Sworn to Protect (25 page)

Chapter 47

You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, “I lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along.”

Eleanor Roosevelt

“Do you have any idea who did this to you?” Chief Jimenez said.

Danika allowed the ice chip to dissolve on her tongue. In the last half hour, the chief had revealed a compassionate side that she’d rarely seen. Oh, he always seemed sweet to his wife and kids, but in his capacity of chief patrol agent, he was all business. Perhaps she’d be the same in his role.

“I never saw a face. It was a truck—a Ford. I could tell by the grille.” Speaking sapped her energy, and she paused to drink in precious oxygen.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “But I want this guy stopped.”

“I . . . I want to help.” She determined not to fade away into the sleep tugging at her eyelids. “Can’t remember anything but the bullets hitting the tires.”

“Well, you beat the odds last Sunday night.”

She lifted a brow.

“You flipped your car twice.”

She shook her head. “Call me a tiger cat.”

Alex chuckled. “Glad to hear you haven’t lost your sense of humor.” His voice soothed her. Later she’d thank him.

“Some . . . sometimes I think we’re no closer to ending this than the day Toby died.”

The chief cleared his throat. She smiled despite the pain in her abdomen. That was his “clearing the room for a speech” prep. “The police received a call from an unidentified teen from Nadine Morales’s school who believed he saw her in a Ford truck in the southeast part of town. The windows were tinted, so I’m not sure if he could have made a positive identification.”

That meant Nadine could be alive. Something despicable crept through Danika’s thoughts. “Are you thinking if she’s alive—”

“Save your strength,” Jimenez said. “My guess is you’re wondering if she’s playing a part in all this.”

She nodded. If true, the knowledge would kill Jacob and Barbara.

“Ed, is this enough for now?” Alex said. “Danika needs her rest.”

“Sure.” Jimenez leaned over the bed. “We’ll be in touch. Do what the doctor says. I need you on the line. No one knows about this, and we’ve got to keep it that way.” He picked up a copy of the McAllen
Monitor
.

“Leave it,” she said.

“Why do you want the paper? Get some rest like Alex suggested.”

“Wrong.” She closed her eyes. “I might be stitched up like a kid’s wounded teddy bear, but I’m smart enough to see you’re keeping the media from me.” Her last words stole her breath. She forced herself to raise an IV-loaded arm and open her eyes. “I want to know what’s going on.”

Jimenez exchanged a glance with Alex.

She understood the silent communication. “You don’t . . . need Alex’s permission. I’ll . . . see this to the end.”

He laid the paper at the foot of her bed and jammed his hands into his pants pockets. “The Border Patrol doesn’t hand out Purple Hearts.”

“Yeah, but . . . it doesn’t stop me from carrying the flag.”

Once Chief Jimenez left, Danika turned her attention to Alex. He should be tending to his own patients at the medical center, not babysitting her. Two guards stood outside her door. Obviously someone wanted her alive—and someone wanted her dead.

Alex lifted the cup of ice chips to her lips. The richest delicacy to the human palate. They melted and soothed her parched throat. Once she finished, he pulled a chair closer to her bed.

“Read it to me,” she whispered.

“Why?” He reached for her hand, and she did not resist.

“I can’t do anything here but think. If I know what’s happening—” An explosion of pain rippled from her head to her abdomen. “Do I have a head injury?”

“A concussion. As Ed said, you are extremely lucky. But you need to sleep and regain your strength. How can I hook up the video feed with you here?”

Poor Tiana. She blinked. Her precious baby didn’t have her mommy or Sandra. Danika had to get better soon. “Has Tiana been told anything?”

He kissed her hand, and she didn’t mind. “Mom has found a woman in her church to sign. Tiana believes you’re sick. She knows you have to rest and will talk to her as soon as you’re feeling better.”

Not too far from the truth. “Thank you.” She gave in to the sandlike sensation and closed her eyes. “I’ll rest after you read to me.”

His sigh seemed to come from his toes. The paper crinkled and snapped open. “Guess it won’t do me any good to read the
Monitor
’s world news. Or the funnies. At least the authorities were successful in keeping the accident from the media. Here goes. ‘Border Patrol Suspects Rogue Agent in McAllen. Border Patrol and Homeland Security are joining forces to find the agent who’s trading policies and procedures with those threatening U.S. borders. One agent has been dismissed, but no charges have been filed. . . .’”

Danika groaned, but not from pain. At least Jacob’s name had not been mentioned. But would evidence surface and he be charged? For the first time, she wondered if Nadine had the key to unlock it all.

Chapter 48

Only the brave know how to forgive.

Laurence Sterne

Jacob stood in the lobby of the four-story office building where Barbara worked. He stared out the glass wall to an impressive landscape of flowering bushes and trees. A long time ago, his lawn had looked manicured. But then, so did his life. With sawdust beneath his fingernails, caking his T-shirt, and splattering his jeans, he looked like a down-on-his-luck blue-collar worker. Most of that description fit.

A young man in dress slacks and a white shirt stared at him as he walked by. Illegal immigration had become such a problem that every Hispanic American was viewed with a generous share of doubt.

The BP had actually done him a favor. He’d grown cynical and bitter toward the illegals instead of respecting them as human beings. His attitude hadn’t improved, but at least he wasn’t actively abusing anyone. The other day, he waited in line at the grocery to pay for bread and lunch meat while an illegal in front of him unloaded two carts of groceries and paid for them with food stamps. He’d escorted the woman across the bridge a couple of years ago, and now she was eating his tax dollars.

Jacob needed to see Barbara before he lost his nerve. Three hours ago, Father Cornell had called a face-to-face with her imminent—a spiritual prescription for healing.

“I’m beginning to wonder if I’m the one to blame for what has happened to my family.” Jacob had spent the past few days trying to figure out what kind of a man he’d become. Most of his findings were loathsome.

“Why’s that?” The priest walked with him down the church hallway to his private office. He opened the door and gestured Jacob inside.

Jacob wrestled with his thoughts and the right words to communicate them. Over the weekend, he’d begun to remember what life was like before Toby died. Jacob had loved life and his family. God was a priority, and he valued his career as a Border Patrol agent. With those memories came the realization he wanted back what he’d lost.

“I want to be the man I used to be. Problem is I don’t think I’d recognize him if I met him on the street.”

“The first step is to confess your sin and ask for forgiveness.”

“Until yesterday, I didn’t think I had any.” Jacob slumped into a chair. “But everything’s gone. All the things I once felt were important. And I’m beginning to wonder if it’s my fault.”

“Jacob, what do you want the most?”

“My family.” His voice trembled.

Father Cornell sighed. “Jacob, as long as your desires are about what pleases you, your heart will ache for all that is missing in your life.”

Jacob sensed the angst rising in him, souring any hope for a fulfilled life. “Are you saying it’s wrong to want my wife and children? And what about Nadine? Do you have any idea what it’s like knowing you may never see your daughter again? She might be dead.”

“You’re right. I have no clue about what you feel. But God does. His heart breaks every time we sin and deny Him. He wants us back, just like you want Nadine safe and your family beside you. Until you want your relationship with God restored, life is going to be a living hell.”

Jacob hated what the priest was saying. It burned in a deep part of him where he couldn’t reach. He wanted out of his tragedy, but he wanted someone else to carry the blame. “I can’t go on like this. Most days I have to fight to keep from putting a gun to my head.” He stood and walked across Father Cornell’s office. “I even tried and didn’t have the guts to pull the trigger.”

“There’s only one answer. Are you man enough to reclaim your relationship with God?”

Jacob sensed the despair spreading through his heart. “I have no choice.”

Father Cornell’s words still echoed across Jacob’s mind. He wrung his damp hands and climbed the marble steps to the second floor of Barbara’s office—to his wife—and, if it wasn’t too late, to his family.

With fear of rejection nipping at his heels, he opened the door. Barbara looked pale, her eyes hollow, and she’d lost too much weight. Her frame had always been small, bouncing back into a tiny shape after the birth of each child. But she looked weary. Jacob had caused her misery, and if Father Cornell was right, he had to take the first step in reconciliation.

“Barbara,” he heard his shaky voice say. His anger had fled like a thief in the night. Tenderness replaced the guilt and bitterness he once felt, and a sincere desire to make things right filled him.

Her brown eyes lifted, at first in surprise and then in sadness.

“Can we talk?” Should he have apologized first? “I mean, before you throw me out of here, can I have a minute?”

“Why?” Her lips quivered.

“Because I made horrible mistakes. I hurt you and our children. Because of me, Nadine is lost and alone somewhere. I’ve begged God to forgive me, and now I’m asking you. I’m begging you to forgive me. I . . . I don’t want to think of another day without you.”

* * *

Danika sensed her body was healing. Medication managed the pain and forced her into many sleeping hours. However, she hated to numb her body and brain. She denied the pain relievers until agony forced her to use the pump attached to her hand. Even going to the bathroom required assistance from the nurses’ station.

She desperately needed to get back to work. The nightmare stalking her weeks ago had generated intense anger in her, and she wanted the shooter found. The idea of Jacob betraying the Border Patrol and having a hand in Toby’s demise continued to punctuate her waking and sleeping thoughts. Many dreadful things had happened to Jacob too, but did he cause it all? Nadine’s disappearance was the most critical. Could she be working against her own family, or was this a tragedy that Jacob caused by mixing with the wrong people? Nadine had not been a rebellious teenager until after Toby’s death, and nothing in her past indicated she would willingly embrace breaking the law.

Danika’s thoughts went full circle. She had no answers to any of it. All she could do was stare at the ceiling of the hospital room and weigh the possibilities. Someone wanted Jacob and Danika destroyed. But why? What had the two of them done to warrant the repeated attacks? The Border Patrol and Homeland Security believed a disgruntled agent was responsible. But Danika didn’t think so. She sensed the answers were so obvious that she’d ignored the clues. Sandra had information, or she wouldn’t have refused to talk to anyone but Danika. She had to get out of the hospital and back on track.

Noting it was time for the noon news, she clicked on the TV. She watched an interview with a local high school football coach and another news piece about senior citizens volunteering at schools in a mentoring program for at-risk elementary students.

“Here is the latest on the fire at the home of a local resident. Barbara Morales woke at two this morning to the sound of an explosion in her garage. . . .”

Danika gasped and increased the volume. Surely she’d not heard correctly.

“Mrs. Morales rushed her three children outside to safety. The fire was contained to her garage, originating from an explosion inside her SUV. A watch belonging to her husband was found near the scene. Jacob Morales has been separated from his wife and family for several weeks. He’s the Border Patrol agent recently dismissed from his position due to abusing an undocumented immigrant. Morales is also under investigation as a possible suspect in the ongoing search for a Border Patrol insider who’s sharing secrets and procedures with those threatening U.S. borders. He’s been charged with arson and attempted murder and is being held on a $250,000 bond. More at five.”

Danika clicked off the TV. Stunned, she allowed the news report to wash through her. All of the evidence that caused her to once suspect Jacob surfaced again.

Dear God, be with Barbara. She needs You.
Danika couldn’t call her. The police and Jimenez had ordered her not to contact anyone. When would this end?

* * *

Alex heard the news about Jacob’s arrest in between his rounds at the medical center. But the time slipped by until after lunch before he could squeeze out a few minutes to call Danika. He hoped she hadn’t seen the news report. The moment she answered the phone, he heard the despondency and realized she’d learned of the latest twist of events. “Have you had your TV on today?”

“Oh yeah. I saw the photos of what’s left of Barbara’s garage and heard Jacob was arrested.” Her voice no longer held any emotion, and it bothered him.

“How are you doing?”

“I want out of here. I want to see Barbara and help her through all of this. I miss my daughter, and I’m grieving for what I know about Sandra and how Jacob’s insanity has nearly killed his family.” She took a deep breath, and the mournful sound tugged at Alex’s heart. “I want to get back to work.”

“Honey, I know you want all of this to end, but the most important thing for you to do now is rest and heal.”

“Are you patronizing me?”

Great, he’d bumped her into a worse mood than before he phoned. Calling her “honey” hadn’t sat well either. “Not at all. I’m simply telling you the truth. You can’t help anyone until you’re healed from the surgery. Your goal right now is to grow stronger.”

Silence greeted him.

“I’m being a pain,” she finally said. “I’m sorry. This bed and the guards outside my door and the suspicions about Jacob—and Nadine—are making me whine like a two-year-old. I’m writing down names and attempting to connect dots. The problem is I’m a Border Patrol agent, not a detective.”

“Could you use a little company later on this evening?”

“I have a poor attitude about everything.”

“Try a nap.” Humor might help her surly mood.

“If I thought all of this would disappear, I’d sleep for the next three days.”

“Dr. Price has another prescription.”

“What’s that?”

“Prayer. I know you’ve prayed for the case to be solved, and I have too. But we haven’t prayed together.”

She didn’t respond, and he wished he could see her face.

“You have a powerful suggestion, Alex. Let’s do it.” She paused. “I appreciate you. Don’t imagine I’ve said those words enough.”

The three words he wanted to hear rang through his head. Yet it was too soon to say them with all that was happening. But if he realized the beginnings of love, felt it, and whispered it, then they must be real.