Zach's Law by Kay Hooper Read Free Book Online Page B

guns, and a dark-haired woman and two teenage girls with terrified faces. A swift, hard
battle, with the man in fatigues taking down a gunman in effortless silence
.
    A storm-tossed island and a flimsy vessel. A blond man and a man with copper hair and a woman with a beautiful face and sea-green eyes. And the man in fatigues carrying guns and explosives, and another man brought out of a cell. And a large vessel that became an even larger one, and champagne to celebrate—
    A rotund little man with brilliant eyes in a cherub’s face, a man with a voice of authority who thought he was Charlemagne and Richard and Lincoln and Machiavelli.… And the man in fatigues gathering equipment and going to war again, because it was wrong not to, and this time he would fight alone
.
    The images whirled madly, confused, as if some capricious winds snatched at them. And then they steadied, focused, and she saw him again. And he was no longer set apart by the clothing of a warrior. He was no longer alone
.
    Teddy opened her eyes, the images gone as swiftly as they had come. She was sitting up,hugging her knees, the cards forgotten. She was shocked, as anyone would be when confronted by the inexplicable, but she was not frightened. She had, in a sense, been preparing for that dizzying journey all her life.
    It happened only once, her mother had told her. And who knew if it came from a Scot with second sight or a Gypsy with an enigmatic gift. But it came once in a lifetime. An intense vision of past and present and future. A gift of understanding when that was most needed.
    And Teddy looked at Zach, seeing that her silent journey had not disturbed him. She looked at him—and understood.
    He had worn no uniform in the streets of New York. No uniform in boardrooms or in small houses where dangerous things happened. He had worn no uniform on a storm-battered island. Those parts of the images had been symbolic.
    He was a warrior, a man of hard danger, born in the hazardous jungles of the world. Alone wolf who had friends but who stood apart from them by choice.
“He walked by himself, and all places were alike to him.”
Kipling again. Wise Kipling.
    She knew now why her memory of the cougar had risen in her mind. Because Zach was like that big cat. He didn’t blame the woman who had hurt him so badly. He blamed himself. It was his own stupid fault for getting into that mess. And now he’d be damned if he did it again. He wouldn’t let himself step into the jaws of a trap and watch it mangle a part of him.
    Teddy drew a ragged breath, even her determined nature staggered by the odds against her. She guarded the small nugget of hope nestling inside her, the promise of the final image that had flashed before her, but she also knew how tough the battle would be.
    She had to tame the wild heart of a jungle warrior, had to chip away at the suspicious, protective layers of iron he had wrapped himselfin. She had to coax a lone wolf to walk willingly at her side.
    She knew what her motive was now.
    And she knew he’d never believe her.
       “I have to go out for a while,” he told her.
    Teddy was still sitting as before, but her forehead was resting against her raised knees. She didn’t dare look at him, struggling to master a tumult of emotions every bit as primitive as the physical sensations of the morning had been. Her understanding of him and of what he was to her had somehow severed the threads of her control, leaving her nakedly vulnerable.
    “All right,” she responded.
    “You won’t—?”
    “I won’t try to leave.” She felt more than heard him step closer, and grappled against the urge to look at him.
    “Are you all right, Teddy?” The stiffness was leaving his voice, replaced by concern.
    She hugged her knees harder. “Yes.”
How
insane! I’ve never been less right in my life! Or more right. Oh, God, help me
. She could feel his hesitation, the instant’s suspension. Then he was shrugging into his shoulder harness and