate their camp? Until two days before you arrived, they showed no signs of thinking of changing locations, then suddenly they moved everything out, leaving the place nearly deserted. There were just enough men left to make it look as if Manuel and I were still being guarded. Once we were gone, even they left. Clearly, they assumed we wouldn’t return.”
“I must be rustier than I thought. They must have picked up my trail.” An uneasy chill ran along her spine. “Or they had someone watching Elena and I missed the tail.”
His gaze continued to remain cold. “There is one way you could possibly convince me of your innocence. You could tell me the truth about how you found me.”
Her jaw firmed. “I’ve told you the truth.”
“You will never know how much I’d like to believe that, but my scenario makes more sense.”
“You still think that I’m the bad guy and that I rescued you because I’m still in love with you?”
“No. You’ve managed to convince me that isn’t the case. But maybe you needed someone new on the inside. Maybe your contact retired or died and when you found out I was still alive, you decided that I could be your patsy. Even better, maybe you figured you could guide my search for the mole and lead me to some poor innocent scapegoat who could take the rap.”
“You’re wrong.”
His expression became shuttered. “I’m taking you back to Tobias.”
She knew that look; it was the one he used to hide what was really going on in his mind. She also knew Tobias expected Joe to take care of problems in the field, not bring them home to roost. “Don’t come any closer,” she warned.
He continued toward her. “If you’re innocent, you’ve got nothing to worry about.”
Again she backed away from him. Her fair side admitted that she could not blame him for not believing her. “All right. I’ll tell you the truth. But I want your word that it will remain between us, and only us. You won’t even tell Tobias. There are other lives involved.”
He stopped. “You have my word.” Inwardly, he hoped she did have a reasonable explanation. Outwardly, he continued to regard her skeptically.
“What I tell you will remain strictly between you and me?”
“Strictly between you and me.”
The one thing she had never doubted about Joe was that his word was his bond. “There is something about myself I’ve never told you.”
“Now why doesn’t that surprise me?”
Ignoring his cynicism, she continued stiffly, “I can trace my ancestry back to the ancient Druids. And I know others who can as well.”
“The Celtic priesthood that was purported to have magical powers?” He regarded her dryly. “I was under the impression that even those ‘powers’ could not save them from extinction. It’s always been my guess that they were merely extraordinarily charismatic people or so naturally cruel, they were able to intimidate the masses into believing whatever they wanted them to believe.”
She scowled at him. “You’re wrong on all counts. They were not exterminated, they merely scattered and blended into other cultures. And the ‘powers’ were real. In ancient times they were seen as magical. Today, society refers to them as a sixth sense or ESP.”
The cynicism on his face deepened. “Can I assume we are heading back to the crystal-ball gazer once again?”
“In a way.” She could see he was going to need some convincing.
Impatience mingled with his cynicism. “I hope you’re not going to try to convince me that you’re the seer.”
“No. As I’ve already told you, that ‘talent’ belongs to an acquaintance.” For a moment she hesitated. But she had no choice. Even if she got away from Joe this time, he would hunt her down. “My talent lies in another area.” She looked toward a rock about the size of a coconut lying at the side of the road. Slowly the rock began to lift from the ground. She maneuvered it until it floated between them, then let it drop.
Joe stood in silence, staring at her.
“Do you remember the grenade that somehow flew out my hospital-room window?” she asked him. “Or the time the gunman had a bead on us, then mysteriously fell backward and ended up firing into the air?”
For the first time in all the time she’d known him, Joe looked shaken. Abruptly his expression became shuttered. “You’ve always had this ability?”
“Since I was around fourteen.”
“And you never mentioned it when we were together.” There was accusation in his voice.
“People have a tendency to fear what they don’t understand. I was afraid you wouldn’t be able to accept me, that you would be uncomfortable around me.”
He continued to study her as if seeing her for the first time. “Does the rest of your family have this ability?”
“No, not all of them. Most don’t. And until recently, none of them knew I had it. I had a brother, Hallam, who was born without it. He wanted it badly and became envious of those who had it. The envy led to trouble, a great deal of pain and anguish for others, and eventually his death. I felt it was best if I kept my own counsel. But before I left on this trek, I did tell my grandfather—to ease his mind.” Her gaze leveled on him. “You gave me your word you would tell no one.”
“I’ll keep your secret.” He turned back toward the gate. “We need to get going.” Without looking to see if she was following, he took the lead once again. From the moment he’d walked into her hospital room all those years ago, he’d known that Beatrice Gerard was special. But he’d never expected anything like the power she’d just demonstrated. Still, even it couldn’t always protect her, or she wouldn’t have wound up in that hospital bed. His jaw firmed with resolve. He would get her out of this safely and then they would go their own separate ways once again.