The Fall of Maggie Brown (14 page)

What was there he could say that would make it better?

He knew the answer, much as he wanted to avoid it. The plain, unpleasant, unvarnished truth that he didn’t want to admit.

They were nearing the divide, where the paths converged and led down into the hidden valley. There was always the possibility that everyone had already packed up and left, but he didn’t think so. The plans had been made weeks ago, and The Professor wasn’t the kind of man to let fear influence him. He would do what he’d decided to do, and to hell with the forces of darkness that tried to stop him.

He could hear the faint rasp of her breathing behind him, but she didn’t say a word. She had to be exhausted—she wasn’t used to the terrain or the altitude, nor, he expected, the hard work. She was a city woman, a banker, not used to scrambling over rocks.

The brush was still covering the split rock, and he pushed it out of the way, exposing the entrance.

“Very clever,” El Gallito said behind them. “I would have searched for days without finding it.”

Ben turned, blocking the way. “Why don’t you leave us behind here? He’s down there—The Professor and most of his company. There’s no other way in—I can’t warn him, and he’ll be a sitting duck. Maggie and I will just hold you back.”

“Kind of you to be worried about me, but I think we’ll just keep on,” El Gallito said. “She may have been fool enough to trust you, but I’m not so innocent.”

She wouldn’t look at him, wouldn’t look at either of them. He could see the absolute weariness and fear radiating from her. “I need a break,” he said abruptly. “Give me a few minutes to rest.”

El Gallito’s wry grin was far from reassuring. “Your lady-friend can have a rest, Frazer. You can even sit with her and whisper sweet nothings. I have nothing to fear. I’m the one with the gun, and I’m not troubled by moral or ethical concerns, thank God.”

Without another word Maggie collapsed on a rock, her head bowed. El Gallito was true to his word, keeping his distance, and Ben approached her, determined to say the words.

She looked up as he drew near, her gaze murderous. “Don’t even try it,” she said. “I’ll let him shoot me before I talk to you.”

“Don’t be an idiot. There’s a chance we can get out of this if we work together,” he growled, keeping his voice low.

“Maybe I’d rather die,” she shot back.

“Well, I wouldn’t. He’s going to be watching us pretty closely and we probably won’t have another chance to talk. Our best chance will be when we come in sight of the encampment. Once he starts looking for Ramon he’ll forget about us, at least for the moment. When I give the word I want you to hit the dirt.”

“Yeah, sure,” she said. “I’ll put my life in your hands, why not?”

“You don’t have any other choice. I saved your life back there. I’ll save it again if you don’t annoy me.” His voice was cool and clipped, conveying none of the crazed emotions that were churning beneath him.

“I should be so lucky. What’s the word?”

“What word?”

“How you’re going to warn me?” she prompted with the patience of a saint to an idiot.

“How about bitch?”

“It’ll do,” she said sweetly.

“Let’s get moving,” El Gallito called from his spot a few yards away.

“Oh, and one more thing,” Ben whispered.

“What?”

“I love you, too.”

She kicked him in the shin.

His limp didn’t make progress any faster, and he exaggerated it just enough to slow them down more. El Gallito soon lost his amusement over the situation and began shoving Maggie in the back, the one tactic that would make Frazer pick up his feet. He glanced at his watch in disbelief. It wasn’t yet ten in the morning, yet they’d been walking for hours.

There were birds wheeling and calling overhead, and he knew what they’d find just over the next rise. Every muscle in his body tensed. El Gallito’s gun didn’t have a silencer, but he was a man who was far too handy with a razor, and he could cut Maggie’s throat before Ben even turned around. All he could think to do was throw himself backward when the time came, knocking her out of harm’s way. It was a weak plan, but the only thing he could come up with at the spur-of-the-moment.

He heard the music first, and he stifled a miserable groan. What rotten timing, on top of everything else! The guitars and flutes floated over the treetops on a gentle breeze, and overhead the sun was shining. It was much too beautiful a day to die.

“What’s that?” El Gallito demanded.

Ben halted, just a few yards away from the outcropping that would display everything, and Maggie barreled into him. When she realized she was touching him she put her hands out to shove him away, and it was easy enough to scoot her around behind him while he concentrated on distracting El Gallito.

“What do you think it is?” he replied. “That’s the problem with you
nationalistas
—no imagination.”

El Gallito’s bleak eyes narrowed. “The fool isn’t getting married!”

“Sounds like it to me.”

“Married? Who?” Maggie echoed. Before he could stop her she crossed the last few yards to the outcropping, with Ben and El Gallito just seconds beyond her.

Ben only had time to take in the tableau. The priest, the tall, balding bridegroom, the very pregnant bride. And then Maggie shrieked her sister’s name. “Stella!”

It was enough to startle El Gallito. Ben was on him before he could fire the gun, and the shot went wild, disappearing into the trees. “Run, damn it,” he shouted over his shoulder as he struggled with the assassin’s fierce strength. He’d faced his razors before, but he’d been armed himself, and even so he still had the scars to prove it. The outcome wasn’t nearly so optimistic this time.

He could hear the shouts from the valley, and he knew Ramon’s men would be there in moments, though he wasn’t quite sure whether he had moments or not. El Gallito had a ten-inch-long razor in one hand, and he was using all his force to bring it closer, closer to his throat. One second of weakness and he’d slash his jugular. He really didn’t want to bleed to death in the mountains, just when Ramon had accomplished what they’d worked so hard for.

Then again, he’d told Maggie he loved her and gotten kicked for his troubles. Maybe he’d be better off dead.

The blade was moving closer, closer to his neck. He was stronger than El Gallito, younger, but part of his concentration was on Maggie. “Get…the…hell…out of here!” he wheezed, wondering if they were going to be his last words.

And then El Gallito collapsed on top of him in a dead heap. The razor was caught between their bodies, and he felt it nick his throat before it fell to the ground. He looked up, and Maggie was standing over them, a huge rock in her hand. There was blood on the rock, and he realized she must have clobbered El Gallito with it.

The assassin was either unconscious or dead, and Ben didn’t really care which. He shoved his body aside, just as Maggie dropped the heavy rock and brushed her hands clean.

“Now we’re even,” she said to Frazer. And then she turned to face her long lost, almost married, very pregnant sister.

CHAPTER TWELVE

M
AGGIE
B
ROWN WAS NOT
in a very good mood, considering it was her sister’s wedding day, she was about to become an aunt, and feckless Stella had finally found someone worth sticking with. Ramon Morales de Lorca y Antonio was a far cry from the romantic revolutionary Maggie had been imagining. Tall, stoop-shouldered, balding and bespectacled, he looked just like his nickname, The Professor. And Stella, silly, romantic, changeable Stella, was obviously, deeply, desperately in love for the first time in her life.

“I can’t believe you’re really here!” she cried, flinging her arms around Maggie and pressing her against her huge, pregnant belly. “I told Ramon I wouldn’t marry him unless my family could come to the wedding, but then when the little one started acting like he was going to make an early appearance I decided I was being silly. When Mother said you were already here I kept waiting for you to show up, but then Ramon said Ben was looking after you and I figured, hey, who better to look after my twin sister than the stud of San Pablo? Not that he’s really a stud—he hasn’t had a woman in more than a year, Ramon says. He’s looking for the right woman, which I highly doubt because even though Ramon is the kind of man who wants to settle down, I don’t think Ben will ever be.”

“You talked with Mother?” Maggie broke through the stream of consciousness that was Stella’s usual mode of conversation to get to what was important. And anyway, she hadn’t the slightest interest in anything her sister had to say about Ben Frazer.

“Called her a couple of days ago,” Stella said blithely. “Would you ever have thought I’d be so settled down and maternal? I’ve even stopped smoking—Ramon says it’s no good for the baby and besides, how would it look for the First Lady to be a smoker when Ramon is so hot on health issues? For that matter, can you imagine me as a First Lady of a country, even one as tiny as San Pablo? I can’t believe—”

“How is she?”

“How is who?” Stella said blankly.

“Mother. I tried to call her but there was no answer. She’s been very sick, and I was afraid—”

“Maggie!” Stella said. “Don’t tell me you believed her when she told you she was dying? She does that anytime she’s not getting her own way. I’ve been used to it for years. She’s as strong as a horse. She wanted to come to the wedding but I told her she couldn’t choose my china pattern. I don’t even know if I’ll have a china pattern. Anyway, she decided to stay in Las Vegas and come over for the inauguration. I figure I’ll surprise her with the christening. Didn’t want to dump too much on her at one time.”

“Las Vegas?” Maggie was getting dizzy.

“You remember Uncle Joe, don’t you? Of course, he wasn’t really our uncle, and he and Mother were always good friends. Well, his wife died a few months ago, so he showed up at Mother’s door asking her to go to Las Vegas with him and she said yes. I wouldn’t be surprised if she marries him.”

Maggie sat down abruptly, her head spinning. “I’m not taking all this in,” she said faintly.

“Well, of course not, darling. You’ve had a tough time, what with being cooped up with Ben for days and then running into that Chicken Man. I don’t blame you for being upset. But all’s well that ends well, and you can be my maid of honor. Though we’re going to have to hurry.”

“Why?” Maggie asked, half afraid of the answer.

Stella smiled at her brightly. “Because I’m in labor.”

In retrospect it was just as well that Delia hadn’t made it to her daughter’s wedding, Maggie thought later. There were three ceremonies in a row—a civil ceremony, a Catholic ceremony and a long, convoluted traditional San Pablo ceremony that went entirely over Maggie’s head as she held her sister’s hands and helped her breathe. Fortunately the priest who conducted all three ceremonies was also a medic, and Ramon Benjamino was born moments after the last vows had been concluded.

Her new brother-in-law wept tears of joy as he held his new son. His best man, Ben Frazer, kept his distance, and if Maggie felt his eyes on her she did her best to ignore him. Stella was looking, as usual, radiant, and she’d come through the quick labor and delivery with nothing more than some loud screams and a few pungent curses, which the priest graciously ignored. She took one celebratory sip of wine and promptly fell asleep nursing her newborn.

And then there was no one to turn to. Except Ben, looking at her from across the compound. Only a hundred or so strangers between her and him, not enough to cause a real distraction, and he looked as if he was going to come after her, and if he did she wasn’t sure if she could handle it.

“I want to thank you for all that you did.” Her new brother-in-law was by her side, speaking to her in halting English. “I deeply regret that you weren’t brought here sooner, but we were worried you would try to talk Stella out of marrying me.”

“We?” She tore her gaze away from Ben. “You and Stella?”

Ramon shook his head. “Stella told me I was being foolish. Ben thought it would be best to keep you far away from here, and I agreed. In retrospect I can see there was no need, but we thought it better to be careful. I knew you’d be in good hands with Ben, and this place has been a well-kept secret. We really couldn’t afford to let you come here until we were ready to leave.”

We, again. Ben and Ramon. She glanced back at Frazer. “I need to get home,” she said abruptly.

“But Stella was hoping you could stay for a while. It is going to be a difficult time for her, and she could use a sister…”

“I’ve been away from my work too long,” Maggie said. “I’ll come back and visit later, after she’s settled.”

Ramon didn’t look happy, but unlike his cohort he wasn’t the sort of man to force his own way. “Very well,” he said. “I’ll have Ben drive you to Las Palmas—”

“No!” Her protest was loud enough to make several heads turn her way, including Ben’s. “Someone else, please,” she said in a softer voice.

Ramon’s high forehead wrinkled in worry. “Has he offered you any insult? Frazer is my closest friend and adviser, but I would hate to think he’d offended my new sister—”

“No offense,” she said swiftly. “He’s just been dragging me around this country for days. I’m sure he’d prefer to stay and help you move back to the capital. You must have need of him. And I’d just as soon have…someone else drive me.”

“If you wish,” Ramon said reluctantly. “Father Gades is heading back to the city tonight, and he will be glad to take you. Word has come that Generalissimo Cabral has left the country, and the good father wants to pave the way for our arrival. Still, I am concerned for your safety.”

“There’s nothing to worry about. You’ve got El Gallito tied up, and if the
Generalissimo
has conceded then everything will be fine.”

“But I don’t…” At that moment his wife awoke, and while he was distracted Maggie slipped away. Before he could come up with one more argument. Before Stella could beg her to stay. Before she took one more look at her brand-new nephew and melted.

Before she had to see Ben Frazer again.