Chapter Ten

Chapter Ten

The extraction from Cambodia went surprisingly smoothly.

Four men and a woman showed up at the door of Marlowe and Kendric’s room a very stressful sixteen hours later, and immediately got to work moving Kendric from the floor to a stretcher. The woman barked out orders in what sounded like German as she got an IV line started in Kendric’s arm. She paused to lift the sheet and look at his back, made a concerned sound in her throat, then covered him up and gave more orders to the men.

Marlowe found herself following along behind their rescuers as they loaded Kendric into a van. They shuttled her inside, then raced off toward the airport.

The driver bypassed the main terminal and instead went to a smaller building. He flashed his identification at the man stationed at a security hut, and it seemed to Marlowe that they barely even slowed down. They drove straight to an airplane with the Liechtenstein flag painted on the side, and everyone jumped out of the van and began to assist with the stretcher.

The next thing Marlowe knew, she was walking up the stairs and into the luxurious plane.

The doctor was hovering over Kendric toward the back, while two of the men locked the stretcher into place to make sure it didn’t move around when they took off.

“Please, have a seat,” a woman said from next to her in accented English, making Marlowe jump. She hadn’t even seen her approach.

“We’ll be taking off as soon as the doctor gives the word,” she went on. “Would you like something to eat? Or drink?”

Marlowe was extremely thirsty, but the thought of putting anything in her stomach right now made her nauseous. “No, thank you. I’m fine. When . . . how . . . don’t we have to go through customs or something?”

The woman smiled. “It’s been taken care of. I met with the authorities and showed them your passports.”

She handed over two dark-blue passports that said Fürstentum Liechtenstein at the top. Under some sort of crest was the word Reisepass. In a daze, Marlowe opened one and saw her picture, one that she recognized from her American passport, which had been seized by the Thai authorities . . . and the name Marlowe Evans.

The other passport had Kendric’s name and picture in it.

She looked up at the woman. “I don’t understand,” she whispered.

“Your husband is an unofficial member of the royal family, by decree.” She shrugged. “It is not technically a legal passport, and they will be confiscated before you deplane, but it was the fastest way to get you out without a lot of hassle.” She winked. “From what I understand, Thailand is looking for a Marlowe Kennedy, not Marlowe Evans. If you could please have a seat, we’ll be in the air soon.”

Marlowe sort of fell into the nearest seat. She was in shock. Cal had come through in a huge way. She wanted to cry in gratitude, but her eyes were already puffy and she didn’t feel as if she had any tears left.

Twenty minutes later—after they were in the air, and Marlowe felt as if she could breathe, truly breathe, for the first time in a month and a half—she unsnapped her seat belt and made her way back to where Kendric was lying.

The doctor was writing in a chart, frowning as she approached.

“Will he be okay?” Marlowe asked.

The woman responded in accented English. “I believe so, yes. But it was a good thing we got there when we did. He’s very sick. The infection had spread to his organs.”

Alarm filled Marlowe. “But he’ll be all right?”

“We’ve got fluids going, and a heavy dose of antibiotics. He needs stitches to close those wounds in his back, but that can’t be done until the infection is under control. I’ve cleaned his injuries, including the wounds on his arms and hands. Knife?” she asked.

Marlowe nodded.

The doctor gave her a reassuring look. “We just have to wait for the antibiotics to do their thing. He’ll be up and around in a few days.”

“Really?” Marlowe said, hope coursing through her veins.

“Yes. He is young and strong. I am confident he will be fine.”

Marlowe’s knees almost gave out from under her, and she reached a hand out to brace herself on a nearby seat.

“Sit,” the doctor ordered. “I should look you over too.”

“No,” Marlowe said with a shake of her head. “I’m fine.”

“To be blunt, you do not look fine,” the doctor said. “You are too skinny, and your cheekbones are sunken in. You are clearly dehydrated, and you could have an infection as well.”

“I’ll be okay once I’ve had a few good meals,” Marlowe insisted. “Kendric’s the one I’m worried about.”

The doctor frowned but didn’t push. “All right. But you should drink some water. Rehydrate. Eat something.”

“I will,” Marlowe promised, not entirely sure she could eat anything. But now that she knew Kendric was going to be okay, she’d at least have something to drink.

Several hours later, Marlowe felt as if she was going to drop. The flight to Maine was over eighteen hours long, and they still had eleven to go. While she was exhausted, she couldn’t sleep. She was too worried about Kendric. He hadn’t woken up, and even though the doctor said he’d be okay, Marlowe couldn’t rest until she’d spoken to him. Seen for herself that he was on the road to recovery.

She was sitting next to his stretcher when he made a whimpering noise in his throat. Marlowe immediately stood up and took his hand in hers. “Kendric?”

He didn’t respond, but began to twitch as he lay there.

“Stand back,” the doctor ordered.

But as soon as Marlowe let go of Kendric’s hand, he began to thrash on the stretcher. “Marlowe!” he yelled.

The strength and volume of his shout made both her and the doctor jerk in surprise.

“Marlowe!” he shouted again. “Where are you? Marlowe!”

“I’m here,” she said, but one of the men had taken hold of her arm, preventing her from returning to his side. “Let go of me!” she seethed, struggling to get out of his grasp.

“He’s agitated,” the doctor insisted.

“No shit!” Marlowe exclaimed, not caring how upset she sounded.

“Let her go! No! Marlowe, I’m coming!”

Kendric was now trying to push himself off the stretcher, and the doctor was attempting to hold him in place, which just seemed to agitate him more.

“He’s going to pull out his IV if he doesn’t stop. Come hold him down while I sedate him,” the doctor told one of the men.

“No! Let me try to calm him down. Please!” Marlowe begged.

The doctor looked at Kendric, then at her, then back to her patient. Finally, she sighed and stepped back. “Let her go,” she told the man holding Marlowe.

As soon as she was free, Marlowe raced back to Kendric’s side. She grabbed his hand and put the other on his shoulder. “I’m here, Kendric. You’re okay. I’m okay. Relax.”

His eyes were open, but they stared into space, obviously not seeing much of anything. “Punky?”

“It’s me. I’m here.”

“Don’t leave me. Don’t ever leave me!”

His words made her heart turn over in her chest. “I won’t. I’m right here.”

Even though Kendric was out of it, he turned onto his side and tugged her closer.

“Wait, no—” the doctor began, but Marlowe was already moving. She climbed onto the stretcher and plastered herself to Kendric’s front. His arm wrapped around her, clutched her to him with an iron grip.

The doctor said something in German, and Marlowe had a feeling it was probably a good thing she couldn’t understand the language. She held her breath, praying she wouldn’t be forced to move. Here in Kendric’s arms, she felt better than she had in hours.

“Try to keep him calm,” the doctor said after a moment, grabbing the sheet that had fallen to the floor during Kendric’s struggles. She draped it over them both.

Closing her eyes, Marlowe sighed in relief.

And just like that, her eyelids felt impossibly heavy. She couldn’t keep them open a second longer. She felt as if she was right where she belonged. In this man’s arms. He’d held her like this often during their escape from Thailand, and it was where she felt the most safe.

She marveled that she could soothe him, the same way he calmed her. He was quiet now, his breathing slower, and thankfully his skin didn’t seem quite as hot as it had been earlier. Marlowe prayed that meant the antibiotics were doing what they were made to do . . . healing the man she loved from the inside out.

Marlowe kissed Kendric’s chest, then snuggled deeper into him. “Love you,” she whispered.

She hadn’t thought she’d said it very loud. Or that he’d even understand the words. So she was shocked when Kendric replied just as quietly, “I love you too.”

Tears sprang to her eyes once again. She’d thought she was all cried out, but apparently she was wrong. Kendric wasn’t exactly in his right mind, but she’d still treasure his words for the rest of her life.

She fell asleep seconds later. A deep, healing sleep, a result of too many hours of worry, stress, and terror that one or both of them would be caught and hauled back to Thailand and locked up.

A couple of hours later, Bob opened his eyes and tried to make sense of where he was. He didn’t recognize his surroundings and racked his brain to try to figure out what the hell was going on. The only things he did recognize were the woman in his arms—her scent, the feel of her body snuggled against him—and, unfortunately, the pain in his back.

“Are you awake?” a female voice asked.

Jerking in surprise, and holding back a moan from the pain the movement caused, Bob twisted his neck to look over his shoulder. A woman he’d never seen before was standing behind him, spreading some sort of salve on his wounds.

“Yeah,” he croaked.

“Good. Your wife was worried. I told her you’d be fine now that you were getting treated, but she wasn’t convinced.”

Bob put his head back down. He felt extremely weak, but the longer he was awake, the more his mind cleared. The last thing he remembered was arriving at the room Willis had arranged for him and Marlowe to hunker down in until he could arrange for their identifications and a flight out of Cambodia.

He could tell the plane they were on definitely wasn’t a commercial bird. The woman treating his wounds had a German accent, and there were a few men scattered in the seats. They were wearing official-looking uniforms . . . and he suddenly recognized where he was.

“This is one of the royal planes from Liechtenstein,” he said. “I recognize the flag on the backs of the seats.”

It wasn’t really a question, but the woman behind him answered anyway. “Yes. Your wife called your friends. Prince Redmon set things in motion for us to extract you. We are on our way to Maine, where the prince and the others will most certainly be waiting for you.”

“What? How?” Bob stuttered.

“I do not know. I was called to the plane and briefed on your condition on the way to Cambodia. You will have to ask your wife when she wakes up what happened before we arrived.”

Bob closed his eyes and tightened his hold on Marlowe. His wife. Damn if that didn’t sound good. “Were there any issues getting us out?”

The doctor chuckled. “None. No one would dare mess with the royal family. You had the proper documentation, forged of course, and Liechtenstein passports.”

Bob’s head was spinning. Cal had somehow gotten him and Marlowe passports from his home country? Holy crap, the man had more pull than he’d expected. He owed him. Huge. Even though he knew Cal wouldn’t let him do a damn thing to thank him.

“You would not calm until she climbed onto the stretcher with you,” the doctor told him. “As soon as she did, she basically passed out. I don’t think she’s gotten any sleep recently. You should take better care of her.”

Bob took the small rebuke to heart. He’d messed up. Big time. He’d known his wounds were infected, and yet he’d hidden that fact from Marlowe because he didn’t want her to worry. He figured he at least had time to get back to the States before he’d have to worry about medical care. He’d obviously been wrong. By the time he got them to the room by the airport, he’d been in big trouble.

How exactly had Marlowe gotten them rescued? Everything was a big blank in his head, and he hated it. But he wasn’t going to wake Marlowe to ask her. She was deadweight against him and obviously needed the sleep.

“You should get her checked out too. She’s tiny. And she did not eat. I did get her to drink some water, but she needs much more.”

Bob nodded, then inhaled sharply as the doctor probed one of the wounds in his back.

“Sorry,” she said, not sounding particularly apologetic. “These need stitching, but the infection needs to come out first. I’m draining them now. There’s some pain meds in your IV, but if you need more, let me know.”

What she was doing hurt like hell, but Bob didn’t ask for more narcotics. The pain was a result of his stupidity. Besides, he’d been through worse when he was a captive. “I’m good,” he told her.

When the doctor was done with his back, she fussed with his IV for a moment, nodded at him, then walked around the stretcher to sit in one of the seats toward the front of the plane, giving him and Marlowe some privacy. Before walking off, she’d told him they had about three more hours to go before landing in Bangor. He’d clearly been out for a long time.

When they arrived, Bob had a feeling he’d have to answer to a lot of people. He needed to make sure Marlowe’s brother knew she was safe and call Willis and update him, and he’d most definitely have to talk to his friends. Try to explain the secret life he’d been living.

He ran a hand over Marlowe’s head, and was surprised when she stirred. He moved his hand to her nape and tightened his hold, supporting her head as she leaned back to look up at him.

“Kendric?”

“Yeah, Punky, it’s me.”

She immediately burst into tears, burrowing her face in his chest and crying all over him.

Figuring it was a release of the tension over whatever had happened while he’d been unconscious, Bob did his best not to panic. He simply held her tightly as she sobbed.

Before long, she sniffed and leaned back once more. “You’re okay.” It wasn’t a question.

“I am,” he assured her anyway.

“I was so worried.”

“I’m so sorry—” he started, but she shook her head.

“Nothing to be sorry about,” she told him.

Bob was relieved Marlowe hadn’t tried to get up, to leave his embrace. He wasn’t sure he would’ve been able to let her go. She felt perfect right where she was. As if she was meant to be in his arms.

He’d tried halfheartedly to resist his feelings for this woman as they fled Thailand and traveled across Cambodia, knowing he and Marlowe would eventually part ways. But even without knowing the details of how he’d gotten to be on this plane, his feelings had changed yet again. Or more honestly, deepened.

She’d taken care of them both while he was out of it. She’d managed to get them out of Cambodia safely, and he was even more proud of her than he’d been before, which was saying a hell of a lot, since he’d already been overwhelmed by how she’d dealt with everything.

“Want to tell me how we ended up on a royal Liechtenstein plane on our way to Maine?” he asked.

And his Marlowe, being her usual self, didn’t hesitate. She told him everything.

How scared she’d been, how she’d taken his watch and traded it for a phone call. How she’d called Jack’s Lumber and talked to his friends and April. How the doctor and the royal officers had shown up and whisked them to the airport and onto the plane. She told him about the forged passports and how the doctor insisted he was going to be all right.

And she admitted that she’d told his friends about what he’d been doing behind their backs, in order to explain who she was and how they’d come to be in their predicament.

She didn’t leave anything out, and by the time she was done explaining, Bob felt a mixture of shame that he’d let her down so badly and immense pride at how well she’d coped.

“I should’ve given you Willis’s number,” he said softly when she was done.

“Yeah, but what’s done is done,” she said with a small shrug.

Her ability to forgive was astounding. His screwup could’ve resulted in her being thrown back into prison.

“Kendric, stop,” she scolded, reading his mind. “We’re okay. You’re going to get better, and we’ll be back home soon. Although I am mad at you about something.”

Bob wasn’t surprised. There were a lot of things she should be mad at him about. “Yeah?” he asked.

“You should’ve told me you were hurt from crawling under that fence. Especially after you went into that disgusting water,” she huffed out, rising onto an elbow on the stretcher. “That was stupid. And not something I’d expect from a former Delta Force operative,” she scolded.

“But it was something a man would do for his wife. For the woman he cares about. And this has nothing to do with me being stronger, or a man, or even a former soldier. In the moment, all I could think about was trying to protect you. Doing anything and everything to keep you safe.”

Marlowe stared at him for a long moment before taking a deep breath. “I need to tell you something.”

Bob tensed. What hadn’t she already told him? Had she been hurt while getting them help? “What?”

“I love you.”

It took a moment for her words to sink in. Before he could say anything, she went on.

“I’m not telling you that to try to trap you into anything. But these last twenty-four hours . . . when I thought you might die . . . it was awful. And I realized how much I care about you. If you’d died, I’m not sure I would’ve survived it. So I had to tell you how I feel. But I don’t expect you to do anything about it. Or say anything. I just want you to know how amazing you are. And how good you make me feel. That’s . . . that’s all.”

Bob’s heart felt as if it was growing like the Grinch’s did at the end of How the Grinch Stole Christmas. He’d thought this woman was brave before, but now he knew without a doubt that she was ten times braver than he’d ever be.

“It’s a good thing you feel that way, since I feel the same.”

She stared at him for a beat before blinking. “Really?” she whispered.

Bob vowed to never let a day go by without telling this woman how much he loved her. “Yes, really. I love you, Marlowe Evans. More than I ever thought I could love anyone.”

“Holy crap.”

He smiled at that. “It’s also a good thing we’re already married, because if we weren’t, I might be bugging my friends to find a priest or officiant or whatever it’s called to come to the hospital.”

“I’m still not sure our ceremony was legal,” she said with a small smile.

“I have a wedding certificate in my pocket that says differently,” Bob said. “At least, I hope it’s still in my pocket.”

Marlowe nodded, and he relaxed.

“We’ll have another ceremony when I get out of the hospital, just to be sure. But our anniversary will always be that day we said our vows back in Thailand.”

Marlowe lowered herself and went back to snuggling into his chest. “It feels unbelievable that something good came out of my visit to Thailand. I mean, it’s not a bad country. It’s beautiful, in fact. There’s so much history, and most of the people are so welcoming and openhearted.”

Bob took a deep breath. His Marlowe had been mistreated horribly, and yet she still had the ability to be kind and generous toward the people of Thailand.

“Can we send money to that woman?”

He knew exactly who she was talking about. The one who’d insisted on them being married. “Yes. I’ll get Willis on that.”

“Good. Kendric?”

He smiled. He’d almost lost that. Hearing her say his name before asking a question. It was one of the million tiny things he already loved about her. “Yeah?”

“Don’t scare me like that again. From here on out, if you get even the smallest splinter, I want you to tell me about it. I was so scared.”

Bob tightened his hold on her. “I will. I promise.”

She nodded. Several minutes went by, and he thought she was asleep again, but then she said, “I’m sorry I had to tell your friends about the rescuing-people thing.”

“I’m not,” he reassured her. “It was time. I didn’t like lying to them, and honestly, the thrill of doing those missions has officially worn off. I like helping people, but I’m done putting myself in harm’s way like that.”

“Good. That’s what I told them. I even told them what you mentioned to me in Cambodia. That you might see about getting on a rope rescue team or volunteer with a search and rescue group or something. You’d be amazing at either. Not that you aren’t great at the tree business or leading hikers on the Appalachian Trail, I’m sure.”

“I know what you meant. And while I’m looking forward to seeing what the possibilities are for my future, I’ve got something else to occupy my time now.”

She looked up at him. “You do? What?”

“You.”

He saw her eyes watering before she closed them.

“That is, if you want that. I want you to move to Maine with me, Punky. Live with me. I’ll teach you to cook if you want, or I’ll do all the cooking. You’ll love Carlise and June, and April too. We’ll find something for you to do if you want to work. Or if you want to keep traveling, I’ll come along and be your bodyguard or something.”

Her eyes opened at that. “No!” she blurted, then took a deep breath. “I don’t want to travel anymore. I’m content staying home.”

“Okay. All I’m saying is that whatever you want to do, we’ll make it happen.”

“I want to be with you,” she whispered. “Have a family.”

Bob’s heart lurched. “Yes,” he said fervently.

They smiled at each other.

“Does your back hurt?” she asked.

“No,” he lied.

Marlowe rolled her eyes. “Whatever. So much for confessing every splinter.”

Bob grinned. “You still look tired. We have a couple more hours before we land. Sleep, Punky.”

“I’m not tired anymore,” she said, but a huge yawn belied her words.

Bob chuckled. “Right. I hear you.”

“Okay, maybe I’m a little tired. But just another hour. I want to have time to look presentable when I meet your friends.”

“You’re already presentable,” he told her.

She rolled her eyes again. “I’m a mess,” she said unselfconsciously. “My hair is probably sticking up everywhere, I stink, I’m dirty. I need to clean up before we land. I don’t want your friends thinking you’re with a wild jungle creature.”

“You’re my wild jungle creature,” Bob said with pride. “And I love you exactly how you are.”

She seemed to melt into his arms. “I love you too,” she said shyly.

Bob palmed the back of her head and kissed her forehead gently. “Sleep, Punky. I’ve got you.”

“I know you do,” she replied, then promptly fell into a deep sleep.

Bob held her tightly. Lying on his side was uncomfortable, but he didn’t move even an inch. This woman had literally saved their lives . . . and she loved him. Two things that he wouldn’t have thought possible when he’d met her two weeks ago. Now she’d agreed to move to Newton with him. To have a family. He couldn’t be more content than he was right that moment.