Very carefully Kane began to backtrack, crawling, belly down, over the contoured slopes, stopping every few feet to erase his tracks with a small push of air. He had to make it back to get in a position to better protect Rose while she sat outside and put on her pregnancy show.
The baby’s restless, Rose sent him. Come inside. I think he has a tummyache. You’ll have to walk him while I sit outside.
Rose. He put a warning in his voice. There was nothing about the situation he liked. If he went inside, she sat outside without his protection. If she didn’t go out, they ran the risk of Whitney’s men thinking she was giving birth and breaking in. Parents allow their babies to sleep for twenty minutes all alone in their own rooms.
He made his nightly circle around the house, careful to search for any signs that the house had been approached. Once the men settled for the night, he usually checked the tunnel, just to be certain. He was nervous about that entrance. Neither of Whitney’s men had gone near the hidden entrance, and he doubted they knew of its existence—which meant Whitney didn’t know either.
What game had Diego Jimenez been playing with Whitney? Clearly he’d traded information for delivering Rose to Whitney, yet he hadn’t said a word about the weapons, the tunnel, or the Humvee to Rose, a logical thing to do if he was really trying to help her. What did that mean exactly? He had to figure it all out soon, because time was running out for them fast.
He isn’t asleep, Kane. I can’t leave him.
He swore under his breath and then made an effort to calm down. Damn it, Rose. Do you have any idea what could happen if Carlson decided he wanted to visit with you tonight?
I’d kill him, she replied calmly. I’m no longer in a cage, and I’m not tied up. He’d be dead the moment he showed his face.
She wasn’t going to budge on her threat. If he didn’t come in and watch the baby, she was staying inside. Suppose he decides to dart you from a distance and take you while you were out? That’s what I’d do.
He’s not as smart as you, and in any case, you’d come after me, kill him, and take me back, so no matter what, you have to come inside and look after our son.
She’d pulled the “our son” card. How did a man react to that one? Women had sneaky little ways about them. He had all the logic in the world on his side, but it didn’t seem to matter, not when she knew how to twist everything until there was no way but hers.
Kane sighed and capitulated. Coming in. Are you going to win every argument? He was pretty certain he’d asked her that once before. Maybe twice.
Only the important ones.
He should have been angry at the feminine pleasure in her voice, but he loved her laughter, and he’d take it no matter how it came—even if he was the recipient of her amusement.
He slipped and slid down the last slope to the trail leading to the door. As he turned back to cover his tracks, he spotted Carlson and Fargo. They were hunched low, running to get in place before Rose’s normal time to sit outside. She’d already established a pattern, and they were counting on it. That gave him pause. Rose was a trained soldier. She knew better than to repeat patterns, yet neither Carlson nor Fargo had questioned her movements. He’d talked to her about varying the time she sat outside, but she’d been adamant that she sit outside at the same time each night. Which again made no sense until she explained.
Whitney expected her to forget her training, to become undisciplined in her actions because she was a woman out in the world without someone giving commands. He’d told them over and over that they would fail out of their environment. They weren’t male, and they needed a commander. Rose was giving Whitney what he expected.
She opened the door, and while the two sentries watched her, he slipped inside.
Chapter 8
Kane started for the ledge just below the window, intending to crawl up onto it, but his son let out an alarming wail. If his lungs were anything to go by, the boy was getting stronger with each passing day. Kane changed direction and hurried into the back bedroom. Sebastian was in the warmer. He’d kicked off his cover and was squirming, his face red, eyes closed tight, fists punching the air and his feet kicking. Something inside Kane went soft, and he let out his breath slowly.
“What’s wrong, little man?” He used his most soothing voice. Very gently he lifted the boy from the warmer and brought him in close to his chest, upright, supporting the little head.
Sebastian was so small he felt incredibly light in his hands, and Kane was still a little worried that he might accidentally hurt the child by holding him too tight. Each time he took the boy into his arms, he felt that curious melting of his heart. Newborn babies had their own weapons, that sweet helpless need and the soft, newborn skin. He cuddled Sebastian close and walked back and forth until the boy settled.
“I’m a little anxious, my man, and I need you to calm down right now. Your mother is out there exposed to the enemy, and we need to have her back on this.”
His son abruptly stopped fussing, his eyes snapping open. They stared at each other. For one strange moment, Kane felt as if he were looking into the eyes of an adult, intelligent and aware. Kane smiled down at him. “We’re not going to let anything happen to her, are we?” He talked to the boy as he moved quickly back to the living room. He shifted the baby to his shoulder, using one hand to anchor him and caught up his rifle with the other.
“Don’t worry, Sebastian. No one is going to take your mother from us. She’s a fighter all the way, and could probably handle this on her own, but we’re just going to make sure.”
Rose would probably give him a lecture about taking a baby into a combat situation, but that was too damned bad. The boy was born into their world, and he would have to grow up knowing every single moment of his life he would have to be vigilant.
“I’ll teach you, son, everything you’ll need to know to keep yourself alive and free of our enemies. And how to keep your mom safe.” He nuzzled the boy’s head. “We’ll never tell her that part; it will be our secret.”
He shoved the rifle up into the niche of the ledge. It was designed with maximum ability to see outside, yet the walls were reinforced to withstand any incoming bullets. “I’m going to put you down for just a moment while I climb up there. It’s a tight fit for us, but we don’t mind small spaces, not when it comes to safety.”
He kept up a running commentary, explaining everything he was doing, convinced it was his voice and not the subject matter that kept his son so alert and enthralled with what they were doing. He put the boy onto the ledge, tucking his body close to the wall so there was no danger of him falling. It took a moment to slide in and get into a position on his belly where he had full view of the surrounding terrain. Only then did he position the baby close to his chest, dragging the bulletproof bumpers that had been installed for extra protection around the boy.