Chapter Six

Nathan stared out the tiny window of his cell. He knew it wasn’t safe to balance on the thin wooden stool but he needed to see something other than the four gray walls enclosing him. He felt like he was suffocating. Unfortunately, the view wasn’t much better out the window, a short stretch of manicured lawn, a tall wire fence then jungle, jungle, and more jungle. Nathan sighed then slowly and as carefully as he could, stepped off the stool, keeping one hand on the concrete wall to steady himself.

Dropping heavily down on the cot with his elbows on his knees, he bent his head as he studied his clasped hands. It had been early Monday morning when he’d been taken and he was pretty sure it was late Tuesday afternoon now. At least, he thought it might be. It was hard to tell when the long hours that passed all blurred together.

With only Luis’s visits and the infrequent supervised bathroom trips he was allowed to make, Nathan hadn’t been out of this room for hours. At least he wasn’t forced to use a pail in the corner for a toilet. The walk past those rough looking men sitting at the kitchen table leering at Luis and him and making suggestive crude comments had made Nathan shiver in loathing and fear. Maybe a pail would have been the better alternative after all.

Even though his life was in constant danger, Nathan felt like he was slowly going out of his mind with boredom. He flung himself back onto the cot and stared up that the ceiling. The walls were gray. The floor was gray. The ceiling was gray. The cot was gray. Even the damn ratty blanket was gray.

He was so sick of gray!

Nathan faced the wall and idly ran his thumbnail along the coarse pebbled concrete. His breath caught when he realized he had scratched N + K like a teenager on a bathroom stall.

“Damn it.” He slapped the wall with his palm, clenching his eyes.

He wished with everything in him that when he opened them again, the softness of the pillow would become the lightly furred hardness of Kelly’s chest and that instead of silence the soft comforting beat of Kelly’s heart would be beneath his ear.

Nathan thought back to that evening, the one with the pool table, and chuckled, picturing Kelly in his mind. Those captivating green eyes that glowed like priceless emeralds when he laughed or darkened to the deepest forest green imaginable when filled with desire. Nathan knew that he too would never look at that pool table again without remembering what he and Kelly had used it for.

Just like that, his cock was hard enough to pound his way through the concrete. Yeah right. If only. He snickered at the mental image. He must really be losing his mind. Nathan tensed, glancing over his shoulder when he thought heard movement on the other side of the door.

The door didn’t open and he breathed a sigh of relief as he rolled over and confronted the dismal wall again. He began working through a complicated surgery to pass the time, trying to keep his mind active and off his predicament. Tracing his fingers over the concrete, he pretended it was a patient he was touching and began to run through a procedure in his head. Absently, he noted an increase in movement and noise coming from above his head.

A few minutes later, Nathan heard the door to his cell quietly open and he quickly rolled over, pressing his back to the wall. Luis guided Maria and Jesus ahead of him, throwing anxious glances over his shoulder before firmly closing the door behind them.

Sitting upright, Nathan opened his mouth to ask what they were doing when he picked up on tension coming off Luis. His eyes were filled with worry and there was a definite tremor in his body. The children were no better. They were all frightened. Why?

“Hey, guys. Why don’t you hop up here with me?”

At his words, the children immediately climbed onto the cot and quickly snuggled into his sides, gripping tightly to him.

His concern growing, he looked up at Luis. “What’s happened?”

“Danna’s men are preparing for battle. They have gathered weapons and are taking up positions around the house. Kelly must be near.”

“It was pretty smart of you to bring the kids here,” he told Luis, putting as much comfort and confidence as he could in his voice. “This stone cell may be the safest room in the entire place.”

“Nathan?” Maria gazed up at him with soulful eyes that made his heart flip over. “Mama said she is going to hurt you.” Her eyes were bright with unshed tears. “I don’t want anything to happen to you. We really want you to be our papa.” She buried her face into his chest, tiny arms stretching around his waist as far as they could reach.

Jesus copied his sister adding a soft, “Si, por favor.”

Damn that woman, what right did she have to scare her children like this even if she didn’t want them?

“I’ll do my best not to get hurt, sweetheart.”

It would do no good to lie to her. Maria had likely seen more than a child that age, at any age, should. Nathan’s eyes brimmed with tears as held them tight to him. They had no father and a mother that didn’t want them. How could someone not want these precious babies?

Nathan studied Luis with blurry eyes barely able to see the tremulous expression on Luis’s face as he watched his little brother and sister holding tight to him. Extending one of his arms, Nathan beckoned with his fingers. Luis lunged for him, also wrapping his arms about Nathan.

Tipping his head back, Nathan closed his eyes and let the tears fall. He could feel Maria, Jesus, and Luis finding their places in his heart. Already he would do anything for them, unable to imagine a future without the three of them in it.

The noise overhead increased then abruptly stopped. The longer the silence grew, the more ominous it became. The thought of Kelly being so close raised Nathan’s spirits. He had absolute faith in Kelly and knew his trust was not misplaced. However, he had no illusions that they were safe. A fight with guns was about to happen over their heads because Nathan highly doubted that Kelly was foolish enough to come alone.

Thinking quickly, Nathan gently untangled himself from the children and Luis.

“Luis, help me shove the pillow into the window. It won’t stop a bullet but it couldn’t hurt and if the window shatters, it will at least keep the glass from coming in.”

Luis scrambled off the bed and the two of them wedged the pillow tightly into the window frame. The loss of outdoor light from the small window darkened the room considerably, the pitiful light bulb doing very little to ease the shadows.

That done, Nathan crouched and addressed the children. “We are going to have a little game of hide and seek. I want Jesus and Maria to climb under the cot and stay as quiet as you two can be, Luis, you next and then me.”

The three hustled under the bed as he directed. As it turned out, the cot was too narrow for him to hide under it with the kids so he draped the blanket over the edge to hide them, and anxiously sat in the partial darkness in the corner. He pulled his legs up and wrapped his arms around his knees in an effort to make himself as small as his long body would allow. Now, it was time to wait and hope.

Moments later a blast from outside vibrated through the stone at his back followed by an even larger one that shook the very walls around them. Nathan could hear the children cry out in fear and he couldn’t blame them as he curled tightly in on himself. The pillow flew across the room, thumping onto the floor, glass deeply embedded in it that would have likely been embedded in his skin instead, if they hadn’t put the pillow into the window.

As concrete dust rained down upon him, a crack appeared near the base of one gray wall then ran all the way up to the ceiling. Nathan held his breath fearing that the house was about to fall down on them and bury them under tons of concrete and rubble. When nothing further happened, he blew out the breath he was holding only to gasp at the sound of rapid–fire machine guns overhead and from outside.

Nathan couldn’t suppress his shiver of apprehension. The shoot-out he had been expecting had begun.

A slight whimper came from under the cot, which was quickly shushed. Moments later, the door to his cell slammed violently open. The radiance blazing behind the figure made it impossible to see who it was until they stepped further into the cell.

Icy fear ran down Nathan’s spine. It was Danna and she was holding a gun in her hand. Hate, stark and vivid glittered in her eyes as she looked down on him. The bright light from the hallway lifted the darkness and made his hiding place visible.

“Get up,” she snarled at him.

Nathan slowly rose to his feet, praying that the children would remain silent. He had no doubt that their lives depended on Danna not knowing they were hiding under the cot.

“I have decided not to wait. Kelly will find your lifeless body here and know he was too late. Let him live with the pain as I have.” She pointed the gun at him.

“No. Signora, please,” a deep masculine voice begged Danna.

Fixated on Danna and the gun aimed at him, Nathan hadn’t noticed the three men in the doorway until one of them spoke. Each was dressed in combat gear with green, tan, and black stripes on their faces. Nathan surveyed the trio unable to see clearly past the one in the lead who had his hand outstretched imploringly in Danna’s direction. These must have been the men Kelly had once mentioned in passing to him. Men his Granda had specially trained, just like Kelly, to be covert operatives…specialists, to do the jobs no one else could.

“Signora, Kelly did not kill your son,” the tall man in the front of the group said to her calmly but firmly.

Nathan peered over her head hoping to get a glimpse of Kelly but the man in front took another step forward then froze as Danna lifted the gun higher and pointed it directly at Nathan’s head. His entire being focused on the barrel of her gun, the cylinder of metal that would determine whether he lived or died.

“Lies!” She yelled at the man. “You would say anything to save the doctor.”

“No, Signora, I speak the truth.”

“Who are you?” Danna snapped at the man.

“Supervisory Special Agent Steven Bakerson. I’m with the FBI, ma’am. The ballistics report said Kelly never fired his gun.”

“What?” The word echoed from several throats.

The man, Supervisory Special Agent Bakerson, didn’t acknowledge them but he raised the volume of his words, so he could be heard by everyone around him at once. “Kelly’s weapon had no gunpowder residue. It was never fired, even though Kelly thought he had pulled the trigger. Someone else shot Samuel.” The man paused as if gathering strength to finish what he had to say. “The bullet that came from your son was the same caliber as the one in Kelly’s shoulder. If your son hadn’t shot Kelly in the side first, which caused him to turn, the second bullet would have hit Kelly square in the chest, killing him instantly.”

“What the hell?”

Nathan stifled a gasp at what Supervisory Special Agent Bakerson had said. Then he recognized that beloved voice. Kelly pushed his way forward between the men and Nathan drank in the sight of him. Kelly sucked in a sharp breath at his first glimpse of Nathan. His gaze roved hungrily over Nathan before he turned to the special agent and grasped the front of the man’s vest tightly in his fist.

“What are you talking about? Only Jerry and I were in the room with Varga, no one else.” Kelly paused, his eyes suddenly going wide and unfocused as he realized what he had said. “Only Jerry and I were in the room. He was facing me on the opposite side of Varga. Only Jerry…” Kelly’s voice trailed off, his expression stunned as the implication of the other man’s words sunk in.

Even Nathan understood the significance of that revelation. It meant that Jerry, Kelly’s friend and partner, had intended to kill Kelly but failed when the child had unexpectedly grabbed his father’s gun and began shooting at them. It was Jerry who had ended up shooting the child, not Kelly, to save himself before the rest of the team showed up, alerted by the gunfire.

Jerry had shot him…shot Kelly. Nathan’s heart went out to the man he loved. Kelly must be feeling so betrayed right now.

“And you have proof, Special Agent Bakerson?” Danna asked, interrupting his thoughts.

“Yes, ma’am. I do, plenty of proof.”

“Why should I believe you? Tell me why I shouldn’t just kill the doctor?” Danna cocked the gun in her hand, the small sound bouncing around the silent room louder than a cannon going off.

Nathan met Kelly’s gaze, pouring all the love he had for Kelly into his eyes. At least if he were to die, Kelly’s face would be the last thing he saw before he left this life.

Kelly made a small shift in movement at her words as if he were going to jump into action until the softest of noises, a barely there whimper, came from under the cot. The entire room tensed. Nathan squeezed his eyes shut for a second, fearing what was about to come next.

“Who is under there? Come out now!” Danna yelled.

Slowly a hand slid out, gripped the blanket and flipped it up onto the cot. Luis appeared and slid out from underneath the cot followed by Maria and Jesus. The two children clung to Luis’s legs, staring at Danna with frightened faces.

“Please, Mama, do not kill the doctor,” Maria pleaded in a quiet voice.

“Do not call me that!” Danna shrieked, swinging her arm to point the gun at the little girl who squealed in fright, hiding her face in the fabric of Luis’s pant leg.

Nathan started to take a step toward them as Luis pulled the two children behind him, shielding them from Danna with his body. Luis was shaking in fear, gaze fixed on the weapon but he stood strong before her, a very brave thing to do. Nathan’s movement snapped her attention back to him and he stilled when the gun was once more aimed in his direction.

Danna gave a half-hysterical laugh, the gun shaking in her hand. “You foolish brat,” she snapped over her shoulder. “I am not your mama. You and that whelp brother of yours are not my children. My precious Samuel was my only child, but when he was born something tore inside me and I could not give Samuel the brother he wanted. But your papa,” she said, sneering the word. “He insisted on a brother and sister for Samuel. You belong…belonged to a woman, in the village, but I took care of her, the whore.”

She scowled, looking off in the distance. “How would I know that your fool of a father would fall in love with that bitch and then kill himself when he found out she was dead?”

Nathan wanted to drop to his knees and gather the two children close to him. They stared wide-eyed at Danna in horror at her words. This did explain their abuse, the poor babies. Didn’t justify it but did explain the hatred Danna harbored against them. Seeing them reminded her of the infidelity of the man she had loved, over and over again.

They had no father, no mother, no one to protect them and care for them. Something in Nathan firmed up, he was determined to survive to give them the home, the love, they desperately needed and deserved.

“Danna,” he said softly. “It’s over. Too many have died. Let it end. Please, let it end.”

“Señora, I swear to you that we will get the one who killed Samuel and bring that person to justice,” Supervisory Special Agent Bakerson said with a determined expression on his face even though Nathan was positive that Bakerson knew damn well that it was Jerry.

“Nooo,” she abruptly wailed. “Samuel was my baby. He was everything to me!”

Nathan could see her resolve weakening. “I understand Señora, I really do. Let me take the children. You don’t have to see them ever again and be reminded of your husband’s betrayal. Samuel’s killer will pay. I promise you that they,” Nathan pointed to the men, “will ensure it.”

Danna stared at him, tears pooling in her eyes then slowly one ran down her cheek, quickly followed by another until she stood there quietly crying. Nathan held his breath as the gun wavered then gradually lowered, pointing to the ground. Her head dropped to her chest as she squeezed her eyes shut, the gun dropping to the ground. One of the men stepped up behind her and silently picked the weapon up, slipping it into a pocket, before moving away.

“Get out…all of you,” Danna said in a flat monotone voice.

Nathan felt his heart go out to her. She was in so much pain and appeared so utterly defeated standing there with her head hanging down. Tears poured from under her clenched eyelids and down her face. But Nathan didn’t question her possibly last and only moment of maternal caring. Instead, he immediately grabbed Maria, hoisting her into his arms. Luis followed his example and picked up Jesus. The two of them quickly walked over to the men in the doorway, almost running in their haste to get out of the cell and away from Danna before, or in case, she changed her mind.

Supervisory Special Agent Bakerson tilted his head toward Danna while giving Nathan a raised eyebrow, wordlessly asking him about her. Nathan spared one more fleeting glance at the destroyed woman and shook his head.

“No, she’s suffered enough.” Nathan softly answered him. Let them leave her what little peace she could have.

The men in the doorway swallowed Nathan and Luis into their midst, surrounded them, and hustled them up the stairs. Kelly stayed just behind him, and Nathan could feel him guiding him with his hand at Nathan’s back. He had a feeling that Kelly needed the contact just as much as he did.

Nathan saw a person standing at the top of the stairs who waved them ahead as the last man cleared his position. They all froze in the kitchen when they heard an anguished scream from downstairs. The sound sent shivers down Nathan’s spine. It was the sound someone made when their soul had just been ripped from their body. It was followed by a single gunshot.

Luis gasped and froze but the special agent dropped his hand onto Luis’s shoulder, giving it a squeeze. Giving the agent a grateful look, Luis nodded and adjusted Jesus in his arms before moving on.

Nathan exchanged looks with Kelly, opening his mouth to ask but Kelly pressed a finger to his lips and shook his head. Quiet was good. No going back to check on Danna. Somehow, Danna had another weapon secreted somewhere upon her body. Okay, Nathan got that. Now, they had to hurry. Questions could come later. He only prayed that he wouldn’t lose Kelly over his decision to become the children’s father.

Silently, the men urged them along, moving the four of them through the house and out what was left of the front of the building. Thankfully, there were no more sounds of gunfire. They were met by another man standing at the edge of the rubble. He swung his large gun left and right, scanning around him as they passed before falling into line at the rear. Divots of earth suddenly rose into the air to one side of them. Still moving forward, the men crowded Luis, the children and Nathan tightly in the core of their group as they returned fire. Nathan realized with a start, that they were protecting the four of them with their own bodies. The gunfire abruptly stopped, but the men continued to watch their retreat as they entered the jungle.

Kelly’s hand was no longer at Nathan’s back, his warm presence missing from behind him. Glancing around, he hoped to spot Kelly but was unable to find him as they moved quickly through the dense foliage. Other than size, all the men were dressed and looked alike, with goggles and paint obscuring their faces, and low-brimmed hats on their heads. The man behind him winked and Nathan realized that Kelly was with him once again. He heaved a sigh of relief and focused on the largest one who led the way, hacking a path through the jungle.

The men stayed on high alert, constantly sighting down the barrels of their weapons, searching in all directions for threats in the jungle around them. At one point, another man joined their group carrying a very impressive rifle slung over his shoulder. Another smaller but just as deadly looking rifle was in his hands.

Nathan had no idea how long they traveled in single file through the dense foliage. Between tripping and nearly falling with Maria in his arms and slapping aside countless broad leaves and vines before they could hit either him or Maria in the face, it was steadily becoming torture. To protect her, he simply tucked her face into his shoulder. A pair of odd goggles was suddenly handed to him. It was not an easy feat to put them on one-handed but he managed it and did it ever make a difference. He could plainly see all the little hazards he couldn’t before. Looking quickly over his shoulder, he saw that Luis also sported a pair of the goggles.

It wasn’t long before they stepped into a small clearing. The first thing Nathan noticed was an odd shaped tent sort of thing. He probably would have missed it entirely if they hadn’t come out of the jungle where they had, almost on top of the object.

The slender man just ahead of Nathan pulled the hat off his head with one hand and vigorously rubbed his bright hair with the other before calling out to the tent.

“Cher, we are here.”

Not a man then, the feminine tone was unmistakable.

The large man who had led them through the jungle rapped on the side of the tent. “All clear, Pipsqueak.”

“Hey, guys,” came a familiar voice from behind the camo-colored fabric.

Nathan’s jaw dropped as his brother’s face peered out at them from the canvas at one end.

Son-of-a-bitch. “Brendan! What the fu-dge are you doing here?” Nathan remembered almost too late not to swear out loud with children there.

“Good to see you too, Nathan.” Brendan gave him a cocky grin as he awkwardly climbed out of the tent contraption he had been inside. “What? You think I could stand by and let the terminator squad here go without me? Not likely.” He snorted as he grabbed Nathan in a tight one-sided hug.

“I was so damn worried about you,” Brendan murmured brokenly into Nathan’s ear.

“I’m really glad to see you too, Brendan.”

Brendan stepped back, holding Nathan at arm’s length and giving him an intense scrutiny. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine.”

“Really?”

“Yes, really.”

“And who is this little darling?” Brendan asked, smiling down at Maria who stared at him with huge eyes.

“This is Maria. Her brother Luis watched out for me.”

“Luis?”

Nathan nodded, he looked over his shoulder to see Luis anxiously watching him and Brendan, goggles hanging off his wrist like a bracelet. Nathan beckoned Luis over. Jesus was still curled up in his arms, the exhausted child was fast asleep and completely oblivious to the goings on around him.

“Brendan, this is Luis and the little guy is Maria’s other brother, Jesus.”

Luis extended a hand to Brendan who shook it with a grin. “Thank you for watching out for Nathan.”

“It was my honor.”

Brendan tipped his head, looking at Jesus’s sleeping face. “Awe, this little guy is all tuckered out.”

Luis hefted Jesus but other than giving a small breathy sigh, the little boy stayed sleeping. “He has been through much lately.” Luis nodded toward Maria. “They both have.”

“No.” Nathan shook his head, correcting Luis. “You all have.”

Nathan knew Brendan’s sharp eyes took in their bedraggled condition as he scanned the three of them. The children were thin with ratty clothes and sallow skin. It all spoke loudly of what they must have endured.

Brendan gave Maria a huge grin and bow. “Well, little darlin’, I am very pleased to meet you,” he said to her.

Maria glanced up at Nathan who motioned his head in Brendan’s direction. “This silly man is my brother Brendan, your new uncle.”

Brendan snapped his gaze over to Nathan. “Uncle? Is there maybe something you need to tell me?” he asked as he straightened, giving Nathan a pointed look.

“Yeah. We really do need to talk but first I have to find Kelly.” So preoccupied with Brendan, Nathan had lost track of Kelly. He scanned the small clearing, searching for Kelly and finally spotted him pushing his way out of the jungle.

He turned to Luis. “Luis, would you watch the children for a minute? It’s very important that I speak to Kelly right now.”

“Of course.”

Brendan held out his hands for Maria instead of letting Nathan pass her to Luis. “Would you like to get to know your silly uncle better?”

Maria glanced at Nathan who nodded his encouragement. She moved into Brendan’s arms as G stepped up to them and gave Brendan a kiss on the cheek.

“It is all right now, cher. Nathan is free and not injured. We can relax for a few minutes then go meet our ride. Oui?” She held foil juice pouches out to Luis and Maria. “I don’t know about you but I could use something to drink. I have apple and orange juice. Interested?”

“Juice pouches?”

“Qui, cher. They are portable, and filled with goodness for both children and adults, no matter the situation.”

In other words, they all needed the sugar and nutrients the juice contained, which made sense to him. Nathan smiled at the group as G punched straws into the pouches and handed them to Luis and Maria. Nathan approached Kelly but as Kelly reached for him, Nathan backed away. Nathan winced at the hurt in Kelly’s expression. As desperately as he wanted to be held in Kelly’s arms, he had to tell Kelly the truth and let Kelly decide if he still wanted him now that he came with baggage in the form of two small children and one young man. The thought that Kelly would reject him formed a tight knot in his belly. Nathan knew it would break him but he would still be the best papa he could be for the children.

Fear stealing his tongue, he wordlessly took Kelly’s hand and led Kelly off to the side of the clearing, putting as much distance between them and the rest of the group as he could. Nathan faced Kelly who gave him a concerned look as he took a deep lungful of air and courage.