Thanksgiving Target Page 15

  The wail of sirens grew louder, indicating the ambulance had finally arrived.

  She momentarily closed her eyes in relief. It was over. Melissa was safe. Max was safe. God had more than answered her prayers.

  Thank you, Lord. Praise be to God.

  Max had been forced to allow the paramedic team to provide care to the wound in his thigh, once they’d finished with Gary. Tara had hovered over him, gazing anxiously down at his wound. Luckily, it wasn’t as deep as he’d originally thought. But the gash still needed stitches. He had to promise the paramedic team he’d go in to the hospital within the next few hours, before they’d allow him to decline an ambulance ride.

  Graham came out of the cabin carrying an automatic weapon sheathed in a plastic bag, his expression filled with terse satisfaction. “We found this propped in the corner of his bedroom. How much do you want to bet the slug from outside the veterinary hospital is a direct match?”

  Max summoned a smile. “I’m not a betting man, but I agree, I’m sure they’ll match.” He glanced around, looking for Tara. She’d disappeared when the paramedic began dressing his wound. The police had cordoned off the area around the cabin as a crime scene, and there were plenty of officers milling around, but he didn’t see her. “Where’s Tara?”

  Graham frowned and turned to scan the area. “I thought I saw her a few minutes ago, heading around the cabin, to the riverbank.”

  The riverbank? Max gave a brief nod as he strode in that direction. The lights from the police cars behind them made it difficult to see, but as he grew closer to the riverbank, he could make out the silhouette of a slender figure seated on the ground.

  “Tara?” he called softly, warning her of his approach. “Do you mind if I join you?”

  Her arms were wrapped around her knees when she turned to look at him. “You should go to the hospital. I’m sure your leg wound needs to be sutured.”

  The distant note in her voice worried him. He sat down on the grassy riverbank beside her—close but not too close. “I’m fine. Tara, what’s wrong? Why are you out here all alone?”

  She was silent for a moment but then softly said, “I’ve never willingly hurt a human being before. I know I had to stop Gary, but I almost killed him.”

  He understood her guilt and shame. Hadn’t he often felt the same way? “Tara, there’s no need to worry. God has already forgiven you.”

  She made a soft sound and glanced toward him. Her face was pale in the moonlight, but he couldn’t see the expression in her eyes. “You say that as if you believe it.”

  “I do believe it.” He took a deep breath and glanced over at the rippling water of the Mississippi. “When I finally turned my phone on and listened to your message about Lissa, I ran to the hospital to see her. During those moments I thought for certain she was going to die, I realized how wrong it was to lose faith.”

  “Why did you?” she asked curiously. “Lose your faith, I mean?”

  “During my college years, my father was very strict, and I guess I rebelled a bit. I wasted my time away from home, partying and generally not doing well in school.”

  “I’m sure lots of kids do the same thing.”

  She was being too nice, giving him far too much credit. He needed her to understand how far he’d fallen. “I grew distant from the church teachings I’d learned while growing up. I flunked out of school, and my dad tossed me out on my ear, telling me to figure out a way to support myself because he was finished with supporting me.”

  “Harsh,” she murmured.

  “Not really. Because I didn’t have a lot of choices, I joined the army and soon learned there was a better way to live life than the way I’d chosen. After joining the army, I left my partying days behind me, embracing the chance to serve our country.”

  “So what happened then?”

  He sighed and slowly shook his head. “I made a bad decision within the first few months after we’d been deployed to Iraq. My best friend, Keith, died. We weren’t upset about being deployed to the Middle East. We were going to change the world. Instead, he died, leaving behind a wife and two small children.”

  “Oh, Max,” Tara whispered, putting her hand on his arm. “That must have been awful. I’m so sorry.”

  “It was my decision to stay in that warehouse, and he was ambushed. The cost of my mistake was too high. I wrestled with guilt and lashed out at God, blaming Him. He was all-powerful, wasn’t He? Surely He could have saved Keith if He had wanted to. I turned my back on Him then. And over the years, every time I lost another soldier, I piled more blame at God’s feet.” The realization shamed him now.

  “I can see how hard that would have been for you, Max,” Tara assured him. “But trust me on this. God is always there for you. I’m sure God understands the guilt you struggled with.”

  He couldn’t help but smile. “Yes, that’s just it. I believe very much in God’s will now.”

  “You do?” Her tone was just a tiny bit skeptical. He couldn’t necessarily blame her.

  “Listen. As I was praying for Lissa, I received your phone call, trying to warn me about Gary. When you screamed, I nearly lost my mind. After I contacted the police, I prayed for God to spare you. I prayed for him to take me instead. And suddenly, I can’t really explain how, but I knew He was with me. The panic and fear were overwhelming, but suddenly I was filled with a strange sense of peace. And I realized that God had never abandoned me and that he never would as long as I was true to Him. As long as I believed.”

  Her fingers tightened on his arm, and he wished he could see her face more clearly.

  “I guess that sounds a little hokey to you, huh?” he asked, embarrassed.

  “No, Max. That doesn’t sound hokey to me at all,” she admitted in a husky voice. “In fact, I’m so happy to hear you say that. Becoming a true believer is the path to eternity. And you should know that I had a very similar experience here, when Gary was threatening me with the knife. For a moment I was so afraid of dying, until God reminded me that he was always with me.”

  He hated thinking of how close she’d been to being seriously hurt. Wrapping an arm around her shoulders, he hugged her close. “I’m so glad you’re all right, Tara,” he murmured. “I was so angry when I had captured Gary’s full attention, but you didn’t take the chance to run and save yourself.”

  To his surprise, Tara slid her arm around his waist and hugged him back. His heart swelled with love. True, light-blinding love. Tara wasn’t anything at all like Clare. She was stronger—emotionally and spiritually—than Clare had ever been.

  “I couldn’t leave you, Max,” she said simply. “I didn’t want you to die.”

  He reached up and smoothed the loose strands of hair, which had come undone from her braid, away from her face, gently avoiding the cut on her cheek. “Tara, I’ve never met anyone like you,” he admitted. “You are truly a very special woman.”

  She stared up at him, her expression solemn. “I think you’re pretty special, yourself, Lieutenant Max Forrester.”

  Her admission shot a spear of hope to his heart. Was it possible that this time he wasn’t mistaking gratitude for something more? Could it be that Tara cared about him as deeply as he cared for her?

  He’d never felt closer to another human being as he did right at this moment.

  Hesitantly, giving her plenty of time to draw away, he lowered his mouth to hers in a soft kiss.

  Reveling in the sweet way she returned his kiss.

  Tara regretfully broke off Max’s kiss, burying her face against his chest, thankful for the darkness surrounding them so he couldn’t see her fiercely red cheeks.

  What was she doing? How could she kiss Max like this? How on earth could she forget about Ted, the man she’d promised to love forever?

  Max had saved her life. And she’d helped save his, too. There would always be a special bond between them after the events that had transpired this night. But she couldn’t be in love with him.

  She refused to al
low herself to be in love with him.

  Pushing herself away from the warmth of his chest, she averted her gaze. The damp earth beneath her caused a chill. “I think we’d better go. You need to get to the hospital. Deep cuts like yours need to be taken care of quickly.”

  “I suppose you’re right.” Max reluctantly dropped his arms. He stood, letting out a low groan when he placed his full weight on his injured leg. He reached out to take her hand, helping to lever her to her feet. “I’ll drop you off at the hotel first. I’m sure you want to get cleaned up.”

  “Hospital first,” she said firmly. No matter how badly her feelings were tangled up over Max, she couldn’t bear to let him go to the hospital alone. No doubt he’d need a strong course of antibiotics to ward off infection.

  He frowned a bit, staring down at her and brushing a finger lightly along the cut on her cheek. “Maybe you’re right. You should come with me. I think someone should take a close look at this cut of yours, too.”

  She knew the cut wasn’t deep but didn’t bother to correct his assumption. If he wanted to think she was coming along to have her scratch looked at, then fine. At least he’d get the attention he needed to the wound on his leg.

  When Max took her hand in his, she found she was glad for his touch, even though she knew she shouldn’t be. Was it so wrong to take comfort in his company, after everything they’d gone through? Surely they’d grown close, partners in defeating Gary’s attempt to harm them.

  All too soon, the Thanksgiving holiday would come and go, and Max would be on a plane returning to Iraq to fulfill what remained of his tour of duty. Hopefully, his sister, Melissa, would continue her road to recovery. For all she knew, Max was determined to sign up for another tour of duty, now that he’d accepted God as his savior.

  She was pleased for him. Thrilled that he’d accepted the Lord. Although she hadn’t really had much to do with saving him, she was at peace with the mission God had set out for her. There would always be another soul to save.

  And she had the daunting task of rebuilding her home looming before her. Between her work and rebuilding her home, she wouldn’t have time for anything else.

  “I’ll drive,” she offered as they made their way around the cabin to where Max’s car was standing on the gravel driveway. He’d begun to limp, just a little, favoring his injured leg. The police had begun to disperse from the scene, as well. The rustic cabin had so much potential. It was too bad Gary had taken something beautiful and turned it into something awful.

  “I’m fine,” he insisted. She rolled her eyes at his macho attitude. “The injury is in my left leg, not my driving foot.”

  She suppressed a sigh, sliding into the passenger seat without complaint. Max backed out of the driveway and onto the road. The interior of the car was silent but comfortably so. Almost as if words between them weren’t necessary.

  As she watched the lights of the city grow brighter, she knew that after tonight there wouldn’t be a reason to spend more time with Max. He didn’t need to be her mission anymore. Maybe they could go to the hospital together to visit Melissa to make sure she was really doing all right.

  But then she’d go her way, and he’d go his.

  Her chest tightened. The scenery outside her passenger window became nothing more than a hazy blur. The very thought of giving up Max’s companionship left her feeling horribly bereft.

  FIFTEEN

  Max waited for hours in the St. Louis General Hospital E.R. to be treated. When they finally took him back into a room, he’d insisted they look at Tara’s cheek first. Which made the nurse sigh in annoyance, because that meant she had to get them both registered in the computer. The nurse warned him that he’d have to wait longer.

  With Tara seated at his side, it was difficult to care about the delay.

  His heart was so full of love that he thought it might burst. Yet he wasn’t in a position to broach the topic of the future with Tara. Lissa still needed him. Even though Gary was safely in jail, he wanted to make sure Lissa was really on the road to recovery. Thanksgiving was only a week away, and two days after that, he was scheduled to hop a flight back to Germany and then on to Iraq.

  There were only a few months left of his tour of duty. Even if he didn’t reenlist with the army, what would he do once his four-year stint was up? He needed to find a steady job with benefits, which could be a challenge considering the dismal state of the economy. Without some sort of future planned, he had nothing to offer Tara.

  Nothing but his love.

  Which he couldn’t be one hundred percent sure she’d accept and return.

  Tara had risked her life for him. From the moment they’d met, their lives had been intertwined in a tailspin of danger. Now that the threat had passed, they needed time to get to know each other. He wanted to talk to her, to know everything about her, but not here. Not in the busy E.R. with people constantly milling around, interrupting them.

  Besides, Tara needed some time to decompress after her ordeal. He still couldn’t believe how she’d leaped up and stabbed a nail into Gary. He could only imagine how traumatized she must feel.

  “I hope you’re still not planning to go back to work tomorrow,” he said, once the nurse had finished thoroughly cleaning out his wound.

  Tara blinked and he realized she was curled up in the chair, half-asleep. “What time is it?”

  “Two-fifteen in the morning.” He wished she’d have gone back to their hotel but didn’t want her walking through the night alone. She’d explained about the fake phone call and how Gary had grabbed her while she’d been walking from the hotel to the hospital to check on Lissa.

  “That late?” She lightly fingered the dressing on her cheek. The nurses had washed her face and had called in a plastic surgeon to look at the cut. He’d claimed it wasn’t too deep and had applied a series of butterfly bandages over the worst of it, reassuring her that the mark wouldn’t likely leave a scar.

  “Yes. That late. Too late for you to even think about going in to work tomorrow.”

  “I doubt if I will.” She hid a yawn behind her hand. “I can take another personal day, as long as my boss doesn’t get angry with me.”

  She’d been kidnapped, her life threatened and she thought her boss might get angry? “I’ll talk to him. I’m sure he’ll understand.”

  Tara chuckled softly. “My boss isn’t a he, she’s a she. Thanks for the offer, but I can handle this one myself. Besides, it’s not just that I’m taking another personal day. It’s knowing that with everything I have to do to rebuild my house, this is likely the first of many days I’ll need off.”

  It was on the tip of his tongue to offer his help, until he remembered he wouldn’t be in St. Louis for much longer. “I can help in the time I have left. You don’t have to handle everything alone.”

  She didn’t pounce on his offer like he’d expected. “Let’s wait to see how Melissa does first, okay?”

  He didn’t have time to respond since the doctor chose that moment to come into the room, suture tray in hand.

  Bracing himself for the pain, reminding himself that he’d been through much worse over the years, he was surprised when Tara took his hand, wordlessly offering support and a hint of comfort.

  Getting sliced with a knife wasn’t so bad. He’d endure far worse with Tara sitting beside him, holding on to his hand.

  Tara awoke late the next morning, blinking at the generic surroundings of her hotel room, her entire body stiff and sore. There were faint bruises encircling her wrists, but other than the cut on her face, she was fine. Max was safe. Gary was in jail. All in all, she had nothing to complain about.

  Time to begin putting the pieces of her life back together.

  After a quick shower, she called the St. Louis Police Department so she could get in touch with Detective Graham. Physically, she was safe now that Gary was in custody, but she still needed to get to the bottom of her emancipated checking account.

  Detective Graham admitted he’d fo
rgotten about that detail and promised to call her back in a few minutes. She braided her hair while she waited, hesitating for a moment as she wondered what Max would think if he saw her with her hair down.

  Ridiculous to think such frivolous thoughts when she had so many more important things to worry about. Rolling her eyes at her own foolishness, she continued braiding her hair, determined to keep her relationship with Max in its proper perspective.

  When Detective Graham called her back, he had good news. Gary had, indeed, gotten her bank account information when he’d been inside her house. Apparently he had a hacker friend who’d moved everything out of her account into a new account in his name. Luckily, Gary hadn’t spent much of the money, and Detective Graham promised whatever was left would be returned to her. Plus they’d force Gary to sell his property to make up any difference.

  What a relief to know she wasn’t as broke as she’d originally feared. Although after she paid for the repairs on her car and reimbursed Max for everything he’d done for her over the past several days, there would still be a serious dent in the amount she normally needed for living expenses.

  She chewed her lower lip thoughtfully. Maybe the mortgage rates had dropped again. If so, she could refinance her house again to lower her payments.

  No, that wouldn’t work. What was she thinking? She couldn’t refinance a partially burned house.

  A cheaper hotel would help. Especially since her insurance company was willing to pay for the bill. She began packing up her meager belongings, thinking of the best way to get across town to the hotel located closer to her home. The bus was probably her best option.

  A knock at her door made her jump, knocking her bag to the floor. “Tara? Are you in there? Open up. It’s Max.”

  Max? Here she’d been trying so hard to push him out of her mind, yet he’d come to find her. Was something wrong? She hurried over to the door. “Hi. What’s going on?”