Page 66 of Canyon of Deceit
I smiled at the most beautiful woman alive, inside and out. I was one lucky man in more ways than one. “Thanks, partner.”
“I should tell you what little I overheard in the cave. Falin requested Rurik to do something, but Rurik refused. It’s wrapped around the critical activation chips Chandler sold Falin. A chip to operate laser weaponry. I wish I had more to report.”
“Sergio will be at the hospital. My first question is to find out what’s developed since we last talked.”
“This horror makes me feel responsible,” Therese said.
“Like if we’d done our jobs, these men wouldn’t be dead and wounded?”
“Yes,” she whispered.
“We’re walking the same guilt road, and we’re wrestling with crimes not of our doing. Bad guys behave like bad guys. No mercy. No regard for life. Only greed and selfish motives. You’ve done nothing to bear the blame of it.”
“I promised Rurik I’d find Alina.”
“You did, and you will report she is alive. Those words will comfort him until she’s returned to him.”
“I’m the one who claims to have faith and trust while Alina and Rurik are suffering.”
I squeezed her hand. “No need to apologize for being human.”
“You’re wise, Blane.”
“Not really, but I’ve spent years negotiating and studying human behavior.”
“I think God’s been chasing you a long time.”
I nodded. “Certainly a birthday I’ll never forget. I wish I’d listened before falling off a cliff. Some of the bloodshed today might have been prevented.” I wanted to continue the investigation. Would I beordered off the case or assigned to a boring desk job? But my negotiator self and trigger finger worked just fine.
Many scenarios about the ROC and Rurik chased my thoughts like a huge boulder rolling down a mountain on my heels. My worst suspicion stayed affixed intact... Had Rurik double-crossed us at the expense of murdering his wife and jeopardizing his daughter’s life? The high stakes of blackmail caused people to sink to incredible depths.
The helicopter lifted into the air. I’d never forget the courageous men around me—their sacrifice and the incredible loss.
—
At Covenant Health Hospital in Hobbs, emergency personnel awaited us. Triage started treatment, and those much worse than me had priority. I lay on a gurney in the ER hallway with Therese seated beside me.
“You need to rest,” I said.
“I am, right here in this chair.”
“With any luck, we’ll be briefed while we wait.”
She stared up at me through sleep-laden eyes. “Luck? I suppose the time might go by faster.”
As if on cue, a broad-shouldered figure strolled down the hallway, his Stetson cocked in his familiar Texas Ranger style and carrying a pair of jeans and a shirt. “Rusty, I recall warning you this mission might get you killed.”
I grinned and swung my gaze to Sergio. Not a large man but incredibly muscular. He wore his uniform like he’d stepped out of the tailor’s storefront. “I’ve been in dangerous situations many times.”
“And one more time you avoided death by the skin of your teeth.”
“Glad you came,” I said. “Wouldn’t be much of a party without you.”
Sergio blew out his frustration—for my sake. “I bought jeans and a super-large shirt to fit over your cast.”
“You do have my back. Thanks. Mine are a little dirty and ripped.”
He laughed and placed the clothes on my gurney. “Ms. Palmer, how are you holding up?”
