Healing Love: Saints Protection & Investigation (24 page)

Bart, Blaise, and Monty joined them, each quietly observing their friend.

Marc ignored the warning and pushed, “You can’t tell me that what you feel for that woman is going to be shoved aside ’cause you’ve got some idea that she’s better off without you.”

Sending a blazing glare toward Marc, he answered, “You think I’m ever gonna be able to fit into her world? Sweet girl, with a sweet job? Hanging with someone who never knows where the next mission might take him? She’s got family that wants to keep shit from happenin’ to her. You think Jobe would welcome a rough
hombre
like me into the family?”

“Cam—” Bart began.

“Fuck!” Cam growled. “What the fuck was I thinkin’? I should’ve kept my mind on just the rescue instead of…” he trailed off.

“Falling in love with a beautiful woman?” Monty finished for him.

Cam’s eyes darted over to Monty’s as he sucked in a sharp breath, ready to retort. Then stopped and let the breath out slowly. Dropping his chin to this chest, he nodded. “Yeah. I fuckin’ fell in love with the mission.”

“No,” Bart said, watching his best friend closely. “You accomplished the mission. You fell in love with the girl.”

The cavernous hangar was silent for a moment as the five men stood in solidarity.

“Jesus,” Cam said, his voice laced with frustration. “Now I know exactly how Jack felt when he first met Bethany. Miriam deserves a man who can give her a nine-to-five life and not have to relive her nightmare every time he heads off to work.”

“So you’re gonna make that decision for her?” Blaise asked. “Cause from what I saw, that woman wanted you. When we were on the plane coming here, there was no doubt she was making the same statement that you were—that you two were together.”

“She needs to be with family. They gotta heal as a family. They gotta see to her…for them as much as Miriam. And I gotta step back right now to give them that.”

Marc nodded, saying, “Okay, man. I can see that play. You giving her family a time to reconnect. But then what? Are you seriously gonna let her just walked out of your life?”

Before he could answer, Monty added, “Or rather, are you going to walk out of her life?”

Cam’s gaze cut back to his, and Monty continued, “That’s what’s going through her mind. Not that she walked away, but that you did.”

Rubbing his hand over his face, the exhaustion was overwhelming. Cam nodded and said, “I get where you’re coming from. Right now, I’ve gotta walk away to give her what she needs. Down the road? Who knows?”

Recognizing their friend’s need to recuperate, they moved toward their vehicle, deciding to drop the conversation.

“Jack wants a debriefing as soon as you’re up to it,” Blaise said.

Nodding slowly, Cam said, “Tomorrow’s good. Just let me sleep tonight and I’ll be there.”

With that, the five Saints climbed into the SUV and Bart drove them away. Cam leaned his head back, wishing that sleep would overtake him but, instead, visions of a dark haired, dark eyed beauty filled his thoughts.

As the taillights of the SUV left the hangar, hidden eyes followed it as it disappeared from sight before a phone call was placed. Then the mysterious caller slipped unnoticed into the night.

*

Instead of going
to her apartment, Miriam was not surprised to see that her father drove the family straight to her parents’ house. The lights were on, both inside and outside, and the minute they entered the driveway the front door opened and Jobe’s wife, Mackenna, and Rebecca’s fiancé, Thomas, ran out. More greetings and tears followed, before Jobe and Joseph managed to herd the women inside. Rachel wanted to feed her daughter, but Miriam caught her in the kitchen, saying, “Mom, I honestly just need to sleep.”

“You should eat. Look how thin you are,” Rachel exclaimed, worry etched on her face.

“I know and I promise tomorrow, I’ll eat. Right now, I just want a shower and to fall into a soft bed.”

Rachel pursed her lips, but relented. Cupping her daughter’s cheek, she peered deeply into Miriam’s eyes. “I prayed. Every minute of every day since you’ve been gone.” Her voice broke, but she powered through. “I prayed God would send someone to save you. And He did.”

“He did, mom. He sent a Saint to watch over me,” Miriam whispered, hugging her mother for the hundredth time that night.

An hour later, tucked in the bed she slept in as a child, Miriam’s thoughts moved back to Cam as sleep was overtaking her.
Did I read the signals wrong? Was it just me that wanted what we discovered to last longer than the rescue?
The night provided no answers and as exhaustion overtook her, she dreamed of the large, handsome man who had plucked her from danger and stolen her heart.

J
ack eyed his
group carefully as they met the next morning in the main conference room at their compound. He took his responsibilities as their boss seriously, not only wanting to know about the mission, but keeping a pulse on his men as well. Cam, hair and beard trimmed closely again, sat stoically at the table waiting for the meeting to begin.

“Good to have you home, Cam. We’ve read the reports coming in from Marc, but we’ll get to your assessment in a few minutes.” Jack reported the ending of the recent serial killer case that they had all been working on, including Cam before he was re-assigned. The case had just been resolved. Much to Cam’s surprise, it ended much closer to home than any of them had anticipated.

Jack divvied up the newer security assignments, pleased that none of them required travel at this time except for a few visits to Washington, D.C. for a couple of them. Turning back to Cam, he said, “Okay, let’s hear it. I’ll still need your written report, but until then, give us your version and where we need to go with this.”

Cam recited his observations of the mission, the camp, the compound, and the rescue. His words were precise, clinical. Non emotional. He noticed the glances of the others around the table, but he was not going there.
No fuckin’ way are they getting more.

Jack listened, taking notes as Cam spoke. When the report was given, he turned to Blaise. “What does DEA say? More security needed?”

Blaise answered, “The agents I talked to yesterday seem to think that this is over. Miriam and Cam’s interviews didn’t provide any new information, just confirmation of what the DEA already knew. Juaquim is the local leader of that area. Made a shit load of money on the backs of the farmers who barely make enough to feed their families. Miriam was able to give them some information on his private compound and the activities of a Dr. Villogas, but, other than that, they felt like she’s in no danger. Nothing that would make anyone want to come here to harm her.”

The group was silent as their eyes gravitated toward Cam. Jack turned back to Cam and asked, “What’s your opinion?”

Sighing heavily, he said, “Got no reason to think that she’s in further danger. We’ve got Alberto and Manuel working on having the DEA keep her out of the media, but that’s not to say that it won’t be noticed soon. Probably everyone she worked with at the hospital knows she was missing and when she shows back up, they’re gonna have questions. How was the local news?”

Bart replied, “News reporters camped outside her parents’ home for a while until Jobe and the rest of Tony’s men convinced them they needed to move along. When no news was coming, the reporters left looking for bigger stories. Now that she’s back? Don’t know.”

“I’ll stay in touch with Jobe to make sure the family is covered with security, although Tony’s probably already taking care of his needs. I want us to work with Alvarez Security on that,” Jack added. The others nodded and he saw a flash of gratitude in Cam’s eyes.

“Then are we all agreed to keep Miriam Delaro on as a security risk for now?”

Absolutelys and fuck yeahs were heard around the table. Eyes twinkling, Luke grinned and said, “Right. Then I’m gonna set up a continuous intel link into Juaquim’s setup.” He looked over at Blaise and said, “What I find for DEA, it’ll be your call to let them know, but I’m only keeping an eye out for anything that pertains to Miriam.”

The others chuckled knowing how Luke lived for hacking into the computer systems of those they were investigating.

Blaise nodded in agreement as Jack noted that he would inform Jobe and Tony about their plans.

The meeting adjourned and the eight men headed upstairs to the main level of Jack’s house. As soon as they reached the living level the scent of cinnamon filled the air. Bethany, was standing in the kitchen having just pulled out a huge apple cobbler from the oven.

“Jesus, I missed this,” Cam exclaimed, rounding the breakfast bar to get a better whiff.

Bethany turned her face toward him and, once she set the hot dish on the cooling rack, she walked over, offering him a hug. “Welcome home, Cam.”

He returned the hug, saying, “Hear a lot happened while I was gone.”

Letting go of the large man and turning her attention to Jack as he prowled over to her, she smiled. “Yeah, it’s been kinda crazy. I guess Jack filled you in?”

Cam nodded and watched his boss kiss the top of Bethany’s head.
Jack thought he’d never be able to fit Bethany into his world. Guess he found out that she fits perfectly with him.

Offering a sincere smile, he said, “Good to see you two together.”

Jack accepted his congratulations, before saying, “You’d better serve this up, babe, before the crowd gets restless.”

Laughing, Bethany dished out hearty servings of the cobbler to the Saints and they all retired to Jack’s large deck overlooking his property with the Blue Ridge Mountains in the background.

The group settled into comfortable conversation, Bethany joining right in, as they devoured the treat. Jack often held post-meeting gatherings here or in his massive den. Having served in the Special Forces, he knew the importance of bonding with the men who needed to have your back and understanding them so that you could have theirs.

The conversation slowly turned toward Cam’s latest mission as Bethany asked, “Tell me about Miriam once you escaped? How did she handle everything?”

“She was great,” Cam responded quickly. “Never complained. I told her straight out that she needed to follow my every command, even if she didn’t understand it. She had no problem doing it and it probably saved our lives several times. She ate what I had for her, slept when we could. I did the paddling, but she worked to keep the canoe afloat when the rain was pouring down. When we had to climb down a steep mountain side, taking the canoe with us, she did everything just right.”

The group fell silent listening to their comrade describe his admiration for Miriam.

“Sounds like an amazing woman,” Bethany said softly, seeing the struggle in Cam’s expression. “Like someone worth knowing. Maybe even…worth fighting for.”

“Babe,” Jack warned, giving her a little squeeze.

Cam’s eyes jumped quickly to hers, but instead of seeing mirth, he saw understanding. Nodding slowly, he said, “I agree, Bethany. She is someone worth fighting for. But the right person needs to be doing the fighting.”

He watched as Bethany cocked her head to the side and knew the other men had stopped eating and were watching him carefully.

Jack spoke first. “Sounds a lot like me a couple of months ago, thinking that my life had nothing to offer a woman like that.”

Bethany put her hand on Jack’s chest, glancing at him before turning her gaze back to Cam, who was staring off in the distance.

“We shared something down there,” Cam finally admitted. “Something special. Not gonna talk about it, but I will say it gave me hope. Hope that someone like her could be happy with someone like me.”

The group said nothing, waiting for the big man to gather his thoughts.

“Watched her last night with her family. They’re tight. Tight as my family and I didn’t think anyone could be that tight. She’s good. They’ve got her covered. Just not sure I see myself fitting into her world right now.”

“But—” Bethany started, but Jack once more gave her a squeeze.

Cam continued, “She saw shit down there. God-awful shit that no one, especially a sweet nurse, should ever have to see. Down there? I was her rescuer. Now that we’re back? I might just be a reminder of what all she went through.”

Bart, feeling his friend’s pain, said, “Man, you’re taking that choice away from her just like Jack was with Bethany. You’re deciding what she’ll feel. What she’ll remember. Maybe that’s not what she wants at all.”

Sucking in a deep breath, Cam looked down at his empty plate. Standing, he looked at Bethany saying, “Appreciate the cobbler. It’s just as good as I remember.” He walked to the sliding glass door that led inside before turning once more toward his friends. “I get what you’re saying. But that’s gonna have to come from her. I’m not about to walk her back through those memories unless she wants me to.”

With that he left Bethany and the other Saints still on the deck.

*