Sooner or Later (24 page)

Letty was only vaguely aware
of what was happening to her. She felt herself walking down a long narrow corridor. Doors opened from each side of the hallway, and each one seemed to beckon to her.

She stopped and read the nameplate and was tempted at each door to enter, would have if not for Murphy, who stood at the end of the hallway, calling to her. He sounded angry and desperate. When she hesitated, he commanded her attention. He refused to allow her to rest or to stop. His demands on her became relentless.

Once she reached him, he didn’t seem satisfied. He wanted something from her, but she couldn’t figure out what it was. Because she loved him, she tried to give him whatever he asked, but he made no sense to her befuddled mind. He seemed to think it was terribly important for her to drink something bitter tasting.

Later his voice became gentle as he spoke to her. His hands cooled her face and washed her face and neck. She couldn’t remember being so dirty. With everyone else he sounded urgent and impatient, but with her he was uncharacteristically tender.

She slept and had trouble waking. A discordant noise interrupted her rest. It sounded like the roar of an engine. Like that of an aircraft. She felt the sun on her face and the force of the wind. It felt cool when she was so terribly, uncomfortably hot.

Then he held her against him and told her again how much he loved her. He promised to find Luke for her.

Luke. A sob obstructed her throat at the mention of her brother. He was forever gone to her. Forever lost. She’d found him too late. The intense grief was mingled with the memory of an unexpected gift. Murphy’s love. Her hand closed over the tiny gold angel.

“Remember, I love you,” Murphy whispered.

Letty wouldn’t soon forget.

She was wrenched out of his arms and set inside a seat. But this wasn’t like any car she’d ever known. She realized as she gazed at a row of panels that she was inside a plane and Father Alfaro was with her.

The sound of guns and angry shouts interrupted their farewells. Murphy reacted immediately, leaped back, and slammed the door closed.

“Go, go, go!” he cried, but he wasn’t speaking to her. “Get the hell out of here!”

Letty’s head lolled to one side, and she saw Murphy racing across a grass field. She gasped with alarm when she saw a band of guerrillas surround him. Her
gasp became a cry of frustration and anguish as red tips of fire exploded from the end of a machine gun and she watched, helpless, as Murphy fell.

“No…no, not Murphy…must go back.”

“We can’t,” Father Alfaro said, his words marked with sadness.

“He didn’t have a chance,” the pilot said in a strong American accent. Letty tried to focus, tried to think clearly, but everything was cloudy, obscured from her as if she were trapped inside a deep fog.

“Why didn’t he come with us?” So little of this made sense to her.

“He made himself the target instead. He saved our lives,” Father Alfaro told her, gripping her hand. “No greater love has a man than he who lays down his life for his friends.”

Soft sounds drifted toward Letty. The distinct click of a clock, counting off the seconds. The padded footsteps against a tile floor, the scrape of metal rings against a rail. The scent was that of disinfectant and something else she couldn’t name.

It cost her a surprising amount of energy to lift her eyelids and look around. The first thing she saw was a round clock on the wall, then a television mounted in the corner. A railing, like that for a shower, looped around her bed.

If she didn’t know better, she would think she was in a hospital. The view outside her window looked decidedly like that of Texas. But that didn’t seem possible.

The last thing she remembered was being in
Zarcero and of Murphy holding her. She remembered something else. A small, worrisome fear niggled at her conscious. A plane and gunshots and Murphy putting his own life on the line for her.

Murphy. She smiled, closed her eyes, and reached for the chain around her neck.

It was missing.

Frantic now, she forced herself to sit up. Stretching awkwardly, she reached for the button that rang for the nurse. A disembodied voice responded.

“Miss Madden, you’re awake. That’s wonderful. I’ll be right in. You’ve got an anxious gentleman here, waiting to see you.”

Murphy. It had all been so confusing. Murphy wouldn’t abandon her. Not after giving her an engagement necklace. The whole episode with the airplane had been part of some terrible nightmare. She closed her eyes and whispered a prayer of thanksgiving.

The nurse arrived moments later. Her wide, friendly smile put Letty at ease. Then, when she least expected it, she thrust a thermometer in Letty’s mouth and took her blood pressure.

“You said my friend…,” she asked the minute the temperature gauge was out of her mouth.

“In a minute, dear.” The nurse smiled graciously and reached for Letty’s wrist to check her pulse. It was all Letty could do not to mention that her heart was in fine working order. She wanted her necklace and to see Murphy, in that order.

The friendly nurse retrieved the dog tags and seemed surprised when Letty kissed the angel and placed the set over her head. It wasn’t much of an
engagement ring to anyone else, but it was worth more than any diamond to her because it had come from his heart.

“Would you like me to send in your friend now?”

She nodded enthusiastically, then changed her mind. “No, wait. I must look a sight.”

“You look a thousand times better than when they brought you in, dear. For two days we didn’t know if you were going to live or die. You’ve been very ill.”

The kindly nurse ran a brush through Letty’s hair. “Are you ready for your friend now?”

“Please.” Letty was so eager to talk to Murphy. So eager to learn what he’d discovered about Luke in Zarcero. Eager to show him how much she loved him.

She heard the heavy footsteps before he entered her room and closed her eyes briefly in anticipation of seeing him again.

But it wasn’t Murphy who entered her hospital room, grinning from ear to ear. It was Slim.

“Welcome home, Letty,” he greeted her, his ever-present Stetson in his hand. “My, but you’re a sight for sore eyes. I can’t tell you how glad I am to see you.”

“Slim,” she murmured, unable to disguise her disappointment.

“From what I understand, we’re lucky to have you.”

“Hello.” Hiding the devastating disappointment was more than she could manage. “Do you know anything about Murphy?”

“He didn’t come back with you?”

“No. I don’t know.” She lay back against the pillow, overwhelmingly tired and broken and alone. Slim was
her friend, but Murphy was her heart. Her very reason for being alive.

Jack loved her. He hadn’t realized his feelings for Marcie until after he’d proposed. Then he wondered why it had taken him so long to recognize the truth. Contacting her after a nine-month silence had been a fluke. But once he saw her again, he’d been completely taken by the changes he’d seen in her. Their intermittent love fests were based on something more than sexual satisfaction. True, it had taken her refusal to bed him again for him to see the light. In the weeks since, he’d enjoyed spending time with her. He found Marcie to be intelligent, well read, and well versed in political affairs. Not only did she have a decent head on her shoulders, but she was warm, witty, and fun.

What Marcie did for him sexually was something else. If ever there was a woman who equaled him sexually, it was Marcie Alexander. Now she was about to become his wife.

He resisted the urge to phone Cain and let his friend know he would soon join the ranks of the married himself. He might even ask for a little maritial advice from his former boss—although the way he felt right then, he didn’t need anyone or anything but Marcie.

She’d let it be known she wanted kids. He hadn’t actually given any thought to the matter of a family. There was no reason he should. But now that the subject had been introduced, he was excited at the prospect of becoming a daddy.

Jack had visited Cain not long ago and been amazed at how well his friend had adjusted to fatherhood. Fact was, Jack had never seen more startling changes in anyone.

Cain fussing with dirty diapers was as much of a shock as Cain herding cattle. Now
that
was a sight to behold.

Apparently Mallory was into this baby thing in a big way. The last Jack heard, Mallory and his wife, Francine, were already planning a second addition to their family.

Now he was next. Damn, but it felt right. In retrospect he didn’t know why he’d taken so long to take the plunge. He guessed he’d been waiting for the right woman. Well, he’d found her in Marcie.

He walked into the kitchen, opened the refrigerator, and popped a green olive in his mouth. She was due to stop off at the apartment at any time.

Earlier that afternoon he’d picked out a diamond that had set him back ten thousand. Jack never thought he’d spend that much money on a wedding band, but he wanted Marcie to know he loved her. He was proud of her, of the person she’d become in the last several months. Proud that she hadn’t fallen into bed with him the minute he’d showed up at her beauty shop.

If she insisted, he’d wait until after the wedding ceremony, he was that crazy about her. He sincerely hoped she wasn’t going to put him off again, but he’d cross that bridge when the time came.

The doorbell chimed, and he did a quick visual on the apartment. Marcie was early, but that was a good sign. Very good. She was eager to see him, too.

To his surprise, it wasn’t Marcie standing on the other side of the door, but another woman. She wasn’t bad looking, either. A little on the thin side and pale, as if she’d recently recovered from a bad case of the flu.

“Are you Jack Keller?”

He leaned against the doorjamb. “Depends on who’s asking.”

“Letty Madden.”

Madden. Madden. The name rang a bell, only he couldn’t remember from where.

“Do you have a minute to talk?” she asked. From the look in her eyes she wasn’t going to be easily turned away.

He hesitated. It wouldn’t do well to have Marcie arrive and find him with another woman. Well, she needn’t worry; she was the only woman for him, and he’d take a great deal of pleasure in proving that to her.

“I’ve come a very long way to find you, Mr. Keller,” Letty Madden announced primly. “It has to do with Murphy.”

That was where he’d heard the name. Letty Madden was the name of the irritating postmistress who’d hired Murphy to find her brother in some hell-hole Central American country.

“Come on in,” he said, gesturing toward the living room.

She hadn’t gone more than a couple of steps when she faltered. Jack feared she would have collapsed right then and there if he hadn’t caught her. He gripped hold of her elbow and then slipped an arm around her waist.

“Easy now,” he said gently, and guided her to a chair.

“Sorry. I was released from the hospital yesterday. They didn’t advise me to travel, but I had to talk to you.”

“You know about me?”

“Murphy mentioned you frequently.”

This was interesting, since he’d always known his friend to be closemouthed.

“Have you heard from him lately?” she asked eagerly.

“Not in some time.”

It was pathetic to see the light fade from her eyes. “I thought, I’d hoped he’d be in contact with you.”

“He mentioned you as well,” Jack announced. “You’re the one who wanted to hire him to take you to Zarcero. Right?”

She nodded, and a hint of a smile touched her mouth. “I don’t suspect he mentioned me with any real affection.”

Jack didn’t answer right away. Murphy had considered the woman to be a thorn in his side. “Did you find your brother?”

She swallowed tightly and looked away. “We were too late, he’d been killed.”

“I’m sorry.”

“So am I. Luke was a decent, God fearing man.” Her hand went to her neck and she fingered what looked to be dogtags and a small gold angel. Jack had seen only one such angel in his life. It had belonged to Murphy. His friend had called it his good-luck charm.

“Where’d you get that?” he demanded.

Her eyes widened, as though she weren’t sure what he meant. It seemed to take her a moment to realize he was referring to the necklace.

“Murphy gave it to me.” Her eyes held his. “I haven’t heard from him. Not a word. Nor will anyone tell me what’s happened to him. I’ve lost my brother, I can’t bear to lose Murphy, too.”

Jack frowned. These were the words of a woman in love. Her hand closed around the dogtags as though she were clutching a lifeline, the only thing that kept her from losing control of her emotions.

“I’m afraid he’s dead,” she whispered, and her voice cracked.

“Murphy dead?”

“I didn’t know where else to turn.”

“Tell me what happened.” He sat across from her and listened as she related the details of their adventure in Zarcero, pausing only when he asked questions. She stopped at an incredible point, explaining that she’d been half crazed with fever and Murphy had gotten her and a priest friend to an airstrip, then held off rebel troops himself while they’d escaped to safety.

“The priest?”

“I never saw him again,” she murmured sadly.

“He was in the plane with you?”

“Yes, I think so. I don’t remember anything after that. The next thing I knew, I woke up in a Texas hospital. A family friend had been notified and was waiting to speak to me. As soon as I was released from the hospital, I came to find you.”

“You haven’t a clue where the plane landed?”

“None. I’m sorry. I was too sick. Apparently I’d been bitten by a particularly dangerous spider, but I’m fine now.” She brushed the hair away from her face, a gesture of nervous anticipation. “Will you locate Murphy for me?”

Jack didn’t need to weigh the decision. There’d been a time a couple of years back when he’d been captured and tortured. It’d been Murphy who’d led the team of men who broke him out of prison. He wouldn’t hesitate to repay the favor now.

“I’ll be on a plane as soon as it can be arranged.” He’d need to talk to Marcie first, explain everything. But she was sure to understand.