“Cold,” she muttered. “So cold…”
“I know.” He took off his jacket and wrapped it around her. Then he ran around to the driver’s seat. “You lost a lot of blood and then jumped in that damn river. I think I’ve got the bleeding stopped, but I’ve got to get you to the cave and have Dr. Armando take a look at you.” He started the van and stomped on the accelerator. The van skittered on the rough ground. “You knew I’d be coming to help you. Why didn’t you stall? But you couldn’t wait, could you?”
“No.” She pulled his jacket closer around her. It was warm from the heat of his body, but the chill wasn’t going away. “I couldn’t be sure. I’m … never sure. I have to be the one. Do you mind if we don’t talk? I don’t feel so good.”
“I do mind. If you pass out again, it will scare me to death.” He reached over and took her hand and held it tightly. “Stay with me.”
“I’ll try.” She tried to think of something to say that would make him stop being angry with her. It was too difficult. She would just tell him the truth. “They both had to die, you know. When I was tied to that stake at the detention center, I knew what I had to do. I couldn’t wait or depend on anyone else. I was … looking at those poor prisoners chained to that wall. I thought of all … the misery Nicos and Salva had caused. It couldn’t go on. And without them in the world, there would be a much better chance of freeing Estefan and the others. So I had … to find a way to do it.”
“All by yourself.”
“It has to be … that way. I tried to let you know what direction I was going.” She attempted a smile. “And I wasn’t entirely by myself. I just had to cement a couple of friendships.”
His lips twisted. “Because those jaguars were the only friends you could trust.”
“No, they were just part of who I am.” She shuddered. “And I’ll have nightmares about this night, but I won’t regret it.”
“You shouldn’t regret one instant.” His hand tightened on hers. “And if you need someone beside you to ward off those nightmares, call me and I’ll be there.” He was silent a moment. “If it’s any help to know that eliminating Nicos and Salva did what you wanted, then you should be happy. Removing them made it safe to attack the detention camp. Before I came after you, Mandell was coordinating the attack with Carlos Estefan to free the prisoners.”
Relief.
“It does … help.” She was so tired. She was barely able to keep her eyes open. “But I’m not happy. Too much pain, too many people hurting. But it’s good to know that it will stop.…” She drew a deep breath. “Could I please go to sleep now?”
“No. Soon. The cave is right up ahead and we’ll see what the doctor says.” His voice was soft, urgent. “Stay with me. Hold on to me. We’ll get there together.”
Together. Beautiful word. Beautiful thought.
And perhaps it would be okay to let down the barriers and stay with him for this little while.…
Santa Fe de Bogotá Hospital
Bogotá, Colombia
Margaret knew it was a hospital room before she opened her eyes. The scent was familiar and unmistakable from the time she’d kept vigil with her friend Eve in that hospital in San Diego.
Then she felt a soft head nuzzling her hand as it lay on the bed.
Juno?
“You must be awake,” Cambry said. “Juno never intrudes if it has a chance of disturbing.” She opened her eyes and saw Cambry sitting in a chair by the bed. He smiled at her. “Hi.”
“Hi,” she said. She looked around the room. Green walls, brown leather chairs, white blinds at the windows. “Where am I? The last thing I remember is getting to the cave and seeing Lassiter drag the doctor out to the van.”
“That was over twenty-four hours ago. You’re in Bogotá. We got you and Patrick out by helicopter as soon as we heard that Mandell and Carlos Estefan had secured the detention camp.”
“They’re all safe?”
Cambry nodded. “Brukman is dead; Stockton was picked up later in the hills. We had a few casualties but no other fatalities.”
“Lassiter?”
“He stayed in here with you all last night, but they’re operating on Patrick this morning and he’s with him now.”
She stiffened. “Patrick’s not doing well?”
Cambry made a face. “We knew the trip would be rough on him, but I guess we waited long enough, and he seemed to take it pretty well. But Lassiter is moving him to Johns Hopkins tomorrow, and the doctors wanted to reset that bone in his leg before they let him go.”
She let out her breath. “Good. You scared me.”
“That’s nothing compared to what you did to Lassiter. He was a raving basket case when you passed out after he got you to the cave. Dr. Armando said he thought it was just shock and loss of blood, no internal damage, but Lassiter lost it.”
“Lassiter never loses it.”
“Whatever you say.” Cambry shrugged. “Anyway, Lassiter has a common blood type, and the doctor gave you a transfusion before we whisked you and Patrick to the helicopter. You had another one when you reached the hospital. But you still wouldn’t wake up.” He smiled gently. “And after Lassiter told me what you did in that forest, I can see why you’d want to dig a dark hole to recover. However, Lassiter wanted to yank you out and make sure there wasn’t damage we couldn’t see.”
“No damage.” She looked down at her bandaged shoulder. “This feels stiff and sore, but I can move my arm. That must be good. I’ll probably be fine soon.” She tilted her head and smiled. “And here you are again, taking care of the sick and wounded. You must be tired of it, Cambry.”
“I could probably use a change of occupation. A little more activity would be welcome. But, no, I’m not tired of it.” He looked down at Juno. “The two of us have kept Patrick alive these last few days. That was worth it.” He stood up and took out his phone. “Which reminds me that I promised to call Lassiter the minute you woke. If you’ll excuse me, I’ll get that out of the way.” He was placing the call as he wandered over to the window. “Then I’ll see if I can get the nurse to find you something to eat.”
Margaret watched him as he began to speak and then closed her eyes again. She felt drained and she had to begin to gather her strength.
Sad?
She opened her lids to look down at Juno’s huge brown eyes. No, not sad. Tired. Sad things have happened. But it’s better now. And Patrick is better, and you helped to make him that way.
Yes, I didn’t let him go away. She said that I did good.
Margaret went still. She?
You’re surprised? But you told me she might come back. Suddenly she was just here. Though sometimes I get confused. She’s … different. But it doesn’t matter. She’s here.