Echoes at Dawn

As he walked toward the door of the hut, Diego, Alton, Decker and Terrence all stood to the side to let him pass. Browning stood, unmoving, and Rio walked by him without a word or a glance.

Browning had made his choice. It was a choice that he was right to make, but Rio couldn’t forgive it all the same. Not when what he loved had been sacrificed for what Browning loved and valued.

Now Browning would live with the consequences. As would Rio.

Silently, Terrence, Decker, Diego and Alton followed Rio from the hut, leaving Browning inside. Riong ith stepped into the sunlight and then waited for Terrence to catch up.

“See if there is a boat that will take us back. I want the journey to be as smooth as possible for Grace instead of us making a rough trek through the jungle the way we came.”

An older man, his skin worn and leathery from a lifetime in the sun, stepped forward. He wore baggy, torn pants and a dirty T-shirt. He was missing at least two of his front teeth but he regarded Rio somberly.

“I have a boat.”

“My woman has great need,” Rio said in a quiet voice. “I’ll pay you well for the use of your boat.”

The old man shook his head and then stepped forward. He placed his palm down over Grace’s forehead and murmured a quiet incantation. Then he stepped away and motioned for Rio to follow.

“T, you’re with me,” Rio said. To the others he said, “Meet us back at the house. I want the perimeter secure.”

The boat was small, one guided with poles, though there were other motorboats pulled up on shore. Rio stepped carefully into the boat, keeping his weight in the center as he gently eased down with Grace held tightly in his arms. Terrence came aboard, followed by the old man, who then gestured for a young boy to come. The boy clambered on, moving swiftly to the back.

The old man and the young boy worked in unison, positioning the poles and pulling the boat into the current. They kept close to shore, in the shallower water, poles moving swiftly.

“How is she?” Terrence asked in a low voice.

Rio stared down at Grace’s still face. She was unmoving against him. She wasn’t moving enough air for him to even notice the rise of her chest. “I don’t know. She wasn’t strong enough for this, Terrence. I could kill Browning for this. She’s already been through so much. How could he ask her to do more? To risk her life this way?”

Terrence sighed and looked away. The big man was struggling. Rio knew him too well to be fooled.

“Say whatever it is that’s on your mind,” Rio said grimly.

Terrence looked back. “There’s no doubt what he did was wrong. I’ve gotten attached to this little lady. She’s strong. She’s a fighter. I like her style. Part of me wanted to stomp Browning’s miserable ass into a paste and feed him to the crocs.”

“And the other part?”

“Understood why he did what he did.”

Rio nodded. “That’s fair. If it were only that, I could overlook it. But he betrayed the team. He went against us. He chose dishonor over unity. That I can’t forgive.”

“Yeah, I don’t disagree. I guess I just get why he did it.”

“I let him live,” Rio said simply. “He’s free to make his life with his woman and child. But he’ll never work for me again.”

“That’s fair,” Terrence said. “Some wouldn’t have been as understanding as you.”

Rio’s lip curled into a snarl. “I wanted to kill him for daring to touch her. For frightening her and for one minute making her doubt me. Because he led her away on my order. I told her to go with him if he told her to. I told her to do it. And now she has to believe I fed her to the wolves. He’s lucky that my concern for Grace overshadowed my rage because I wanted to shed his blood.”

“She wouldn’t have believed that,” Terrence said in a quiet voice. “No matter what line of bullshit he fed her, once she war, em"s there, she knew you would have never sent her to do that.”

Rio returned his gaze to Grace and then leaned down to press his lips to her forehead. “I hope you’re right, T.”

As soon as the boat neared the dock in the alcove off the river that led to Rio’s compound, the old man leaned forward, waited until the boat got close enough and then jumped onto the aged wood and held the boat against the dock with his pole so the others could get off.

Terrence went first and reached down to collect Grace from Rio. Rio then hauled himself out of the boat and stopped beside the old man.

“Thank you. I appreciate your help.”

The old man nodded formally. “Ana is my granddaughter. This woman gave her back to me. My debt is still great. May the Great One be with her on her journey.”

“She’s not going anywhere,” Rio snarled.

The old man studied him for a long moment and then flashed a toothless smile. “No, I don’t suppose she will.”

He hopped down into the boat, and he and the boy maneuvered back into the main river channel to return to the village upriver.

Rio strode toward Terrence, who waited on the dock on the bank of the alcove, Grace still in his arms. Rio took her carefully from Terrence and cradled her close. He tucked his chin over her dark hair and began the climb up th

e stone walkway leading to the first security gate.

Fifteen minutes later, Rio stepped inside his house, some of the anxiety evaporating away. He was home. This was where he felt the safest. He had Grace back where she belonged. Now he had to make sure she got well again.

He laid Grace down in the bed where he’d made love to her just a day ago and tucked the covers around her chilled skin. He had no idea what to do for her. He had no idea to what extent she’d be ill.

Judging by what she’d said of the other illnesses and injuries she’d healed, she’d taken the baby’s ailment and made it her own. If the baby had been failing to thrive, for the next while, Grace would also struggle to thrive and survive. He just had to hope to hell she had the strength to fight long enough not to succumb to a losing battle.

CHAPTER 27

RIO never left her bedside over the next two days. He sat with her, not sleeping except in fits and spurts. He tried to get her to eat, to drink, but as with the baby, it did no good. She lacked the strength and will to survive.

Rio knew that it wasn’t her. It wasn’t her wanting to give up. But she was having to battle not only the weakness and the illness itself but the child’s will. He could only imagine the hell she was enduring.

And so he stayed with her through it all, never once leaving her side. He held her through the night. Sat with her during the day. He spoke to her, mostly nonsense, but he was determined that she not think he left her even for a moment. If he could somehow lend her strength by allowing her to know that he was fighting with her, then he’d damn well do it.

He called Sam the morning after he’d retrieved Grace. In terse tones, he informed Sam they were short a man. When Sam asked, Rio would only say that it wasn’t because they’d engaged the enemy.

Sam was wise enough to leave the running of Rio’s team to him. He trained his men. He trusted them. He dealt with any issues that arose. Rio’s men followed him and him alone. They didn’t take orders from Sam or KGI. They came from Rio.

“I’ll send someone to you,” Sam said.

“No,” Rio said shortly. “I need a few days here and then we’re going to move out. That gives Steele time to be back from his assignment unless you have him scheduled for something else.”

“No, we’re clear right now. I can provide all the backup you need.”

“I’ll need it when we bug out. I don’t want to draw attention by having you guys swarm in here. We’ll move out and then meet up with the teams at a different location.”

“Name it and I’ll make damn sure we have the manpower there,” Sam said.

“What’s the word on Shea? I’d like to be able to give Grace good news when she comes out of this.”

There was a long pause.

“What the hell happened, Rio? When we spoke last, Grace was doing better, or so you said.”

“She will be better,” Rio said, determination resonating from deep within. “I won’t let her be anything else.”

There were several more moments of silence and then Rio said grimly, “We’re going to have to fight, Sam. There’s no way around it. Titan’s not going to give up and we can’t run forever. I’m buying as much time as possible because I need Grace as close to a hundred percent as I can get her before the shit hits the fan. But it’s coming and there’s not a damn thing I can do about it.”

“No pissant special ops wannabe group is going to get one over on us,” Sam growled.

Rio laughed at Sam’s arrogance. Titan was far from a special ops wannabe, but Rio liked the insult that Sam hurled out.

“Now tell me about Shea so I can give Grace something when she comes around.”

“She’s not happy with you or me at the moment,” Sam said dryly. “When I told her that you’d called, she immediately wanted to talk to her sister. Telling her it wasn’t possible because I didn’t exactly know where you were wasn’t one of my more favorite moments in my leadership capacity.”

Rio chuckled. “No, I don’t imagine it was.”

“But she’s fine. Tell Grace she’s doing far better than Grace herself is from the sound of it. Nathan is taking very good care of her. She’s desperate to reconnect with Grace, and she asked me to pass along that she’s felt close to the path more than once. She wanted Grace to keep trying.”

“I will,” Rio said in a somber voice. “Grace has been trying. It hurts her that she’s been unable to forge that path again. If you could talk to Shea again, tell her…Look, I know Grace hadn’t wanted Shea to see what all she’s endured. But Grace needs her help. She wouldn’t want me to say it. She wouldn’t want me to involve Shea, but right now I’ll take whatever I can get. She’s not doing well, Sam,” he said bluntly. “If Shea can somehow break through to her, I think it would make a world of difference. I need…I’ll do whatever it takes to get her back.”

“What the hell happened out there, Rio?”

Rio hesitated a moment and then said, “Someone I trusted took advantage of what Grace is able to do. He put her in a position where she couldn’t say no, and she was in no condition to be healing another. She nearly died when I found her, and now she lies here hovering between life and death, fighting a battle that I can’t help her with.”

“You care for her. More than just in a capacity of the mission.”

Rio dth#x2went silent, refusing to acknowledge Sam’s realization.

“I should have seen it when you jumped on this mission the way you did,” Sam murmured. “I’m sorry things aren’t good, man. I’ll talk to Shea immediately. She’d want to know. Nathan won’t be happy about it but he can’t very well tell Shea she can’t help her sister out. Particularly when Grace helped Nathan and Swanny when Swanny was injured during their escape.”

“I appreciate it, Sam,” Rio said in a low voice. He hated asking for anything, but for Grace, he’d set aside his pride. He’d do anything to get her back. “I’ll be in touch.”

“Tell me when, Rio. I’ll have everyone in position on your go.”

“I’ll contact you in forty-eight hours. Hopefully the situation here will have changed for the better by then.”

“I’ll be waiting,” Sam said. “We all will be.”

Rio ended the call, and then returned to where Grace lay so quiet and still on the bed. He sat on the edge, angling his body so that he could see her face. He reached out to touch her, flinching at the chill of her skin and how pale and translucent her face was.

She looked so vulnerable and defenseless even though Rio knew her to be far from it. She had the courage and resiliency of the strongest of warriors. He’d never witnessed anything like it.

“Come back to me, Grace,” he whispered. “I won’t let anything hurt you. You’re safe here. Just come back to me. Fight this, baby. Fight one more time. Come back to the people who love you.”

GRACE knew she was dying and it pissed her off. Her body just sort of accepted it, lying there like it was already dead and her brain just hadn’t gotten the message.

It was as if it had endured enough and finally just shut down. Her natural ability to heal wasn’t responding as it normally did.

The dark shadows of death clung to her, enveloping her in their uncomfortable embrace. The longer she drifted as she did, the more the darkness crept in until she existed in that dark place. A world with no lights. It was the ultimate dark room, the bedroom with no night light. It was scary and overwhelming, and the longer it went on, the more she seemed to drift farther away from where she knew she wanted to be.