Elaine Levine - The Edge Of Courage

Rocco grinned, then shook his head. Val clapped a hand on his shoulder. “You okay?”

“I’m good. Mandy’s safe.”

“And we got twelve bad guys off the street. It’s a start. We’ll get Amir and his puppet master.”

Rocco nodded. It was a mission the entire team had taken to heart. “What are you doing after this?”

“When Kit cuts us loose, Angel and I are going for Blade.”

“Call if you need me.”

“Like hell I will.” Val nodded toward the truck. “You got something important to do-take care of your woman.”

Rocco got into the truck. Val closed the door, then thumped it with his hand. “See you back at the ranch.” He straightened, frowning. “Those are six words I never thought I’d hear myself say,” he mumbled as he walked away.

Rocco looked at Mandy. Seeing the shadows under her eyes and the pale color of her skin, he wished they didn’t have the long ride home. He lifted his arm, urging her to his side. “Come closer to me.” She didn’t hesitate to scoot over. He kissed her temple, then wove his way through the cars and people and police cruisers onto the open road. “I promise you a hot bath and a cup of tea as soon as we get home.”

“I have to feed Kitano and the dogs.”

“I’ll feed them. And I’ll deal with supper. You get a night off. You were brave today. Beautiful. Fierce.”

“I meant what I said. I need to learn to live in your world.”

He sighed. “I regret that I’ve tainted your life. But I will teach you everything you want to know and all that I feel you need to know beyond that.”

“You haven’t tainted anything, Rocco. You’ve made it beautiful.”

They drove the remainder of the trip in silence. Rocco was glad she stayed next to him. He could feel her tension ease out of her as they neared her house. He pulled into the driveway and had just crested the top of the drive when he spotted a green SUV parked in the circular drive in front of the main house.

He cursed and parked the truck where it was. “Stay here. And get down.” He palmed his Beretta, then got out and started forward, moving away from the truck, hoping to make Mandy less of a target if whoever was waiting for them was in a shooting mood.

A woman got out of the backseat wearing army fatigues. Rocco pointed his gun at her. “That’s enough moving. State your business.”

“Mr. Silas?”

“Who’s asking?”

“I’m Lieutenant Kelly Froman. I have a surprise for you.”

“It’s a bad fucking day for surprises, Lieutenant.” He lowered his gun but didn’t ease his stance, not trusting that anyone was who they said they were anymore.

The woman held her hands up, but still moved closer to the back door. “Sir, I need you to stand down. I have your son.”

Zavi? She had Zavi?

Another soldier got out of the front seat as the lieutenant reached inside for something. When she turned around, Rocco saw two little legs, then a boy’s small torso, then a little face appeared as he squatted down and peeked under the door.

“Papa!”

Rocco’s lungs quit pulling air. It was Zaviyar. Alive and well. Then he remembered his pistol and quickly holstered it as his son charged toward him. He grabbed him up into his arms. He’d gotten so big in the months since Rocco had last seen him. After a moment, Rocco knelt down, setting him on his feet so that he could get a good look at him. He smoothed his hands on either side of his head, down his neck to his little shoulders.

“Zavi, do you remember the accident?” His son nodded. “Were you hurt?”

“No. But you were, Papa. Rafiullah told me I had to go with him so that you could go to the clinic. And then I didn’t get to see you again. Where did you go?”

A memory slammed into Rocco at the mention of Rafiullah’s name-the final piece of the puzzle. He shut his eyes as he absorbed what it revealed. When he’d been unable to stop Kadisha from running back into the compound, he’d given Zavi to Rafiullah Kahn, an area shepherd who had hurried by in the melee. He’d only taken a few steps toward the compound when it blew. Christ. That was why he’d been so certain that Zavi lived. It all made sense now.

He hugged his son. “I’ve been with the doctors. I’ve been waiting for you. I’m sorry it took so long for us to be together.”

“Kelly said this is America. A different country.”

“It is. Do you like it?”

“I do so far. But don’t they have any children here?”

“There are lots and lots of children.”

“Is this our home?”

“For now. Zavi, who taught you to speak English?”

“Kelly. She said I needed to know English for when I saw you again. She said I couldn’t speak Pashto anymore.”

“You can speak any language you like, son. If you don’t know it, I will teach it to you. If I don’t know it, I will learn it with you.”

“I can speak Pig English?”

“You mean Pig Latin?”

Zavi thought about that, his little face frowning with concentration. “No. It isn’t Latin, is it, Papa? I’ve heard that before, and it doesn’t sound like that. So it can’t be Pig Latin.”

Rocco laughed and pulled his son in close for another hug. “Where did you hear Latin?”

“Kelly and a man took me to a church where the man was speaking it. That was the day they taught me Pig English.”

Rocco’s hackles went up at the realization that the Army had apparently been casually testing his son’s ability and now knew about his linguistic capabilities.

The sound of gravel crunching alerted him to Mandy’s approach. He drew a breath, forcing himself to remain calm as he reached up for her hand.

“He’s home, Em. He’s really here.” Rocco drew her down to kneel beside them. “Zavi, this very special lady is Mandy Fielding.”

Zavi straightened and pushed away from Rocco. He made a polite bow, as regal as any village elder. “How do you do? I’m Zaviyar. I’m pleased to meet you.”

“What a polite young man you are. It’s lovely to meet you as well.”

Just then, the dogs came charging out of the house. Max stopped at the porch, watching from a distance. The dogs greeted the trio enthusiastically with wagging tails and wet tongues.

“You have dogs!”

“Yes. This is Yeller and this is Blue,” Mandy said, pointing out the Golden and then the Heeler.

“I never had a dog before. Other boys did, but I wasn’t allowed.” He sent a dark look over his shoulder at Rocco.

“Oh, that is a shame. Every boy should have a dog,” Mandy laughed.

“She has a horse, too,” Rocco told him.

Zavi looked from Mandy to his father. “She is a special lady.” He patted Yeller, who was leaning against his side. “My family had donkeys. And sometimes my uncle would bring camels to our village. We loved riding them.”

“You rode a camel?” Mandy asked, her eyes widening at the thought of so tiny a person on so large an animal.

“Papa took me. Sometimes we raced them.”

“Then I think you’ll like riding horses. I’ll have a few here soon that you’ll be able to ride.”

A black SUV pulled up into the turnout area. The windows were rolled down, letting them see that it was Kit and Kelan. Kelan jumped out to park Rocco’s truck. Kit nodded to the soldiers waiting by the SUV, then joined their group. Seeing him, Zavi moved closer to his father, wrapping his arms around Rocco’s neck.

Kit gave Rocco a sad smile, as if realizing all he’d been insisting Rocco walk away from. He knelt next to Rocco and Zavi, who seeing him, turned his face away, burying it in Rocco’s neck. “I should have trusted your instincts. I told Mandy once they were never wrong.”