Twenty-Five
Standing at the edge of the porch watching the moonlit lake, Claire spotted the silhouette of a boat coming toward her. She was sure it was Ben, but she could only see the outline of two people in the boat.
Her heart squeezed. Where was Sam? Had something gone wrong?
The boat sputtered to a stop at the dock, and she raced down the steps to where it bobbed in the water. Someone else was in the boat, she saw as she drew near. Her heart jerked then overflowed with love. Sam.
Her eyes filled as Ben swept the boy up in his arms and stepped out onto the dock. He set Sam on his feet, and the boy raced toward her, Troy’s dog galloping at his heels. Sam’s dog, she corrected, for clearly animal and boy belonged together. Running now, her cheeks wet with tears, she opened her arms and Sam ran into them, his warm body burrowing into hers as she held him tightly against her.
“You came to get me,” he whispered, and began to shake as he struggled not to cry. “You’re really here.”
Her throat ached. He was wet head to toe, covered with algae and mud. She squeezed him tighter and fresh tears ran down her cheeks. “I’m here, sweetheart, and you’re safe. Your dad’s here. Everything’s okay.”
As he looked up at her in the moonlight, his pale eyes glistened. “I shouldn’t have gone with Troy. I should have waited.”
“It’s all right. You’ve got your dad now. You don’t ever have to worry about where you’re going to live.”
Ben walked up just then, his face still streaked with black, his camouflage T-shirt and pants wet and plastered to his powerful body. Unconsciously, his hand came up and settled protectively on his son’s small shoulder.
“We have to go. I called the sheriff. He’ll be going in after Hutchins and Troy, but I don’t know how fast that’ll happen. We need to get out of here just in case.”
She nodded. In case the men came after them. They must have had trouble. She didn’t let go of Sam.
Ben’s voice gentled. “He’s okay, Claire. He’s going to be just fine.” She wanted to hold on to Ben as much as she wanted to keep holding Sam.
Ben’s hand stroked gently over the top of his son’s dark head. “He did great out there. He really can swim like a fish. I was proud of him.”
Sam looked up at his father. “Mom said you died in the war.”
Two pairs of ice-blue eyes met and held. “Your mother thought I wouldn’t want you. She was wrong.”
“Your mother was trying to protect you,” Claire explained. “Sometimes the people who love us make mistakes.”
Ben smoothed the boy’s wet hair one last time. “We need to move,” he said.
Claire nodded, more than ready to leave. “I packed up everything just in case. All we need to do is load the car.”
“I wish we had time for a hot shower,” Ben said to Sam, “but that’s going to have to wait.”
Sam just nodded. He seemed different to Claire, more stoic, more grown-up than before he’d disappeared. She turned as Ty approached, carrying the last gear bag out of the boat.
“Thank you,” Claire said to him. “I’ll never forget what you’ve done tonight.”
Ty just grinned. “Helluva lot more fun than sitting home watching TV.”
Claire managed to smile, but her heart was hurting. There was so much she wanted to say, so much she owed this man who had come here to help them. But there wasn’t time for that now, and even if there were, she wasn’t sure she could find the right words.
She settled her arm around Sam’s shoulders and they hurried back to the cabin. Ben and Ty loaded the bags and Ben’s gear into the back of the Denali. Ty tossed his duffel into the dark brown sedan he’d rented in Dallas. The bills were already paid. They pulled away from the cabins, started up the dirt track to the two-lane road that would lead them back to Egansville for the rendezvous Ben had arranged with the sheriff.
It was over. And yet Ben was still in battle mode, his weapons in easy reach. She wondered what had happened in the bayou. She wondered if they were truly safe.
* * *
The sheriff was waiting for them when they pulled into the parking lot in front of his Egansville office. Ben and Ty gave a statement of the evening’s events, and the sheriff spoke to Sam.
Claire had been worried social services might want to intervene, but Egansville was a small town, and once the sheriff had verified Ben’s identity and checked with the Texas police, he was happy to leave the boy with a social worker and his father. There would be plenty of paperwork once they got back to Houston, but all of that could wait.
As soon as the authorities had the information they needed, the deputies headed for the bayou, and Ben headed for home. On the way out of town, he stopped at a cheap motel so he, Sam and Ty could shower and put on dry clothes.
Claire had been carrying clothes for Sam since her shopping excursion in Houston—one of her better ideas, since Ben refused to stay overnight in the little town that was home to the Bayou Patriots. He wanted all of them safe.
The Denali led the way to Texas, Ty’s rental car following in case they ran into trouble. It wasn’t likely, but the internet was a powerful resource and the Patriots did have their own website. Sam slept in the backseat with Pepper as Ben drove the two-hundred-ninety-mile trip to Houston, pulling up in front of his garage at eight o’clock the next morning. Aside from a stop for an Egg McMuffin at a McDonald’s in Beaumont, Sam had slept straight through.
Ben turned off the security alarm and the guys carried the bags into the house. Everything was going smoothly until Pepper danced happily through the front door behind Sam, and Hercules came meandering out of the kitchen. Herc jumped into cat combat mode, arching his back and hissing viciously at the intruder in his domain. Pepper’s ears went up and a look of surprise came into his face.
“Leave him alone!” Sam demanded, coming to his dog’s defense, dropping to his knees and throwing his arms around the black Lab’s neck. Pepper just stood there, his head cocked to one side as he studied the big gray cat that fearlessly stood its ground just a few feet away.
“That’s Hercules,” Ben said. “Herc lives here. They need to get to know each other if they’re going to be sharing the same house.”
“I don’t think Pepper likes cats. What if Pep tries to eat him?”
Ben chuckled, reached down and scooped up the big gray ball of fur. “Herc’s a pretty tough old boy. I think he can take care of himself.” Ben rubbed beneath the cat’s chin until he was purring, then set him back down on his feet.
Herc eyed the dog, turned and walked haughtily back to the kitchen as if the animal didn’t exist.
“Do you think they’ll be okay?” Claire asked.
“We’ll keep an eye on them for a couple of days, just to be safe. In the meantime, I think we should all get some sleep.”
He cast Claire a glance that made her cheeks feel warm, but both of them knew they wouldn’t be sleeping in the same bed now that Sam was in the house.
In the end, Claire slept in the guest room, Sam conked out beside her, still exhausted from his ordeal. Ben slept in his own room, and Ty stretched out on the sofa.
It was late afternoon when she and Sam wandered into the living room.
“Where’s Ty?” Sam asked, rubbing his eyes.
But there was no sign of the lanky dark-haired man who had helped when they needed him so badly, just a note on the kitchen table. Claire picked it up and read it out loud.
“‘Thanks for a great time. Ty.’” She smiled.
“I guess he isn’t much for goodbyes,” Ben said as he walked toward them down the hall.
Claire glanced at the alarm keypad next to the front door. The perimeter alarm was still set. “How did he get out without setting it off?”
Amusement curved the corners of Ben’s mouth. “Guy like that, better not to ask.”
“I liked him,” Sam said.
“Me, too,” said Ben.
Ty Brodie was on his way back to L.A. Ben would be busy making a home for Sam. There were things Claire needed to do, arrangements she had to complete, before she sprung her little surprise on Ben.
* * *
The Egansville sheriff, Lester Dumont, phoned Ben that afternoon.
“I wish I had better news,” he said. “Took us a while to find our way into the compound from the road. By the time our deputies got there, the men were gone. The whole damn place was empty.”
Ben flicked a glance at Claire, who was waiting impatiently for news. “I’m not surprised,” he said. “These guys have been preparing for trouble for months, maybe years.”
“We talked to the brothers who live down the road, but they say they weren’t out there last night. Same with the local members. No way to prove it one way or another.”
“I don’t suppose anyone mentioned where the group might have gone.”
“We’ve got arrest warrants out for Troy Bragg and Dennis Hutchins. The people we talked to say they haven’t seen either one of them.”
“According to what Sam said, Mace, Pete, Luke and Aggie Bragg were among those in the camp. He gave you names of some of the other members. They ought to be good for aiding and abetting.”
“This is a small town, Slocum. Half the people in the area have kin who belong to the Patriots. I’m not stirring up unnecessary trouble.”
It seemed damn necessary to Ben. On the other hand, he had his son back. And it was probably better for Sam just to move forward.
“I’ll be in touch if anything turns up.” The sheriff ended the call, and Ben turned to Claire, anxiously waiting a few feet away.
“They didn’t catch Troy and Duke?”
“Whole bunch vanished like ghosts.” He ran a hand through his hair, realized he needed a cut and so did Sam. “I’m not really surprised. Those survivalist groups all have bug-out locations. A place to head in an emergency if their home base goes down.”
“It has to be in the swamp.”
“Or some other swamp.” And there were thousands of square miles of bayous and swamplands in Louisiana, not to mention other parts of the South.
“So what do we do, just let them get away with it?”
“I’ve got my son back. As long as the bastards leave us alone, I don’t care where they go.”
Claire looked as though she wanted to argue. Then she sighed. “Maybe you’re right. It’s probably better for Sam if all of this just goes away.”
“The cops’ll keep looking. I can’t see Hutchins spending the rest of his life in the bayou. He may still turn up somewhere.”
“You don’t think they’ll come here, do you? You don’t think they’ll come after Sam?”
Ben thought of his son, the fear and loneliness he had suffered, the bruises on his arms and the blisters on his hands. “These guys are extremely territorial. Their life is in the bayou. They didn’t even follow us into the lake.” His jaw hardened. “If they know what’s good for them, they’ll stay in whatever mud hole they’re now calling home.”
* * *
The week slid past, busy days for Claire. So far Ben hadn’t mentioned anything about her moving out of his house. Maybe he’d been too busy dealing with social services, speaking to lawyers, filling out forms, talking to people in Los Angeles, taking Sam to the mandatory counseling sessions social services required after his ordeal.
Ben accepted the dictate more readily than she had expected, actually seemed glad for the help. He had never been a dad before. He was finding his way, but it wasn’t that easy.
Claire had been using the time to complete the plans she had made before she’d come to Houston to find Ben in the first place.
Arrangements that had included the possibility of staying in the city if it looked as if Sam would be living there with his dad. She had betrayed Laura and Sam once. It wasn’t going to happen again.
Since Sam had missed so many weeks of school and seemed anxious to return to a part of his life that offered a routine and familiar setting, on Monday of the following week, he would be attending his first day of fourth grade at University District Elementary School.
That morning, Claire made breakfast for her men—that was how she thought of them, both so much alike. Eggs and bacon, toast, juice and coffee. Milk for Sam.
She knew he must be nervous though he hadn’t said anything. Sam had been unusually quiet since Ben had brought him home. It worried Claire more than she wanted Ben to know. But the counselor, and the pediatrician who had examined him, both felt certain Sam had suffered no sexual abuse.
She smiled down at the child as he ate his meal. “Big day, huh, kiddo. You ready for this?”
She’d expected him to smile back, show a little excitement. The old Sam would have.
“The kids are gonna ask me stuff. I won’t know what to say.”
She flicked a glance at Ben, who had stopped eating at the note of worry in his young son’s voice.
He set his fork down carefully beside his plate. “If they ask, you say your name is Sam Slocum. Your mom died and now you’re living with your dad in Houston.”
“What about Claire?”
Ben’s eyes met hers across the table. There was something there she couldn’t quite read. “Claire lives in Los Angeles, son. She has a job there. She can’t stay with us. Houston isn’t her home.”
Sam’s face went pale and his attention swung to her. He almost never cried but his eyes were glistening, and she knew he was fighting to hold back tears. “You’re not staying? You’re just gonna leave me here?”
Her heart squeezed. Dear God, she should have talked to Ben sooner. Told him her plans, figured things out. Now it was too late.
She tried for a bright, cheery smile. “Actually, I...umm...I’m not going back—at least not right away.” Probably never. “I’ve rented an apartment close by. That way we’ll be able to see each other, spend time together, just like before.”
Ben’s icy eyes bored into her. “What about your job?”
“I was going to tell you. I just... I wanted to get everything in order. I...umm...found a position here.”
Ben came up from his chair. “Finish your breakfast,” he said to Sam. “Claire and I need to talk.” He caught her arm, hauled her to her feet.
Sam was out of his chair in an instant. “Don’t hurt her! She didn’t do anything!”
Ben froze. Claire’s heart was pounding. Clearly Sam had seen Troy hit Laura. Or maybe it was the way Troy had treated him on the road.
Ben crouched down in front of him. “It’s all right, Sam. I’m not going to hurt Claire. I’d never hurt her. I’d never hurt you, son.” Ben eased the boy into his arms and held him until his small body softened and Sam’s arms went around his neck. Ben gave him a reassuring hug. “We’re just going to talk, okay?”
Sam slowly nodded and Ben released him. He looked up at Claire with his father’s amazing blue eyes. “You’re really gonna stay?”
Her heart thudded softly. She hadn’t expected Ben to like the idea of her staying in Houston. Or maybe she had. Maybe that was the reason it hurt so much to realize how eager he was for her to leave. “I’m staying.”
Sam sank back down in his chair and started eating as if the breakfast she had cooked was the best-tasting food in the world.
When she looked at Ben, he was standing behind his chair, his arms crossed over his powerful chest.
“You’re right,” she said. “We need to talk, but unfortunately, if you’re going to get Sam to school on time, we’ll have to wait till you get back.”
Ben scowled, looked down at the top of Sam’s dark head. “Fine.” He sat back down and the two of them finished their meals, then Ben loaded Sam into the Denali and drove off toward school.
Sam never called Ben Dad or Father. Mostly he didn’t call him anything. Sam was settling in, trying to get used to his new life. Although he gazed at Ben with a serious case of hero-worship, he didn’t know this man who had rescued him from the swamp.
He wanted to, though. Claire could see it whenever he looked at his dad. He wanted a father, just like any other boy his age. But trust wasn’t that easy for a child who’d been abandoned time and again. Unknowingly by his father before he was born. By his mother, who had died and left him alone. By Claire, who had failed him.
She needed to explain all that to Ben, but she wasn’t sure exactly what to say. She had rented a car when they got to Houston. It crossed her mind to head over to her new apartment, give Ben a chance to cool off a little, get used to the idea that she wasn’t going to leave.
But that was the coward’s way out. Clearly Ben was ready to say goodbye and move on with his life. She had known it was coming. Maybe it was the reason she had put off the discussion so long.
Her heart squeezed. For the first time Claire realized that somewhere deep inside, she had hoped Ben would ask her to stay, that maybe he harbored at least some of the feelings she felt for him.
But she had known from the start he wasn’t a one-woman man, and that wasn’t going to change. She just hadn’t known how badly it was going to hurt.
What a fool she had been.
Ben was the Iceman. He might be a good dad to Sam, but he was hell on women.