Chapter 19
Ablipping noise went on and on, and it was pissing me off. I groaned.
“Hey.” A warm hand draped over my forearm. “There you are.”
The voice was deep, manly. I tried to pinpoint who it was.
Blinking my eyes open, I squinted against the fluorescent light above me and smacked my lips together.
“You want some water?” he said.
My vision cleared, and I took in the most glorious sight of the man beside me. “Colton?”
He grinned and my heart skipped a beat. “You remember me, huh? That’s a good sign.”
Pain twisted low in my stomach, and I winced.
“Take it easy.” He stood next to the bed and his gaze seemed to look right into my soul.
“Where am I?”
“Hospital.”
Frowning, I tried to piece things together.
“Do you remember what happened?” He glided a loose hair away from my eye, and his touch was so sweet, my heart skipped a beat.
My mind crashed through a dozen memories, and just as many questions fought for attention. I groaned. “Pedro and the others . . . are they okay?”
He nodded. “They roughed up Pedro, and unfortunately he lost his left eye in the attack, but otherwise he’s okay.”
“Oh no. And the others?”
“They had been tied up, but thankfully weren’t hurt. They’ve all returned to Australia.”
“What about Lara? She must be devastated over Ethan’s murder.”
“It’s hard to say. But she is making the most of the media attention.”
Colton was dressed in jeans and a white T-shirt. His beard was trimmed, his hair was perfectly tussled, and he smelled sooooo good. I frowned. Last time I’d seen him, we’d both looked like we’d survived a tsunami wave. “How long have I been in the hospital?”
“Six days. They put you into a medically induced coma.”
“Six days! I have to tell my mom and sisters.” Wincing, I reached for the handle over my bed to pull myself up.
“Hey, they’re okay.” He pressed his hand to my shoulder. “Stay calm.”
“Oh, so they know I’m in the hospital?”
“Of course. They’ll be back soon.”
“They’re here?” I blinked at him, trying to comprehend how they could be in Mexico.
“Yes. But at the moment, Pauline has taken your mom for her treatment, and they’ll be back after that. Chelsea had to go to an appointment, but she’s due back soon, and Rose went to grab coffee and hopefully some of the donuts she’s been raving about.”
My jaw dropped.
“What?” His grin grew to spectacular.
I bugged my eyes at him. “You know my family?”
“We’ve been hanging out while you’ve been sleeping.”
I chuckled, then groaned at the pain. “Ouch. Don’t make me laugh. It hurts.”
“I’m not doing anything.” He shrugged.
I reached for his hand and our fingers intertwined like we’d been doing it for years. “Are you okay?”
He heaved an exaggerated breath. “Your sisters have been hammering me with questions, and Rose . . . jeez, she’s a bossy one.”
Giggling, I squeezed his hand. “I meant physically. Were you hurt?”
He rolled his eyes. “Nothing that an ice pack couldn’t fix.”
“That’s good.” The beeping on the machine changed and I read some of the labels beneath the indicator lights and frowned. They were in English. “Am I still in Mexico?”
“No.” He squeezed my hand. “You were medevaced back home.”
“Oh.” I ran my hand over my forehead and cringed when I felt stitches. “Shit. I forgot about that cut. Does it look bad?”
“It shows you’re a survivor.”
I cocked my head. “That’s one way to avoid an honest response.”
He huffed, and the cutest grin crept across his lips. “You’re still beautiful.”
My heart swelled as I squeezed his hand to pull him down to me.
Delightful butterflies swirled through me as I kissed my hero.
“I found the donut?—”
Colton pulled back.
“Oh, don’t mind me,” Rose said as she marched toward my bed. “Here I am thinking my sister is on her deathbed, but clearly she’s not.”
I chuckled and winced. “Hi, Rose.”
“’Bout time you woke up.” She kissed my cheek. “We’re dying to hear your story that Mr. Smokin-Hot, here, has been hinting at.” Grinning, she nodded at Colton.
A red flush swam across his cheeks. Is he blushing?
I frowned at him. “You haven’t told them?”
He shook his head.
“So, you haven’t shown them?—”
“No.” He cut me off. “I told you you’d be the one to give your mom that.”
“Oh.” Tears pricked my eyes.
“What are you two talking about?” Rose put her hands on her hips.
“It’s a long story.”
“Yeah, no shit, Sherlock. You’re caught in the one-in-a-hundred-year storm, join a bunch of Australian tourists—one of which dies—you get a bullet wound in your stomach, get placed into a coma to transport you out of Mexico, and wake up with this guy kissing you.” She waved her hand up Colton’s body. “You need to start talking, sister.” She plonked herself onto the chair beside the bed.
I giggled. Rose was not very patient.
“Don’t laugh. Mom’s even more frustrated.”
“Is she okay?”
“She will be when she sees you awake. But yeah, she’s okay. Nothing’s changed.”
Something is going to change, though . . . I’m about to solve the mystery that has plagued my family for eight years.
“No, Mom, we’re not having Mexican for dinner—Oh look, Kat’s awake,” Pauline said as she pushed Mom’s wheelchair into the room.
Mom’s eyes lit up. “Kat. Oh, thank goodness, you’re awake.”
Colton stepped aside as Pauline drove the wheelchair right up to my bedside.
I held Mom’s frail hand. “Hi, Mom, Pauline, I’m sorry for the stress I caused.”
“You gave us a fright, that’s for sure.” Tears pooled in Mom’s eyes, making her look even more fragile.
“I know.” I squeezed Mom’s hand. “I see you’re in a wheelchair. What happened?”
Mom had been walking okay when I last saw her.
“Nothing. I’m fine.” Mom glared at Rose. “Someone insisted I use a wheelchair.”
“It’s quicker for us to get around. Besides, now we get to use the closer parking spaces.”
Mom rolled her gaze to me. “She has an answer for everything. I can walk fine. I’m just a bit slower than I used to be, that’s all. But enough about me. How are you, darling?”
“I’m okay, Mom. I’m sorry I worried you.”
Rose waggled her head. “You’re just lucky they told us you’d make a full recovery. Otherwise, it would have been worse.”
Grinning, Pauline discretely nodded toward Colton and mouthed, ‘Wow’.
I stifled a giggle. “So, I see you’ve all met Colton. He saved me.”
Colton huffed. “Not true. Kat saved me.”
Frowning, I shook my head. “No, I didn’t.”
“Yes, you did. I?—”
“Oh, for fuck’s sake, you two love birds,” Rose blurted. “Just tell us what happened.”
“Rose!” Mom glared at her. “Watch your language.”
I laughed and then winced. “Ouch.” I rubbed my hand over the bandage around my torso. “Don’t make me laugh.”
“Then don’t make us wait any longer.” Rose did an exaggerated eye roll.
“You’re right. I do have a story to tell, but I’ll wait until Chelsea gets here. It’s not fair for her to miss out.”
“Where is she?” Rose checked her watch. “She should be back by now.”
“Knowing her, she probably got distracted by a puppy,” Mom said.
I grinned. “That sounds like Chelsea.”
Rose opened a paper bag. “Who wants a donut?” She offered the bag to Colton. “These are from that shop I told you about. Want one?”
“Hell, yes.” His eyes lit up as he reached into the bag.
Before Rose had finished handing around the donuts, Colton had eaten his in three bites, and as he licked his fingers in a way that had my insides tingling, I remembered some of our lovely moments in the cavern.
“What are you smiling at?” Mom asked.
I nodded at Colton.
Mom swept her gaze to him. “Seems like you two made quite a connection in Mexico.”
“Yes, Mom. We did. I wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for Colton.”
“Your daughter is very brave.” He wiped his fingers on his jeans.
“I know,” Mom said. “And I can’t thank you enough for what you did.”
“So, you won’t believe who I just—” Chelsea swept into the room like a spring breeze. “Kat! Oh yay, you’re awake!”
Squealing, she skipped to my bed and draped her body across mine to hug me.
I placed my hand on my youngest sister’s back. “It’s good to see you, sis.”
“And you. But holy cow, you sure know how to make a scene.”
I huffed. “That’s one way to put it.”
“Finally,” Rose said. “Now that we’re all here, can you please tell us what happened?”
Chelsea pulled back. “Sorry. I ran into Marco, our old neighbor. Remember him?”
“Who cares.” Rose threw her hands out in frustration. “Sit down. Kat wants to tell us what happened.”
“All right, bossy boots. Did you save me a donut?”
Rose shoved the white paper bag into Chelsea’s hand and nodded at me. “Okay, we’re ready.”
I waved Colton forward. “I’m going to need your help to remember everything.”
Chelsea shuffled back for Colton to stand at my bedside. We bounced the story between us, telling everything that happened, from arriving at the cave and setting up our tents to finding the truck full of toxic waste, to seeing Ethan’s body, and finally, the moment when we climbed up to the cave where we found Dad’s body.
I looked up at Colton. “Do you have?—”
“Yep.” He reached between my bed and the side table and pulled up a backpack.
Mom gasped and cupped her hand over her mouth.
“What, Mom? What is it?” Rose asked.
Mom sniffed, and as tears pooled in her eyes, I said to Colton, “Can you get it out for me?”
He removed Dad’s leather journal from the pack, and I gasped when he handed it to me. In the center of the journal was a bullet hole.
Colton shrugged. “That leather saved me.”
My mind tumbled to Colton fighting with the crooked police officer. I wanted to ask Colton what happened to the cop’s body, if the other officer had been found, and if there were any other police officers killed at the beach. But when a sob burst from Mom’s throat, I inhaled a shaky breath and handed the journal to her.
“I found Dad,” I said.
“Where?” Rose said. “In Mexico? What’s he doing down there?”
“Sorry.” I squeezed my eyes shut. “I meant I found his body.”
My sisters gasped.
Colton gripped my hand, and as I told them about finding Dad’s body, I was surprised that I didn’t cry like they did.
If anything, it was a relief to finally have closure to Dad’s disappearance. I continued with the story, telling them about the man who shot me.
I looked up at Colton. “You’ll need to tell them what happened after I passed out.”
He nodded. “After my team rescued us, we choppered Kat to Tulum Hospital.”
“Colton works for an airline.” I grinned at him.
“I thought you were a diving guy?” Pauline said.
“I do diving tours, too.” He ran his thumb over the back of my hand. “I haven’t had a chance to tell you yet, but Juan Santhwente tried to kill you in the hospital.”
“What?” I covered my mouth. “How?”
Colton explained how Santhwente tried to poison me and how he’d stopped him, although I was certain Colton played down his part in saving me again.
“What’s happened to him?” I asked.
“He’s in jail, awaiting trial,” Colton said. “I’ll have to go down there and testify against him once all the dust settles.”
“By dust . . . do you mean other corrupt officials?”
“Yep. Four so far. They have also arrested three people at the mine for toxic waste dumping.”
I nodded. “Thank goodness. So, what happened after he attacked me?”
“We had to wait two days before you were stabilized enough to fly here.”
“You stayed with me the whole way?” I blinked at him.
“Of course. I told you I wouldn’t leave you.” His gaze pierced mine, just like he had when I thought I was going to die.
As a knot swelled in my throat, Pauline blinked at him like he was an action hero.
He was a hero in every sense of the word.
As a rare silence fell over my family, Mom turned over the pages of Dad’s journal. She wiped away tears and her chin quivered as she read Dad’s final words.
“Are you okay?” I reached for Mom’s hand.
Mom sucked her lips into her mouth as she nodded.
“Do you want me to read it, Mom?” Rose asked.
Mom shifted the journal toward my oldest sister and pointed at the page.
We were silent as Rose read out Dad’s last message to the world.
“‘The beauty that surrounds me contrasts sharply with the pain in my heart as my thoughts go to my beautiful wife, Ilona, and my four daughters, Rose, Pauline, Chelsea, and Katherine.’”
Chelsea sucked in a loud shaky breath, and Mom reached for her hand.
“‘I have taken many photos of my magnificent view of the ancient pyramid that humans probably haven’t seen for thousands of years. As my life seeps out of me, I pray my family received my photos and messages, or they may never know what happened to me.’”
Rose looked up from the page to Mom. “What messages and photos?”
Mom shook her head. “I only got that one photo. The one I gave you, Kat.”
I nodded. “It’s the photo of the underground temple where we found Dad.”
“I wonder what happened to the other messages,” Rose said.
“We found Dad’s phone and camera. Didn’t we, Colton?” I said.
“Yes. I’ve given the phone to one of my teammates to see if he can extract any data from it.”
“Your dive team or your airline team?” Rose’s eyebrows drilled together.
Colton cleared his throat. “My Navy team.”
“Colton was a Navy SEAL,” I said.
Rose’s jaw dropped, and I fought to hold back the laugh that was guaranteed to hurt my wound.
“I promise I’ll let you know if he finds anything.” Colton seemed oblivious to Rose’s reaction.
Mom nodded at him. “Thank you.”
“What else did Dad write?” Pauline asked.
Rose peered down at the journal again.
“‘With my last breaths, I implore whoever finds this message to seek justice for the wrongs committed in this sacred place. I want the world to know the truth. I also want my family to know that I love them to the moon and back.’”
“To the moon and back,” Mom whispered. “It was his favorite saying.”
“Maybe we should put that on Dad’s gravestone,” Rose said.
I bulged my eyes at her.
“What? We can’t leave him down there. We need to give Dad a proper burial.” Rose turned to Mom. “Don’t you agree?”
Mom wiped a tear from her cheek. “Yes. I want to see him.”
I frowned. “What do you mean?”
“I want to see Frank, and where he died, and what he was looking at—” Mom gasped for a breath.
“Oh, Mom.” I squeezed her hand. “Dad’s body is . . . He’s not?—”
“I know! He’s been dead a long time. But I want to see him.” She flicked tears from her eyes as if angry that they were there.
“Mom, Colton and I also found Dad’s camera. Maybe the film can be developed, and you’ll be able to see?—”
“No,” Mom said. “I want to see him and where he died with my own eyes.”
My chest tightened over Mom’s distress. “But, Mom, he’s in a cave in Mexico. Getting there will be a challenge.”
She turned to Colton. “Can you help me see my husband for the last time?”
Colton tilted his head at Mom. “I will do my best.”
Mom nodded. “Thank you. That’s all I ask.”
“I’ll come with you, Mom,” Pauline said.
“Me too,” Chelsea added.
“We’ll all go,” Rose said. “We’ll do this as a family. I’m including you, Colton. It looks like you’re a part of us now.”
The cutest smile tugged at his lips, and he cocked an eyebrow at me. “Looks like I am.”
My heart swelled and I knew this amazing man would do anything for me.