Page 46 of Healing Love

“Miriam, let me introduce you to our rescuers.That’s Marc up front piloting and this is Alberto. Gentlemen, this brave lady is Miriam Delaro.”

“Pleased to make your acquaintance, Ms. Delaro,” Alberto said, offering her a blanket, which she took gratefully. Her scrubs were soaked and plastered to her skin. Wrapping the blanket around her body, she tried to calm the adrenaline shivers.

Her eyes shot toward the pilot, who threw up his hand in salutation before looking back, a broad smile on his face.

“Marc,” Cam started, “you’re one helluva pilot to get us out of there. And Alberto, thank fuck you came along with some firepower.”

“You’re the one who made it out of the viper’s den,” Marc said, with Alberto’s nod in agreement. “You and Ms. Delaro.”

“Please, call me Miriam,” she said softly, her voice raspy from the salt water that she had swallowed.

Alberto moved to a chest next to him, saying, “It’s not prime rib, but we know you two haven’t eaten much.” He pulled out water bottles and protein bars.

Her hands still shaking, Miriam took the bar then struggled to get it unwrapped. Cam’s hand came over and pulled it from her.

“Here you go, babe,” he said, handing the unwrapped bar to her. “Now, eat and drink slowly.” He made sure she was taken care of then gratefully accepted the food himself.

Marc moved the aircraft back over the water now that they were safely airborne and the threat from the boat was over. Twisting around, he caught Cam’sactions as he hovered over Miriam. “You good?” he asked.

“We are now,” Cam sighed heavily, the adrenaline slowly draining from him.

“I…I want to thank you,” Miriam said, looking toward Marc. Then she turned to Alberto, adding, “Both of you.”

“From what I hear, Miriam, you should be standing up taking bows for how you handled the past month,” Marc said sincerely.

“Agreed,” Alberto said.

“Abso-fuckin’-lutely,” Cam added, throwing his arm back around her once more, making sure the blanket was tucked around her carefully.

“What now?” she asked, chewing the bar.

“We’ve got permission to land in Texas at an undisclosed airfield. We’ll change planes and be flown to Virginia,” Marc commented.

Cam watched as a confused look appeared on her face. She kept her eyes on Marc as she asked, “Is that all?”

Chuckling, Marc said, “No, but I was just trying to give you the easy version.”

“I think you’d better sock it to me, Marc.”

Cam saw Marc quickly twist around and catch his eyes with a questioning expression on Marc’s face. “You’ll find out,” Cam explained, “Miriam’s as tough as they come, so yeah, go ahead and let us know what’s in store, but uh…maybe the abbreviated version.”

“You got it,” came the response. “All right, Miriam, here’s what’s going to happen. When we get to Texas,we’ll be in a hangar and the only people around will be the DEA and FBI. They’ve got a doctor and nurse waiting for us and will check you and Cam out first. That may take a while because they will want to be thorough, and then you’ll be fed. After that, the DEA and FBI will speak to each of you individually.”

Cam heard her sudden intake of breath and tightened his embrace. “It’s going to be fine, babe. They need to find out whatever you know. So, you just answer all their questions and give them as much information as you can. I’ll be doing the same.”

His eyes cut over to Alberto, “You know these guys? Don’t want any dirty DEAs talking to Miriam.” He knew it was a cut to Alberto, implying that there were DEA personnel on the take with the cartels, but every agency had them.

“I talked to the lead investigator. Know him. Know his family. Known him for years. His name’s Manuel Reyes. He’s clean and his team’s clean.”

Cam held his gaze and then nodded. Miriam glanced between the three men, not understanding their conversation but trusting Cam enough to take care of her.

Marc continued, “Once that’s done, they’ll fly us to Virginia. They’ll arrange for your family to meet us again at an undisclosed location. Cam? You want your family brought in as well?”

He shook his head. “Nah, they know I’ve been working. I’ll call them when we touch down in Texas and let them know.”

At the mention of family Miriam jerked up, asking, “My family! Does my family know we’re out?”

“Soon as we cross into the United States, I’ll give the go ahead to let them know,” Marc replied.

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