Keeping Penny (Rescue Angels #4)

Chapter 1

CHAPTER ONE

Penny’s heart was racing. She was terrified. But she’d learned the hard way never to show fear. Her husband had loved to see her cower. Had reveled in it. This wasn’t the same kind of situation, not at all, but lessons learned were hard to forget.

Her husband was dead now, and she didn’t have to fear him—or what he’d do to her—any longer.

What she did have to fear at this moment was the possibility the pissed-off Gabonese citizens would take out their frustrations and anger at their government on her, her daughter, and the two dozen or so other women and children on the roof of this hotel.

They’d been sent to this place to await instructions on how they were going to be extracted from the country.

Gabon was in the midst of a political shitstorm and no one was safe.

The US government had decided to evacuate as many of their citizens as they could.

Except nothing had gone according to the directions they’d been given.

Penny had gone to the hotel with a glimmer of hope…

but the building had quickly become one of the gathering points for the riots going on around the city.

She’d gotten a phone call to get to the roof, so they’d left their small room with nothing but Penny’s cross-body purse holding their passports and the tiny amount of cash she possessed.

She and Bowie reached the roof, only to find they were trapped. There was no way off, and even if there was, they couldn’t go down. Everyone could clearly see the chaos happening in the streets all around the hotel.

The sound of rotor blades in the distance had everyone looking to the sky. A helicopter was coming closer and closer, except no one knew if it was someone there to help them or the government coming to crack down on the rioters.

Everyone seemed paralyzed with fear. Crying and shaking.

Penny was scared too, but she had the greatest motivation of all to get the hell off this roof in one piece—her daughter.

Bowie was six years old, blind since birth…and the best thing that had ever happened to Penny. They’d both been through hell during the girl’s short life, though the last two years, since her husband’s death, had been a bit more peaceful.

Her husband always blamed her for Bowie’s lack of eyesight. Not a day went by that John hadn’t berated her for bearing him not only a daughter instead of a son, but a “defective” one at that.

But Bowie wasn’t defective. Not at all. She was beautiful inside and out. A ray of sunshine in a world that often didn’t have much light.

After her husband was killed, Penny was unsure what to do…especially when it turned out complications from John’s life—ones unknown to Penny—didn’t die with him.

She and Bowie couldn’t afford to stay in their apartment in Libreville, Gabon’s capital, but within days, she’d thankfully been referred to a job outside the city.

It was in a tiny little community, but Penny wasn’t choosy.

Flying back to the States wasn’t an option, as there was no way she had enough money to get there.

So she’d moved herself and Bowie and made the best of a difficult situation.

And with John no longer around to terrorize them both on a daily basis, Bowie thrived under Penny’s care. Came out of her shell. Now she was fearless, maneuvering in a dark world better than many of those with perfect eyesight.

Penny watched with awe as the helicopter got closer and closer and then “parked” itself with one skid on the roof and the other hovering in midair. The pilot was obviously a pro, and for the first time her hopes rose that they really might get out of this situation alive.

The helicopter’s door flew open, and a man wearing a flight suit, a helmet with a headset near his mouth, and sturdy boots was kneeling at the entrance, gesturing for them to come to him.

But the women around her weren’t going anywhere.

They were frozen in fear. The chopper was loud and the wind was whipping all around them in a frenzy.

“Mommy, what’s happening?” Bowie asked from behind her.

Making a split-second decision and feeling in her bones that time was running out, Penny turned to her and said, “We’re being rescued. There’s a helicopter parked not too far from us.”

“Really? Neat!” Bowie exclaimed, as if they were at some air show back home in the States and not in the middle of a life-or-death situation on a roof in Africa. One of the many things she loved about her daughter was how willing she was to embrace new things.

“Right? And we get to ride in it. I’m going to need you to walk over to the nice military man who’s waiting for us to get on. Can you do that?”

“Yes, Mommy!”

“It’s about thirty steps in a straight line from here to where he’s waiting for you. There’s nothing between you and him. Just walk slow. Don’t run, and don’t trip.”

Bowie giggled. “I won’t!”

With her heart in her throat, Penny watched as her daughter walked confidently toward the huge chopper hovering at the edge of the roof. If she veered too far to the left or right, she could literally walk off the side of the building.

To Penny’s relief, the man jumped out of the helicopter, said something to Bowie, and reached for her. The next thing she knew, her daughter was inside the chopper. Safe.

The women around her weren’t sure if they should go or not, and Penny was done.

“He’s obviously here to evacuate us. Go! We need to get on! Leave your stuff here. It won’t fit.”

She managed to corral most of the women toward the huge machine hovering next to the hotel.

Penny saw Bowie sitting on her butt against the far wall inside the helicopter with a huge smile on her face.

At least someone was enjoying this experience.

Penny was still scared to death. Her muscles were trembling with fear, but the sooner she got everyone onboard, the sooner she could get to Bowie.

It was ingrained in Penny to take care of others before herself.

Her husband had seen to that. And her job with the United Nations Population Fund had further enforced it.

She may have basically fallen into working for the UNFPA by accident, but it was an ideal fit, and she would always be thankful she’d found the job after John’s passing.

He’d been in the oil industry, moving them to Gabon a decade ago, and when she’d gotten pregnant, Penny immediately realized how poor the local healthcare was for pregnant women.

Her job with the UNFPA, an organization that specializes in reproductive and maternal health, was rewarding and fulfilling. She’d helped bring countless children into the world, making both them and their mothers safer during the entire birthing process.

Considering Bowie’s lack of sight, and the vulnerable population she worked with, Penny had basically dedicated herself to putting others first.

Which was why she wasn’t pushing her way to the front of the group to get inside the helicopter.

Why she was encouraging the scared and jittery people in front of her to quickly enter then move back to make room for others.

Why she was pulling bags out of people’s hands and throwing them to the roof without a second thought.

Every bag left behind meant more room for another person.

And human lives were more important than whatever these women had packed in their suitcases.

It wasn’t quite that easy, as several women were opposed to leaving their things. But Penny was insistent without being a bitch about it.

When there were about six of them left on the roof, Penny sensed a change in the man helping them onboard.

An urgency that wasn’t there before. He’d been in somewhat of a hurry since opening the door, but now he was practically throwing the women into the helicopter, where before he was being a little more patient.

The change made the hair on the back of Penny’s neck stand up.

“Hurry!” she yelled at the woman in front of her, who was balking at getting into the helicopter.

“I can’t!” the lady wailed.

Penny didn’t need to see the man’s tightly pressed lips and frown to know they were almost out of time. She put her hand on the woman’s back and shoved her forward.

“Get on or we’re all dead!” she yelled in the woman’s ear.

She didn’t think the woman actually made the decision to get onboard by herself, but with Penny at her back pushing and the military man grabbing her waist and lifting her off her feet and into the chopper, she didn’t have a choice.

The woman’s mouth dropped open, and she probably let out a screech of surprise or protest, but it was lost in the noise of the rotors.

The man with the helmet turned to her and gripped her waist, but Penny was ready and willing. As soon as she was on her feet inside the chopper, the man leapt inside himself. He grabbed the door to pull it closed, and Penny instinctually reached out to help.

He nodded at her, and Penny couldn’t help but notice that his eyes were a beautiful, rich mahogany-brown color. His face was…trustworthy. Which might seem stupid, but she’d become a good judge of character over the years. Having to make split-second decisions on who to trust and who to be wary of.

And this man—he was someone she could trust. After all, she’d seen him treat Bowie as if she were made of glass, which was a huge plus in her book.

People tended to either dismiss her little girl—thinking she was worthless because she couldn’t see—or treat her as if she was stupid because of her disability.

Both reactions were irritating. But Penny had recognized the moment this man understood the situation with Bowie, and he instantly adapted to her condition.

Based on her daughter’s movements when she was inside the chopper, the man seemed to give her very precise instructions that were easy for the girl to follow.