Farnsworth waved her away and then settled into the chair beside his daughter’s bed. He collected her tiny, frail hand in his and bowed his head, staring down at his feet. He closed his eyes as cold fury laced with paralyzing fear gripped him.
He couldn’t lose her. She was the only good thing in his life.
“Daddy?” she whispered.
He yanked up his head, surprised to see her awake and staring at him.
“What are you doing?”
He put his other hand to her cheek and rubbed his thumb up and down, the knot growing in his throat. “Just checking on you and saying good night. How are you feeling?”
“I’m good.”
It was her standard answer no matter how she really felt. It enraged him that she sought to protect him. She never wanted him to know when she was tired or hurting. It should be him protecting her. Him finding a way to make her well again.
“That’s good,” he said, moving his hand to her forehead to stroke away the golden hair. “I need you to hang in there. I have someone coming who can help you.”
Elizabeth cast him a doubtful look. It was what he’d said a hundred times before when he’d brought in a new doctor. And always the result had been the same. Nothing could be done.
“This time will be different,” he promised. He leaned forward to kiss her forehead. “This person is going to make you all better, and then think of all the wonderful, fun things we can do together. I want you to make a list. We’ll do every single thing on it.”
And he would. He’d spend any amount of money in the world to make her happy.
“I’ll do it tomorrow, Daddy. I’m tired tonight.”
He squeezed her hand. “Of course you will. We’ll make a list together. How’s that sound? Maybe we can order pizza and have a party right here.”
Elizabeth closed her eyes. “That
would be awesome. Maybe I’ll feel better by then.”
Tears burned Farnsworth’s eyelids k019at w and he furiously blinked them away. “Go to sleep, baby. Daddy’s right here. I won’t leave until you’re asleep.”
CHAPTER 11
THEY landed in Belize in the dead of night. Rio helped Grace from the plane after wrapping her in a dark, hooded coat. The warm, humid air was a welcome change to the chill of the Rocky Mountains. She embraced it, breathed it in to alleviate some of the cold that had settled into her bones.
Some of her shock had worn off and her mind wasn’t as fuzzy as it had been for so long. But with the new awareness came consequences. Fear that she’d trusted the wrong men. Memories of the horrors she’d endured. Phantom pain mixed with the very real pain of her current injuries. It all mixed and swirled in her mind and body, overwhelming her.
Lucidity sucked.
Rio ushered her into a pitch-black battered van and instructed her to lie down in the cargo area. Truth be told, she’d done nothing by lie flat on her back for the last umpteen hours. She crawled inside but sat up with her back resting on the side of the van.
Her rib cage was still sore as hell, but her breathing felt normal to her. Perhaps not quite as strong or as deep. She could tell her respirations were shallower than usual. But she was at least in the early stages of healing and already she could tell the difference.
She glanced down at her arm and slid her fingers over the area where the break had occurred. She flexed the affected fingers, satisfied that there was no lingering numbness. Terrence setting the break had helped enormously even if it had hurt like hell. If he hadn’t done it, she might have lost the hand before her body began the healing process.
There was still some swelling, and definite tenderness and bruising, but there was no crepitus to denote weakness in the fracture.
In a day’s time, provided she had ample time to rest, she should demonstrate marked improvement.
Rio hopped into the back a moment later, and the doors shut behind him. When one of the front doors opened, the overhead light came on and Rio’s eyes narrowed.
“I thought I told you to lie down. I don’t want you to make your injuries worse.”
“I’ll be fine,” she said quietly.
“How is your breathing?”
“Good,” she huffed out. She was still a little short of breath, but nothing that was going to kill her. She’d already survived unimaginable events.
The light went off as all the doors closed and the van pulled away. She and Rio rocked and swayed as they went over a series of bumps.
“Is your house far?” she asked.
“Up the river,” he said shortly. “It’s a short drive to where we’ll put in.”
“The river?”
“Yeah, we’ll take a boat the rest of the way.”
She was gripped by a sudden chill and she wrapped her arms around her waist, ignoring the slight protest offered by the arm she’d broken.
She couldn’t shake her unease. So far Rio had proven to her that he was a man of his word. But the farther he took her from civilization and all she knew, the more her panic increased.
She’d learned the hard way that she could trust no one. Her entire life had been spent on the run, moving from town to town, house to house, always shrouded in secrecy. And then when her parents had been murdered, she and Shea had split up and running had become their reality.
Had she traded one hell for an n Tellereother? How did she know Rio wasn’t working for people who wanted to cash in on her gift just as the others had? Was he even now taking her to some isolated laboratory, hidden so deeply that she’d never be found?