It wasn't that he was a coward, Carlos Escarria told himself as he sat in the cab of his dusty pickup. He was just smart enough to know when to be afraid. Right now he was terrified. For the past four months, he had been paid very well to come twice every week and dropped off supplies. Senorita Morine would greet him every time in her skimpy cutoff shorts and tops that barely covered her fantasy-inducing chest. It made the two hour round trip well worth it. But today, when he pulled up in front of the small cabin she didn't come out to greet him as usual. The front door was opened part way but there was no sign of the senorita. So Carlos decided to be cautious. He slipped out of his truck and slowly began walking around the outside perimeter of the cabin. It was just too quiet, he thought as he tried to peer into several of the dirt-covered windows. After making a full circle around, he ended up standing in front of the main door. There were several brownish stains on the door jam and when Carlos bent closer to take a look that's when it hit him. "What's that smell," he gasped before quickly covering his mouth and nose with his hand. He took two steps inside the door and then stopped. Death was here. He could feel it and he could definitely smell it. "Madre de Dios," he murmured while blessing himself with his free hand. He wanted to run, to get back in his truck and never look back. But for once in his life, Carlos didn't do the sensible thing. So he had no one but himself to blame when he found the blood seeping out from under one of the doors further down the corridor after he began his search. He tried the door but it was locked. "Senor Lewis? Senorita Morine?" He pounded on the door and then waited. Nothing. "Is anyone in there," he called out. He heard a low shuffling noise and what could have been a groan. Then it was quiet again. Carlos raced back out to his truck and grabbed a crowbar. Seconds later the door swung open and he slowly stepped in. The stench was overpowering but that wasn't the worst of it. Senorita Morine would never be smiling and teasing him again. Her lifeless body lay sprawled on the floor and the death creatures were already plundering it. He gagged and quickly looked away. Another body lay off to the other side of the narrow doorway. This was where all the blood was coming from. "Senor Lewis," Carlos cried. He quickly stepped over to the body and turned it over. He screamed when the icy blue eyes looked up into his and slowly blinked. "I'm still alive," Lewis whispered. He thought of Samantha and slowly started to smile. Carlos' blood froze. The bloody knife hovered mere inches over the baby's chest. Samantha continued to stare down at the gore smeared child that lay at her knees. Her knuckles turned white as she gripped the knife tightly between her bloody hands. She would do it quickly. It would be over in seconds and then she would bury it along with the afterbirth that had painfully exited her body only moments ago. Slowly, Sam raised the knife up above her shoulders and then swiftly brought it down. The child opened his eyes and stared up at her. Sam drove the knife into the ground several inches away from the defenseless baby. She was trembling violently as she lifted him up into her arms and cradled him tightly against her. "It's okay now," she sobbed as she rocked back and forth on her knees. "Everything is okay now." After a while, Sam pulled the bag of provisions closer to her and began to rummage through it. She smiled when she found a small bottle of spring water that had fallen to the very bottom of the bag. Using the knife, she hacked off a scrap of material from the jacket and began cleaning up the baby. In the quickly fading light, Sam examined him. He was perfect. He was very fair and his tiny head was covered in soft, copper colored ringlets. His eyes, although the palest of blues, were flecked with a deeper shade of her own green eyes. He was breathtakingly beautiful. Sam had seen her nieces and nephews soon after their births and this child did not look anything like a typical newborn. But then again, that shouldn't have surprised her. Nothing about his conception had been normal. No, she wouldn't think about that anymore. Sam pushed away the horror of those months she had been held captive. If she let herself think about what had been done to her she was afraid she would go insane. It was over now. Lewis was . . .. "He's gone," she whispered. "He can't hurt me anymore." Sam turned her attention back to the baby she cradled in her arms. He would need some kind of bandage to protect the cord and a diaper. Putting the knife to good use, she slashed off more of the material from the jacket. She diapered the baby as best she could and then stuck the extras she had cut off into her pockets. By the time she was done, night had fallen and the baby was letting her know he was hungry. Leaning back against a tree, Sam undid the top buttons of her shift. As the baby began to nurse, Sam felt the last barriers she had erected against accepting the child fall away. "You're mine," she said as hot tears slowly slid down her face. "All mine. No one is going to hurt either of us ever again. We're safe now." Several miles away from where mother and son were bonding in a false sense of security, another man lay fighting for his life. "He's already more than half dead," the so-called doctor said in disgust. "Why did you bring him to me?" "Carlos, if this man appears to be giving anything less than his best effort to insure my recovery, you are to kill him," came the weakly voiced threat. "Failure is not an option." Carlos silently accepted the proffered gun and duty from Lewis. He gave an inward sigh when his brother-in-law's efforts to treat his patient suddenly tripled. Almost two hours passed before the exhausted physician declared that Lewis seemed to be out of danger. "Carlos, where did this man come from," Dr. Luis Hoya asked once the two men were alone. "There is something very odd about him." "No questions," Carlos said quickly. "You treat him, I help him on his way and we both live to play with our grandchildren some day." The two men sat in uneasy silence as they waited for the strange man to wake up. "I'm never going to get out of here." Sam sunk to her knees and tried not to give into the overwhelming weariness that made each step feel like an assault on Mt. Everest. She had run out of food and water yesterday afternoon and the combination of the heat and her rundown condition was making her efforts to continue almost impossible. "I have to get you some help," she whispered to the sleeping baby in her arms. The small amount of milk her quickly dehydrating system was producing was no longer satisfying him. His cries had become increasingly weaker until now, he barely whimpered when he tugged at her breasts. If she kept moving she would have to find a road or highway soon. Sam couldn't let herself think about what she would do next. With no identification papers she would be at the mercy of the authorities when she tried to cross back over into the United States. And what would she tell them? No, she wouldn't think about that. Right now, all that mattered was getting help for her son. She got back up and started walking again. "Damn, I never should have drank that last Corona," Jeff Faraday said as he took a swipe at the sweat that poured down his face in spite of the air conditioning inside his truck. He was getting too old for bar crawling with his good buddy Bo Turner. But the two were the only members of their Green Beret unit to make it back from Vietnam and certain dates had to be celebrated every year together. After they had stumbled out of that last cantina, he should have just crawled into the back of his truck and called it a night. "But you just had to see that exotic dancer Bo was going on and on about, didn't you," he groaned. His mouth felt like it was stuffed with cotton and his head was pounding. He swore when his tire dipped into another rut in the narrow dirt road. Thinking that maybe a long, cool drink of ice water would help the cause, Jeff reached behind his seat to grab one from the cooler. He only took his eyes off the road for a second, but when he looked back up, he swore and slammed on the brakes. His pickup bucked and skidded as he fought to bring it to a stop. Jeff gripped the steering wheel tightly as he stared at the woman standing mere inches from his front bumper when he finally stopped. He was out of the truck in seconds. "What the hell do you think you're doing, lady," he yelled. "I could have killed you!" Sam pulled the baby more tightly against her as the man approached. He was quite tall, maybe a couple of inches over six feet. He was slim but his upper body appeared quite muscular. He had a day old growth of hair on his face and his light brown hair looked a bit unkempt. His dark blue eyes flashed with anger that was directed at her. She was having trouble catching her breath after her near brush with death. It was hard to hear what he was saying over the loud roar in her ears. "Jesus, is that a baby you're holding?" Jeff's anger evaporated when he stopped yelling long enough to take a good look at the woman. Although her too pale face was streaked with grime, it didn't cover the bruises under her eye and along her jawbone. Her dress was stained with dried blood and ripped in several places. She suddenly swayed and he reached out to steady her. "N-no," Sam gasped when he grabbed her arm. She stumbled back a step and then dug into the pocket of her dress for the knife. Although her hand trembled violently, she kept the knife between her and the stranger. "Hey, come on, you don't need that," Jeff said in what he hoped was a calming voice. She looked as though it wouldn't take much to send her over the edge. He had seen shell-shocked veterans who looked steadier. "I won't go back," Sam said as she moved away from him. "I won't let him hurt me again." Jeff felt an instant burst of hatred for whoever it was that abused her. No, he wouldn't let anyone hurt her again. He may have failed before but not this time. "No one is going to hurt you or your baby," he said. "Please, give me the knife. I want to help you." Sam stared at him. Could he be one of Lewis' people sent to bring her back? No, there was no one else at that cabin, she was sure of it. Sam lowered the knife but returned it to her pocket. She wasn't able to give it up quite yet. "I need a ride," she said as she eyed the truck with the battered looking cab on the back. "Sure," Jeff said. "No problem." "I don't have any money." "Don't worry. I'm sure we can work something out." Sam panicked. She had to get help for her baby or he would die. But she couldn't have sexual relations so soon after giving birth. And the thought of someone touching her after what Lewis had done to her was terrifying. Sam started to back away but he reached out and took hold of her arm. "Come on, I have what, in a stretch, could be called a bed in the rear," he said as he lead Sam toward the back of his truck. "You'll be real comfortable there." He pulled open the narrow door to reveal a somewhat sparsely furnished living area. She took hold of the hand her offered and climbed in. He climbed in behind her and reached out for the baby. "I'll put him down over here," Jeff said as he turned away and started to spread a thick blanket on the floor. Sam sank down on the edge of the narrow bed. Maybe he would be content with looking and groping while she satisfied him. Under Lewis' brutal tutoring she had been forced to become quite skilled in that department during her long months of captivity. Her hands were shaking badly as she quickly began to undo the buttons on the front of her dress. The stranger turned back toward her and Sam's breath caught in her chest. "I-I can't let you . . . it's too soon after the baby," she said in a rush as he took a step toward her. The dress slipped from her shoulders and she shivered as the cool air hit her naked flesh. "What the hell do you think you're doing?" Sam jerked back as though he had struck her. Emotions raced across her face almost faster than he could follow. Terror, hatred, disgust and then finally desperation settled there as she stared up at him. "I'll do anything you want me to," she said as she tugged at his belt buckle. "I'll make you feel good. Please, don't put us out." My God, she thought he wanted her to have sex with him in payment for the ride. Jeff crouched down in front of her and gently pulled her dress back up to cover her. Sam shuddered violently at his touch. Her eyes held the look of a creature caught in the cross hairs of a cocked rifle. His gut twisted as he wondered if this was how his sister had looked when she faced her abusive husband. "I just want to help you and the baby," Jeff told her. "I'm not going to hurt you and I'm not going to let anyone else hurt you. You're safe now. Do you understand that?" She wanted to trust him. Oh God, she needed to be able to trust someone. "Yes," she whispered as the tears began to slowly fall down her pale cheeks. Almost as if he sensed her distress, the baby began wailing. Jeff spun around and picked him up. "Oh-oh, it looks like somebody needs changing." Sam dug into her pocket and pulled out another homemade diaper. "This is all I have," she said quietly. "That'll do just fine until we hit Nogales. We can pick up some supplies for you and your. . . son there," he added when he slipped off the wet diaper. Sam watched as this rugged looking stranger quickly tended to her baby as if it were second nature to him. She remembered her own clumsy attempts to do the very same thing and was humbled. "Are you nursing him?" Jeff was somewhat knowledgeable about such matters since his three remaining sisters had made him an uncle several times over. "I tried but after the first few time he didn't seem to be getting enough." Sam lowered her head, ashamed that she couldn't provide enough nourishment for her own child. "You're worthless, Sam," Lewis' voice whispered in her head. "You couldn't satisfy my needs and now, because of your weakness, your own child is going hungry." "I'm not worthless," she said to still the cruel voice that taunted her. She raised her head and Jeff could see that her eyes were filled with unshed tears. "Of course you're not," Jeff said before he realized that she hadn't really been talking to him. "How long has it been since you last ate," he asked. "Yesterday morning," she told him. "The last of the water was gone before noon." "Here, drink down this water first and then some of this juice. You're probably just a little dehydrated that's all. You'll have more milk than that little guy can drink before you know it. In the meantime, just give him what you can and then dribble a little of that water in his mouth. That should keep him happy until you have time to recover." "Why are you being so kind," Sam asked as she settled the baby to begin feeding. "You don't know anything about me." She blushed when she looked up and saw him staring at her. "Sorry," he muttered but he really didn't mean it. She looked almost ethereal as the child suckled at her breast. Regretfully he tossed her one of his extra shirts that was hanging on a hook near the bed. She draped it across herself and the baby. "I know that you're running from something or someone that put you through a very hard time. No," he said when she started to interrupt. "I don't need to know anymore than that for now. I'll take you over the border and we'll see where things go from there." "I don't have any papers," she said and he saw the fear jump into her eyes once again. "I know the patrol officer," Jeff said. "I don't think we'll have any problems. I guess since we're going to be traveling companions I should at least tell you my name. It's Jeff, Jeff Faraday." "My name is Sam," she said. "Nice to meet you Sam," he said as if he didn't notice she failed to give him her full name. "Have you named the boy yet?" She looked down at the baby. She hadn't thought about names. She hadn't expected to get that far. "Adam," she finally said and smiled. It was perfect. "Adam," Jeff repeated. "It suits him." Seeing that they were settled, Jeff told Sam that he was going to head back up to begin the drive to the border. They still had a few hours journey from here to the border and he didn't know what kind of trouble was following her. He wasn't one to ever turn his back on a good fight, but the woman and the child changed the dynamics. Best he got them back across the border as soon as possible. Lewis lay staring up at the ceiling above his cot. He was hurting pretty badly from the wounds that bitch had inflicted. He hoped she was enjoying her freedom while it lasted because as soon as he got back on his feet he was going to hunt her down. "You're mine Samantha," he whispered. "And what's mine stays mine." He didn't have much time. The child was due to be born within the next week or so. His son. His firstborn. Lewis smiled. "I have your medicine, Senor Lewis," Carlos said. He hated coming into this room. Just looking at this gringo made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. And that smile. Ayudeme Adios! It was like looking into the face of Satan! "I want you to go back to the cabin," Lewis said after gulping down the three pills. "I need you to do a little cleaning up for me." "Si, Senor Lewis," Carlos said. He jumped at the opportunity to get away from Lewis for awhile. The nervous young man listened closely as Lewis told him exactly what he was to do. "Burn it down, Senor?" "It was an accident waiting to happen," Lewis said. "You'll just be helping things along." "I will leave at daybreak. Don't worry, Senor, you can count on Carlos." "Yes, I'm sure I can," he said. "I will see you back here before siesta time, si?" "Si," Carlos said quickly. Lewis wanted to laugh as the disgusting little bootlicker shuffled out of the tiny, airless room. Yes, he would do the job and then he would disappear. Lewis hated to leave loose ends untied. "Soon, Samantha," he whispered. "Very soon now." Jeff had been driving for almost an hour and he decided it was time to take a break. He continued on until he saw a spot where he could pull over. After pocketing his keys, he headed back to check on Sam and Adam. "Hey, buddy, how are you making out back here," he said quietly as he scooped the baby up into his arms. "Oh boy, looks like you sprung another little leak here." He looked over and saw that Sam had curled up into a tight ball facing the sidewall of the camper. He reached out and gently shook her. Nothing. He remembered that she had taken out the last tiny swatch of cloth from her pocket so he slipped his hand in and pulled out a couple. After he took care of the baby, Jeff returned to look down at the sleeping woman. Her dress was barely serviceable and filthy. If Juan did decide to give him a hard time at the border it wouldn't look good to have her looking like the victim of a assault. Jeff decided he'd better clean her up a bit just in case. Scrambling around in the clutter he soon located his small propane stove and quickly set about heating up some water. Grabbing a couple of towels and some soap he turned back to the sleeping woman on the bed. "Come on, Sam, its time to get cleaned up a bit." Sam moaned a bit and then shifted away from him. She curled up even tighter. He had seen his sister go through periods like this. Death sleeps he used to call them. It was an escape mechanism and if she was anything like Patty, it could last for hours on end. "Well, it looks like we're going to have to help mommy out a bit," Jeff told the still wide-awake baby. He continued to talk while he lifted her off the bed in order to spread one of the towels beneath her. Apologizing for taking such liberties, Jeff quickly undid the buttons on her dress and gently slipped it off her. For modesty sake, he laid another towel across her as he began to work. He didn't want her to wake up at some point and find herself lying there naked and defenseless. "God damn that bastard," he muttered as he stared down at her bruised and battered upper body. A livid bruise covered her right side and Jeff gently probed to see if there were any broken ribs. Sam whimpered softly but remained asleep. Both breasts showed scars from old bite marks and a fresh wound on her left hip had just begun to scab. He had already seen the bruising on her cheek and jaw but now he could see the cut beneath her chin that almost looked like a stab wound. Her upper arms were bruised as if she had been grabbed and held much too tightly. When he gently turned her over Jeff saw that several abrasions on her upper back filled out the scenario he had of her being slammed up against a wall at some point. "What kind of animal could have done this to you," Jeff said as he continued washing her. He felt Sam shudders and she grew agitated. "No, no," she moaned. "Don't touch me." "It's all right, Sam," Jeff said. "I'm not going to hurt you." He finished up quickly and then dressed her in the shirt she'd used earlier. He was in the process of covering her with a light blanket when she woke. Her eyes were still heavy with sleep. "Where's Adam?" Jeff immediately picked up the baby and placed him in her waiting arms. When she struggled to sit up, Jeff quickly sat down and let her lean against him. "So tired." Her head lolled against his shoulder. "Bad mother." "No, you're a terrific mother," he said. "You got yourself and this little guy away from the bastard who did this to you." "Yes," she sighed. "Will he come looking for you, Sam?" He felt her entire body stiffen and she suddenly pulled away from him. "I don't want to talk about it." Sam moved so that her back was against the sidewall. She drew up her legs and cuddled the baby to her. She dropped her head down and her long hair created a curtain between them. Jeff slowly got up and started to leave. When he got to the door he turned around. "Will you be alright with him now," he asked. "Yes," she said softly. She never lifted her head. He turned and stepped back out onto the road. "Thank you," he heard as he closed the door. Her voice sounded so lost he almost turned back. But he had to keep moving. No telling what was behind them. The further away they got the better he would feel. "They're gone." Sloan stood in the middle of the small, foul smelling room and sagged in utter defeat. She watched as Tom bent down and touched the dried bloodstains near the door. His eyes clouded over and his face went slack. "Lewis was badly injured," he said. His voice sounded hollow as he continued on in the same monotone. "He survived but is very weak." "Where are they," Sloan asked quickly. "He is alone, but not alone." Oh swell, now was not the time for cryptic messages! "Where's Samantha?" Tom blinking several times and then turned back around to face her. "She was here, I can sense her but . . ." His head suddenly snapped around and he stared long and hard at the bed. "They fought. Lewis and the woman." "Obviously she got some good licks in before he did that to her," Sloan said as she took another quick look at the corpse. "No, she wasn't responsible for Lewis' injuries," Tom said. "Samantha surprised him. He had no idea that she would defy him." "Then she must have escaped," Sloan said and for the first time she felt hopeful. "Tom, the bloodstains on the front door, they must be Samantha's!" They headed out the door and seconds later Tom once again tapped into his psychic talents. "Yes, she ran this way,' he said softly. "She was so afraid but so happy to be getting away from him." Tom smiled and then grinned as he stepped out into the fading sunlight. "I can feel her Sloan. I can feel the hope that came flooding back into her soul after months of darkness." "We have to find her, Tom," Sloan said as she reached out to him. At her touch he stopped. "We'll check out the surrounding area until it gets too dark to see," he said. "Then we'll head into the nearest town and contact Dr. Attwood. Ed should be back at the lab by now. He'll probably head the team Attwood will send out here first thing in the morning to go over this place with a fine tooth comb." "Ed will be pleased," Sloan with a smile. "He wasn't too happy about being pulled back after we finished up at the caves." They walked into the woods that surrounded the small cabin. Sloan let Tom lead the way hoping that the link he had tapped into would lead them to Samantha. They moved deeper into the woods and were just about to call it a day when Sloan suddenly stumbled and went crashing to the ground. "What the . . . oh my God!" "Sloan, what is it? Are you hurt?" Tom was at her side in an instant. He grabbed hold of the arm she was holding out stiffly in front of her. It was covered in blood and dirt. "It's not my blood," she told him. "I tripped over this jacket. My hands sank into the dirt when I fell. Tom, something is buried here!" Their eyes met and it was obvious that they were both thinking the same thing. "No, it can't be Samantha," Sloan moaned as she began clawing away the dirt in front of her. Tom joined in and in seconds they found what Sloan had fallen into. "It's the afterbirth," Sloan said. "Tom, she's had his baby!" "His son," Tom said. "She's given him a son." It took slightly under two hours but they had finally reached the border. Jeff smiled and waved when his good friend Juan de Frato came sauntering out of the tiny guard shed. "Senor Faraday. You are ready to depart my lovely country?" "So it would seem, Juan. I have been dazzled by your lovely ladies and drank more than my limit of your demon ale." "Then it is time you left, my good friend Jeffrey," the chubby little officer said. He smiled and his gold tooth glinted in the sunlight. "Do you have anything to declare? Have you stolen any of our national treasures and hidden them in the back of your truck?" Every time they went through the same routine. "Just this copy of my new book for your son," Jeff laughed as he handed it over. "Oh, I do have a lovely senorita and her baby back there. She couldn't resist my charms and left her fat, ugly husband to come with me." "Maybe something like that could happen to the hero in one of your books, gringo," Juan said as he shook with laughter, "but no woman in her right mind would run off with a skinny cowboy like you. Perhaps you did drink too much Corona on this trip. You'd better be careful driving." The little border patrol officer was still chuckling as Jeff pulled his truck through the open barricade and drove into Nogales, Arizona. In a little more than three hours he would be pulling into Wickenburg. But first, he was going to stop in Tucson and pick up some supplies there before heading home. Jeff made a mental note to include some baby formula on his shopping list in case Sam continued to have trouble producing her own milk. He checked the clock on his dashboard and figured he'd let Sam sleep for the hour it would take them to Tucson. While he was getting their supplies she could try feeding Adam again. Smiling, he pressed his foot down a little harder on the gas and the truck shot off down the two lane just a little over the posted speed limit. "Sam, wake up, we're home." She slowly opened her eyes and looked up to see Jeff smiling down at her. He held Adam in his arms. "Home," she asked as she sat up slowly. "Where have you brought us?" Jeff sighed at the flash of fear that had jumped across her face before she brought it under control. She had obviously learned to hide her emotions well. Showing fear to an abuser only heightened his pleasure. Jeff remembered how Patty had tried to explain that to him on more than once occasion. "My ranch," he explained. "It's out here in the middle of nowhere. You and Adam will be safe here until you can get back on your feet." Sam took the hand he offered her and stepped down from the camper. She slowly looked around at the endless empty land that spread out around them. It was definitely remote, she thought with a shiver. No, her days of living in fear were over. Lewis was gone. She would recover and then get back to the life he had kept her away from all those months. "You're a very kind man," she told him. "My son and I are so grateful to you for what you've done for us." "Come on, let's get inside and you can warm up a bottle for Adam while I unload the truck." He saw the pain in Sam's eyes. Jeff had found her crying when he returned to the truck in Tucson. She hadn't been able to feed Adam enough again. He had tried to lighten the mood by telling her that now he could take over the two o'clock feedings, but Sam's smile had been forced. It was clear that she saw this as a personal failure. Over the next several days, Sam began to relax. Jeff gave her plenty of space but he was there whenever she needed him. She learned that he was a writer. Sam had laughed when she discovered who he was. She and Caleb had been enjoying his thrillers for years. She felt badly about letting him go on believing that she was on the run from an abusive spouse. But how could she ever tell him the truth? She was thinking about that very subject that night while she dried the dishes Jeff was washing. He had let her cook dinner for the first time but only if he was allowed to do the cleaning up. They had compromised and she pitched in and helped dry. "I don't know about you, but I'm looking forward to a nice long soak tonight," he said. "My bones are aching from that long ride you made me take you on today." He smiled as he remembered the look of pure joy on her face when he suggested they go for a ride together so that he could show her some of his land. She had turned out to be quite a horsewoman. However, he could see that she was aching when he watched her prepare dinner. "I know it's not Saturday night, but I think you could use a nice hot bath too," he teased. Jeff turned around when he heard the dish smash against the floor. He was just about to make a wise crack when he saw Sam's face. She stood in the middle of the kitchen shaking like a leaf. All the color had drained out of her face and her eyes were huge and filled with terror. "Sam, what's the matter?" "Stay away from me," she screamed as Jeff took a step toward her. She dropped to the floor and picked up a thick sliver of the shattered dish and then kept it between them as she got back to her feet. "I won't let you do that to me again," she gasped. "I won't let you touch me." "Sam, I don't know what you're talking about,' Jeff said. "What's wrong with you?" "Don't come any closer or I'll use this." She backed away from him until she bumped up against the far wall. "Your hand, Sam, look what you're doing to your hand." Jeff cried out when he saw the blood begin to drip from the hand she clasped around the makeshift weapon. She turned to look and immediately dropped the blood covered shard. Jeff was at her side in an instant. He grabbed hold of the dishtowel and wrapped it around her palm. "What happened, Sam? What frightened you so?" But she was no longer there in the kitchen with him. Her eyes were staring vacantly off into the distance. "Oh God, I can feel his hands," she gasped as she slid down the wall to the floor. "He's hurting me." "Who, Sam," Jeff cried. "Who's hurting you?" "He's . . . he's. . .no," she sobbed as she curled in on herself. "Don't touch me, don't touch me!" Jeff dropped to the floor beside her and hauled her up unto his lap. "It's okay, Sam, it's okay now. I have you. No one is going to hurt you," he crooned over and over as she continued to sob heartbrokenly in his arms. He sat there rocking her and talking to her until he finally felt her begin to calm down. His heart nearly broke when she finally lifted her head and looked up at him. "Why did he want to hurt me so much," she asked. Her breath caught and she clutched at the front of his shirt. "I didn't deserve to be treated like that." "No you didn't,' Jeff said as he brushed the hair back off her forehead. "Why did you stay with him, Sam?" "I didn't have a choice," she told him and then she finally began to tell him about Lewis. When she got to the part about the brutal rapes she endured, Sam ducked her head and spoke in a whisper. "You were so brave," Jeff told her as he gently rubbed her slightly misshapen fingers that Lewis had broken. "I was so afraid," Sam said with a sigh. "No matter how I tried to fight back he always found a new way to hurt me. Even when he succeeded in impregnating me he wouldn't leave me alone." Jeff fought to hide his murderous thoughts. In Sam's fragile condition, any outward signs of aggression, even if they weren't directed at her, could set her off. But he yearned to have a face to face meeting with the animal who had done this to her. He would make what that bastard had put Sam through seem like a day in the park by comparison. "He continued to sexually abuse you even when you were carrying his child?" "He didn't . . . there was no . . .he found other ways to pleasure himself," she finally said. "Like what he did to you in the bathtub." Her eyes got that distant look in them again as she forced herself to remember. "Lewis came into the room where I was kept," she began. "He took me to another room further down the hallway. Once we were inside he ordered me to remove my clothing. I tried to resist." Sam fell silent as she remembered the way he had forced her up against the wall and the feel of the knife against her skin as he methodically cut her clothing off until she stood naked before him. Jeff sat in silence until Sam gathered herself together and began speaking again. "He told me to get into the tub and then he . . . and then he forced me to sit there while he bathed me. His hands were everywhere." She swallowed convulsively. "When he saw how it made me feel to be violated like that, he made it a nightly ritual." He couldn't speak. The thought of her being continually abused and degraded for months on end and fighting to hold on until she could escape was emotionally overwhelming. "I can't do this anymore," Sam said in a voice that was now void of all emotion. "I just want to forget everything that happened during those months." "Come and sit at the table while I take a look at your hand," he finally said. He removed the towel and saw that the two cuts the sharp edges of the dish had carved into her hand had stopped bleeding. He cleaned off her palm and then he applied a thick piece of gauze and bandaged it. They didn't speak anymore of Lewis that night but over the next few weeks, Sam started to be plagued by nightmares. The blankets wound tightly around her body as she tossed back and forth. Lewis was there. Lewis was always there. "I want my son. I will be his mentor. I will teach him to overcome his human half that is you Samantha. Adam is different because he is mine. People will honor him when he grows to be a man." "You will never have Adam. Never! I would kill him rather than let you take him. He is nothing like you. Nothing!" Lewis moved closer to the bed. "It seems you still have an unruly tongue Samantha. It excites me. I find I want to savor you again. Would you like that, Samantha? It's been such a long time." Sam tried to get up from the bed but couldn't move. Lewis lay down on top of her, pinning her wrists above her head so she couldn't free herself. With his other hand he unzipped his trousers and then slowly pushed up the nightgown she was wearing to expose her naked body. He captured her right breast with his mouth and sucked until she moaned with pain. He lifted his head and grinned. He was still smiling when he entered her. Sam cried out. "NO! NO!" Adam awoke at his mother's screams and began crying. Jeff ran into the bedroom. He had donned a pair of Levi's but his chest and feet were bare. Sam was still screaming and the baby's crying filled the room. Jeff pulled Sam up into a sitting position. "It's okay, it's just a dream. Open your eyes, Sam." She didn't respond. Jeffrey placed his hands on each side of her face. "Sam, open your eyes. It's me, Jeff. You're okay do you hear me? You're all right." Samantha slowly opened her eyes. She started sobbing and when Jeff tried to hold her she pushed him away. She became aware of Adam's howling. "My baby! My baby!" She tried to get up but the covers restricted her movement. Jeff went over to the playpen that Adam slept in and handed him to Sam. "He's just scared Sam." She cuddled the baby to her breasts. "It's going to be all right," she crooned as she rocked him back and forth until his crying stopped. As Adam looked up at his mother, his blue eyes glistened with tears. "You're nothing like him, darling, nothing at all." It was quite some time before Sam could go back to sleep but when she did she slept undisturbed. Hundreds of miles away, Lewis stood contemplating the stars overhead. He smiled when the phone rang. "Senor Lewis, it is for you," Dr. Hoya told him a moment later. "It is done," Carlos said. "There were people there when I arrived and I had to wait until they were gone before I burned down your house." Lewis' fist pounded into the wall beside the phone when Carlos described the man and woman who had discovered his lair. Damn her. Sloan and her lapdog were getting close. As soon as he hung up from Carlos, Lewis quickly placed another call. "Yes," came the smokey voiced response. Lewis smiled. He could almost see Triana Edwards uncurling like a cat from her couch as she answered the phone. "I need you." "Where?" That's what he liked about his oldest student. She blindly obeyed orders without questions. As soon as Lewis gave her his location she hung up. It would take her about three hours to reach him. He had plenty of time to take care of things down here before she arrived. "I will be leaving you soon, Doctor," Lewis informed the twitchy physician. "Of course, you won't be here to say goodbye." He snapped his throat before the man could beg for his life. It was funny how predictable these humans were, he observed. They just couldn't seem to understand how little they or their petty lives mattered to him. Once the doctor had served his purpose there was really no reason to keep him around. When Carlos returned over an hour later still smelling of gasoline and smoke, he quickly joined his brother-in-law. By the time Triana arrived, their funeral pyre was glowing quite nicely. "It is good to see you again, Lewis," she practically purred as she caressed his cheek. "I've missed you." "Perhaps you can show me just how much once we get to the border," Lewis said. "I believe I would like to see how much your interrogation skills have improved." "They are not the only skills I have been perfecting," she told him with a sly grin. "After being with that human for so long I am sure you will enjoy a sexual encounter with your own kind again." His cold smile warmed her wicked heart. "It was arson," Tom told Sloan after he talked to the Mexican authorities. "Someone torched the place while we were searching the woods." "He's always one step ahead of us," Sloan said angrily. They had arrived at the border to find that the officer on duty had been killed. The authorities who were there to investigate had complained that they had never been so busy as they had been over the last twenty-four hours. Two fires and three dead bodies. It was a regular crime wave. "Lewis is heading back into the states," Tom said. "I think he must have gotten a lead on where Samantha and his son were going." "God help them if he does," Sloan replied. "He will stop at nothing to get them back, will he?" "The guard was tortured for quite some time before he was killed," Tom told her. "I'm sure that Lewis knows exactly where he is going. Samantha is living on borrowed time." "I don't need to leave the ranch." Sam sat across the table from Jeff glaring at him. He had been badgering her non-stop about taking a day trip. "You need to get away from things for awhile," he told her. "These dreams of yours are getting worse. You need a change of pace." "Crawling around in some stupid mine is the last thing I want to do." "And what exactly is it you want to do," Jeff asked in a deceivingly soft voice. "You've been here for over a month now and our ride the other day was the first time you've been off my land. You're still his prisoner, Sam. All you've done is find yourself a bigger cell." He inwardly flinched at the sick expression his words had caused. But it was true. She was growing more and more content to remain hidden away from everything out here. But Jeff had learned the hard way that hiding from your demons didn't make them go away. It only delayed their ability to crush you when you least expected it. Sam had to face head on what had been done to her and then let it go. No, it wouldn't be easy. Between the things she had told him and the horrors he had heard her scream out during her dreams, it was obvious that she had been near her physiological breaking point when she managed to escape. But she had survived and it was time she started reclaiming her life. "Okay, I'll go," she sighed. Sam wanted to deny his claims but she couldn't. Jeff was right. Her freedom was just an illusion unless she could find the strength to face up to what had happened to her and then move on. "You'll enjoy it, I promise," Jeff told her. "And it will do Adam good to get out and breath in some fresh air for a change." "Oh, for pete's sake, you know very well that I take him out every morning," Sam laughed. "Yeah, I know. But this way we can enjoy a nice ride and maybe even picnic once we get there. Come on, Sam. Let's go have some fun for a change." Fun. Well that was a concept she hadn't thought about in quite some time. Maybe Jeff was right. It was about time that she stopped acting like a frightened child and began trying to learn how to enjoy life again. "How far is it to this mine?" "Oh, about seven or eight miles," Jeff told her. "It became a favorite haunt of mine when I got back to the states after the war. Once I even found a couple of tiny gold nuggets there on one of my jaunts. I used my little windfall to buy the electric typewriter that I banged out the first story on after I got back from 'Nam. It's been closed since 1942, but in it's heyday it was the richest gold producing mine in Arizona. They even named the town of Wickenburg after the guy who discovered the mother lode. It's a big tourist attraction around here and they even run group tours during the winter months. Right now though, we should have the place to ourselves." "Do you think I could ride Diamond out there," Sam said. The hopeful look on her face did him in. "Sure you can. In fact, now that it's late afternoon it will be a much pleasanter ride." He didn't care how they all got there as long as she went. "I'll take Adam in the truck with me and we can meet up there." "You pack the picnic while I get Adam ready." They were ready to go within a half an hour. Jeff saddled up Sam's mount and laughed when she took off yelling something about getting a head start. "Looks like we're going to have to get our butts in gear or your Mama is never going to let us hear the end of how she beat us to the Vulture Mine." Of course, the matter was taken out of Jeff's hands a little while later when the motor in his truck began to sputter and then died out. Reigning in his usual string of curses because of the baby, he opened the hood and peered in. A half an hour later covered in sweat and grime he was still no closer to finding out what the hell was wrong. "Samantha was not in Kingman." Lewis sat staring straight ahead as the car raced along the blacktop. His mood had continued to deteriorate the longer they drove. "How could I know that little insect would die before he gave us what we needed," Triana protested. "Perhaps you should have used a little more finesse when you questioned him," Lewis said as he turned to look at her. "I must find Samantha and my son." When the guard had finally started screaming out the names of the people who had crossed the border on that fateful day over a month ago, Lewis had begun to think that maybe Samantha hadn't crossed there at all. But when Triana had pressured him even harder he had told them about a man who had joked about having a woman and her baby in the back of his truck. "You left him die before he gave us the name." "His inferior heart gave out, Lewis. His death can not be laid at my door." "So we waste precious time tracking down a partial lists of names in hopes that one of them will be the man who helped Samantha." They were currently driving down Vulture Mine Road in hopes of finding a man named Wallace. As soon as they passed the mine they would only have a couple more miles to go to get to his trailer. They had been driving for over four hours and the monotony was wearing on Triana. When she spotted the woman racing over the dusty land toward them on horseback she pointed her out to her disgruntled passenger. She was just about to slow down when Lewis suddenly bolted upright in his seat. "Keep going," he yelled. Triana complied and then looked over to find Lewis smiling. "We can stop searching," he told her. "That was Samantha." He ordered Triana to proceed to Wallace's trailer. If they were lucky, they would find the baby there. "Empty," Lewis said in disgust a short time later. The trailer had appeared to be deserted when they pulled up. Lewis quickly got out of the car and climbed the two narrow metal steps that led to the door. He attempted to knock, but the door swung open at his touch. Cautiously, he stepped in. "Mr. Wallace," he called out. It was obvious that no one had lived in the small one bedroom trailer for some time. It was also easy to see that the last occupants had not included his son. There was no sign of any of the usual trappings that accumulated when a baby was in residence. "Wasted trip," he told Triana when he returned to the car. "It looks like it's time to go back and pick up Samantha and take her back to Phoenix. She's not going to willingly give us the baby's location and our house is remote enough to make sure no one will interrupt us as we persuade her to talk." Triana quickly started the car and they headed back to the Vulture Mine. It was a glorious afternoon and Sam was thankful that Jeff had talked her into coming out and enjoying it. She laughed out loud when she remembered all the instructions and warnings he had given her as he saddled the gentle mare. "Just follow the main rode out of Whispering Ranch until you come to Vulture Mine Road. Head off to your right and it will lead you right to the mine. Racing across the terrain, Sam couldn't help but be in awe of the desolate beauty that surrounded her on all sides. She was beginning to feel like she was alone in the world when a passing car intruded on her daydream. She followed Jeff's instructions and soon found herself approaching the Vulture Mine. She slid off her horse and looped her reins over a broken length of fence that had once protected the entrance. Although the sun had begun it's late afternoon decent, Sam still grew uncomfortable standing out there under it's merciless rays. Knowing that a cool retreat was only a few steps away, Sam disregarded Jeff's orders to remain outside until he came and slipped into the shade. "This is more like it," she sighed at the immediate drop in temperature. Sam looked around for something to sit on. She envisioned the look on Jeff's face when he found that she had beaten him there. He was a very special man, she thought to herself. She was so lucky to have crossed his path that day. Very lucky indeed. She was still smiling when he finally stepped through the doorway. His body was silhouetted by the bright sunshine behind him and Sam squinted as she looked at him. "Hello, Samantha." No, it wasn't possible. That voice belonged in her nightmares, not here, not now. Sam stood frozen with terror. |