Page 34 of Resisting His Target
She nodded. Cowboy instilled confidence, just as the other men she’d met from HERO Force. They were a formidable crew, exactly the type of men she imagined protected the United States at the elitist levels of the military. Too bad she didn’t have as much confidence in herself. “How long will it take us to walk?”
“Depends how fast you go. It’s forty miles of sandy, uneven terrain. Punishing heat. You’ll be able to cover one to two miles an hour. How’s your endurance?”
“I run ten miles a week.”
“Then for you, I’d say three days, give or take.” He folded up the map.
“The Democratic National Conference starts tomorrow!”
“And runs for four days. You can still make it before they officially make him the nominee.”
“Three damn days to hike.” She shook her head. “How long would it take Razorback without me?”
“Normally? Day and a half, maybe two.” He shrugged and handed her the map. “With his lungs healing from the smoke inhalation? I’m not sure.”
Logan had declared Razorback to have one very lucky set of lungs, but he’d also advised he lie low for a few days—the exact opposite of what was about to happen.
She stared at the map. The convention was in Virginia, just outside Washington, D.C. Her daughter would be thousands of miles away. A physical ache seemed to stab at her abdomen. “Do you have kids?”
“No, ma’am, though I hope to one day.”
She sniffed, tucking the map into her back pocket. “I’ve never been away from her. Not for a single day of her life.” Saying goodbye to Selena that morning had been one of the hardest things she’d ever done, though she’d kept up a good front, insisting it was just a fun trip with a friend.
“Sloan will take good care of her until her passport comes through. Maybe she’ll even make it to the States before you do.”
She nodded. “Let’s hope so.” There was a knock at the door. “That must be the lawyer.”
“I’ll let him in on my way out. I wish you well, Jackie.” He touched the rim of his cowboy hat. “I don’t think I’ve ever been so excited to watch a political convention on TV.” He kissed her cheek. “Safe travels.”
Cowboy left and the solicitor walked in. Jackie drew in a shaking breath. Seven and a half years after Selena’s birth, it was finally time to fill in the blank on her daughter’s birth certificate.
19
Razorback drove Bill’s pickup truck with Jackie by his side, the seat hard and awkward against his back. The air conditioning didn’t work, so the windows were rolled down to the thick, humid air, which rushed through the cab with a deafening sound.
At least the noise made the silence between them easier to take, neither of them having spoken since they’d climbed in here more than two hours earlier. Hell, he might have talked if he’d had a damn clue what to say, or if he wasn’t so blown away by what had transpired.
He’d stood behind her as she signed the official documents that made Selena legally his daughter, and when she penned the explanatory letter to go with her new will, describing a reunion with Ian Rhodes and Jackie’s desire for him to take his rightful place in their daughter’s life, should anything happen to Jackie.
It was a lie. A ruse. Deception. But it was more real than anything else in his life, a tie that bound him legally to another human being. A child, no less.
He wasn’t sure what to do with that.
He had no business being a guardian to a hamster or a goddamn goldfish, much less a child. And while he knew he would do everything in his power to protect Jackie on this journey, he could only imagine what they might come up against when they challenged the political machine. SVX might be the least of their worries. This could be a hell of a lot worse.
Her death was a very real possibility, as was his own. He’d be lying if he said otherwise. So he’d driven alongside her in silence, unsure of what to say, both deeply touched and profoundly unsettled.
While the hike around the checkpoint was a difficult task, it was bound to be the easiest of those that awaited them in the next few days. How would Jackie fare on the trek? She appeared to be physically fit, but there were different types of fitness and this situation would require an inner strength not everyone possessed.
He allowed himself a glance in her direction. Her skin was shiny from the heat, her hair blowing in the breeze. Her serene expression made her appear lit from within. She looked formidable. Capable. Determined. Yes, she had the fortitude for what lay ahead.
He took a ramp to the right, merging onto a smaller road that would take them into the town where they would spend the night before beginning their hike in the morning.
The sun hung low and blazed through the windshield, the glare of it combined with the heat radiating off the dashboard reminding him of Icarus, his wax wings melting as he neared certain death. That might be where they were heading, after all.
“I’m sorry,” she said, loudly enough to be heard over the rushing of air past his ears.
“What for?”
