The doctor motioned Marcus to the foot of the bed. He stepped around and his heart caught in his throat as he watched a mass of thick black hair materialize from within his wife’s body. Then suddenly, Lonnie let out a scream, and a purple jumble of body and limbs slipped free from the birth canal and plopped into the doctor’s hands.
A nurse handed Marcus a pair of scissors. He stared at the implement in confusion and looked up at his wife where she lay panting on the bed, blinking away the exhaustion, a smile on her face as she looked up at her husband and nodded. He still didn’t know what was going on, so he turned back to the nurse. She pointed to the baby in the doctor’s hands.
“The umbilical cord, sir. Use the scissors to cut it.”
He looked down at the baby. “It won’t hurt it?”
The nurse smiled and corrected, “Not ‘it,’ Mr Johnson, him. And no, it won’t hurt him.”
Marcus reached down to the length of umbilical cord the doctor had clamped off. He snipped it, and the doctor tied a knot in the end then handed the tiny boy to the nurse. She dried him with a soft warm blanket and immediately crossed back to the bed and placed the naked child on Lonnie’s chest.
Lonnie let out a sound like she was drawing up extra strength, then pulled her arms up and wrapped them around the tiny boy. Seven and half pounds of pure joy snuggled to her, mouth opening, neck craning, searching instinctively for the breast. He found his target and latched on, letting out a soft, happy whimper as he experienced the taste of the first milk from his mother.
Ten minutes later, Lonnie passed into a deep sleep. The nurse took the baby from her arms and wrapped him tightly in a blanket. She handed the child to Marcus. He stared into the baby’s placid face. The child’s eyes roved, searching, curiosity brimming as he seemed to be trying to understand this new world. The tiny bundle squirmed gently against his bonds.
“Hello, my son. Welcome to the world.”
The infant stopped scanning and locked his gaze onto Marcus at the sound of his voice. Peace seemed to flow from the boy. Tears welled up in Marcus’s eyes and dripped down his cheeks. One splashed onto the baby’s forehead. He blinked and Marcus leaned down, kissing the infinitely tender new skin.
He squeezed his eyes shut and muttered a prayer. “Heavenly Father, thank you. May this boy live in peace, and make him strong.”
Chapter 33
Kharzai sat in the small cave, invisible from the cliff's edge. He remained motionless until he heard Marcus and Mike leave. He listened quietly, unmoving, for thirty minutes. Then, working on the faith that they would give him time before the police arrived, he strapped the backpack to his body, clambered out of the hole, and stood on the narrow ledge beneath the cave. He glanced down the steep drop and saw the rock on which the crash test dummy had smashed its head. It had been a close call, closer than he’d anticipated. He nearly missed the ledge, and barely got the dummy out of the cave before Marcus looked over the edge.
He grabbed hold of the gnarled spruce limb jutting from the rock wall and hoisted himself up cautiously. Crouching at the edge of the cliff, he looked around, making sure no cops or FBI were waiting in ambush. Deano bounded over to him and excitedly licked his face.
“Okay, okay,” Kharzai said. “Let's go before anyone comes looking for me.”
They scurried off, following the trail Mike and Marcus had made through the weeds so as not to create fresh tracks, and made their way to the hikers’ bridge half a mile up the road. His backpack was filled with just enough supplies to get him to take care of them for a few days until he could get into a town for resupply.
At the bridge, he met a group of young women in shorts and matching pink T-shirts, small pink packs strapped to their shoulders and riding high on their backs. College sorority girls out for a day hike. He smiled, spreading his trademark wide toothy grin, his bright white teeth glowing against his dark tan and the blackness of his beard.
“Howdy, ladies,” he said, a flirty lilt in his voice. “Where's the nearest Starbucks?”
They giggled and he chatted with them for only a moment, taking a quick snapshot with the group before walking off into the wilderness. He watched as the pretty twenty-somethings walked away, one turning to back to look at him, making eye contact, her smile inviting him to meet again. For a moment, the briefest space of time, she was Leila. The girl turned back to her friends and they moved out of sight around a bend. His smile faded as he started back down the trail, Deano at his side.
“And now, we disappear.”
About the Author
Authoring action packed novels and short stories, Basil has built an audience of tens of thousands to his eBooks and audiobooks.
The tapestry on which his tales began started at birth in rural interior Alaska and his school years among the Ohio cornfields where he wished to be anywhere else as long as it was exciting. He has lived in Alaska, San Diego, DC, Baltimore, and Ohio. He tried a career in the Marines but injuries sent him home after only six months. He worked as dining manager at NSA, owned a computer shop, was a carpenter, farmer, actor, lumberjack, voice actor, EMT, network admin, helpdesk supervisor, Boy Scout leader, IT trainer, radio talk host, youth minister, and after 9/11 was a sergeant in the Alaska Defense Force Coastal Scouts.
Until a ski injury slowed him down, he had been an avid weight lifter and could bench press 420 lbs. Now he's limited to a bit on the elliptical machine each day and curling the occasional pint of Guinness.
He lives in Anchorage Alaska with his wife and sons.