Maya Banks - The Darkest Hour

Nathan and Joe patted the space between them on the couch and promptly each put an arm around Marlene when she sat down. She was treated to a big sloppy kiss from both, and she beamed and patted their cheeks in return.

Rusty took a seat in the chair next to Frank’s recliner and attempted to blend in with the upholstery.

It was loud and chaotic, just the way Marlene liked it. She sighed in contentment and patted both boys on their legs. It didn’t matter that they were approaching thirty. They were still her babies.

The sound of the front door slamming made her sit up straighter. Frank heard it too, because he immediately hit the mute button on the remote.

“Mom, Dad? You home?”

“Sam,” Marlene breathed.

She looked up to see Sam stride into the living room, followed by Donovan. They were both a mess. Camo, boots, dirty torn shirts, and they looked like they hadn’t had a bath in two days. They never came home like this.

A soft moan escaped her lips. Ethan and Garrett weren’t with them.

SAM halted in the doorway of the living room, stunned to see his younger brothers sitting on the couch next to his mom.

“Nathan? Joe? What the hell are you guys doing home? Is something wrong?”

“That’s what we want to ask you,” Nathan said as he stood. Joe also stood, and the two men looked warily at their older brothers.

“Van,” Joe said with a nod in Donovan’s direction.

“What’s goingon?” Frankbarked. “You’re standinga round likea bunch of damn strangers and you’re scaring your mother to death.”

Donovan grinned hugely and strode across the room. He stopped in front of Nathan and then took him down in one swift motion. Nathan landed on the floor with a thump just as laughter burst from his chest.

“Goddamn it, Van, get off me.”

Joe wrapped his beefy arms around Donovan and lifted him clear off the ground. Donovan may have had the element of surprise when he got to Nathan, but being the smallest of the Kelly brothers put him at a major disadvantage.

Sam finally managed to shake off the shock of seeing Nathan and Joe. He held his hands up and barked an order for his brothers to quiet down.

Nathan and Joe looked up in surprise. His mom and dad looked at Sam with worried eyes.

Sam crossed the room and grabbed both his youngest brothers in a rough hug. “It’s damn good to have you both home.”

“Where’s Ethan and Garrett?” Joe asked in a steady voice as he pulled back.

It suddenly occurred to Sam what they all must have thought with him and Van bursting into the house looking like they’d both been rode hard and hung up wet and without their other two brothers.

He and Donovan exchanged quick glances.

“Tell me,” Marlene demanded.

Sam held his hands up in a soothing motion. “They’re fine, Mom. I promise.”

“Want to tell us what’s going on, son?” his dad said.

Donovan spoke up. “I think everyone should sit down. Ethan and Garrett are fine, but there’s something we need to tell you.”

“It’s good news, Mom,” Sam said quickly as he took in her stricken features.

Their worry all turned to puzzlement as they slowly took their seats. It was then Sam noticed a young girl huddled in a seat next to his dad’s recliner. He raised an eyebrow in his dad’s direction.

“We’ll worry about that later,” Frank said impatiently. “Now tell us what’s on your mind before your mother bursts.”

Sam scrubbed a hand through his hair. There was no easy way to explain everything that had happened. He could pussy-foot around the subject and take forever or he could just put it out there.

“Rachel’s alive,” Donovan broke in before Sam could get it out.

Dead silence fell over the room. No one stirred. No one said a word. Their mom’s face was frozen in shock. Their dad simply looked like he hadn’t heard correctly, while Nathan and Joe’s faces darkened with fury.

Nathan launched himself from the couch. “What the hell, Van?”

“Nathan, sit down,” Sam said.

Nathan’s eyes widened at the authority in Sam’s voice.

“Sam, what’s going on?” his mom asked in a quivery voice.

“You better have a damn good reason for coming home and springing this sort of thing on your mother,” Frank growled.

Sam sighed and sat down on the steps leading down into the living room. “Ethan got evidence on the sixteenth from someone claiming that Rachel was alive.”

“And from this you come over and give your mother false hope?” Frank demanded.

“Dad, listen to him,” Donovan cut in.

“He came over to the house with pictures. Of Rachel.”

“Oh, Sam, how could someone do that to him?” Marlene cried. “To any of us?”

Sam leveled a look at his mother. “Mom, she’s alive. I’ve seen her, held her. So has Donovan. Ethan is with her now, as is Garrett.”

Marlene gasped. Frank went completely white. Nathan and Joe looked at Sam with open mouths.

“But how?” Marlene finally managed to get out. “My God, Sam, where has she been for a year? Did she run away? Did she leave him?”

Sam took a deep breath, knowing what he had to say wouldn’t be easy for his family to hear. “The mission that we went on—that we all went on—was to rescue her. She’s been held prisoner in South America for the last year.”

“Oh, my God!”

The entire room erupted in a chorus of denials, of exclamations and demands for more information. Nathan and Joe stood while Marlene buried her face in her hands. Frank gripped the sides of his chair with white knuckles. Only the young girl viewed the goings-on with disinterest.

“What do you mean held prisoner?” Nathan demanded. “What the fuck is going on, Sam?”

For once, their mother didn’t threaten to wash his mouth out with soap. Sam doubted she’d even heard what Nathan said. Her features were drawn in shock.

“Is she okay, Sam?” his mom asked.

“She’s not, but she will be,” Donovan said soothingly. “It’s going to take time.”

“She’s very fragile,” Sam said grimly. “It’s why we came ahead to break the news so that hopefully things will have calmed down by the time Ethan brings her home.”

“Calm down?” Marlene asked. “Calm down? How can I calm down? You tell me the daughter of my heart is alive after we’ve mourned her for the last year and I’m supposed to be calm? When is she coming home, Sam, and just how bad is she?”

“That’s just it, Mom. We have to be calm. She can’t stand the excitement. She’s . . . she’s in withdrawal. They kept her heavily medicated during her captivity. We don’t know what all she endured. She’s on the verge of shattering, so we absolutely cannot overwhelm her when she gets home.”

“There’s something else you should know,” Donovan said quietly.

All eyes turned to him.

“She can’t remember a lot of her life.”

“What?” Marlene gasped. Tears crowded her eyes and spilled down her cheeks. “My baby can’t remember us?”

“She remembers Ethan. And Garrett. Not much else. I scare her witless, and Donovan might as well be a stranger,” Sam said grimly.

“Lord have mercy,” Frank said shakily. “That poor child.” He looked over at Sam, his eyes drawn and angry. “Why? Why did they do this to her?”

“I don’t know that, Dad. But I plan to find out.”

“Holy shit,” Joe breathed. “This is heavy stuff.” Then he looked up at Sam. “Drug cartel?”

Sam nodded.

Nathan swore. “What the hell happened? Did she see something over there she shouldn’t have? And if so, why the big charade? Why not just kill her and be done with it?”

“Nathan!” his mother exclaimed in a shocked whisper.

“He’s asking a valid question, Marlene,” Frank said. “He’s not saying they should have killed her, but it seems awfully damn weird that they sent us home her rings and told us she was on a plane that she obviously never set foot on.”

“Are you sure it’s Rachel?” Joe asked.

Both Donovan and Sam nodded.

“Thank God. Thank God,” Marlene choked out. “It’s a miracle. She’s alive.” For the first time, joy shone in her eyes as it finally sank in that Rachel was alive. “What a wonderful gift. Ethan must be beside himself.”

Donovan blew out his breath. “This isn’t going to be easy for either of them. They’re going to need a lot of help from us. The biggest thing we can do is not to crowd them and to let them find their way back on their own terms.”

“When are they coming back?” Marlene demanded. “I need to go over and clean the house and get everything ready for them. There’s groceries to buy. She’ll need new clothes.”

Sam held up his hand. “One thing at a time, Mom,” he said soothingly. “It’ll be a few days. She’s being treated, and the doctor wanted her to wait a few days before traveling. You’re right, she’ll need new clothes. She’s thinner. Coming home to a bunch of clothes that don’t fit her might be upsetting, so it would be nice if you could shop for her.”

Marlene brightened. “Rusty and I can shop for her, can’t we, Rusty?”

She turned to where the girl had been sitting a few moments earlier, but her chair was now empty. Marlene blinked in surprise. No one had seen her leave.

“Who is Rusty?” Donovan asked.

“Someone who will be staying here awhile,” Marlene said almost belligerently.

Sam exchanged pained looks with his brothers. Their mother’s defensive tone could only mean one thing. She’d taken in another stray. Only this time it was a human.

“Mom...,” Joe began.

“Don’t you ‘Mom’ me, young man,” she said firmly. “Rusty is a guest here, and you’ll treat her like one of the family, you hear?”

Then her expression softened. “She needs us, boys. The poor thing. You can’t imagine the life she’s had.”

Sam blew out his breath in frustration. The last thing they needed right now was a rebellious teenager who’d managed to con their softhearted mother into opening her home.

With that, Marlene stood up and clapped her hands together. The brothers looked at one another and groaned. It wasn’t any wonder they’d gravitated toward the military. Their mother rivaled any drill sergeant they’d ever encountered.

“We have a lot to do and not much time to get it all done,” she said firmly. She pinned Nathan and Joe with her stare. “I want you two to get over and get Ethan’s yard in shape. Frank and I will tackle the inside, and then I’ll go shopping for groceries and the things that Rachel will need.”

Sam eyed her indulgently. “And Donovan and I?”

Her gaze softened, and she walked over and pulled him up to stand in front of her. Then she enfolded him in her arms and hugged him tightly. “I want you and Van to go home and get cleaned up and sleep for about twenty-four hours straight. You both look like hell.”

He hugged her back and allowed the first strains of emotion to escape. His family had suffered multiple blows over the last year, and they had some hard issues to face, but for the first time in a long time, they were all going to be together again.

“As much as I’d love to do just that, Van and I have a lot to get done. Our mission isn’t over, and we have injured to see about.”

“Anything we can do, Sam?” Nathan asked.

It was a fact, he’d welcome his younger brothers’ help, but he wasn’t about to tear them away from their mom on their first day home.

As if knowing the direction of his thoughts, Marlene let out a snort and stepped away. “If you need them, they’re yours, Sam. The sooner you get your business squared away, the sooner I can have my family together under one roof.”

“Glad we’re handed around so easily,” Joe drawled. “This feels like the damn army.”

“Well, if you’re serious about the offer to help, Van and I could sure use you. I’m getting reports every three hours from Garrett, and Rio is back on the ground. Cole and Dolphin are at Fort Campbell, but I don’t expect them to stay more than twenty-four hours before they demand for me to get them the hell out of there. Steele, Renshaw and Baker are itching to go back into action, and I’m leaning toward letting them because Rio is without any sort of backup.”

“Nathan and I—”

“Don’t even say it,” Donovan broke in. “You two buttheads don’t belong to us. You belong to Uncle Sam, and he gets pretty pissy when his recruits show up in foreign countries on private missions.”

“The best you can do is come back to the house and help out with the communications while Van and I catch some sleep. I can’t even tell you the last time we caught any shut-eye.”