White Dawn: A Military Romantic Suspense Novel (29 page)

Garrett’s mouth quirked up in another
lopsided smile. “You got to be yourself,
really
yourself—temper, smart mouth and all—when you walked into my camp.
That’s
the Carmen I love, not the one on the Internet.”

She caught her breath. Even her pulse
seemed to pause. She stared at him, willing him to repeat what he
had just said. She wasn’t sure she hadn’t imagined it.

“Yes, I mean it,” Garrett said softly.
“I’ve been doing a lot of thinking while the wind was too loud to
hear anyone speak. It left me alone with my thoughts and
made
me think. So I’ve been thinking, possibly for the first
time in ten years.” He raised her hand up, making her look at it
and the grip his fingers had on her. “I don’t know where we’ll end
up, Carmen, but wherever that is, I want you with me.”

“Live the life of a guerilla?” she
asked. “Find a war and sign up?”

He shook his head. “I don’t know. I do
know that fighting wars, no matter how unfair they are, has lost
its appeal for me. If it ever had any appeal. I can’t remember why
I started doctoring in war zones. I’m sure one day I’ll figure it
out, but only when there’s some distance between us and this
one.”

“There’s plenty of patients out there
who aren’t war casualties,” Carmen told him. “Some of them are the
neediest people on the planet.” She took a breath. “There’ll be
thousands of them here in Vistaria once this war is over.”

Garrett nodded. “I like your thinking,”
he said slowly. “But I don’t want to lock us into any decisions.
Nothing, for now. Not until the war really is over and we know what
it looks like on the other side. Can you live with that,
Carmen?”

“Live with you, you mean? A day at a
time?”

“Yes…I guess that’s what I’m asking. No
commitments for now, except to stay with me.”

His proposal was the epitome of
non-commitment, except that he was tying her to him in a formal way
that would cement…whatever this was. She sighed. “I guess I’m
expecting too much from an unavailable guy.”

Garrett’s eyes narrowed. “You would run
straight back into that storm if I wasn’t,” he said. “If I dropped
to my knees right now and asked you to marry me as soon as we found
a chaplain, you’d bolt.”

And her heart did lurch. Just a little.
She licked her lips, which were suddenly dry. “Are you asking?” she
whispered.

He shook his head. “I’d rather have you
in my life, than destroying it.”

Relief touched her. Garrett knew her,
better than anyone in the world. “We’re the same, aren’t we?” she
said slowly.

“Unavailable, arrogant, stubborn and
scared spitless of falling in love,” he said softly. “I guess we’ve
screwed up the last bit.”

She nodded. “Would you…do you mind…” she
began hesitantly.

His brow raised.

“I want to kiss you,” she said, feeling
absurdly shy. “But it isn’t private here.”

Garrett wrapped his spare arm around her
and drew her closer. “I guess we’ll have to get used to public
declarations, won’t we?” And he kissed her, right there in front of
everyone.

Carmen didn’t notice the cheering and
whistling and clapping until Garrett let her go.

Apparently, the Loyalist Army of
Vistaria approved of her choice in men. The accolade warmed her and
made her feel that for the first time, she was really and truly
among people who cared.

The wind gusted, blowing her hair back
into her face and Garrett pushed it aside once more. “Let’s head
inside,” he said. “I want to grab that alcove again before someone
else does.”

They turned and headed for the smelter
shed door, as most of the soldiers scattered around the watery
earth were doing. But Garrett didn’t let go of her hand and Carmen
had a hard time keeping the silly smile off her face.

The hurricane blew itself out seven hours later. The
second half of the storm brought not just wind, but driving rain
and hail that thundered on the tin roof, making even simple
thoughts difficult to hold on to. Just past midnight, the roof of
the shed tore away with a shriek of metal. Torrential rain poured
in on them. It was like being in a shower fully clothed. Garrett
just tightened his arms around her and hung on. It was impossible
to speak and be heard. Only touch was left to them, so Carmen clung
to him without reserve.

The roof was not the only casualty. From
beyond the sturdy concrete walls, they could hear more heavy
objects moving and tearing themselves to shreds in the wind. But no
one dared even try to look out beyond the heavy steel doors.

Because there was no roof, no one failed
to notice the arrival of dawn, which coincided with the wind
dropping down to a gusty breeze. The rain stopped and the thick
clouds overhead turned to a white color.

There was too much cloud to see the sun
emerge, but when it was light enough, Duardo Peña and three of his
men eased open the shed doors, their guns in their other hands, and
reconnoitered the compound. Fifteen minutes later they returned and
threw open the doors.

Carmen was one of the first people to
step through the doors. Her wet jeans and shirt chafed and she was
stiff from sitting and lying on sopping concrete for hours. Her
bones ached and her muscles throbbed.

But the air outside was fresh and clean
and normal. She sniffed, smelling the salt of the ocean. Seagulls
were cawing overhead and puddles were everywhere. Then she gasped,
for she realized that she was looking at where the rest of the
administrative buildings
had
been. There was nothing left
but concrete pads and some stumps of plywood. The wreckage, most of
it, had piled up against the wall of the smelter shed. She spotted
more of it scattered across the open areas, where the wind or the
waves had dumped it.

“Where are the Insurrectos?” she said
aloud.

Duardo turned to look at her. “If they
took shelter in the admin buildings…” He shook his head. “If they
were smart, they ran to the cliffs, dug themselves a trench and sat
in it, out of the way of flying debris and the water. We’ll sweep
the island. They can’t get off
Las Piedras Grandes
, so if
there are any left, we’ll find them.”

The general, standing next to him, bent
and touched his toes then straightened his back with a groan. “I
think I’ll help with that,” he said. “Movement would be good. For
all of us.”

“It’s so quiet,” someone said from close
behind her and Carmen turned and saw Nemesis there.

“I don’t know your name,” she told him.
“But I’ve figured out we’re cousins.”

Garrett snorted. “Another cousin,” he
muttered.

Carmen hid her grin.

“Daniel,” Nemesis told her. “But that’s
something you should forget you know until the war is done.”

“Daniel Castellano,” she said, putting
the two names together. “I have no idea who that is,” she
added.

Daniel grinned. “You trained her well,”
he told Garrett.

“Glad you think I had anything to do
with training her at all,” Garrett said gruffly.

Carmen let herself smile this time. She
couldn’t help it. She looked around the area. “It’s so
quiet
,” she breathed. “And
white
,” she added, for the
cloud overhead seemed to merge into the dull, washed out and
flattened landscape. Wherever there was water, it reflected the
white clouds. It felt like the entire world was white.

The quiet was broken by the roar of a
helicopter, broken into staccato echoes by the rotors. She clapped
her hands over her ears and looked up. It was a big transport
helicopter that she had seen in countless news items covering wars
in the Middle East and Afghanistan, but she knew the Vistarian army
had none of them.

Yet hanging out of the door and waving
was a familiar face.

“Nick!” she called, delighted. She
waved, even though she knew he couldn’t possibly hear her and
probably couldn’t see her either, from that height.

The helicopter turned its nose until it
was broadside to the shed, then dropped down until the tires
settled onto the muddy ground. The engine cut out and the rotors
slowed.

Nick jumped down to the ground. “We have
food!” he called out.

There was a wild cheer, some clapping
and whistling.

Duardo turned to face his men. “Patrol
units first!” he bellowed. “Take the food with you. I want the
first units sweeping the island in the next five minutes. Go!
Anyone injured goes next. Then by cadre number!”

As the uniformed men got into line,
Carmen stopped listening to Duardo’s orders. She tapped Garrett’s
shoulder and beckoned him with her crooked finger, then hurried
over to where Nick stood to one side. He spotted her and his smile
warmed. “Carmen!” he said, sounding genuinely delighted.

Carmen threw her good arms around his
neck and hugged him. The impulse came out of nowhere, but Nick
hugged her back. Hard.

Then he peeled her away from him and
looked down at his damp shirt. “You’re very wet,” he observed. “Was
it bad?” He brought his hand up to her wounded shoulder, but didn’t
touch it.

“Just wet and noisy, inside the smelter
shed. I’m glad I was there and nowhere else on this island, last
night,” she said soberly, glancing around.

Nick’s smile faded as he took in the
damage. “Josh!” he called.

Joshua Benning, whom Carmen recognized
from when she had been living in the big house, moved to the front
of the open door of the helicopter. He stepped around the big
caterers’ trays of sandwiches and juice boxes sitting in the
doorway, then jumped down and walked over to where they were
standing by the nose of the helicopter. Josh nodded at Carmen.
“It’s good to see you, Ms. Escobedo,” he said formally.

“It’s Carmen,” she told him.

“Josh, I guess this is as good a time as
any to give you back your mine,” Nick said and waved toward the
concrete pads. “It’s all yours.”

Josh let out a heavy breath. “Jesus
wept,” he breathed, looking at it.

“It’s cosmetic damage,” Carmen assured
him. “The smelter is still whole. It’ll need a new roof, but that’s
all. The heavy equipment is all in the sheds over there. You can’t
see the mine head from here, but I remember that the building
around that was pretty solid, too. It’s just the admin buildings
that were flattened and you can probably rebuild them faster than
you built them the first time, as the pads are there.”

Josh rubbed the back of his neck. “It’s
not that,” he said slowly. “It’s…”

“What?” Nick asked, with a note of
sharpness.

“The Insurrectos,” Josh said. “Where did
they all go?”

“I guess we’ll find out when the patrols
report back,” Garrett said. “Frankly, I don’t give a damn.”

Nick looked at him, his eyes
narrowing.

Carmen put out her hand toward Garrett
and willed him to take it. He didn’t hesitate. His hand slid into
hers.

“Nick, I’d like you to meet Garrett
Blackburn,” Carmen continued. “He’s a medical doctor working with
WHO and assigned to Vistaria.” She glanced at Garrett. He was
watching Nick, sizing him up. “Garrett is also the leader of the
Resistance unit I’ve been with for the last couple of months, since
I escaped from the palace.”

Nick’s eyes widened a tiny fraction. He
held out his hand. “Dr. Blackburn,” he said. “I’m glad you were
there for Carmen.”

“It’s just Garrett,” he said and shook
Nick’s hand. “You’re Nicolás Escobedo. You and Carmen have the same
eyes.”

“Hers are prettier,” Nick said flatly.
“Why don’t you give a damn about the Insurrectos, Garrett? There’s
a good chance you’ll be asked to tend them as a medical doctor in
the next little while.”

“And they’ll get the best of my skills
and abilities. I abide by my oath,” Garrett said roughly. “But
Ibarra is flat out crazy. He’s the reason the Insurrectos stuck
around, trying to hang on to the mine despite the hurricane. If
they’re dead, it’s Ibarra’s fault. I hope he perished with them.
It’ll be a cleaner war if he did.”

Nick blinked. He studied Garrett with
renewed interest.

Carmen looked up as Calli, Nick’s wife,
stepped into the doorway of the helicopter from somewhere inside.
She had a cellphone to her ear, sunglasses pushed up over her head
and a notepad and pen in her other hand. She jumped down awkwardly
to the wet ground and walked over to them. “Just one moment, Mr.
President,” she said in almost flawless Spanish. “The President pro
tem is right here. I’ll put him on and you can speak to him
directly.”

She held the phone out to Nick. “The
President of Mexico would like to speak to you,” she told him and
pressed her lips together to hold back a smile.

Nick did smile. He took a deep breath
and put the phone to his ear. “President Aguirre, it is good to
hear from you.” He walked away, the phone to his ear. Calli pressed
her notebook to her chest, her smile breaking free.

Behind them, the army was helping itself
to the food in an orderly and almost silent procession. Duardo
turned from monitoring them and looked at Calli. “Was that who I
think it was on the phone for Nick?” he asked.

Calli nodded.

Duardo looked up at the white sky and
let out a gusty sigh. “
Yes!”
he breathed.

Garrett pulled Carmen closer to him, his
arm sliding around her waist from behind. He murmured in her ear.
“I’m losing track of your family tree, but is there anyone here
right now that
isn’t
a cousin?”

Carmen looked around the group. Nick was
her uncle, Calli was married to him, and Josh was Calli’s uncle. He
was also Minnie’s father and Minnie had married Duardo… Carmen
shook her head. “Nope. We’re all related one way or another.”

Duardo was watching them, a twinkle in
his eye. He grinned at Garrett. “Welcome to the family, Garrett. I
speak from experience when I assure you that you’ve never met a
family like this one.”