Читать книгу Military K-9 Unit Christmas - Valerie Hansen, Laura Scott - Страница 14

Rachel sidled through the door from the ICU into the hallway. She had shouldered Natalie’s small bag along with her own purse and was towing the child by the hand. Kyle brought up the rear.

Suddenly, Natalie was pulled away. Rachel whirled, ready to do battle, when she realized that her companion had picked up the little girl and was headed in a different direction. For a few seconds she wondered if his plan was to return the child to her father. Then, he allayed her fears.

“Not the elevator, Rachel. He’ll probably come up that way. We’ll take the stairs. Follow me.”

That logic was unquestionable. She fell in behind him. He shouldered through the stairway exit door and cradled Natalie while he waited for Rachel to pass. Her body was trembling, her legs unsteady. Each downward step brought her closer to escape, closer to the parked SUV that would carry them all away before it was too late.

Would they make it? They had to, for Natalie’s sake if for no other reason. Rachel had vowed to protect her niece, and that was exactly what she intended to do. Peter was never going to get his hands on her as long as one Fielding sister was left.

She heard the measured thuds of Kyle’s boots on the stairs behind her. He was sticking close. Praise the Lord she hadn’t made this trip to see Angela alone! A sense of divine presence and peace flooded through her. The fear she had defined as a personal weakness her heavenly Father had used for her good. If her pride hadn’t gotten in the way, she might have recognized the hidden blessing sooner.

Their path took them to a side door. Rachel glanced over her shoulder to ask, “Now what?”

“We can circle around or I can bring the truck to you, depending on whether or not this Peter guy spots you. If he came inside the way I suspect, we can make a run for it together.”

“Okay.”

She started to lean on the push bar to the exterior door as she heard Kyle shout, “No!”

It was too late. A claxon horn was blasting and warning bells sounded. Rachel immediately realized her error. That door was supposed to stay closed and she’d triggered an alarm.

Frustrated, fearful and more angry with herself than anyone else, Rachel faced him with a grimace. “You said we were going to circle around so I thought...”

“Inside, not out there,” he shot back. “Come on. Follow me before the guards catch us.”

Rachel didn’t argue. They turned back into the hallway. Curious employees and patients glanced at them in passing, but nobody approached with questions.

“Walk calmly and slowly,” Kyle ordered. “Don’t hurry and don’t look back. Pretend you think that noise is a nuisance the way everybody else does.”

“Okay.”

“And stay close. We want to look like a normal family.”

Rachel could see wisdom in his suggestion even if heeding it did place her in an awkward position. Putting aside her personal misgivings, she moved to Kyle’s side and slipped her hand through the crook of his bent elbow.

That touch was a mistake. His arm was muscular beneath his sleeve, his countenance commanding and sturdy as well as comforting. She knew his hands were especially skillful because she’d watched him do delicate surgeries, but nothing had prepared her for this potent an assault on her senses.

Distracted by the masculine presence beside her, she almost missed spotting a familiar figure fidgeting in front of a bank of elevators.

“Stop,” she hissed, giving his arm a tug.

Kyle halted. “What is it?”

“There. Up ahead. See the scruffy man with a ponytail, cutoffs, bomber jacket and flip-flops by the elevators? That’s him. We got here too soon.”

“It’s still better than coming face-to-face when those doors open upstairs.”

“Right.” Slinking backward into a shallow doorway, Rachel was relieved when Kyle turned and handed her Natalie.

“Hold her tight and stay behind me so he won’t spot you if he looks this way.”

“Gladly.” Rachel couldn’t tell whether the elevator had come and gone until Kyle told her. “The coast is clear. Remember, act normally.”

Rachel huffed. “I doubt I’d recognize normal if it walked up and bit me in the leg. The only part of my life that ever seemed well ordered was my time in the air force working with K-9s. I can hardly wait to get back on base.”

As he ushered her and Natalie toward the automated sliding doors leading to the parking lot, Kyle was shaking his head. “I’m afraid that by the time you get through all the red tape involved in gaining legal custody of your niece, nothing will feel the same. Not even life on Canyon.”

A childish, barely audible “What’s that?” sounded in Rachel’s ear.

“Canyon Air Force Base,” she told the child. “That’s where I live.”

“Do you have toys?” the wan little voice asked right before a big yawn.

“Well, we have what Senora Alvarez brought for you and there’s a wonderful store where we can buy more.”

“I don’t wanna leave my mama,” Natalie whined, rubbing her eyes with her little fists.

“I know you don’t, sweetheart. I don’t want to leave your mom, either, but we have to go before Peter sees us.”

Thin arms tightened around Rachel’s neck, reminding her that she had just accepted an immense responsibility, one she was far from certain she was ready for. Suppose her efforts at parenting failed? Or suppose Peter won in court and she had to give Natalie back to him?

That possibility was so unacceptable it brought tears to her eyes. No, no, no. She would not fail. She would never give up no matter who or what came against her. She couldn’t disappoint her sister—or the frightened child now clinging to her. No matter what happened she was going to stick it out. To win. There was no acceptable alternative.

Glaring sunshine barely warmed the winter day. Kyle loaded the sleepy little girl and her scarce personal belongings into the second seat of the SUV, then began to adjust her seat belt before fastening it. “She should have a booster seat, too, but this will have to do.”

“Not if it isn’t safe. I hadn’t thought about how she was going to ride with us.”

Seeing Rachel’s tears begin to glisten, Kyle said, “Look. A lot has happened already and I know you’re not thinking clearly. That’s where I come in. Trust me. I’ve got this.”

Shoulders sagging, Rachel nodded. “I know. I just feel so confused. I’d finally reconciled with my sister and now she’s gone again. It’s like I was robbed. Twice.” She draped her jacket over Natalie to serve as a blanket before sliding into the front passenger seat.

Kyle fought to keep from identifying too closely with Rachel’s plight. It was no use. And, considering how bereft she seemed, he figured he owed it to her to commiserate. “I do understand, believe me. It’s hard. Any unexpected loss is, especially when it’s a younger person.”

She sighed. “I really did love my sister even if we hadn’t had contact during the past six years. I keep wondering if things would have been different if I’d stayed with her instead of letting Peter scare me off.”

“Sure. Maybe he’d have beaten you senseless, instead.”

Kyle noted her sidelong glance at the second seat as he started the vehicle, and toned down his responses, beginning with, “Sorry.” He started to back out of the parking space. “How much do you know about the whole home situation?”

“Not a lot beyond what I witnessed years ago. Angela managed to tell me some things but it’s probably not enough to get him thrown back in jail. At least not until the forensic report is in.”

He knew she was purposely being evasive by not mentioning a medical examiner. Surely anyone who had been so severely beaten and had named her attacker on her deathbed would be believed. The problem was whether or not this Peter guy was going to accept any legal edict. Even if he wasn’t put in prison for killing Rachel’s sister, he should never gain custody of the sweet little girl nodding off in the back seat.

“We can take her home to your apartment and look over what she brought with her. Then I’ll go down to the base exchange and buy whatever else she needs.”

“You don’t have to do that.”

“I know.” Backing out, he joined a line of cars waiting to leave the lot.

“Then, why?”

“Let’s just say it’s the right thing for me to do and I don’t mind a bit. Okay?”

“Sure. I get it. I have the Christmas spirit, too.”

Kyle’s head snapped to the side. “Who said anything about Christmas?”

“I’m sorry. I thought, since there are decorations hanging from every lamppost and store windows are all lit up for the holidays, that was influencing you.”

“Well, it isn’t.” His hands had fisted on the steering wheel so firmly his knuckles were turning white.

Her voice was soft, tender. “I understand completely.”

“What do you mean?” There was no way she could know his story without digging into his past. He’d been very careful to keep his history to himself after selling his civilian practice and reenlisting as an air-force veterinarian.

“Holidays can be tough on everybody,” Rachel said. “There really are no perfect family gatherings or ideal celebrations. After my parents died, Christmas was never the same, even when Angela and I tried to make it festive.” She took another peek at the snoozing little girl before she added, “That was before Peter came on the scene, of course. Once he and Angie were a couple, we didn’t even try. And now...”

“Okay. One thing at a time,” Kyle said, purposely changing the subject. “Do you have a place for her to sleep? Enough food in the house? Blankets, pillows, that kind of thing?”

“Yes. She’ll need some decent clothes for preschool if there isn’t anything suitable with her. And probably shoes. Those flip-flops aren’t going to be warm enough.” Slowly shaking her head, Rachel made a face. “I don’t imagine she’s used to having much, given the way she looks today.”

“According to what Senora Alvarez told me when we went to the cafeteria, your sister had a rough time. So did Natalie.”

“Undoubtedly. My biggest concern isn’t her past—it’s her future. How am I going to keep Peter away from her?”

“Once we’re on the base it will be relatively safe.” The line of cars was moving too slowly to suit Kyle, but since it was almost his turn at the exit he tamped down his anxiety.

Rachel cited recent history. “Oh, really? Look what that serial killer Boyd Sullivan did. He sneaked on and off base for months before he was caught. If he could do it, so can Peter.”

“Sullivan was a special case. He was a certified nutjob. Those are unpredictable.”

“And Peter isn’t?” Her volume increased on the final word.

“Shush. You’ll wake Sleeping Beauty.”

“She is beautiful, isn’t she?” Rachel’s smile was so tender as she gazed at the napping little girl that Kyle’s heart clenched almost as tightly as his fists. Visions of another little girl, of his precious Wendy, melded with the current image of Natalie and gave him a jolt. He hadn’t been there for his own daughter or for his wife when they’d needed him, and that failure had eaten away at him for four long years.

Was God giving him a second chance to protect an innocent little girl who had no other champion? Perhaps, but the opportunity was bittersweet. How much better it would have been if his little family had never been torn apart by that drunk driver in the first place.

And how much more he would have trusted in his Christian faith if his prayers for their survival had been answered that awful winter night. He hadn’t wanted to let them go, to lose them forever, yet he had. It had been a terrible struggle to go on without them, to accept his loneliness and live with it. He’d made a new life by returning to the air force, where he knew he could do the most good, and had kept his emotional distance from fellow officers as well as the enlisted personnel assigned to him. Until now.

Kyle knew he was entering uncharted territory and his misgivings were almost strong enough to cause him to back off. Almost. But not quite.

His innermost thoughts were directed to God while he continued to fidget and inch the SUV forward in line. Why, God? And why at Christmastime? You know how this hurts so why a woman and little girl? And why me?

He didn’t need an audible reply to know the answer. The trauma of the past made him particularly suited to this task. He had lost to evil once by not being totally diligent, not making himself available when his gut told him he should. It would not happen again. No matter what developed in regard to his vet tech and her niece, he was going to be there for her. For them.

He would not make the same mistake twice.

A horn honked behind them as the space at the very front of the line was vacated. Rachel jumped at the noise. So did Kyle. Checking for cross traffic on the street, he also glanced toward the hospital and caught his breath.

“Rachel,” he said abruptly. “Look over there. Is that...?”

She followed Kyle’s gaze, then immediately whirled to face him. Her complexion paled and her lips parted. She didn’t have to speak to tell Kyle who they were seeing. Peter VanHoven had somehow figured out what they were up to and was racing for his battered red truck.

Accelerating as much as he dared without drawing undue attention, Kyle angled the black SUV into a spot in front of a slow-moving gray sedan and joined passing traffic.

He saw the red truck come to life and start down the same crammed exit lane that had delayed their departure. Rachel swiveled in the seat to watch so Kyle made it her assignment. “Let me know how long a line he gets stuck in, okay?”

“Oh, no!” Her gasping reply sent a shiver the length of Kyle’s spine.

His hands gripped the wheel, his senses on full alert as he angled to check his mirrors. “What? I can’t see him anymore. Where did he go?”

“Over the curb,” she shouted. “He’s already in the street. Ahead of us!”