Never Let Go

  “Bless you, Señora,” she whispered.

  Dinah grasped her shoulders. “You’re very brave, and I’ll never forget you. Give that letter to my husband, and he’ll make certain that you reach your brother’s home in Miami.”

  “Señora, isn’t there some way you can come with us?”

  Dinah shook her head. “This is the only day my plan will work. Everyone will be too busy enjoying the fiesta to notice what’s happening. But Valdivia wants me beside him today. I have to be there to keep him distracted.”

  Dinah glanced toward Katie, and her throat tightened. “You’ll come for her in a little while?”

  “Yes. Don’t worry, Señora, Dr. Sara and I will get her away.” Teodora began to cry softly. “I feel so proud of you, Señora. I see how much you love your baby and your husband.”

  “Yes,” Dinah murmured hoarsely.

  Teodora hugged her. “I’ll go now. You need this last time with your daughter.”

  Dinah’s voice was hollow. “Yes.”

  After the doors closed behind Teodora, Dinah carried Katie to the bed and lay down with her. From around her own neck Dinah removed a short gold chain. On it were the wedding band and engagement ring she’d hidden from Valdivia’s jealous eyes all these months. She fastened the chain around Katie’s neck and stroked her cheek with a trembling finger.

  Dee, our wedding bands’ll be heirlooms, okay? My family never had any traditions—unless you count Pa gettin’ drunk every Saturday night I want to start some.

  She had nodded, pleased. Her family had thrived on tradition. “We can will the rings to our children, my darling. How about that?”

  “Fine. Do you really like them? I’m not too good at pickin’ nice things. You know that. The last time I shopped for a suit without your help, the salesman laughed at me. He said I must be color blind.”

  “I love the rings.” She gestured at the gorgeous Acapulco scenery beyond the balcony of their honeymoon suite. “You picked this hotel. It’s fantastic.” Dinah touched the creamy white negligee she wore. “You picked this gown. It’s perfect. I should find that salesman and wallop him for making fun of my boy.”

  Rucker slipped his arms around her. His eyes gleamed with amusement and pleasure. “Would you? I’d pay to see that.”

  She lifted her chin wryly. “Absolutely. As soon as we get back.”

  “It’ll be like watchin’ Princess Di mud wrestle.”

  Dinah smacked his bare chest in rebuke. “I know I’m too stuffy.”

  His hands roamed down her body. “The stuff of dreams.” He smiled at the sloe-eyed look of delight she gave him. “Ladybug, you’re not stuffy. Stuffy is made up of prejudice and selfishness and narrow-mindedness.” His drawl deepened dramatically. “You ain’t none of that. You’re classy.”

  “And you’re not?”

  He smiled. “No more than stew meat compares to prime rib.”

  Dinah shook her head in reproach. She caught his mouth in a long, sweet kiss and circled her arms around his neck. “I’ve seen you make friends with people the rest of the world wanted to ignore,” she whispered. “I’ve seen you be honest with people when nobody would know if you weren’t, I’ve seen you show incredible patience to people who don’t deserve it.”

  She paused, her eyes mischievous. “I’ve seen you throw pillows at the television when laxative commercials come on. Now that’s a sign of class.”

  He chuckled with a warm, rich sound centered in deep happiness. “I have my standards.”

  She reached behind her back and grasped his left hand. Drawing that hand to her mouth, she kissed his wedding band. “Now you do mine.” She held her hand up.

  Rucker kissed her rings, nibbled her finger, and winked. “I sealed them on. You’re a marked woman.” He carried her to bed.

  Dinah laughed. “I like your traditions.”

  She had hoped to help him start so many others.

  Dinah blinked back her reverie and with it her tears. Valdivia must not suspect that her emotions were a shambles. She brushed her lips across Katie’s forehead.

  “Take care of your father for me, my darling,” Dinah whispered brokenly. “And love him as much as I do.”

  Rucker paced in his sweltering room, listening to the distant sounds of music, firecrackers, and boisterous gunfire. He’d endured the celebration all day, and it had worn on his nerves because he kept wondering whether Dinah was celebrating with Valdivia.

  The door to his room jerked open. A swarthy young man in peasant’s clothing stood there. An automatic rifle hung casually in his hands. Jeopard and Drake stood behind him.

  “Don’t ask questions,” Jeopard instructed. “Just get out of there.”

  Rucker followed them down a wide hallway decorated with colorful rugs and pre-Colombian artifacts. He stared at several armed men who lay sprawled unconscious on the floor, empty mugs beside them. “What the hell?”

  Jeopard glanced over one shoulder. “Sara Scarborough has her mother’s talent.”

  Rucker frowned. Why would Sara help them escape? Their guide led them through a maze of hallways and down a set of steps into a dank, underworld area stocked with wine bottles and rats. He swung a narrow wooden door open and grinned at them.

  “Freedom,” he said with a heavy Spanish accent.

  “Whoa,” Rucker exclaimed softly. Jeopard and Drake eyed him. “Sara did this for us? Why?”

  “No talk. Hurry. I like Americans,” the guide said. He thumped his chest proudly. “Rebel. Ya-hoo. Same side. Clint Eastwood.”

  Rucker knew he ought to be relieved, but he felt as if his soul were being torn apart. He was leaving Dee. He directed his confused torment toward Jeopard. “So you’re just gonna walk away? Valdivia killed your brother.”

  Jeopard retrieved a small glass vial from his shirt’s breast pocket. It was half-full of amber liquid. “This is the prototype for the herbicide, courtesy of Sara. As soon as I get it to a safe place, I’ll be back for Valdivia.”

  Rucker turned and looked in the direction from which they’d come, his breathing short, his heart pounding.

  “Forget her,” Jeopard ordered. “Sara thought things over and decided to help us. Apparently Dinah had the same chance and didn’t take it.”

  Rucker swung back toward the open door, his thoughts surging with self-rebuke and bitterness. How could he still let himself be stupid enough to hope and to love?

  He gestured fiercely. “Let’s get out of here.”

  Night drew a romantic cover over the festivities. Glowing torches and lanterns highlighted tables heavy with food. The people who weren’t too drunk to dance were whirling to the vibrant Latin rhythms of a loud band.

  Valdivia wore white slacks with a loose white shirt. Dinah moved woodenly through the crowd with her hand tucked in the crook of Valdivia’s elbow. At his request, she wore a flowing white dress with multicolored embroidery around the scooped neck and short sleeves. His people made a pathway for them as if they were royalty.

  Valdivia bent to whisper in her ear, “You see how wonderful life will be for you.”

  “Yes.” She smiled and let him think she was content. In a way she was. Rucker and Katie were far away by now. Sara, Jeopard, and Drake were safe also.

  “Patron!” One of Valdivia’s aides pushed his way toward them. The man’s eyes darted to Dinah, then settled fearfully on Valdivia. “The Americans are gone. All. Including Dr. Scarborough.”

  Dinah felt a muscle convulse in Valdivia’s arm. When he turned to look at her, his gaze was murderous. Her smile widened.

  The last thing Rucker expected to see when they reached the rebel camp was his daughter in the arms of Sara Scarborough. A young Suradoran woman stood beside them. Both women looked exhausted, and both appeared on the verge of emotional collapse.

  Stunned, Rucker stopped in front of them and stared down at Katie. She stirred restlessly in Sara’s arms and looked at him with unhappy blue-green eyes. His gaze flickered to the necklace she wore.

>   A hard fist twisted in Rucker’s stomach. There was something horribly wrong. Dinah would never give up Katie or her wedding rings. He struggled for an explanation that would appease his cynicism.

  “She doesn’t want our baby any more?” he asked Sara.

  “Oh. Oh, stop!” Those words seemed to be all she could manage.

  “I’m tired of not gettin’ any answers.” Rucker took Katie from Sara’s arms. He realized that Jeopard and Drake were staring at the scene in quiet curiosity. He realized that he was trembling all over.

  “Why did Dinah send Katie to me?” he asked in a low, fierce voice.

  Sara straightened and cleared her throat. Rucker gritted his teeth in frustration at the evidence of her careful deception.

  Sara shrugged elaborately. “She doesn’t want Katie involved in her work.”

  “Tell me the truth.”

  “Valdivia doesn’t like children.”

  He bit the words harshly. “Tell me the truth.”

  Sara shook her fists at him. “Dammit, McClure, Dinah wants you to take Katie and go home! I gave her my word that you’d do that! Get that through your thick skull and quit interrogating me!”

  “She doesn’t love me anymore, but she loves Katie dearly. There’s no way in hell she’d give her up.”

  “Well she did, and you should honor her decision and go home.”

  Rucker’s voice rose to a shout. “Tell me the truth!”

  “I told you the …”

  “Sweet angels forgive me, I can’t keep my word!” The woman beside Sara fell to her knees and grasped Rucker’s legs. Sobbing, she looked up at him.

  “Señor, your wife is the one who planned the escape for everyone. She is the bravest woman I’ve ever known. Everything she does, she does to help you and the others. She does it for love of you and the baby.”

  “Teodora, be quiet!” Sara cried. “This isn’t what Dinah wanted!”

  Teodora shook her head wildly. “And she knows that Valdivia will kill her for doing it! Save her!”

  Dinah heard soft, scurrying sounds in the darkness. Water dripped from somewhere above, trailing down the side of her face. The ground was wet underneath her, and the air smelled stale. Her feet bound, her eyes blindfolded, her hands tied behind her, she huddled against the unknown. She couldn’t stop shivering.

  Think small she told herself. Think invisible.

  Valdivia’s last words echoed in her mind. “This is just the beginning, querida. Enjoy the company down here tonight. It will be the most pleasant company you will have for a long, long time.”

  If she concentrated on the night ahead, she’d panic. So instead she sorted through her memories.

  I was not meant to traipse through slimy tunnels in the dark, Rucker.

  “It’s called spelunking, ladybug. Stick close to me.”

  “Of course. You have the flashlight. You’re the only living thing I trust down here.”

  “If you keep grabbin’ my butt you won’t even be able to trust me.”

  “Sir, I’m not ‘grabbin’ your butt.’ I’m clutching your back pockets. Desperately.”

  “Here we are. Look. This is the cavern I told you about.”

  “Hmmm. Oh, Rucker! Oh, my.”

  “Look there. See how the walls glow when the light hits ’em? Phosphorescence. Minerals from millions of little fossilized sea critters. It’s like a cathedral underground. Ahhh. A streak of purple. Gold. Every color. I think a rainbow got trapped in here. In the middle of all this darkness, the beauty still shines. It’s you and me and a million years of magic. Babe? Babe, are you listenin’?”

  “I could learn to like slimy places.”

  “Your voice sounds funny. You okay?”

  “I’m crying.”

  “Dee? Do you want to leave?”

  “No. You’ve given me something I’ll never forget. Can’t a girl cry over your poetry? What are … you’re laughing at me.”

  “No, babe. But me a poet? I can’t even think up a rhyme.”

  Oh, Rucker, if only this damned cellar had your rainbow in it.

  The cellar shook. Dinah jerked awake from a strained sleep and cried out in confusion. A booming sound drowned out her voice, and vibrations showered her with bits of dirt and wood.

  Were they having an earthquake? The terror of being helpless and trapped underground made her writhe desperately against her bonds.

  But then she heard other sounds; staccato popping noises, the thud of running feet overhead, men shouting, and other garbled noises that signaled violence.

  Revolution, she decided breathlessly. What if the rebels took over and there was no one left to tell them that she was a captive down here?

  Her nerves screamed from the tension. The blood rushed against her eardrums so forcefully that she had trouble hearing. Dinah made herself take slow breaths and listen to the continuing sounds of battle upstairs.

  Then she heard the dull groan of the cellar’s heavy double doors opening. A single pair of feet hurried down a flight of stone stairs.

  Dinah’s mouth went dry as the footsteps came toward her across the uneven stone floor. The sharp brightness of a flashlight invaded her blindfold. A hand wound into her hair.

  “We’re going to put on a little show, querida,” Valdivia told her pleasantly. “It will be my finale, I’m afraid. But I’ll enjoy it.”

  She had no time to ask questions. The commotion upstairs birthed only one identifiable sound—that of another man coming down the cellar steps and then across the floor.

  “Careful, Señor,” Valdivia called. “Drop your gun or I’ll shoot her.”

  The footsteps halted. There was a deadly pause, followed by the sound of a heavy weapon being placed on the floor. And then a dear voice shook Dinah to the core.

  “If you hurt her, I’ll make sure you die slow.”

  “Rucker,” Dinah exclaimed softly, all her love in the name.

  “Sit tight, ladybug.”

  “I will. Be careful.”

  Rucker’s tone was low and deceptively casual. “You’re done for, Valdivia. Killin’ your own agent won’t change anything.”

  Valdivia laughed softly. “Killing my own agent, Señor? But Dinah has never been my agent.” His voice rang with malicious pride. “Do you know how I acquired your wife, Señor? I stole her from you.”

  “I don’t care how you convinced her to work for you. She’s changed her mind. Let her go.”

  Valdivia’s voice was suddenly somber. “You still don’t understand. Amazing. You think she came to me of her own free will, yet you risk your life to save her? I salute your love for her. I envy her love for you. Yes, your wife loves you, Señor.”

  Dinah felt his hand loosen in her hair. She tilted her head back as if she were looking up at him. “Diego, nothing you do will change that.”

  Valdivia stroked her hair for an instant, then let his hand trail away. “I learned that long ago, querida,” he said wearily. Then his tone became cheerful again. “Señor! Understand the truth! I kidnapped your wife! Now I give her back!”

  More footsteps. A new voice spoke. “Get her out of here, Rucker. This bastard has called for government soldiers. He’s stalling for time.”

  “Ah, Señor Surprise. How appropriate.”

  “Jeopard, I can’t leave you here alone,” Rucker interjected. “This is my fight, too.”

  “You’ve got Dinah back. I’ll never get my brother back. Valdivia and I have to settle that. Go.”

  Dinah heard Rucker’s footsteps come to her and stop. Then his hands were under her elbows, raising her up. With her feet bound, she tottered. He lifted her into his arms. She rested her head against his shoulder and gloried in the scent and feel of him.

  “Good-bye, querida,” Valdivia murmured. “May we meet again.”

  “God help you,” she answered.

  “Burn in hell,” Rucker told him.

  Dinah burrowed her face into Rucker’s neck and rubbed off the blindfold as he carried her upst
airs. She glanced back. The last thing she saw was Jeopard setting a lantern on the floor between himself and Valdivia.

  Rucker kicked the cellar doors shut. He walked down a long hallway and out into one of the hacienda’s courtyards. A full moon shone overhead.

  He set her down carefully and knelt by her feet, his big hands fumbling with the nylon rope that bound her ankles. When they were free he stood and gently untied her hands. Then he simply stood still, gazing down at her in the golden moonlight.

  “When you disappeared in Florida—you’d been kidnapped by Valdivia?” he asked.

  She nodded and rose on tiptoe to kiss his tears.

  The small band of rebels, worried about an attack by Suradoran soldiers, whisked Dinah and Rucker out of the hacienda. Rucker motioned to them to stop. “Tell them we can’t leave Jeopard,” he instructed Dinah.

  She spoke to them in Spanish. Their leader answered. Dinah nodded. “They’ve stationed two men by the cellar doors to wait for him.”

  There was no more time for talk after that. The rebels led them in darkness and silence along narrow paths in the rain forest. Dinah’s white dress was already a dirty, clinging mess from the hours she’d spent in the cellar; Rucker helped her rip a two-foot width of material from the bottom of the full skirt.

  She was barefoot, so a rather large woman with the group offered a spare pair of brogans from her backpack. Dinah stuffed torn dress material into the toes to make them fit. Clumping along beside Rucker with her ragged skirt flapping around her thighs, Dinah imagined him grinning.

  “Stop it,” she whispered, and punched his arm.

  The faint sound of his chuckle confirmed her suspicions.

  Three hours later they reached the rebel camp. Drake Lancaster, who’d stayed behind with the herbicide, rose from a group of people seated around a fire and came toward them, his expression troubled as he searched for Jeopard.

  Rucker briefly explained what Jeopard had done to avenge his brother’s death. Drake shook his head and cursed softly. “I wish he’d known. Kyle’s alive.”