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Chapter Sixty-three
As soon as she could break free from her responsibilities, Rylee gave Jake the signal they could leave. He wrapped his arm around her waist and led her through the empty corridors to his cabin.
Something drove her to say, “Let’s check on the kids first.”
He did an about-turn without missing a beat, and they went along the hallway in the opposite direction. “They’re getting to you.”
“How can they not? They’re so beautifully innocent.”
“I know. I looked at the babies earlier and my heart flopped right out of my chest.”
“You’re such a softie, Jake. They’ll have you twisted around their finger by the time they’re out of diapers.”
“That’s why I need you around, you and Leo. So you can be my conscience, keep me from going overboard with the spoiling.”
Rylee felt a swell of indulgence sweep over her. It popped into her head that she’d like nothing better than to be included in their future.
They whispered to the sleepy attendant not to worry and slid into the bedroom to see both the babies in dreamland. As they stepped closer, they saw Miguel on the floor between the cribs. “Jake, look.” Rylee pointed to the teen wrapped in a quilt, his head on a pillow. Sleeping soundly by his siblings, tear tracks obvious on his face.
Jake held his finger to his lips and motioned for them to leave. Once again in the corridor on their way to his room, he spoke. “It was best not to wake him and embarrass him about his sentiments. The boy just lost his mother, and I’m thinking the babies were giving him solace.”
“I’m sure you’re right. Earlier when I was with them, he had a hard time not breaking down. The guilt of leaving her is eating away at him.”
“I wondered about that. I think you’re right. We’ll keep the lines of communication open so he can vent about his feelings. Poor kid, the weight must be overwhelming.”
She added, “We’ll both be on watch. I know what it’s like to keep major shit inside until it festers. Can’t let that happen to him.”
He stopped her right there and kissed her hard, his adoration hotly apparent. He continued until her head spun. Then he steered her to the nearby door and into his cabin.
Once there, he poured them both a glass of wine and led her to the balcony where the warm air and quiet of the Caribbean night soothed them both. Darkness, broken only by the wash of the waves on the side of the large ship and the brilliance of the moon above, enfolded them as they lay side by side on the over-sized lounger.
Breaking the comfortable silence, he whispered, “I’ve been waiting to get you alone. I’m stunned by my astounding patience.”
“Strange thing, I could feel it like a living thing between us. Every time you looked at me back at the jail, I knew you were waiting to pounce.”
“Did you mind?”
“Not even a little. I felt the same. But there’s one thing you need to know about me, Jake. I’m a stickler for procedure and accountability. When I take on a job, I see it through.”
“So I gathered from a few remarks your partner let drop.”
“I’ve worked hard to be a good agent, it’s important to me, always has been.”
“What made you decide to be a cop, or better yet, work for the FBI?”
“You mean the reason that made me want to help other people?”
“Sure, that too.”
She turned to him so he could see the seriousness – that what she was about to share mattered. And she relaxed when he put his glass down on the table next to him and turned so she lay fully in his embrace. “Tell me.”
“I’ve never told anyone details before, not even my counselor, so bear with me.” Her voice turned into a monotone of a cop giving a report of an incident that might have happened to another victim. “I was fifteen, home alone, and I let a delivery man into our house. He attacked me. He was brutal, disgusting… I couldn’t fight him off. No skills and so terrified I couldn’t breathe, I failed to stop him. Had no idea how to. He hurt me. Hurt me bad and left me with an infection that ruined me for ever having kids.”
She felt Jake stiffen and added, “I didn’t go to the doctor about the infection until it was unavoidable, and my parents rushed me to the ER. I refused to say what happened, but the doctor was a pretty savvy woman, she knew and helped me. We didn’t discuss the actual rape, and I refused to let her share anything with anyone else, so she kept me in for a few days, gave me a prescription and warned me that because I’d waited so long, the STD had probably affected my vaginal tract and might have ruined my chances for ever being a mother. That’s my sad story.”
Relaying her case as if it had happened to another, dry-eyed, she watched to see his reaction.
He turned to her, cradling her carefully. “God, Rylee, I’m so sorry. What do the doctors say now?”
