The Phoenix Encounter. Linda Castillo
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“He’s everything to me,” she said. “I could never bear it if something happened to him.”
“Nothing’s going to happen to him,” he said firmly. “These are routine tests. Chances are the pediatrician will prescribe some vitamins with iron, and Jack will be just fine.”
She didn’t look convinced, but at least she no longer looked as if she were going to jump out of her skin. He supposed they’d both learned that fate didn’t always bestow a kind outcome.
The instincts he’d developed in the course of his experience as a doctor told him to reach out and touch her, just to reassure her that her child was going to be fine. But Robert didn’t dare touch her. Deep down inside he knew it wasn’t the physician who wanted to touch her, but the man who’d never gotten her out of his system.
“I’d like to take him to the hospital in Rajalla where there’s a pediatric unit and laboratory facilities,” he said.
Lily visibly paled, but masked it by quickly turning away. Noticing that her hands were shaking, Robert watched her closely and wondered about her level of anxiety at the mention of the hospital in Rajalla. “Is there a problem with Rajalla?”
“No. Of course not.” She looked directly at him and smiled, but Robert saw the shimmer of nerves beneath the surface. “It’s just that the city has…changed since you were last there.”
Rajalla was the capital city of Rebelia. Robert had spent a good bit of time there and remembered it as a pretty, bustling metropolis with several sleek skyscrapers, ancient stone churches, a bazaar where local farmers and artisans sold stone-baked bread and Rebelian stained glass, and some of the most beautiful parks in all of Europe.
Robert had researched Rajalla carefully before leaving the United States. He knew DeBruzkya’s soldiers had invaded the city. He knew those soldiers had destroyed many of the buildings, including several historical cathedrals. He knew the once-healthy economy had slumped, that people had fled to the nearby country of Holzberg to become refugees.
But he was getting some odd vibes from Lily and wanted to hear her view. “How has it changed?”
She moved away from the crib as if what she were about to say was somehow harmful to her son. “DeBruzkya is in control of the entire city now. There are armed soldiers everywhere, including the hospital.”
“The soldiers don’t know who you are, do they?”
The hairs at his nape prickled when she didn’t answer.
“DeBruzkya himself has spent a fair amount of time at the hospital,” she said. “His sister is pregnant. The general is fanatical about his sister’s unborn child because that child will become his only heir.”
“Does DeBruzkya know who you are?” he asked.
Lily turned to look at him, her expression troubled and stubborn at once. And suddenly Robert got a very bad feeling in the pit of his stomach.
“Does he know who you are?” he repeated.
“He knows my face.”
Robert cursed.
“He doesn’t know I’m with the freedom fighters,” she said quickly.
“Does he know what you do?”
She stared at him, a hunted animal trapped in the crosshairs of a high powered rifle. “No.”
He scrubbed a hand over his jaw. “I can’t believe you would do something so incredibly foolhardy.”
“Robert, I can handle this. I know what I’m do—”
“You’re so far over your head you don’t know up from down,” he growled.
“I’m not afraid of him,” she snapped.
He shot her a hard look. “You’re too damn smart not to be afraid.”
She evidently didn’t have anything to say to that, so she turned away. Robert contemplated her in profile, liking what he saw even though he was dangerously furious.
He wanted to believe he was just being paranoid, but his instincts were telling him there was a hell lot more to the situation than what she was letting on.
Lily was lying to him. She was hiding something important. Something dangerous. And for the first time in his life Robert found himself hoping his instincts were wrong.
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