Enemy Mine (23 page)

Kathy felt heat flood her cheeks. Her time with Mac was drawing to an end, and they hadn’t had any privacy since coming to the busy squadron. She had nothing to lose by telling the truth. “Yes, that’s right.” Tilting her head, she asked, “How did you learn
that
bit of information?”

Mac set the knife aside. “I have ears, Ms. Trayhern. That’s what spies do—keep their ear close to the ground.”

Her heart thumped once, hard, in response to the smoky look he gave her. Kathy knew Mac wanted her. And she wanted him. But how could they ever get together, in this impossible situation? Kathy wasn’t sure. She
was
surprised to realize that, in the turmoil of the past months, she had quietly laid Curt’s memory and their love to rest. Kathy felt the need to move on. Mac was responsible for that desire in her.

She nervously fingered the flatware on her aluminum tray. “You’re a good spy, no argument from me.” When his mouth curved deeply in response, Kathy ached to be in his arms. Throughout the last day and night Mac had been a solid, stable rock in a horrific storm. He didn’t get rattled by anything, not even Black Sharks breathing down his neck, trying to take him out of the sky. The guy was incredible, in her opinion.

“I hope you’re my friend, Kathy,” he said, putting the toast aside. “And yes, call me Mac. Can I still call you Kathy?”

“Yes, we’re friends.” And more, she wanted to add.

Mac looked around the bustling, noisy mess hall.
People were coming and going, their laughter and joking filling the air. He turned back to Kathy and said, “Look, we need some quality time to sit down and talk, some place quiet.”

“Tell me about it.” Her body responded hotly to the stormy look in his gray eyes.

“Do you want time alone with me?” Mac wasn’t sure. He could tell Kathy was nervous. Or maybe because she was no longer undercover, he was seeing the real Kathy and not the nanny, Ms. Lincoln. In his heart, he wanted time with her more than anything in the world.

“Yeah, I’d like that, Mac.” Kathy wasn’t sure where their friendship was going. What she wanted and what she got could be two different things, and she tried to prepare emotionally for that reality.

Mac toyed with his knife and frowned. “For the next three days I’m going to be busier than hell. I have a lot of stuff to coordinate with the ATF from here. I have to go back to Garcia’s villa, or what’s left of it. The Peruvian police are already on site and so are a couple of CIA operatives from Lima. I’ve put a call in to one of them and I’m hoping to get info on Tiki if they find her. But cell phones don’t work there, and getting time on an Iridium satellite phone is like trying to move fast in Los Angeles freeway traffic. But, I keep trying to get through.” He looked directly into her eyes. “You’ve got pertinent info, too. You helped me get that CD of files from Therese’s computer. The ATF will be wanting to debrief you back in Washington as soon as I can wrap up things at Garcia’s villa. I don’t know who you’re working for, and I need to query them on this and get
permission to take you back to D.C. with me once we’re done down here.”

Nodding, Kathy said, “This was done under a U.S. Navy SEAL mission. I’m sure the commander who helped me will give me TDY orders to follow you to Washington with no problem.”

“A SEAL ops?” That didn’t make sense. He saw Kathy raise her brows and give him a one-cornered smile.

“It’s a long story, Mac. Something I’d like to save for a quieter time.” If there was going to be one. Her stomach knotted even more over that thought. Nothing was for certain here—not him, not her. Right now, Kathy felt as if she’d been tossed upside down and wasn’t sure where the hell she was going to land.

Mac turned and looked toward the door of the mess. The X.O., Lieutenant Dallas Klein, was standing there.

“I think Dallas is looking for you.” He tipped his head in her direction.

Kathy saw Dallas beckon to her. “Gotta go, Mac.” She rose from the picnic table. “See you later?”

“That’s a promise, bright angel.” He saw her lips curve in a brilliant smile. “I’ll find you….”

“I bet you will. You’re a spy, after all.” Kathy laughed as she picked up her tray. After handing it to a server, she joined the lieutenant.

“Is Sophie okay?” The little girl had slept in a cozy room in the barracks, and one of the women had given her an old, well-loved teddy bear to sleep with last night. When Kathy looked in on her earlier, Sophie was sleeping deeply and soundly, her arms wrapped around that old, nearly hairless bear.

“She’s fine. Still sleeping, probably. Don’t worry about her for now. I have Angel, our paramedic, keeping an eye on her. When she wakes, Angel will bring her over here for a meal.”

“I thought you might be here because Sophie needed me. Or because you had word of Tiki.”

Shaking her head, Dallas said, “No, sorry. I’ve got my communications people on top of any info that might come to us about Garcia’s daughter. You’ll be the first to know, I promise.”

Relief ate at the knots in Kathy’s stomach. “Thanks, Dallas. That means a lot to me and Mac. We both really love that little tyke.”

Kathy followed the officer out onto the smooth, black lava floor of the cave. The place was busy as crews performed routine maintenance on the huge Apaches.

Electric cars zoomed quietly back and forth, in and out of the tunnel at the back, which Kathy learned led to a mining operation on the other side of the mountain. It used to be a mine, anyway, so it made a good cover. When Maya Stevenson had been hunting for a place to put an Apache squadron she’d seen this huge cave and the defunct mining operation and figured all they needed was a tunnel connecting the two.

To outsiders and tourists, the mining operation appeared to be up and running. There was machinery and equipment, plus many company houses on the other side of the mountain. The two civilian helicopters had the name of the mine, Condor Mining Company, on their fuselage, and via them BJS was able to ferry in personnel, supplies and ammunition without raising suspi
cion. Yes, Maya Stevenson had been an incredible visionary. She’d brought an all-woman U.S. Army Apache helicopter team down here and built the cave complex from scratch.

As they walked toward H.Q., which was positioned on the left side of the mouth of the wide, deep cavern, Kathy was overwhelmed with how Maya’s vision had come to fruition. Dallas had explained to her that at first the U.S. Army was glad to get rid of Maya because she wasn’t about to be relegated to second-class citizen status. She’d been one of the first women to train and graduate as an Apache helicopter pilot but they’d refused to give her a combat slot. Maya said to hell with that.

Her father, a U.S. Army general, had pushed through her plan. Everyone said it wouldn’t work, Dallas had told Kathy. Everyone expected Maya to fail, and wanted her to, this upstart woman in the U.S. military. But she was a combat pilot and, by God, she was going to fly combat or else.

Dallas had chuckled and explained how Maya recruited women from other foreign services to fly with her. Dallas was from the Israeli Air Force, and there were three Peruvian women helicopter pilots on their team. The rest came from the U.S. Army. And in five years the Black Jaguar Squadron had taken a sixty percent bite out of all drug running in Peru. Half of all the cocaine shipments hadn’t made it across the border.

No one was laughing at Maya Stevenson’s ideas now. Instead, they were trying to duplicate them in other South American countries. She had gone from being a troublesome bitch to being hailed as a visionary woman
who had the moxie to carry out her goal. At some point, Kathy wanted to meet Maya. After all, it had been Maya and her copilot who had saved them from being killed by that last Black Shark.

“What’s up, then?” Kathy asked as she walked at Dallas’s shoulder. “Why did you come get me?” Perhaps to meet some of the women officers?

“You’ve got a visitor,” Dallas said.

“A visitor?” She arched her brows in surprise. Who could know she was here?

“Yes. Your father.”

K
ATHY TRIED TO PREPARE
herself to meet her father. What was he doing here? She hurried down the busy hall on the second floor, her heart pounding with dread. How had he found out about her mission? Frowning, she headed for room 202 and tried to gird herself for the coming confrontation. What she really wanted to do was throw her arms around his neck and be held by him. Her father had always been a bulwark of strength for her. Not protection—no, not that. But strength. She opened the wooden door and entered.

Nothing could have prepared Kathy for what she saw. Her dad, the legendary head of the Trayhern dynasty had red, swollen eyes, was unshaved and wore a severely rumpled dark gray suit. Stunned, Kathy quietly shut the door, a lump forming in her throat.

“Dad?” Her voice was low and trembling as she hesitated by the door, hands at her sides. A desk separated them.

Morgan tried to smile but failed. His daughter looked incredibly well. Fit. Confident. She looked fine. Such relief flowed through him that he thought he was going to faint. Instead, he gripped the back of the chair he stood behind.

“I found out,” he said.

“I can see that.”

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine, fine.” She felt torn inwardly. Her father looked like hell, and Kathy realized the suffering he’d gone through was because of her. That stung. “Dad,” she said haltingly, lifting her hand, “I didn’t mean to get you involved for this very reason. Look at you. Look at the hell you went through.”

“When you have children, you go through hell, Kathy.” Morgan saw the suffering, the guilt, in her huge blue eyes. Her lower lip trembled. “I know you didn’t mean to hurt me like this, but I had to know what was going on,” he said. Running a hand through his hair, Morgan gave his daughter a pained smile. “You know me. I love my kids and I have more than a little vested interest in wanting to keep them safe. I can’t help it, I love you….”

The words, so sweet and poignant, so filled with emotion broke Kathy up. “Oh, Dad, I never thought I’d see you again. I thought I would die on this mission.” She rushed forward and launched herself into her father’s arms. Morgan Trayhern was a giant in her eyes, no matter what he’d done to hurt her and the family. When she felt his arms sweep around her, hold her tightly against him, she buried her cheek against his broad, solid shoulder and shut her eyes. A sob escaped her as she clung to him.

“I love you so much,” Morgan whispered roughly, kissing her hair. Patting her shoulder, he added, “And I’m sorry, so sorry about this, Kathy. It wasn’t right that you had to try and even the scales with the Garcias.” He choked and buried his face against her.

Morgan didn’t know how long he held his tall, stalwart daughter, but he felt her crying, her body shaking in convulsions of pain. All he could do was hold her and gently rock her in his arms as he had when she was a baby.

“I’m sorry,” Morgan soothed, “So sorry that I did this to all of you. It’s my fault, not yours, Pet. The score was settled with Guillermo dying.” He ran his trembling hand across her soft, silky hair. Her sobs deepened and Morgan bore the brunt of her anguish. How long had Kathy held on to this vengeance? Probably since the kidnapping so many years ago. Why hadn’t he seen it in her? Probably because he felt with Guillermo dying, the score had been settled.

Why hadn’t he recognized that while she hadn’t been kidnapped, she had been as adversely affected as her loved ones who had been? And even more importantly, why hadn’t he established a deep communication with his daughter, so that he’d know what was eating away at her like some shadowy monster? Hot tears flooded into his tightly shut eyes. Oh, God, he’d failed again as a father, as a parent. Was he ever going to get this right? Parenting was the hardest job in the world as far as Morgan was concerned

As Kathy’s sobs lessened, Morgan eased her away from him. The tears streaming down her reddened face, the inconsolable grief in her eyes, ripped him apart even more. He lifted his hand and pulled a white linen handkerchief from the breast pocket of his suit coat, awkwardly dabbing at his daughter’s damp face.

“I’m sorry, so sorry, Kathy. I failed you—again. I should have talked to you about this. I should have
known what was going on inside your head a long time ago.” Feeling utterly helpless, Morgan blotted his own eyes. He felt Kathy’s hands on his upper arms and saw her smile brokenly through her pain.

“Dad, it’s okay. How could you know?”

“I could have asked. And I didn’t.”

Shaking her head, Kathy murmured softly, “Dad, everyone was so wounded after that kidnapping. They tortured you for months! You were so close to dying when they rescued you. All I could do was cry a lot and pray you wouldn’t leave me.”

After he stuffed the handkerchief back in his pocket, Morgan gripped his daughter’s cool hands. “Listen to me. I failed you terribly. Once I recovered, I should have started understanding how the kidnapping had affected you, too. I just didn’t think it had, Pet. Looking back on all of this now, I realize how stupid that was on my part. How could you
not
have been affected?”

Kathy cherished this moment of brutal honesty with him. “For so long, I wanted to tell you how I felt, but I was afraid to, Dad. I knew Guillermo was dead but I didn’t feel they’d suffered enough. It was like a monster growing inside me, pushing me, and by the time I entered the Naval Academy, that’s all I could think about.” Kathy saw the suffering in Morgan’s eyes as she admitted the truth. But it was time to get it all out on the table.

“In the academy I used all my knowledge, information and networking contacts to build this mission. I’d had the idea for a long, long time. The SEAL commander is a good friend of mine.”

“And he still is,” Morgan told her. “He didn’t tell me a thing.”

Tilting her head, she asked, “Then how did you find out?”

“Mike Houston figured it out.”

Quirking her lips, Kathy said, “That was the one door I couldn’t nail shut. I feared that Houston might figure it out.”

“I’m glad he did, Pet. Come on, sit down,” Morgan said, guiding her to the chair behind the desk. He perched his hip on the desktop and faced his daughter. “There are some things you need to know, Kathy. I decided a long time ago not to try and get even with the Garcias.”

“Why not, Dad? That’s something I could never understand. They hurt us so badly. It wasn’t right.”

“I know, I know. But Kathy, maybe as you get older you’ll understand what I’m going to say. When the kidnapping occurred, I was at fault for not protecting my family well enough. I was arrogant. I thought they’d never have the guts to come after my family in Washington, D.C. But they did.

“After being rescued, I spent my recuperation figuring out a way to keep all of you safe and protected. That’s why we moved to Montana and I created that fictitious tourist business as a front for Perseus. I felt all of us had suffered enough. Too much.”

Morgan sighed, looking more deeply into his daughter’s eyes. She had to understand why he’d done what he had. “Did I want to get even with the Garcias? Yes, I did. We mounted a mission and Guillermo was killed.
I felt the score was evened. What I learned from all that was to put my family first, Kathy. I knew if I tried to continue retaliation, they’d come after my loved ones again. And that’s something I couldn’t bear to have happen twice.”

“Oh, God, Dad.” Kathy looked down at her tightly knit hands. “Have I just put all of us at risk again?” She’d never thought of this angle. Shaken to the core, she realized that she was just as much of an extremist as the drug lords. Looking up, tears welling in her eyes, she whispered brokenly, “Oh, don’t tell me I’ve screwed it up for the family.”

Shrugging, he said, “I don’t know yet. That ATF agent you worked with is supposed to go back sometime today to Garcia’s villa and see who survived.” Morgan grimaced. “I’m going with him.”

“So am I.”

Morgan hesitated. He saw the rigid set of Kathy’s jaw and the look of stubbornness burning in her eyes. “Why?”

“Because of Tiki, Garcia’s daughter. That little girl is innocent, Dad. I got to take care of her for many months and she’s the sweetest child. I woke up this morning worrying about her. Is she alive? Dead? Wounded? I can barely stand not knowing. I’m going back there to find out. I have to.”

“And yet your focus was to do what? Kidnap her to get even with Garcia?”

Hanging her head, Kathy muttered, “Yeah, that was the plan.”

“But it changed,” Morgan said, watching fresh tears track down his daughter’s cheeks.

Sniffing, Kathy rubbed her nose with the back of her hand. “Yeah, it did. When it came time to do it, I couldn’t. I realized I wouldn’t put another child through what Jason went through. I’ve seen the result of his kidnapping. Tiki was another innocent victim and I didn’t want to do that to her.” Kathy wiped the tears from her face with trembling fingers. “I wanted Garcia to suffer, Dad. I wanted it so badly.”

He reached out and settled his hand on her shoulder. “I know. But you didn’t take his child. You didn’t go that route and I’m proud you didn’t. You’re better than they are, Kathy.”

She met her father’s dark, burning gaze and felt a wave of love for him. “You mean that?”

“Every word of it, Pet.”

“Well,” Kathy whispered, gazing around the small office, “I guess fate intervened, anyway. Garcia got hit by some other drug lords.”

“Sometimes fate manages to set the scales of right and wrong back into balance,” Morgan answered. He gave her a slight, strained smile. “I have something for you.” He dug into the inner pocket of his suit coat.

Kathy gasped as he produced a thick batch of white envelopes. “My letters!” They were the goodbye letters she’d written to each member of her family. Her gaze flew to her father’s face. His expression was grim as he held them out to her. “But how…?”

“Kamaria lost her pet gecko. Apparently, it ran into your bedroom.”

“Oh, God,” Kathy said. She looked down at the envelopes in her damp hands. The one with Morgan’s
name had been opened, and her heart banged in her chest. He’d read it. A lump grew in her throat. Nervously, she fingered the well-worn envelope.

“I was digging around in your rolltop desk, looking for the damn lizard. Kammie swore it had ran up under the hood.” He saw Kathy’s eyes shimmer with tears. “I found your letters by accident the evening before I left to come down here. I only opened mine and read it.” He choked. “I read it many times….” His voice grew hoarse. “I had a lot of hours on that plane coming down here to read the goodbye you wrote to me, Pet. I just sat there in my seat and cried. I realized then what I had done to you.”

“Oh, God, Dad, I’m so sorry.” Kathy wiped her own eyes. “I didn’t mean to hurt you like this.”

“I had it coming. I should have been more unselfish and looked to my children to see how much they were hurting,” Morgan rasped. He gave her a soft smile as she pressed the letters to her breast. “The rest are unopened. Do whatever you want with them.”

Sniffing, Kathy nodded. She looked down at them and whispered, “I’m glad no one had to read them. I’m glad to be alive.”

Taking a deep breath, she asked, “What about Mom? Does she know about any of this?”

Morgan shook his head. “No, none of it. I wanted to save her from the worry. She’s gone through enough, Pet. But when you get home it would be good to sit down with her and tell her everything.”

Kathy agreed. “Thanks for sparing her. She didn’t need this. Just as soon as I can work out some leave af
ter this mission is wrapped up, I’ll come home. I’ll tell her everything then.”

“I think she’d appreciate a heart-to-heart talk with you, Pet.”

“I’ll do it.” She brushed the last of her tears from her cheeks.

Morgan looked at his watch. “Listen, I’m going to get a hot shower, shave, climb into some casual clothes. Then we’re taking one of the commercial helicopters to Garcia’s villa. Meet me at the helo in an hour?”

T
HE HELICOPTER LANDED
beside Garcia’s villa, Kathy couldn’t hold back her anxiety any longer. She couldn’t choke down her fear, since every building lay in ruin, most still smoking from the fire that had swept throughout them. There were police and emergency workers sifting through the wreckage. She guessed they were searching for bodies. A number of locally owned cars were lined up in the driveway, along with two ambulances from the nearest village.

She was the first out the door, before the rotor stopped turning. As she jogged up the brick path, she felt Mac hard on her heels, despite the fierce buffeting from the helicopter blades.

Kathy knew her father would understand why she had to return to the villa. Tiki deserved more in life than to be a pawn. She was a child, someone Kathy had grown to love.

As she hurried through the complex, she tried to avoid the worst of the smoke. The air had the combined
scent of burning wood and a horrendous odor that she knew was burned flesh.

Please, God, don’t let it be Tiki…. Please…

Kathy swallowed and remembered that Tiki had last gone down the other side of the hill, to the caseta where her mother stayed. As she leaped over debris in the path, Kathy noted that, with all the palm trees and vegetation gone, the once lush estate resembled the moon, full of craters and lifeless.

The main buildings were completely leveled. When she topped the knoll and looked anxiously downward, she saw that half of Paloma’s caseta was still standing. Kathy’s heart jolted. Two stretchers held covered bodies.
Oh, no!
Hand at her throat, holding back a flood of emotion, she lurched forward again. The emergency workers had found two bodies so far, but there had to be three. Carlos had taken Tiki to see her mother.

Wiping her eyes, Kathy raced down the hill toward the men, whose faces were grave.

“Where’s Tiki? There was a little girl in this building! Where is she?” Kathy cried out as she slid to a halt. Looking at the body bags on the stretchers, she realized that the still forms were too large to belong to a child.

“Señorita?”

Kathy whirled around. A short, thin man with black eyes stood nearby. He wore the same blue uniform as the other workers. “Y-yes?”