Star-Spangled Bride

expression. 'What's wrong?'

He didn't answer. 'Where's Gabe?' he asked as he jumped out of the helicopter

'In the study. He's trying to wade through some of that paperwork you brought last time.' She searched his expression. 'Is it Pilsner?'

He gently took her arm and propelled her toward the house. 'I think we should wait until Gabe is present.'

'I'm here.' Gabe came down the front steps. 'What's happened?'

'It's Ronnie's father. He's been shot.'

Gabe muttered a curse as he came swiftly down the steps to stand beside Ronnie. 'The Red December?'

Dan shook his head. 'It happened in Tamrovia. He was dealing with a dissident group for arms and was caught in a raid by the Tamrovian authorities.'

'How bad?'

'Critical.' Dan turned to Ronnie and said gently, 'They don't think he'll make it. I can't tell you how sorry I am to bring you this news.'

'Are you sure?' she asked numbly. She couldn't believe that Evan was hurt, perhaps dying. He was one of those people who sailed through life. People around him got hurt, but never Evan.

Dan nodded. 'Our sources in Belsen are very reliable. It took the Tamrovians a little while to identify him. He was traveling with an Irish passport under the name Robert Reardon.'

'Where is he?'

'Being guarded at a hospital in Belsen, Tamrovia.'

'Will you take me there in the helicopter?'

Dan looked at Gabe.

'How public is this information?' Gabe asked.

'It's our story so far, but it could break anytime.'

Gabe turned to Ronnie. 'Can I point out a few hard facts without upsetting you?' he asked quietly.

'Probably not.'

'I have to do it anyway.' He slipped his arms around her. 'It could be a dangerous move foryou. The minute you cross the Sedikhan border, you're leaving yourself vulnerable to Pilsner. If we know about your father, then you can bet Pilsner will soon. It's a five-hour flight to Tamrovia. There may be a watch at the hospital by the time we get there.'

'I'm not stupid enough not to guess that.'

'You don't owe your father anything. He used you.'

'I used him too. I tried to talk him out of arms running, but when he only laughed at me, I used his contacts, I followed him into a dozen hot spots to get stories.'

'He brought you up like a ragtag gypsy.'

'He did what he could.'

'To make you a criminal like him. You don't owe him, Ronnie.'

Evan, who had never believed in sentiment or obligation, would have been the first to agree with him, she thought sadly. But she had never been like Evan, and loving Gabe had made her willing to admit to herself how desperately she had wanted to know and love her father. This might be her last chance. 'I don't know if I owe him anything for being my father, but I owe him for Said Ababa,' she said unevenly. 'He helped me save you. I have to see him, Gabe. I can't lethim die alone.' She stepped back out of his arms and turned to Dan. 'Will you take me or do I go on my own?'

'We'll take you,' Gabe said. 'Go in and pack a bag for us while I talk to Dan about arrangements for the trip.'

'What arrangements?'

'You don't have a passport. We'll have to enter Tamrovia illegally.'

'That will be a first for you.' She wearily shook her head. 'This is my problem. I shouldn't involve you in all this.'

'You couldn't keep me out of it.' He pushed her gendy toward the door. 'Try to hurry. The sooner we get there, the better off we'll be.'

The helicopter landed in a field a few miles outside Belsen, where a car and driver were waiting to take them to the hospital in the city.

'I'm making you a criminal too,' Ronnie said as she watched the scenery flash by the window.

'I doubt if they'll deport me for helping my wife get to her dying father.' Gabe's hand closed on hers. 'Lord, your muscles are stiff as boards.'

'I need to get there.'

'I know it's seemed like a long trip, but we'realmost there. It should take about fifteen minutes to get to the hospital.'

'Will they let me see him?'

He nodded. 'I had Dan radio ahead. Our local station manager set it up.'

'Thank you. I'm sorry to be so much trouble.' She was silent a moment, and when she spoke again it was in a barely audible voice. 'It isn't that I owe him. He's… alone, Gabe. He's always been on the fringe. He never let anyone close to him. I lived with him for eighteen years and he never let even me get close. He's so alone.'

'Which made you pretty damn alone too.'

'I don't think he could help it. Some people can't. I wanted him to love me, but maybe there was something lacking in him.' She moistened her lips. 'Maybe he didn't have the aptitude. You know, like I can't cook?'

His only answer was the tightening of his hand holding hers.

'I still can't believe this. He never thought he could be hurt. He said he had nine lives…'

They pulled up in front of the hospital a short time later. 'Dan, go see Harry Spaulding and set up those arrangements I told you about and then come right back to the hospital,' Gabesaid as he helped her out of the car. His grip was a warm support beneath her elbow as they made their way through the lobby to the bank of elevators. 'It's room seven-twelve. We'll have to get clearance at the nurses' station before you'll be allowed in.'

A few minutes later they were on the seventh floor and moving down the hall toward the nurses' station.

A plump, dark-haired nurse checked the chart. 'Your name's on the list, but I'll have to see identification.'

'How is he?' Ronnie asked.

'He's unconscious.' The nurse handed back their identification. 'You'll have to ask the doctor for any further information. He'll be making his rounds in another hour. Follow me.' She got up and moved quickly down the corridor on silent white-shod feet.

A uniformed guard stopped them at the door, but at the nurse's nod he permitted Ronnie and Gabe to enter the room.

The room looked like all hospital rooms, sterile and pristine and without character. The scent was also the same-antiseptic and astringent. Only the man lying in the white-sheeted bed was an anomaly. Evan didn't belong here.

He shouldn't be in a hospital; he had nine lives.

'Evan?' she whispered.

He was going to die.

The certainty came to her as she looked at him. She had not believed it until this moment, but she had seen men on the verge of death before and Evan was very close.

Gabe could see it too. His hand tightened on her arm as he felt the shiver that went through her. 'Okay?'

She nodded.

He got her the only visitors' chair in the room and set it beside the bed. 'Sit down. I'll go get another chair for myself from the nurse.'

'No, don't stay. I'll be all right.' She sat down, her gaze on Evan's pale face. 'Leave me alone with him.'

'Are you sure?'

'He's never met you. You're a stranger to him. He was surrounded by strangers all of his life. I don't want him to-' She broke off and steadied her voice. 'Wait for me outside.'

He nodded and left the room.

She kept vigil all night and was vaguely conscious of Gabe bringing her a pillow, a cup of coffee, sometimes just