Her Baby’s Bodyguard Read online

  “Perhaps being a soldier is in your blood, too.”

  “It is. I drifted around for years until I found a home with the army.”

  “What about the rest of your family? Are they in the military, too?”

  “Absolutely. You’ve already met my brothers.”

  “You regard your teammates as your family?”

  “It’s where I belong.”

  She tilted her head to study him. “Then perhaps we’re not so different after all.”

  “How’s that?”

  “We both made our work our lives. We feel that’s where we belong.”

  “Huh. I guess you’re right about that.”

  “I loved my work at the complex. I went to live there shortly after my father died, and I regarded many of my colleagues as my family.” She clenched her hand on the table. “But then I learned what a fool I’d been.”

  He reached out to cover her hand with his. “Stop beating yourself up about your research, Eva. You’re not the only one Ryazan fooled. How do you think the Nobel committee are going to feel when they find out what he’s been working on lately?”

  “He was able to deceive so many people because he believed his own press. He’s convinced he’s a humanitarian.”

  “Even though he’s developing a weapon of mass destruction?”

  “Especially because of that. His parents survived the siege of Stalingrad during the Second World War but carried terrible emotional scars from what they endured. Burian was raised on stories of the horrors and deprivations of war. He believes the Chameleon Virus will cause less suffering than conventional weapons because it kills quickly and leaves no maimed or wounded.”

  “That’s some twisted thinking.”

  “Not to him. He considers it perfectly logical. People can be slaughtered with precision. The virus doesn’t require an army, either. A handful of individuals can eliminate the targeted population while leaving the buildings and infrastructure undamaged. And because the virus is completely stable when not in a host, there’s no danger of accidental contamination while distributing it and no hot zone to contend with afterward.” Her voice faltered. “Burian considers it…merciful.”

  Jack pursed his lips in a silent whistle. He understood now why this mission had been given top priority. “It sounds like a terrorist’s dream weapon.”

  “It’s a nightmare.”

  “How did you find out the truth, anyway?”

  “Burian told me himself a month ago.”

  “Why?”

  “He’d wanted to renew our personal relationship and had thought I would be impressed with his cleverness. He’d assumed as a scientist I would appreciate the logic behind what he’d done. He was trying to appeal to my intellect.”

  “His version of flowers and candy.”

  “I suppose so.”

  “He took a big risk telling you.”

  “I’m not sure that he realized it. He’s so convinced he’s right that he can’t conceive of anyone disagreeing with him. I pretended to go along with the research while I searched for a way to stop it.” She looked at Katya. “My, God. I was such a fool.”

  “We all make mistakes.”

  “My daughter was not a mistake.”

  “I never said that.”

  “She is the most precious gift—”

  “Eva, stop.” He squeezed her hand. “I meant getting mixed up with Burian Ryazan was the mistake, not your baby. I can see how much you love her. No one would ever doubt that.”

  She closed her eyes, then sighed. “I’m sorry, Jack. I shouldn’t be so defensive. But until I learned I was pregnant, I’d never pictured myself with children. It wasn’t part of my plan for my life.”

  “I find that hard to believe. You seem as if you were meant to be a mother.”

  She shook her head. “I believed that marriage and children weren’t for me. I’d convinced myself that my work was all I needed. I was good at it, too. I used to put a hundred percent of my energy into my career. It was Katya who showed me what I’d been missing.”

  This was something else they had in common, Jack realized. He’d always known he wasn’t the type to settle down.

  He’d inherited more than his loyalty to the army and his luck with cards from his rebel ancestor. He’d also inherited the Norton men’s wanderlust. His own father hadn’t stuck around long enough to see Jack’s first birthday, although he’d breeze back through town every few years when he was on a winning streak and was flush with cash. He’d come loaded with presents like jewelry and fancy clothes for his wife and top-of-the-line baseball gloves and bicycles for Jack. Life was one long party during the times Beau Norton had been around.

  Not that he had taught Jack how to oil the leather baseball glove and wrap it around a ball to break it in, or even how to throw a ball. He hadn’t taught him how to ride a bike, either. Jack had watched how the other kids in the neighborhood had done it and had managed to pick it up on his own. There sure hadn’t been any educational toys, unless he counted the decks of cards that he’d find around the house. Whenever the old man had been home, Jack’s mother had been so focused on her husband that no one had cared whether or not Jack went to school. The only thing Beau had taught his son was how to look out for himself.

  No, he’d taught him something else, too. Certain men weren’t cut out to be husbands and fathers, and the earlier they realized that, the better it was for everyone.

  Jack had grown up seeing how much damage a man’s broken promises could do to a woman. His mother had lived for the times when her husband would return. For the few weeks or months he was there, she would wear his latest gifts with giddy pride, her love for him glowing from her face, painful and naked to see. And when he left, nothing would shake her faith that he would return, even when she had to pawn the jewelry to pay the rent and later couldn’t find the will to get out of bed or to feed herself.

  It had been tough for a kid to witness. Jack had wanted to help her, to save her, but he hadn’t known how. Each time the cycle had repeated, a little more of her died. Although it was cancer that had taken her in the end, she’d given up long before she’d been diagnosed. It was a good thing Beau Norton hadn’t come back for his wife’s funeral. If Jack had seen him then, he probably would have killed him.

  “Jack?”

  He realized he was still holding Eva’s hand. She’d turned it over so that she was clasping his. Katya was nestled against her other arm, her tiny hands wrapped around Eva’s fingers. For an instant he imagined he could feel the baby’s grip, too, as if he was connected to both of them.

  “Is something wrong?”

  Damn right, there was. For starters, now that Eva had finished eating, he should get them out of here instead of sitting around, enjoying her company, as if they really were a couple in town for market day as they were pretending to be. Regardless of the charade, he had no business touching her so much. He might have known her for less than a day, but it was crystal clear she wasn’t his type of woman. She wouldn’t be satisfied with merely sex and a good time. She and her baby were a package deal. If she ever decided to take a chance on another man, she’d be in it for the long haul.

  And Jack wasn’t. The final lesson he’d learned from Beau Norton was that the apple didn’t fall far from the tree. He was just like his father, only he wasn’t going to repeat his father’s mistakes. He knew that the Norton men were too restless to make good husband or father material, so marriage and children weren’t in the cards for him. Eagle Squadron was his family, and his work was all he needed.

  Unlike Eva, he wasn’t about to change his mind.

  Chapter 6

  The watchtower stood at the crest of the hill, the setting sun mellowing its weathered stone walls to burnished gold. Narrow windows were set high beneath the eaves where centuries ago sentries would have kept watch over the road that wound through the valley. The remains of what had once been buildings clung to the slope below the structure near a grove of pine trees. Here
and there an intact wall thrust through the grassed-over mounds of rubble, but from where Eva stood, she could see little that was identifiable.

  The site was one of the many medieval outposts that had dotted the Greater Caucasus. Some of the better preserved ones were still inhabited, either by descendants of the original villagers or by squatters, but not this one. The only movements visible were tree branches that the wind caused to scrape against the ruined walls and birds that flitted through the gaping windows of the tower.

  Eva held Katya to her shoulder, rubbing her palm over the baby’s back. This was the rendezvous point the team had chosen. As Jack had explained, it would give them some shelter while they waited. It was also a good landing spot and was isolated enough from the surrounding towns to ensure privacy. Sometime before dawn, a helicopter should be setting down on the bare rock of the hilltop. Whether the rest of the Eagle Squadron team showed up in time to meet it or not, Eva would carry her daughter on board and begin the final leg of their journey.

  It was almost over. Thank God.

  “You need to get under cover, Eva.”

  She turned toward Jack’s voice, then had to take a quick sideways step to maintain her balance. She must have moved too fast. She firmed her grip on Katya and watched Jack approach. He held his rifle in one hand and had his pack hooked over his shoulder, along with a red-and brown-striped blanket. The car he’d used to drive them here was nowhere in sight.

  “I was waiting for you,” she said. “Where did you find that blanket?”

  “It was in the car trunk. I thought it would be useful.”

  She glanced past him. “What happened to the car?”

  “I cut some pine boughs to put over it. No one should be able to spot it from the air or the ground.”

  “I wish there was somewhere we could leave it so the owner could get it back.”

  He cupped her elbow when he reached her. “Someone will find it eventually.”

  “But you had money. The people in that town appeared to have so little—”

  “Eva, if I bought it, someone would remember us for certain and be able to describe us to Ryazan’s men. We don’t know when they’ll start looking in this direction, but it’s a sure bet they will.”

  She knew he was right. Their survival was at stake, and she would do a lot worse than steal in order to protect Katya. Considering the horror she’d helped develop at the complex, it was absurd to have conscience pangs about stealing a car.

  “We’re not in the clear yet,” Jack continued. He turned her toward the tower and urged her forward, guiding her to walk where the wind had swept the snow from the hillside. “I don’t want to underestimate your boyfriend. If I were him, I’d be pretty determined to get you back.”

  “I told you. It’s Katya he wants, not me.”

  “I wouldn’t be so sure about that.”

  “There are other scientists on the project who can continue where I left off. And since I did leave, he would have to know that I would no longer cooperate. I’m of no further use to him.”

  “I wasn’t talking about your professional relationship, Eva.”

  “I already told you, the personal relationship I had with Burian is over. It ended well before Katya was born.”

  “Maybe not in his opinion. He told you about the virus so he could win you back.”

  “Well, it didn’t work. And I would appreciate it if you don’t refer to him as my boyfriend.”

  “Then what was he?”

  It was a simple question, but she wasn’t sure of the answer. Burian had once been her mentor. She’d liked and respected him. He’d given her a stable home at the complex after her father had died, and for a time it had seemed as if he’d wanted to step into that role for her. The thirty-year gap in their ages had seemed unbridgeable when she’d been nineteen. She wasn’t sure when it had begun to change, when her hero-worship had turned into infatuation.

  All she was sure of was that Burian had taken full advantage of her innocence. She’d trusted him completely. She’d thought she loved him, yet how could she have when she hadn’t really known him?

  “He was many things to me,” she replied finally. “But it was only our working relationship that he truly valued. That and his daughter.”

  Jack was still holding her elbow. He slid his fingers along her arm until he touched Katya’s back. “What would a guy like that want with a baby? He doesn’t sound like much of a family man.”

  “He has a large ego, and he feeds it by exerting control over the work at the complex and over the people who surround him. I suspect he seduced me in the first place in order to control me personally as well as professionally. He wants Katya because she’s his. That’s all. He views her as an achievement, a possession, not a child.”

  “Sounds like you would have left him anyway even if you hadn’t learned about the virus.”

  “That’s true. Katya is my priority now, and I know Burian would never have made a good father. She’s better off having no father than having one like him.”

  Jack looked from the baby to her, his expression unreadable. Then he dropped his hand and increased his pace. “Some guys are like that. Lucky for both you and the kid that you figured it out when you did.”

  She suspected that what she’d said had bothered him. She hurried to follow. “Jack?”

  He stopped at the base of the tower. “Uh-huh?”

  “I didn’t lie to the government. I do want to expose Burian’s research.”

  “Sure. I got that.”

  “I don’t want you to think I’ve put you and your team in danger just because I wanted to leave my…” She stumbled over the word. “Leave Katya’s father.”

  “Hey, I’m just following orders, remember? It wouldn’t make any difference to me if you’re running away because you were smuggling out his prize-winning cherry pie recipe.” He pointed to the shadowed side of the tower. “Wait there. I won’t be long.”

  “Where are you going now?”

  “I need to check out the interior.” He ducked his head to step through the low doorway. There was a sudden flurry of squawks and flutters before a handful of sparrows zoomed out. They were followed by something small and gray that scurried over the threshold. A few minutes later, Jack reappeared minus his pack and the blanket. He loped down the hill to the pine grove, and then he returned with a stack of boughs and motioned her to follow him inside.

  The interior of the building was one large chamber with a floor of stone instead of packed earth as she’d expected. Dark holes along the walls were all that was left of the timbers that must have once supported a staircase. The roof was gone. Sunlight tinted the top round of stones and streamed through the window slits, illuminating the dust that floated through the air. Enough light filtered downward to reveal traces of turquoise and faded pink on the wall opposite the doorway.

  Eva moved farther inside, her boots crunching through a drift of dead leaves. The colors were what was left of a painting. The tower was surprisingly intact, considering its age.

  “It could get cold once the sun goes down,” Jack said. He laid the pine boughs in a corner out of the draft from the door. “If it does, we might need to go back to the car and run the engine for a while.”

  “It doesn’t seem too cold now.”

  “Not yet.” He spread the blanket he’d brought earlier over the branches. “In the meantime, this should keep you comfortable when you have to feed the baby again.”

  She gritted her teeth as she felt the heat of yet another blush in her cheeks. It wasn’t that he had embarrassed her. Over the course of the day, he’d become matter-of-fact about the necessities of Katya’s care, something she was grateful for. He’d seemed almost as concerned with her welfare as Eva was.

  But that hadn’t stopped the effect he had on Eva’s pulse whenever the topic of breast-feeding came up. “She seems content right now. I think all the activity has tired her out.”

  “If you’re hungry, I’ve got some MREs
in my pack. Just let me know.”

  “What’s an MRE?”

  “Sorry, army jargon. It’s what passes for food in the field. I’ve got a full canteen, too.”

  “Thank you, but—” She stopped herself before she could refuse his offer. Now that she thought of it, her throat felt odd. Not dry but tight. She hoped there hadn’t been something wrong with the sausages she’d eaten earlier. “If you wouldn’t mind, I’d like some water.”

  He brought her the canteen, unscrewed the cap and held it out. “Want me to hold the pipsqueak?”

  “No, thanks,” she said, pressing Katya against her shoulder with one hand while she freed up the other. “I’ve had a lot of practice doing things one-handed.”

  “That’s what I figured when I watched you eat.”

  “It’s one of the skills of motherhood they didn’t mention in the books I read.” She put the canteen to her lips. As soon as she tipped back her head, the room spun. She staggered sideways.

  Jack clasped her arms to steady her. “What’s wrong?”

  She blinked. “Nothing.”

  “Eva, you’d better lie down.”

  “No, I’m fine.” She breathed deeply a few times, then managed to take a drink. “Thanks.”

  “You’re wobbly again.”

  “I’m just tired.”

  “Maybe. Or maybe it’s because of your wound. Damn. I knew I should have checked under the bandage. Come with me.” He released her arms and plucked both the canteen and Katya from her grasp.

  “Jack!” She made a grab for her baby, but he’d already moved out of reach. Rather than being upset by the sudden change of position, Katya gurgled and waved her arms.

  Eva scowled, even though she knew she should be happy that her child didn’t fuss when Jack held her. “I know you mean well, Jack, but—”

  “The sooner we get started, the better.” He knelt on the floor beside the makeshift pallet and set the baby down on the blanket. Then he yanked off his coat and tucked it around her. “We have less than an hour of daylight left.”