“Why are you telling me this?”
It only took one look into her eyes for him to know that his coldness toward her had hurt her deeply. His pride had kept him from making amends with her last night. Had kept him from her bed.
Now he regretted that.
But it was too late for regrets.
“I’m sending you away,” he said bluntly. “This life is too dangerous for you.”
His words stabbed deeply into her heart. “Why now?” What had he learned to change his mind? To set him on this course? Somehow he had discovered that she was involved on some level with the CIA, but why didn’t he just tell her what he knew? Why all the secrecy?
Realization dawned.
He knew he was going to die.
The coldness might very well have something to do with his suspicions about her, but it could also be related to what was about to come.
He was disengaging emotionally, even going so far as to prepare for her future financial well-being. She looked down at the folded piece of paper in her hand. He wanted her to be safe and cared for whatever happened to him.
The Jeep stopped and Michal climbed out before she could think of the right words to say to keep him from going. She wanted to physically restrain him, to hold him back from danger. But she knew that would be impossible.
He offered her the perfect out. Her freedom as well as the money for Nicholas and her to disappear.
But her son would never know his father.
She would never again know his tender touch.
She watched as Michal walked toward his men. Did the others know, as well? Was that why only three men had accompanied him?
She had to do something. She couldn’t just sit here and let this happen. But what could she do? She glanced around at their hilltop setting. Trees provided ample camouflage from the valley below. Was Jack Tanner here watching? Would he know if she made some move to warn Michal? Would he see that she never found her son again if she didn’t obey his original orders?
Dear God, what did she do?
After a few minutes of discussion, Thomas trotted back down to the Jeep where she waited.
“Michal asked me to take you back to the village. He-”
He was sending her out of harm’s way. Fear slashed through her, sending her pulse into an erratic rhythm, blotting out whatever else Thomas said to her. She couldn’t let Michal walk into this deathtrap. She had to do something. She thought of what he’d told her about the man he was supposed to execute. An evil man…one who sold weapons of mass destruction. She shuddered. Michal was right, he really was ridding the earth of evil.
…the rider of the white horse judged and made war…
…Faithful and True…
Suddenly she understood.
The Bible verse had referred to Michal.
Fran was letting her know that he wasn’t the bad guy he portrayed. Somehow, and Ami could only guess at how, he was working for the good guys. A knight on a white horse making war on the side of truth.
Despite Thomas’s protests, Ami barreled out of the Jeep and ran toward Michal. She would not let it end this way. She had to help him. She had to tell him everything.
“Michal!”
He turned just in time for her to skid to a stop without slamming into him. He glared past her in Thomas’s direction, clearly not pleased with his failure to get the job done.
“I can’t let you go until I’ve told you everything,” she said in a rush, her voice breathless.
He gestured to his men and they moved on without him. To get into position, she assumed. Thomas returned to the Jeep to wait for her.
“I don’t have time to-”
“Your son’s name is Nicholas,” she blurted, her heart too full to wait a second longer. He had to know. She needed him to know. “He looks exactly like you.” She smiled, remembering her baby’s sweet scent, his wobbly walk and his constant jabbering. “I would look at him sometimes and wonder if the dark man in my dreams was his father.” Her gaze locked with Michal’s, and somehow the ice there melted just a little. “And he was. That man is you. When we made love that last time…before…I got pregnant. When we made love the first time after you brought me back here I knew it was you. A part of you was always with me.”
Michal was still reeling from her words about their son when she rushed on.
“You were right. The CIA did contact me.” She shook her head shamefully. “They’ve been using me…or trying to since this whole crazy thing started with the shooting of Nathan Olment.” She looked directly into Michal’s eyes and told him the truth he already knew. “They wanted me to help them set you up for assassination. It’s supposed to happen today.” She blinked back the tears shining in her eyes. “But I couldn’t do it. I told them no.”
That part was news to him. With every fiber of his being he wanted to believe her, but remembered betrayal held him back. “Why would you do that?” he asked cautiously, determined to have solid evidence of what she appeared to be professing.
“Because I’m in love with you and you’re the father of my child. I don’t want you to be hurt.”
Her arms went around him and she hugged him with all her might. “I love you, Michal, please don’t go. Let’s just get out of here.”
He pulled away slightly, his eyes searching hers for any hint of deceit. He found none. “How could you love a man who kills for money…who martyrs whatever cause offering the highest price?” His breath stilled in his chest as he waited for her reaction to what she surely considered the truth about him.
She melted against him, the heat of her body warming the cold that had settled over him forty-eight hours ago. “Because I know you’re not what you seem.” She lifted one delicate shoulder in a shrug. “I know you’re the rider on the white horse.”
Need, desire and love-definitely love-welled inside him, bringing the sting of moisture to his eyes. He had no idea what she meant about the white horse, but he understood perfectly the rest of her words. Pulling her to him once more, he kissed her with all the emotions churning inside him.
“Go,” he said, pulling back before it was too late. “Thomas will take you to a safe place.”
She shook her head. “I’m not leaving without you.”
He set her away from him. “You must.”
“They’re going to kill you! You can’t go through with this,” she pleaded, tears sliding down her cheeks.
If Michal did not survive this day, he would carry this moment in his heart to whatever reward or punishment lay in store for him. She was willing to risk everything to save him. Ron had told him how the CIA had threatened to keep her child from her if she did not cooperate.
“I cannot abort this mission,” he explained as Thomas made his way back to their position. “It’s too late.”
Thomas urged her to come with him, but she resisted. “It’s only too late if you let it be.”
“The decision is made,” Michal said more firmly. “Thank you for telling me about my son.”
He walked away then, knowing Thomas would not allow her to follow. It was time for him to be in position. The hit was a relatively simple one.
The complexity lay in what came after that.
He was not afraid of death…but he did resent its source under the circumstances.
But it was past time this life was over…well past time.
AMI WATCHED him move out of sight…nothing she could do to stop him. She’d told him all that she knew and still he’d maintained his course. A sob knotted in her stomach as Thomas drove away. Fear that she would never see Michal again quivered inside her. Her heart squeezed painfully.
Would she ever know who Michal Arad really was?