Mojave Rescue

Drina lost track of time. They drove for what seemed like hours. The stream widened again into a dry riverbed. Above them on the bank, the headlights flashed on a black strip that looked like a paved road. After a while, Norwood slowed the quad to a stop and turned the light toward the bank. The brown crest of a small hut appeared above them. Norwood eased the quad into the V of some boulders along the riverbed and shut down the engine.

Drina’s ears and body vibrated for a moment more, adjusting to the sudden stillness. The wind had picked up and carried a biting edge. She shivered. Norwood held out his hand again.

“We need to find shelter so we can rest for a bit.”

Rest? We need to find help.

Drina wanted to speak but her teeth started to chatter and her body trembled. Overwhelmed by the sudden shaking, she took his warm, secure hand, and he pulled her up the bank. Her legs were sore from being bound and weak from the long ride on the quad. She could hardly force them to move. By the time they reached the top, she was out of breath.

The small building was a brown tollbooth in the center of a divided road.

“Wh-what is this place?” She barely got the words out between shudders.

“It’s Red Rock Canyon, a state park for ATV riders. It’s been closed for several years. Cutbacks.”

He hurried across the asphalt road and pushed on the locked door. Gripping her arms tight against her, Drina watched him jam his shoulder into the flimsy door several times.

“Wh-why don’t you just break the w-window and unlock it?”

“It wouldn’t give us much shelter from the wind then, would it? Besides, I don’t want to leave too much damage behind. It will make for an easy trail to follow.”

With that, he gave the door a sturdy kick and it bounced open. He pulled Drina inside and tucked her into a corner.

“Have a seat and I’ll see if I can’t find a water faucet outside.”

Nodding, Drina bumped up against the wall and slid to the floor. Inside, out of the cold wind, felt so much better. Slipping her backpack off, she sighed with relief, but the sigh turned into a sob...and the trembling continued. She couldn’t control the shaking and suddenly, a thought jumped into her mind.

When she’d first met Norwood, she’d mentally made fun of his strict adherence to rules and the impression he gave off that he could save the world. Well...he’d just saved Drina and everything in her world. Hot tears of shame and relief rolled down her cheeks.

* * *

Norwood returned to the shed and slipped inside, out of the cold wind. He placed a large rock against the door to hold it shut. “There are faucets outside but all the water is turned off.”

His only answer was a sob-like sound. He turned. Tears sparkled on Drina’s cheeks.

“I—I can’t stop.” She seemed barely able to get the words out.

Cal dropped to the ground beside her. It was her fault she was here. Her own disregard for security had resulted in her kidnapping. Still, her statement sounded so pathetic, he couldn’t stop himself. Reaching across the space, he put an arm around her. His gesture seemed to release a flood of emotion. She spilled into his arms so suddenly, Cal was caught off guard and his arms spread wide as she wrapped hers around his waist.

He could almost feel Drina’s pent-up emotions washing out of her. It felt awkward, uncomfortable...as if he sat chest deep in a sea of feelings he didn’t need or understand.

Then she reached up, wrapped chilly fingers around his neck and buried her cold cheeks and nose in the curve of his neck. Skin to skin. Life to life.

This he understood. This need he knew well. Basic needs. Men and women. Even her sobs reminded them both that they were alive. He enfolded her in his arms and held her close while hot tears soaked his shirt.

He’d studied this woman, knew her schedule, her goals. He knew more about her than about any other woman. But he’d never been this close, never held her in his arms. Somehow she felt right. He’d also seen the terror in her eyes as she lay on the floor of the shack. That image flashed through his mind, and a wave of tenderness he couldn’t explain washed over him. He pressed his lips to the top of her head.

Her breakdown only lasted a minute or two. Then he felt boundaries going up, brick by brick, as she sealed her emotions inside once again. After another moment or so, her hand pulled away. She wiped the dampness from her cheeks.

Truth be told, Cal was disappointed. Her waiflike figure contained some pretty soft curves. It felt good to hold something real, something soft and gentle. Not just basic instincts but something more. For too long, his life had been all about emptiness and sharp edges. Drina was a sudden reminder that there was more to life. Thankfully, they were both still alive to enjoy it. Cal allowed himself a moment to appreciate the gift.

But only a moment. The fact remained that they were in this mess thanks to Drina’s willful disregard for security protocols. His mission was destroyed and both their lives were in danger.

In spite of the fact that she was still trembling, he pushed her away.

She wiped at wet cheeks again and sniffled. “I’ve soaked your shirt.” Her voice sounded hoarse and rough.

“It’ll dry.” His tone was brusque. He needed to shake the unexpected effects of her nearness. He didn’t want to but he had to give her credit. “You were incredibly quick thinking back there. I owe you. You saved my life when you drove that car at Carter.”

Her motions suddenly stilled. “Did I k-kill him?”

“No. But he did have to jump away quickly and you gave me the pleasure of watching him tumble head over heels down the hill. I’ve wanted to do something like that for two years.”

She straightened and gazed into his face. Moonlight poured in from the large windows above them, lighting her pert nose and lips, puffy from crying...red lips that seemed very kissable.

“Norwood, are you a traitor?”

All thoughts of kissing disappeared and his ire rose. The snarky scientist was popping up again. Ms. Gallagher was nothing if not unpredictable. “You should call me by my first name if you’re going to accuse me of something so terrible.”

She didn’t miss a beat. “Cal, are you a traitor?”

His jaw tightened “Always quick thinking. I see why they call you the wonder kid.”

“That’s not an answer.”

Leaning back against the wall, he shook his head. “No. I’m not a traitor. In fact, the consensus with my team was that you were the traitor.”

“Me? Why in the world would they suspect me?”

“You made it easy with your disregard for protocol and careless attitude toward security. Information was leaking out and the biggest holes in the safety net were around you.”

She hung her head. “I never took it seriously until...”

“Until it almost got you killed.”

She looked away. “I never meant for that to happen.”

Regret was deep in her tone. It struck a chord with Cal. “You know, I believe you mean that. But it doesn’t change the fact that we’re here because of your carelessness.”

“My work... My project means everything to me.”

Irritation filtered through him. “It better. You almost lost your life over it.”

Her gaze darted to the backpack lying beside them, but she said nothing more. For the first time he realized she’d had the nerve to retrieve her computer...and the money. His respect for her rose a little, but it didn’t change their situation.

“Maybe someday you’ll tell me why your work means so much you’d willingly risk your life and the lives of others. But right now we need to concentrate on getting out of here alive.”

He pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and plugged in the password. Bright light filled the small booth. He heard a small sigh of what sounded like relief...until he started to power the phone down.

“What are you doing? Why don’t you call for help?”

“Because I’m not sure who to call. We knew—”

“Hold on. Who is we? Your security team at the base?”

“No. I’m an undercover agent for the CIA.”

“CIA?” Her expression phased through several emotions in an instant—shock, confusion and then disgust. Cal couldn’t tell if the last was directed at him or his company.

She frowned. “That can’t be. You’re head of base security.”

“Security chief is my cover. I’m the field operator for a team in Washington. We’ve been following the activities of an arms dealer by the name of Alexi Gorkoff, trying to find his source. He’s been buying top secret weapons on the black market for several years. We finally narrowed his contacts down to someone on the inside. A person at your home lab or here on the support team of the base has been selling plans even before they’re completed.”

“Bill, my boss, mentioned something to me about a security problem a while back. But I thought it was in the aeronautics department, not mine.”

“It’s all departments and all projects, which indicates someone high up in the chain of command. The CIA planted me in the base’s security force to find the leak. We created a background for me, which included a substantial gambling debt. I let it be known that I was willing to do anything to pay it off. A man approached me and we started feeding him information. After two years of work, I was finally going to meet the boss.”

“Whitson and Carter were talking about their leader. They said he gave the order to kidnap me.”

“Whoever he is, he’s clever about covering his tracks. He throws suspicion onto unsuspecting people like you. We... I wasted months tracking down the wrong people. Every time I’d get close to the truth, he’d disappear again.”

“So when you walked in and saw me lying there, you had to make a choice between meeting the boss and saving my life.” Her voice was low and raspy.

His jaw tightened unit it was almost painful. “You didn’t leave me much choice, Drina. I thought they might have already finished you off and dropped your body down an abandoned mine shaft somewhere out here in the desert. It’s happened before.”

An image of the young man who disappeared flashed into his mind. He was a computer geek with glasses...much like Drina’s. He had serious social issues and hadn’t been very popular with his coworkers. The CIA had already pegged him as a potential spy before Cal came on the scene. But in Cal’s quest to convince the members of the black market ring that he was willing to do anything for money, he’d fed them erroneous information. The leaked info countered real intel from the young computer geek. He’d disappeared two days later, never to be found, his body probably dumped down one of the many abandoned mine shafts in the endless desert floor.

Cal had taken the kid’s disappearance personally. He would have felt the same about Drina if he’d found her dead. Still...

He shook his head in a sharp movement. “If you’d just followed the protocols, we wouldn’t be here now.”

His words seemed to make Drina aware of her disheveled state. She sifted fingers through her short hair—hair that, in spite of all she’d been through, was still shiny black, tousled but touchable. A twig or leaf had wedged itself into a lock near the top. He remembered its silky feel against his lips and itched to pull the leaf loose just to feel that shiny curl.

“You don’t know anything about me. You don’t know how important my work is.”

Her words squelched his soft feelings. “I know your work was important enough to try to protect it. Besides, I’ve made it my business to know about you. MIT graduate after only three years. Top honors. Recruited by Aero Electronics right out of school.”

Her lips parted in surprise. After a moment she looked away. “And that’s where the interesting part ends. Now my life is all work.”

“True, but you were a social butterfly in college. Served on the board of every club you joined. You even volunteered with Boston’s poorest, in soup kitchens and eventually in hospice, serving the aged and dying. That really intrigued me. To be honest, it filled me with admiration.”

He leaned his head back against the wall. “A young woman like you, taking on the most difficult situations life has to offer. But something happened. You changed. Dropped your volunteer work to focus on your studies, graduated earlier and went on to a career in electronic warfare. What happened, Drina?”

Maybe shock had loosened Drina’s previously tight-lipped attitude. To Cal’s surprise she answered him.

“I fell in love.”

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