The Soldier's Mission (17 page)

L
aura gasped, her stomach roiling with nausea. Her prayers skidded and careened inside her head. Andre had a bomb strapped on him? And Alex was asking Paco to make a choice.

There was no choice. Paco had to save the others.

“Alex,” she said, trying to turn so she could see his face. “You don't have to do this. I'm going with you.”

He yanked her arm, causing her to cry out. “You don't want to be with me though, do you? You'd rather be with that renegade soldier. I hear he's just about as crazy as I am but I guess I'm not as charming as him, huh?”

Laura knew all the correct answers but nothing in her training had prepared her for this. How many would die here today if she didn't stop this? She thought about Gerald and Sally Mae Barton and Mr. and Mrs. Simpson and the Andersons. She thought about Shane and Katherine happily planning their second wedding just so they could repeat their vows. And Eli laughing as he tossed his son Scotty up into his arms and dangled him by his feet until the boy cackled with laughter. She thought about how Brice loved to recite sonnets to Selena and how she smiled each time he walked by.
Then she thought about Devon, waiting to hear word on Lydia and his child. Their love was so strong, so secure.

Then she thought about Paco. This would destroy him. He would have a breakdown. And this time, he might not recover.

“Alex, we can start over. Just you and me. I promise I'll listen to you. We had a good thing. I just didn't see how much you loved me before.”

“Oh, so you get that now!” His harsh laughter indicated he really didn't care. “Time's up. Your man Martinez didn't want to join up with me at CSN so now he has to make a choice.”

Laura touched a hand to Alex's face. “No, Alex, you don't understand. You have a choice to do what's right.
You
have to show me you can be the kind of man I'll respect and admire by letting these people live. And in return, I'll willingly go with you and we'll figure this out.”

He stared down at her, then put his hand over hers, his expression softening. “I do love you, Laura.”

“And I love you,” she replied, asking God to keep her calm. “It'll be all right, Alex. I promise.”

 

Paco had them in his sights. He could get this over with and done right now but he couldn't take the shot. Sweat poured down his forehead and pooled between his shoulder blades. His fingers felt sticky against the metal of the rifle. He watched as Laura reached up to touch Whitmyer's cheek, watched as the man looked down at her.

What was she doing?

Brice called from the house. Shane held his phone
so Paco could hear. “Eli and I both think we can get to Andre. The bomb's ticking but the timer's not set. If we can get in there, I'm pretty sure I could deactivate the bomb before he hits the remote timer.”

“We don't have time to deactivate the bomb, Whelan,” Paco said, wiping sweat with his sleeve. “
My
minute's up.”

The house phone rang again. Paco dropped his rifle. “Whitmyer—”

“It's me, Paco.”

Laura.

He swallowed, took another breath. “Are you all right?”

“I will be,” she said, her words low, her voice strained. “Paco, I'm going with him. I'm going with him and as soon as we're in the air, he's going to deactivate the bomb and you'll all be safe.”

“No, Laura. No. He told
me
I had to decide. We can figure this out, sweetheart. Just give me some time.”

“There is no time. I'm going with Alex and everything will be fine.”

“Laura, it won't be fine. He'll kill you. He's insane and he won't let you go. Ever. Do you understand?”

“Yes,” she said. “But Paco, God and I, we believe in you. Remember that. I have to go now.”

The line went dead. Paco picked up the gun, rage filling his soul. That lunatic had used her guilt and her generosity to seal the deal. And Paco was helpless to do anything about it. All he could do was watch through his rifle scope while Laura ducked low under the chopper's rudders and waited as Whitmyer lifted her up into the chopper.

And then, Paco saw it. He knew what he had to do to save Laura. He turned to Shane. “I have a new plan. And this one won't fail.”

 

Laura hurt all over. Her breath hit at her ribs, reminding her that she still had a wound in her shoulder. Her insides roiled, not so much from the pain radiating across her body. But mostly from the sheer terror she felt about getting into this helicopter. She'd been blissfully unconscious when they brought her in.

She wouldn't look down. She'd never gotten close to the edge of any cliff or any high windows. She'd always taken the aisle seat on airplanes and that, only after she'd run out of other travel options. But she could do this. Her prayers asked for courage and protection, her heart hurt for the agony of leaving Paco behind.

“Dear God, give us all strength, show us Your grace, allow us Your redemption.”

“You think prayers will solve everything, don't you?”

Laura opened her eyes to find Alex staring over at her, a smug look on her face. “Yes, I do. You should try it sometime.”

He laughed, his hands working the controls. “I learned a long time ago I can't rely on God for anything.”

Hoping to understand, Laura pushed. “What happened to you, Alex?”

He shook his head. “Too late for therapy now.”

He lifted the bird into the air, the process shaky.

“Do you know how to fly this thing?” Laura asked in a loud voice, a new fear surfacing. If they crashed, the bomb might still go off.

“Like riding a bike, baby,” Alex shouted. Then he
motioned for her to put on her headphones. “Mr. Henner trained me to fly both choppers and light planes.”

“What happened to Mr. Henner?” she asked to distract herself, the drone of the chopper muffled for now.

“He and I had a disagreement,” Alex replied through the static in her ears. “He lost.”

“I think he was a good man but he never got over his son's death.”

Alex gave her a thumbs-up. “No, he didn't. But you see, Laura. He had
two
sons. Nobody knew it but him and me—happened before he married and had Kyle. After my mother died, he reluctantly took care of me and later, brought me into the company. But he could never see my potential. He ignored me all of my life. But not anymore. Not this time.”

Shocked and appalled but understanding his motives at last, Laura braced herself as the chopper whirled through the air. Taking deep breaths, she held to her prayers and her training. “Alex, you promised you'd deactivate the bomb, remember?”

He checked several gauges and buttons. “What if I lied about that?”

Laura cried out, trembles moving through her body. “You promised, Alex. Don't be like your father. You can't hurt those people.”

“Watch me.”

And then, she caught a movement out of the corner of her eye, behind them.

Paco swept a hand around to Whitmyer's throat, a thick nasty-looking knife centered on his Adam's apple. Yanking off the headphones, he shouted, “He's not going to hurt anyone, ever again, sweetheart.”

Whitmyer pointed toward his watch, but Paco pushed the knife close enough to draw blood. “One move and you die, Whitmyer. Now take off the watch very slowly and hand it to Laura.”

Whitmyer shook his head. The chopper spiraled and whirled.

Dizziness hit Laura. She gritted her teeth against it.

“We'll all die together,” Whitmyer shouted above the deafening noise, his eyes wild. “How about that?”

Paco let out a grunt, twisted his hand around the man's neck and watched as Whitmyer passed out. Then he went into action, dragging Whitmyer out of the pilot's seat. “Laura, undo his watch while I land this chopper.”

“What about the bomb?” she asked, frantically trying to unbuckle the black band.

“If I know Brice, he's already subdued the bomb but we have to make sure we turn off that detonator to be sure. And that's what I need you to do right now.”

Laura slid the watch off of Alex's limp wrist. “Which button?”

Paco held on to the controls, steadying the big bird, his gaze moving over the dial. “The red button on the left should do the trick.”

Laura prayed he was right. She pushed at the button, her hands trembling and shaking with each jolt of the chopper. Then she heard a beep, beep, beep and held her breath as she finally looked out the window toward Eagle Rock.

The beeps stopped. Laura closed her eyes, terrified she'd hear an explosion from below.

Then Paco touched her hand. “You can open your eyes now, sweetheart. We're headed for solid ground.”

Laura looked down and cried out with delight. Kissie stood waving to them, Andre by her side.

 

“He's in custody,” Paco told Laura two hours later. “And we're to head into Austin tomorrow to give a full report.” He reached for her hand. “You don't have to go. The authorities will get your statement when you're feeling better.”

Laura didn't know if she'd ever feel better. But having him alive and nearby did help. She still couldn't believe he'd hitched a ride on a chopper leg and crawled through the open door into the back of the chopper undetected to stop Whitmyer.

“And everyone else?”

“They're all relieved and celebrating their blessings. I think Mrs. Barton and the other ladies are cooking up a feast.”

“
Our
blessings,” she corrected.

He looked confused.

“We're all counting our blessings, Paco. And you're the number one blessing on my list.”

He let go of her hand then walked over to the window. She was now in a plush bedroom in the main part of the house. “I don't consider myself a blessing to anyone.”

“Your grandfather thinks you're a blessing. He wasn't even surprised when we called to tell him the news that we were both safe. He knew you'd take care of business.”

Now that his business was finished, would he leave her here? He was already putting distance between them.

He turned to stare down at her, his expression caught
between acceptance and resistance. “I have a long way to go, Laura. It won't be easy. I'm not an easy man.”

“I have a whole lifetime to wait for you, Paco.”

He came over to her and lifted her into his arms. “Would you wait that long for me?”

“I think I might,” she said, snuggling against him. Maybe it was the pain meds, or maybe it was the warmth of his arms, but she felt drowsy with happiness.

“We've got a lot to sort through,” he said. “Whitmyer left a long trail of dead bodies and it'll take months to clean up this case.”

Laura nodded. “I can't believe he killed Mr. Henner—his own father—and buried him on his ranch. And I can't imagine what kind of warped relationship those two had. It's so sad, so horrible.”

“Whitmyer is a very sick man, Laura. He hid it well. But he's going to be locked away a long, long time. Seeking revenge, he took advantage of Henner's grief and your guilt in an attempt to change CSN into a killing machine. He might have compared himself to CHAIM but I pray none of us are like him.”

Laura looked up at him. “No, you're not like him. And that's why I won't ever give up on you, Paco.”

There was a knock on the door. “Come in,” Laura called. Paco got up to see who it was.

Devon wheeled in Lydia. And she was holding their little girl.

Tears sprang to Laura's eyes as she looked at the tiny bundle Lydia held in her arms. “Oh, she's so beautiful.”

Devon grinned. “Yes, she is. I think she looks like her mother.”

Laura smiled up at him. “I hear you made it just in time.”

“Yes. Just in time,” Devon said, nodding toward Paco.

Lydia shot Laura a thankful look. “You were so brave today, Laura. You and Selena got me through this.”

Laura looked over at Paco. “It's been a long day, and I'm so thankful it's over.”

Devon glanced at his friend. “It's almost dinner time. You two coming or do you want a tray here in your room?”

“We'll be there in a few minutes,” Paco said.

Laura grinned at Lydia. “Oh, what did you name the baby?”

Lydia smiled up at Devon. “I had planned on naming her Scarlett, but we came up with a better name. Lana. It's a cross between Laura and Selena.”

“And it has an
L
to remind us of Luke,” Devon added with a wink.

Paco actually grinned back at them. “That's kind of cool.”

After they left, he came and sat down in the chair by Laura, took her hand then lowered his head. “I want you to know…today when I thought I was going to lose you, I prayed, Laura. I prayed so hard and I turned my life over to Christ. I mean, really turned my life over to Christ. I promised Him I'd serve Him if He only let you live.”

Laura touched a hand to his head. “Paco, God knew you had already been serving him. He knew your heart and your pain when you were holding that soldier on that mountaintop. It's all right. You're going to be all right now.”

He looked up at her. “How did you get so wise?”

She smiled. “I'm not that wise. But I believe in the power of God's love and healing.”

He tugged her close and kissed her. “This won't be our last kiss, you know.”

“I sure hope not.”

“It might take a while, but I believe I can make you happy.”

“I'm already happy,” she said. “I love you.”

He stared at her as if he'd never heard those words before. “I love you, too.” Then he kissed her again. “If I were to ask you to maybe marry me one day, what would you say?”

Tears streamed down her face. “I'd probably say yes.”

He kissed her again. “And if I were to ask you where you'd like to go on our honeymoon, what would you say?”