The Phoenix Encounter (14 page)

Robert twisted off the bottle's nipple and dropped several of the tablets—a top-secret tool, courtesy of ARIES—into the milk. Abruptly, he tossed the bottle at the lieutenant. The lieutenant caught the bottle, then stared at it with annoyance and surprise. “What the hell is this?”

“Payback,” Robert said and ducked.

The lieutenant's eyes widened an instant before the bottle exploded.

“Run!” Robert shouted to Lily in English.

The concussion of the blast struck her like a fiery fist. Lily was so stunned that for a moment she couldn't move. She watched in amazement as the lieutenant reeled backward, cursing in Rebelian, howling in pain.

“Go!” Whipping a revolver from the waistband of his jeans, Robert took aim and fired. One of the soldiers fell. The others scattered like ants, shouting, raising their weapons. The rat-tat-tat of an automatic weapon pierced the air.

Wrapping her arms around Jack, Lily ran headlong toward the line of trees a few yards away. When she was halfway there, a second explosion rocked the night. Lily looked over her shoulder in time to see a plume of smoke rise from the nearest jeep. Flames shot from one of the tires. Several of the soldiers were doubled over and coughing violently.

Robert was a few yards behind her, running like a sprinter. Behind him, the lieutenant had fallen to the ground, his uniform charred and smoking. Lilly watched in horror as he rolled and came up with a pistol aimed directly at Robert's back.

“Look out!” she screamed.

Robert's gaze met hers, but he didn't stop running. She saw fear in his eyes, felt the same fear grip her. A shot
snapped through the air. Robert jolted, but he didn't slow. Knowing she didn't have a choice but to defend herself, her child and the man who'd probably just saved both their lives, she slowed her pace, lifted her skirt and tugged the tiny chrome .22 caliber handgun from its holster at her thigh. Twisting in midstride she fired four times in quick succession.

Out of the corner of her eye she saw the pistol fly out of the lieutenant's hand. She reached the line of trees a moment later and burst through the low-growing brush. She ran blindly, branches clawing at her face, roots grabbing at her feet like frantic fingers. She ran until her lungs threatened to burst, until her legs quivered with exertion. Then Jack began to cry and a terrible new fear crept over her.

Terrified that he'd been hurt by a stray bullet, she stopped and looked at him. Her hands shook uncontrollably as she ran them over his little body. “Hush, sweetheart. Everything's okay. I'm sorry you had to go through that.” Leaning forward, she kissed his cheek. “Shh. Mommy's here. Everything's okay, sweet baby.”

But Jack wasn't having it and squealed even louder.

Lily couldn't blame him; she felt like crying, too. She could still feel the hot sweep of horror. Still see the terror on Robert's face. She had no idea how he had managed those explosions, but he'd gotten them out of what surely would have been a deadly situation. For that, she would be forever thankful.

“Robert?” she whispered into the surrounding darkness. “Are you there?”

The only answer came in the form of her labored breathing and the cries of her son. Around her the forest pulsed with nocturnal life. She wasn't sure how far she'd run, but she could no longer hear shots or see the fire through the thick trees.

“Robert? Wh—”

She yelped when a dark silhouette stepped out from behind a nearby tree.

“I'm right here,” he said.

Pressing a hand to her stomach, she uttered a silent prayer. “Thank God you're okay.”

“Are you hurt?” he asked. “Jack?”

“We're fine.” She looked at Jack. “Shaken up and scared, but we're—”

He didn't wait for her to finish, but walked over to her and reached for Jack. Lily's first instinct was to hold her son tight and not let him go, but something in Robert's eyes stopped her. His hands trembled as he unbuckled the carrier straps. An instant later, he released the boy and gathered him into his arms. Lily watched, awestruck and moved, as Robert closed his eyes and pressed his cheek against Jack's. He didn't say a word, but she saw the emotion overwhelming him, and only then did she realize that in the last days something profound had occurred between father and son.

“That was close,” he said a moment later.

“Too close.”

Robert was shaking violently. His face was pale. A sheen of sweat coated his forehead.

“Are you okay?” she asked.

“I'm fine.” As if realizing how he must look, he loosened his grip on Jack. “Give me the carrier. We've got to keep moving. Put some distance between us and DeBruzkya's goons.”

Something in his voice warned her not to argue. She eased the straps from her shoulders and passed the carrier to him. He passed Jack to her, then quickly adjusted the straps to fit his larger frame and slipped the carrier over his shoulders.

“Where the hell did you learn to shoot like that?” he asked as he reached for Jack.

“I didn't.”

“I saw you shoot the pistol out of the lieutenant's hands.”

Lily shrugged. “I was aiming for the tires on the jeep.”

“Terrific.” He strapped Jack into the carrier. “Okay, big guy. Let's make some time.”

Standing on her tiptoes, Lily draped a blanket over Jack's head and over Robert's shoulder. “Maybe he'll sleep once we start walking.”

Robert looked over his shoulder, his eyes scanning the darkened forest. “DeBruzkya's soldiers aren't going to give up. We need to cover some ground very quickly.” He glanced at the compass in his hand, then started forward. “Let's go.”

Uneasiness prickled up her spine as Lily fell in beside him.

“Why didn't you tell me you had a bounty on your head?” he asked.

“I didn't know.”

“That could complicate things at the hospital.”

“All I care about is Jack. I don't have to be there for him to get treat—”

“I'm not letting you out of my sight,” he growled. “Next thing you'll have the entire Rebelian army after you.”

Because she wasn't so certain that wasn't already true, she didn't say anything. “Those explosives you used. I've never seen anything like them.”

“They're relatively new. Used for personal protection. Last resort kind of thing. I figured that situation qualified.” He frowned at her. “Keep walking.”

The realization of how things could have turned out shook her. “If you hadn't been there—”

“I was.” Robert regarded her with steely eyes. “It's over.”

Before realizing what she was about to do, she crossed the distance between them and pressed a kiss to his mouth. He stiffened for an instant, then his mouth relaxed against hers. Before the moment turned sexual, she pulled away. “Thank you.”

He raised his hand to wave off her thanks, but she
stopped him. “I mean it, Robert. You saved my life. You probably saved Jack's life, too. I can't tell you what that means to me.”

He stepped back, looking a little stunned, watching her like a big male cat that had just been cuffed by a much smaller female. “I think I know,” he said.

Thunder rumbled in the distance and the moment was broken. Hefting Jack's carrier higher on his abdomen, Robert looked around. “We've got to keep moving. The soldiers aren't far away, and I would imagine they're pretty pissed off.”

“We're not going to make it to Rajalla by morning, are we?” she asked.

“We can't risk traveling on the road. Unless there's an alternative route that's relatively smooth going—or maybe a taxi service—we're out of luck.”

“There are trails through the woods, but they're not well traveled.”

“That's going to slow us down.” He looked up. “And if I'm not mistaken the sky is going to open up in about two minutes.”

Lily looked up in time to see lightning flicker. The thought of traveling at night in cold rain with a band of angry soldiers hot on their trail was bad enough, but the thought of Jack getting wet was unbearable. “How are we going to keep Jack from getting wet?”

“Good old-fashioned American ingenuity.” Working the carrier off his shoulders, Robert removed his jacket and draped it over the baby. “Water resistant nylon.”

Trying not to let it show how much the gesture meant to her, Lily held Jack while Robert slipped the carrier onto his shoulders, then put the baby into the carrier.

“How well do you know the area?” Robert asked.

“I've taken this route to Rajalla several times.”

“Is there someplace where we can take shelter?”

Lily thought about it for a moment, pulled a dusty fragment from her memory. “There's a mine not far from here.
It's old and the entrance is boarded up, but I think I can find it.”

“As long as the roof doesn't leak.”

She didn't relish the idea of spending the night in a dark and dusty mine, but it beat the alternative of sleeping in the rain. “This way,” she said and started down the trail.

 

Robert knew things could always get worse. That seemed to be the only rule he'd been able to count on since arriving in Rebelia. Of course it was little consolation when 2:00 a.m. rolled around, the skies opened up and the rain began to fall in sheets. To top things off his leg was aching like a son of a bitch. It had started troubling him several miles back, and the pain showed no sign of abating any time soon. The orthopedic surgeon had told him the pain stemmed from nerve damage he'd sustained from the shrapnel injury. He'd recommended ice, anti-inflammatory drugs and elevation to alleviate swelling and pressure on the nerves. Robert didn't think he was going to get any of those things any time soon, so he'd just have to grin and bear it.

He hadn't even bothered to tell Lily about the bullet wound in his shoulder. Mostly because he knew it was superficial and he didn't want her fussing over him and risk slowing them down. But it was starting to hurt, too.

Looking up at the sky, he let the cool rain wash over his face. Jack had been sleeping uneasily for the last two hours, but Robert could tell the baby was getting uncomfortable with the constant motion and cold, damp air. They needed to camp for the night. More pressingly, they needed to get out of the rain. It was barely fifty degrees. Once they were wet, it wouldn't take long for hypothermia to set in.

“How much farther?” he shouted over the din of rain.

Lily turned to him, looking miserable and wet and uncertain as hell. “I'm not sure.”

“Let's keep moving.”

She narrowed her eyes. “What's wrong? Are you in pain?”

“I'm fine. Keep walking.”

“Robert, you've been limping for the last couple of miles. Do you want me to take Jack?”

“No, damn it.” He hadn't even realized he'd been limping. He was so accustomed to the pain, he compensated almost automatically by keeping as much weight off his leg as possible.

“If you need to stop—”

“What I need is a dry place to spend the night, okay?”

“No need to get so testy about it.” Lifting Robert's jacket, she peeked beneath it at Jack. “Poor little guy.”

“He's dry for now, but we need to find shelter,” Robert said. “It could rain like this all night.”

Cupping her hand over her brow to shield her eyes from the downpour, she scanned the surrounding forest, looking a little bit lost and a whole lot hopeless. “I don't understand. It seems like we should have come to the mine entrance by now.”

Robert looked at her and wondered how long her teeth had been chattering. Guilt tugged at him that he hadn't been able to come up with a better plan than the one he'd offered. “Maybe we need to backtrack a little,” he said.

Even with her hair soaked and plastered against her head, she looked beautiful. He felt another tug, stronger this time, deeper. He wanted to put his arms around her. He wanted to comfort her and tell her he was sorry for getting her into this. He wanted to reassure her and tell her everything was going to be all right. He wanted to kiss her again. Lose himself in the lush softness of her mouth. He wanted to touch her the way he had the night before, make her lose control…

“There's a village a few miles from here. Maybe if we keep walking…” Brushing wet hair off her forehead, she sighed. “Damn it. I don't see how we missed it.”

“How long has it been since you've been here?”

“Since before Jack was born.”

“The entrance could be overgrown with foliage.” He followed her gaze with his eyes. “What about landmarks?”

“I remember the mine entrance being near the little wooden bridge we crossed a while back.”

“How far off the trail?”

Turning, she pointed toward a jut of earth and rock tangled with vineage and saplings and dry leaves. “In that general direction.”

Aware of Jack's little body soft and warm against his abdomen, Robert walked over to the jut of earth. Cold rain trickled down his neck and back as he stooped to pick up a broken branch. The rain burned the bullet wound in his shoulder as he began breaking off the smaller twigs.

“What are you doing?” Lily asked.

“This jut of earth looks man-made.” Using the stick, Robert poked at the tangled foliage. He walked several yards and poked again. Nothing but rock and earth and winter-dead foliage. Damn it.

Rain poured down his face and into his eyes. Jack felt so warm and delicate, he couldn't stand the thought of the baby getting wet. He couldn't let that happen. He poked again with the stick. This time, a hollow thump sounded.

Tossing the stick aside, he fought through the brush, tearing the vines and branches away, eventually locating an ancient wooden door. “Bingo.”

But Lily was already beside him. He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. Rain poured down her face, but she didn't seem to notice as she tore aside the tangled branches and vines. “This is it!” she shouted excitedly as the wood planks of the door came into view.