River of Secrets (17 page)

“I didn’t know you were an electrician, too.”

He barely glanced her way, but at least he spoke. “They teach you all kinds of handy things in the Navy.”

Amy cleared her throat. “I, uh, wanted to ask you something.”

“Ask.”

“Could we talk? In private?”

His hands stilled. Shifting on the ladder, he finally looked her in the eye. “What’s left to talk about?”

“I need your help.”

“My help? You’ve got nerve, don’t you?” Well, she’d called that one, hadn’t she? At least he hadn’t shaken his head. “Will you please just come down and listen to me? It’s not about me and I wouldn’t ask if there were any other way.”

“Give me five minutes. I’m almost done with this wiring.”

A relieved breath escaped her. “Thank you. I’ll be waiting in Anna’s office.”

True to his word, five minutes later, he entered the office through the door she’d left open. Shutting it behind him, he leaned against it, crossing his arms across his chest. “What is it you need?”

What’s he thinking?
she wondered.
How do I ask him to do this?
Pulling in a fortifying breath, she said, “I have one last thing to tell you.” She paced behind Anna’s desk and stayed there to keep from throwing herself into his strong arms and begging him to help her. “When I decided to make the trip to Brazil, I had two goals. To find out what God had in mind for my life, what my purpose was, and to find out if I had any family left here. The night you saw me meeting with Maria Morales, I was…meeting her for the first time…and she told me something about a young girl.”

His eyebrow quirked. “Who was this girl?”

She had his attention. That was good. He wasn’t snarling at her. Even better. “My cousin, Lucia Morales.”

Shock registered for a brief moment, then eyes trained on hers, he asked, “Why are you telling me this now?”

“Because I need your help getting her out of the rebel camp. I had no intention of leaving Brazil this fast, but three days from now, my grandmother Maria has arranged for us to meet and Lucia is going to come with me. She’s an American citizen by birth, with a passport and everything. I’ll fly home with her to South Carolina where she’ll learn what it’s like to grow up respected and loved instead of being treated like dirt and possibly sold into prostitution. She’s twelve years old. Older than some of the children already…” Amy shuddered, unable to finish the sentence. She couldn’t imagine that kind of life and had no intention of letting her young cousin—or the other children there—grow up in it. As soon as she and Micah had Lucia and Maria, she’d somehow find a way to convince Maria to reveal the location of the camp. The police would raid it and that would be that. If Maria refused to tell them where it was…Amy sighed. She didn’t know what she’d do. “I need you to go with me. Help me get her out of there, Micah.”

He ran a weary hand over his face, absently tracing the scar. Finally, he shook his head. “No. You need to stay out of the jungle. You’re not trained for that kind of thing.”

“But you are. You could help me.”

“Amy, I understand you want to rescue her, but face it. How likely is it that Maria is really going to make it happen? It’s probably some kind of setup. You’ve gotten too close to them. You need to let it go. Or—” he waved a hand as though searching for the words “—you’ve got money. Hire someone, a trained soldier to help you out. I’ve got contacts. I can call in someone for you, but that’s it. I’m done. I refuse to help you put your life in danger.”

Stunned at his refusal, she stared at him. His next words threw the rest of her world off its axis.

“I’ve been thinking about it for a while, but this latest incident with the snakes pretty much cinched the decision. The sooner I’m out of here, the safer everyone will be. For some reason, I’ve been targeted. Unfortunately, that puts the entire orphanage in danger because, while most of the attempts on my life have been isolated, there’s still a chance that staff or, God forbid, a child could wind up in the wrong place. I can’t have the death of another…”

He broke off and reached a hand behind him. Opening the door, he dropped his bombshell.

“In three days, I’m catching a flight home. I’ve already booked the ticket.”

Micah stood at one end of the dock and watched Amy. She sat on the other end, her normal spot, reading her Bible, a new one she’d gotten after her other one had landed in the water with him during the jeep incident. Emotions had him wrung out as he continued to monitor the hurricane that had his family trapped in the Bahamas. The storm had passed, but left devastation in its wake. Cell towers were down, ships were docked, planes grounded. Traveling was virtually impossible in that area.

The chief had called and said that the Cruz family was lying low after the killing of its leader, Manuel. A rogue family member might have gone out on his own to get revenge, but it didn’t look as if the Cruzes were the ones responsible for the attempts on his life.

Micah had called Amy’s mother and the stunned silence on the other end of the phone told him what he needed to know. She’d had no idea he was alive. Her scream of outrage made him smile out of sheer spite.
Thank You, God, for letting me live, especially if it makes her that mad. Sorry, I know that shouldn’t bring me that much satisfaction. Help me work on forgiving her, because, I’ll be honest, God, I’m not there yet.

Deciding to leave the orphanage was one of the toughest decisions he’d ever made. Not only was the mystery of who wanted him dead still there, but he didn’t really want to leave Amy. Yes, he was still angry with her, yet in some strange way, he understood. However, convincing himself he had no choice about leaving, the decision was made. Everyone should be safe with him out of the way.

His flight left in the morning, yet he couldn’t leave without making sure she wasn’t going to do something stupid such as go into the jungle on her own.

And he had to make peace with her. For two days he’d wrestled with God. Pleaded with him to show him what to do. Against his wishes, Amy had ensnared him, caused him to care about her, possibly even love her. She’d looked past not only his physical scars but his emotional ones, as well. She had come to see the real Micah McKnight—saw him with the eyes of Christ. Could he do any less for her?

Could he blame her for her mother’s sins? Of course not. But he didn’t have to help her put her life in danger, either. When he’d asked God what he should do, he hadn’t gotten an answer.

So, as of right now, he was going to straighten things out with her as best he could, then catch a plane in the morning to the U.S. He’d be waiting for his family when they walked in the door from their cruise. And hopefully, with him gone from the orphanage, things would settle down with no more dangerous incidents. It galled him to leave a would-be murderer still out there, but there had been no attempts on anyone else’s life, so Micah felt quite sure he was the only target. And if he removed the target, maybe this person would go away.

Turning his attention back to Amy, he was struck by her vulnerability. Her shoulders shook with the effort to hold back her sobs, and his heart shuddered in sympathy. All that she’d been through played through his mind and he just couldn’t hold on to his anger anymore. Forgiving Juanita Morales, aka Cecelia Graham, would take a little longer, but mentally, Micah was willing to admit that Amy was innocent of any wrongdoing. He just had to convince his heart.

He walked the length of the dock, stopping behind her. Sure that she’d felt the vibration of his approach, heard his footfalls on the wood, he didn’t bother to announce himself. She knew it was him. He knelt beside her.

Without looking at him she asked, “What do you want, Micah? My heart’s already full of all the holes you can shoot in it. Any more and it’ll be beyond repair. Do you think you could have a little mercy?”

He blew out a breath. “Okay, I deserved that.”

“Yes, you did. But I’ll heal—again. God will get me through all this and I’ll be fine—again.”

“I’m sorry, Amy.”

That brought her up short. She stilled, her gaze fixed on the water. “Excuse me?”

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have blamed you for your mother’s actions. You’re completely innocent in all this and I…”

“No, I’m not innocent. I should have told you right away your identity.”

“What’s the real reason you didn’t? Somehow, I think there’s more to it than what you’ve told me so far.”

“Well, I guess because by the time I realized who you were, we were already growing close.”

At this statement, Micah felt as if someone had reached into his chest to twist his heart. He tried to cover it by asking, “And?”

“And,” she drew the word out, “I knew that if you remembered who you were, you’d remember me, thus remembering how I was before I became a Christian. I suppose, subconsciously, I was trying to buy time.”

“Time for what?”

She finally peeked at him through red-rimmed eyes. At least the tears had stopped. He reached up and trailed his thumb down a damp cheek, wincing when she turned her head away. He let his hand drop.

“Time for you to get to know me as I am now. I’m a different woman than the one you grew up with all those years ago. I know you secretly thought I was a brat.” She gave a hiccupping chuckle. “And you were right. I was.” She bit her lip, looked across the water, then back up at him. “But I wanted you to see the different me. I didn’t want you to remember the bratty me. Very selfish of me, I admit. For that, I owe you an apology. I truly am so very sorry. And, of course, it’s very hard to admit your mother is a murderer…especially to the person she set up to die. The pain…”

Micah closed his eyes, then risked settling his arm across her shoulder. When she didn’t push him away, he pulled her closer and tucked her into his side. “You know, you’re the one that made me realize I have a relationship with Christ. Even before I got my memory back, I was searching for Him, wanting to know Him the way you do. I realize now He was always there. And while I couldn’t remember Him, He remembered me. I think God used your arrival here to let me know that.” Then he said abruptly, “Come home with me.”

She pulled away. “What?”

Grabbing her hand, excitement started to flow through him. “Come home with me. Let’s start over. We’ll get to know each other just as we are now. No looking back. No remembering the past. Just now. You and me.”

Before the last word left his mouth, he wondered where his filters were. What had he just done? Could he marry the daughter of the woman who betrayed him? What kind of legacy would that be for their children? After all his agonizing, he had blurted that out. What an idiot.

A bittersweet smile crossed her face. “That would be wonderful, wouldn’t it?”

“So, you’ll do it?”

Shaking her head, she said, “No, right now your hurt is too fresh. You need time to heal. But it’s a nice dream.”

Deflated, yet relieved, he muttered, “Yeah.”

They sat in silence for about five minutes with Micah still holding her hand. Finally, she asked, “So what now?”

“Are you still intent on meeting your grandmother and cousin?”

“I have to, Micah.”

“I was afraid of that. I’ll find you a guide.”

“I’d appreciate it.”

He gestured to her Bible. “What does God have to say this morning?”

She shrugged. “I don’t know. I hadn’t gotten around to the listening part yet. I was too busy begging Him to help me convince you I meant you no harm and that I had nothing to do with my mother’s schemes.”

“Well, it worked. I believe you.”

“Thanks.” A fresh tear slid down her cheek, and his heart nearly snapped in two.

He pulled her against him. “Amy, I can’t stand it. I want to be with you, I just don’t know how to get past…”

Soft fingers covered his lips. Her mouth trembled as she said, “Go home, Micah. It hurts too much. Maybe one day, God will work it out, but until then…”

He leaned his forehead against her, then shifted to kiss her. A lingering kiss that spoke of unfulfilled longing, the desire to forgive, yet included a painful goodbye. Finally, she pushed him away. “Go.”

He went.

Amy crammed another water bottle into her bulging pack. Zipping it shut, she thought about Micah and his promise to find her a guide. She thought he might tell her at the last minute he’d take her, but he hadn’t. Disappointment sat heavy on her heart.

Instead, he’d left her a message that Romero, the relief worker who’d originally met her at the airport upon her arrival to Brazil, had agreed to lead her into the jungle. Unfortunately, Romero had come down with some kind of stomach virus and wasn’t going anywhere except to bed. And Micah, unaware of Romero’s plight, had said his goodbyes to the children and staff, climbed into a taxi and disappeared down the rutted road. Amy had watched silently from afar, pleading with the Lord to change Micah’s mind.

But it wasn’t to be and now she was stuck with a decision to make. She could either go on her own, try to find someone else to go with her or she could not go at all. But that last one really wasn’t an option. No, somehow, someway, she had to be there to get Lucia and get out. Anna was reluctantly in on the plan, but promised to do what she could to back Amy up. Anna had even made a few calls trying to find a replacement guide, but with no luck.

Amy prayed, paced, prayed some more. What should she do? A glance at her watch told her she needed to get moving soon. There was no way she wanted to be stuck on the river in the middle of the night. Although if they were supposed to meet at dusk, the sun would be sinking fast. She packed a heavy-duty flashlight just in case. If only there was some way to contact Maria to change the meeting. What would happen if Maria and Lucia showed up and Amy didn’t? They’d have to go back to the camp to face possible death.

Unable to allow that, Amy resolved to do what she could and if she died trying, well, at least she was ready to meet God. Not that she was in any hurry, but if it happened…

Oh, Micah, why couldn’t you help me?
She actually couldn’t believe he’d been so selfish as to just dump her like this. His hurt had obviously clouded his thinking. This was so unlike him. And the fact that he could leave with his attempted murders still unsolved…She shook her head. Micah had apparently reached his breaking point.