She nodded.
“Then you put our child in danger, too.” Our child. The words shocked him. Shocked him so badly he wasn’t sure he would ever get used to them. “You had no right to do that.”
“If I hadn’t asked for DeBruzkya that day, the soldiers would have raped me. They probably would have killed me to cover their crime.”
Robert felt the words like a dull knife twisting in his gut. He turned away and closed his eyes, not wanting to imagine such an atrocity. She’d been badly injured and pregnant. But he knew DeBruzkya’s soldiers wouldn’t have cared. If she hadn’t dropped DeBruzkya’s name, they would have been on her like a pack of dogs on a piece of meat. The thought made bile rise in the back of his throat.
“I didn’t have a choice but to do what I did,” she said.
The words spun him around. “You could have left with me that day when I asked.”
“I still had work to do here. I couldn’t walk away.”
Because he didn’t want to rehash an old argument they would never agree on—because he hadn’t forgiven her for what she’d done—he rose abruptly.
“Robert—”
“Don’t.” He turned on her. “You made your choice, Lily. That speaks louder than anything you can say now. I got your message loud and clear.” For several long seconds neither of them spoke, then Robert sighed, too tired to argue further. “How far is the hospital from here?”
“About six miles.”
“Do you have transportation?”
Grimacing, she shook her head. “We’ll have to walk.”
He cursed, calculating how long it would take them to hike through six miles of heavy woods with a sick one-year-old child in tow. He wondered how well his leg would hold up. “We’ll leave at first light.”
“We’ll have to wait until dark to leave.”
“Soldiers?”
She nodded. “It’s not safe to travel by day.”
An uncomfortable thought lodged in his brain. “Is DeBruzkya looking for you, Lily?” he asked.
She stared at him, her eyes wide and cautious and so lovely he wanted to step right into her gaze and lose himself forever. But her silence quickly reminded him just how dangerous that kind of thinking was.
“For God’s sake.” Lowering his head, he pinched the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger. “He’s looking for you. That’s why you haven’t been able to take Jack to the hospital.”
She nodded.
“That’s why you haven’t been able to leave the country.”
“He has soldiers at the airport. Patrols all along the border. I couldn’t risk it with Jack.”
Raising his head, he stared hard at her, wondering if the situation could get any worse. “Exactly why is he looking for you?”
“Because he’s a very bad man,” she whispered.
For the first time Robert saw the true depth of her fear of DeBruzkya in her eyes. The kind of fear a woman like Lily should never have to feel. The kind of fear no human being should have to feel toward another.
“This is personal for him,” he said.
When she didn’t respond, he snapped at her. “He’s obsessed with you, isn’t he?”
Sighing, she looked at the floor.
“How in God’s name could you let things go this far?”
“I didn’t see it coming. I thought I could do it. Then I realized I was pregnant and all my priorities changed. I dropped out of sight. I thought he would forget about me. Forget about that stupid autobiography. Robert, I didn’t think he would come after me. But he’s…obsessive and crazy.”
“Crazy like a rogue lion.”
“That’s why I can’t let you step into the center of this,” she said.
He jerked his gaze to hers. “No, that’s your job, isn’t it?”
“Come on, Robert. I know you’re up to something.”
“I’m here to inoculate the children.”
She took a step toward him, raising her hand as if to touch him. “Don’t mess with DeBruzkya.”
Because he wasn’t sure what he would do if she touched him, Robert raised his hand, stopping her. “Don’t let your imagination get the best of you.”
“All these questions about DeBruzkya. What am I supposed to think?”
He stared at her for a moment, trying in vain to ignore the storm of emotions cutting through him with the same violence and pain as the shrapnel had twenty-one months ago. The urge to go to her, to gather her into his arms, to kiss her and keep her safe was overpowering. But Robert resisted. He knew where it would lead, and it was a path he didn’t want to take.
Turning away from her, he headed toward the kitchen. He heard her call his name, but he didn’t stop. His legs were shaking when he crossed to the tiny porcelain sink. His hands shook when he set his cup down. Standing at the window, he stared out at the dying storm and the first fragile rays of sunlight coming through the treetops and tried not to think about how profoundly his life had been changed.
Chapter 8