Chasing Tomorrow Read online

  She nestled into his arms. “I’d like to go home for a few days. I need some time to get over this.”

  “I think that’s a good idea. We can leave as soon as you want.”

  “With you.” She turned so she could face him. “Please tell me you’re going to be home for a while.”

  “I’m not going anywhere, but home with you.”

  “But after I’m better, I want to go back to work. I’m not going to let this stop me from doing my job.” She hesitated a moment. “You’re not going to try to stop me, are you?”

  Instantly, an internal battle raged within him, the same one he’d struggled with over and over. He could stop her. One phone call from him and her job would instantly vanish. Something deep inside him wanted to make that call. Wanted her to stay home and get a regular job…something safe, non-controversial, or even better, no job at all. She didn’t need to work. He’d take care of her, but she’d be miserable. She loved her work even as much as he loved his. But her happiness was his main concern, so no, he wouldn’t stop her.

  “Think we’ve talked about this before,” he finally said. “When you’re ready, you’ll go back to work.”

  ZACH HAD been up all night traveling to get to Cologne. He fell asleep, cradling Arianna in his arms. After a few hours of sleep, they arose to start their day. Coming out of the bedroom, they joined Raul and Kevin who were having coffee in the shared suite. Juan was just waking up from his bed on the sofa.

  “Hey, Juan, nice to see you,” Arianna said with a chuckle. “I look like hell. I did a face plant right onto some concrete. The concrete got the better end of the deal.”

  He came forward and gave her a gentle kiss on the cheek. “You’re still beautiful. Just battle-tested now. Sorry about what happened.”

  “Arianna, come look at this,” Kevin said. “I’ve been watching the news, and your report was a hit. The network has been running your story all day back in the States. Other networks have picked it up, too. Come see.”

  They all crowded around his laptop to watch a video that was streaming live. A caption ran across the bottom of the screen.

  CNS foreign correspondent, Arianna Garrett, attacked as she gathered details of refugee crisis in Europe.

  In the forefront was the president speaking, talking about a ban on relocating thousands of refugees to the US.

  Zach stood with his arm around Arianna’s waist and kissed the top of her head. “Well, you sure got his attention. Good job, babe. I’m proud of you.”

  “Oh! Look at my face. I look like I stepped out of a war zone. Someone should have stopped me from filming that.”

  “Are you kidding me?” Kevin said. “That’s what made the story so good…the raw, unfiltered picture of exactly what is happening here.”

  “Besides, you were quite determined to get this story on air,” Raul added, with a sly grin on his face. “Pity the poor guy who tried to stop you.”

  Tony entered the suite and seeing everyone gathered around the computer asked, “Hey, what’s all the excitement?” He set a bag of pastries on the table and came over to join them. Giving Arianna a quick hug and kiss, he said, “Sorry to hear about your misfortune. You doing okay?’

  She nodded. “I’ll survive. But I’m surprised you’re here. Thought you’d be on your way home to see Lisa. Surprised both you and Juan aren’t on your way home.”

  “We will be shortly. Uh, we have a little business to attend to, then we’re all out of here. At least I think that’s the plan.” Tony looked over at Zach.

  “Business?” What business? Zach, you have business here?”

  “Maybe.” He opened the bag Tony brought and pulled out several slices of apple streusel. “Help yourself everyone.”

  Arianna’s phone rang. She looked down. The call was from Monica Friedland, editor of Der Spiegel magazine.

  “Good morning, Arianna. I saw your broadcast,” the editor said. “Wunderbar. You’ve broken the silence and brought this evil front and center in the world news. Well done.”

  “Thank you. I appreciate your help and good work in this area, too. I looked like hell, but yes, I got the story out there, especially in the States. I think they might need a wake-up call about what could be coming to our country very soon if our immigration laws don’t change.”

  “Ja, I’m afraid you found out the hard way what’s been happening in our country. Thanks for hanging in there and covering this story. Good luck in the future. I’m looking for great things from you.”

  Arianna hung up the phone. “That was Monica,” she said to Kevin. “She called to congratulate me on our story.”

  “See, I told you, you were a hero. You delivered the goods, little sis.”

  As everyone was finishing their coffee and pastries, there was a loud pounding on the door. Everyone looked up in surprise.

  “I got it,” Raul said. He drew his weapon and moved to the door. As a precaution, he stood to the side of the doorway instead of directly in front of it. A bad guy with a powerful weapon could shoot right through the door. Not knowing who was on the other side, he was taking no chances.

  “Who is it?” he yelled.

  “It’s Miller. Let me in.”

  Raul, his hand still on his weapon, opened the door. The agitated security chief burst into the room.

  “Ooh,” Miller paused, seeing Zach. “Now I get it. It’s you. You did this.”

  “What are you talking about?” Arianna asked. “He just arrived this morning. What is it you think he did?”

  “Ask him. He’ll tell you.”

  “Tell me what? Zach?” She looked at Zach who sat nonchalantly eating his pastry. He took a sip of coffee, looked up at Miller, but never said a word.

  “Okay, enough of this cat and mouse thing,” Arianna said. “Dan, what’s going on?”

  Miller threw his hands in the air. “They fired me.”

  “What? Fired you? Who? When?”

  “I got a call from Roger Carr, CEO and chairman of CNS news, the main boss himself. He told me I’m fired.”

  “Why?” Arianna asked. “Just out of the blue they up and fire you? That doesn’t make any sense.”

  “That’s what I thought,” Miller said, pacing back and forth. “Seems they didn’t like my handling of the security detail in the refugee camp. They blame me for your getting attacked, but that’s bullshit. I was attacked, too. Did they ever think of that?” Turning toward Arianna, he hissed, “You’re the one who wanted to go in there. I just went along, doing my job. Maybe they should fire you for choosing such a dangerous location.”

  Zach jumped out of his chair and started for Miller, but Tony and Juan stepped up and stopped him.

  “Zach. Zach. Not now. Let it go,” Tony said, blocking his way.

  “Later,” Juan said under his breath. “You’ll get your chance later. Hold on.”

  Raul stepped to the door and opened it. Looking over at Miller, he said, “I think you better leave while you can still walk out of here on your own two legs.”

  “Yeah, big tough guy.” Miller turned and glared at Zach. “You have no idea how hard this security work is, pretty boy, living in your fancy mansion, kicking back playing the stock market all day while you sip on Jack Daniels. Good thing your friends stopped you. In the Marines, we have a way of dealing with pussys like you.”

  Zach stared back at him, totally unaffected by what the man was saying. “Have a good day,” he said coolly. “Don’t let the door hit you in the ass on the way out.”

  Miller stomped out, and everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

  “What a prick,” Raul said. “He’s worthless as a security guard.”

  Arianna burst into tears and ran into the bedroom. Zach, alarmed by her reaction, followed.

  “Hey, what’s wrong?”

  She shook her head back and forth, not talking.

  “Arianna, look at me. Tell me what’s wrong.”

  “This is all my fault. I hate this. I hate all of what happened. I sho
uld have never done that interview. I caused all this.”

  “Stop, Arianna. You’re just upset about all you’ve been through. Believe me. This is not your fault. I never trusted this guy from the first time I met him in New York. That’s why I sent Raul along. Miller deserved to get fired. He’s a loser who should never have been in that line of work. Him getting fired is a good thing, okay?”

  At first she didn’t answer.

  “Okay?” Zach repeated.

  She sighed and nodded. “Ah, I just need to go home and relax. I’m an emotional basket case.”

  Zach leaned down and kissed her. “And so we will. Start packing. Tony, Juan and I have some business we need to attend to. By the time you’re packed and ready to go, we’ll be back, and we can all leave.”

  “Business? That’s what Tony said.” Arianna shot him a skeptical look. “What kind of business?”

  Zach shook his head. “Don’t ask. Just get packed and be ready to go.” With that he turned and left.

  COLOGNE, GERMANY

  Zach left Arianna to finish her packing while he joined the rest of the men in the outer-suite area. “Tell me about Miller. I want to know where he was and what he was doing during this attack.”

  “I was pulled off on a wild goose chase,” Raul said. “You’ll have to talk to Kevin.”

  “Actually,” Kevin began, “I can show you some of it. I managed to film for a minute or two before I went to help Arianna. She tried to fight them off, but it wasn’t working, and no one was coming to her aid, so I dropped the camera and did what I could to help.”

  “Let’s see,” Zach said.

  Kevin got his camera out and brought up the video of the attack. “Are you sure you want to see this?” He paused and looked at Zach. “It’s pretty brutal. They were all over Arianna.”

  Zach nodded and circled his hand to indicate he should roll the tape. On the monitor, they watched as a shaky camera panned back and forth between Arianna and Miller and all the attackers. Three Middle Eastern men were groping Arianna as she valiantly tried to fight them off. Despite her best efforts, the camera caught the moment she hit the ground, banging her face onto the pavement. The men were ripping at her clothes and one man was trying to push between her legs in an attempt to rape her. Off to the side, Miller was in a losing fist fight with another attacker.

  From audio running in the background Zach heard Kevin yell to Miller, “Do something. Where’s your fucking gun? Christ man. Shoot ‘em or something.”

  “And be arrested for an illegal gun? I don’t think so,” Miller gasped, right before a fist landed in his face, causing blood to spew out of this mouth.

  “Shut it off,” Zach snapped. “I’ve seen all I need to see.”

  “Yeah, that’s even worse than I imagined,” Raul said.

  “There wasn’t much more anyway,” Kevin said, packing his camera up. “Right after that I dropped the camera…surprised it’s still working…and jumped on the man who was trying to rape Arianna. I pounded the shit out of his back until he finally got off and went after me. A few seconds later, the local police came and broke the whole thing up. Thanks to them, we were all able to get the hell out of there.”

  Zach’s phone buzzed. He answered it and listened to the caller then hung up. “Son-of-a-bitch. That was Veritas. He confirmed that the anonymous tip about Raul carrying an illegal firearm came from Miller. He’s the prick who brought the law down on him.”

  “No surprise,” Kevin said. “As you can see by the video, he was more interested in saving his own ass than helping Arianna.”

  Just at that moment, Arianna stepped out of the bedroom. “What’s going on?” she asked.

  The men shrugged and mumbled a non-descript answer as they dispersed and started to gather their things to leave.

  “Time to head to the airport,” Zach said, not answering her question. “Is this everything?” he asked, grabbing the handle of her suitcase.

  She nodded, and the group made its way to the elevator and on down to the lobby.

  “I’ll just be a second,” Arianna said. “I need to turn the keys in and check out.” She stepped to the registrar’s desk.

  Zach looked over and saw Miller sitting in the hotel bar with a couple young fräuleins hanging all over him. He immediately started toward the lounge.

  “Hold on, Zach,” Tony said, putting his hand on his arm. “If you do what I think you’re going to do, you’ll get arrested. Hold up. You’ll have your chance later.”

  “If Arianna had been raped, he’d already be dead, ” Zach said, shrugging Tony’s hand off him. “Let’s just call this a mini introduction to justice.”

  He entered the bar and headed straight for Miller. Seeing Zach coming his way, Miller, slightly inebriated, stood, and pointing at Zach said, “Look at this fucking fag. Big rich pretty boy, trying to act all tough.”

  He barely got the words out of his mouth, when Zach smacked him with an open hand to the side of his head, causing him to hit the floor like a rock. Everyone nearby backed up and stood there with a shocked look on their face.

  Miller bounced back to his feet and took a swing at Zach, but with all the precision of the trained fighter he was, Zach blocked the blow and swept Miller’s feet out from under him.

  “Yeah, big tough Marine, and I’m just a pretty rich boy,” Zach said as Miller crashed to the floor. “Newsflash. US Navy SEAL here, so if I were you, I’d stay down there.”

  Miller lay there holding his face, glaring up at Zach.

  “Make no mistake, you worthless piece of shit,” Zach hissed, “I’m your worst nightmare, and if I find you within a hundred miles of Arianna, you will disappear. Do you understand?”

  Miller continued to glare at him, not answering.

  Zach kicked him in the side. “I said, do you understand?”

  “Fuck you,” Miller spat out, while struggling to get up.

  “I’ll take that as a yes,” Zach said, and shoved him back down and poured an unfinished drink on him.

  Arianna stood in the doorway with a horrified look on her face. Without skipping a beat, Zach took her by the arm, spun her around, and together they hustled out to their waiting ride.

  “What was that all about?” she asked, a look somewhere between perturbed and horrified plastered on her face.

  Zach told the driver to take them to the airport. Turning toward Arianna, he replied, “Don’t ask.”

  “Why not ask? You knocked Miller down and humiliated him. I’m surprised someone didn’t try to arrest you.”

  “Never happen, I assure you,” Zach said, exhaling deeply to bring himself down from an adrenaline high.

  “It’s about the attack isn’t it? You blame him.”

  At first Zach didn’t answer. Finally he said, “That loser bragged about his skills as an ex-Marine and what a great security guard he was, but when push came to shove, he was worthless…today, during the attack, yesterday, tomorrow. He should have never been in that job.”

  Arianna stared at him, still amazed at what she had just witnessed. “I’ve never seen you like this. You totally humiliated the guy.”

  Zach stared out the window, ignoring her for the moment. No, she’d never seen him like this before, so he was sure she must be shocked. It wasn’t every day he laid someone out who was sitting at a bar. He did his fighting on the battlefield, but this was different. This was personal. He’d had a bad feeling about this guy since the first day he’d met him and as it turned out, for good reason. This whack today was nothing compared to what I wanted to do.

  Turning toward Arianna, he said, “Miller’s the one who caused Raul to be pulled off the job. If he hadn’t filed a false report, Raul would have been there to help you. You think he was humiliated today? He’s lucky I didn’t kill him. Now can we drop this, please? ”

  Arianna opened her mouth to say something, but the look on Zach’s face told her it wasn’t a good idea to say anything more. Somehow she knew he was serious about killing the guy. Sh
e’d just seen a dark and deadly side of man she loved that she hoped to never see again. The best thing to do now was to let it go.

  COSTA LUNA: ISLAND IN THE CARIBBEAN

  CALMNESS CAME over her as they drove through the security gate of Zach’s seaside mansion. There was no place like home, and she was happy to be returning to this quiet retreat, away from the turbulence of the past few days. She needed peace and serenity. Needed time to rest and heal from her traumatic experience.

  Standing, waiting to greet them were Lisa, Tony’s wife and Arianna’s best friend, along with Pilar, Zach’s longtime house keeper and adopted family member.

  “Welcome home,” Pilar said as Arianna stepped out of the SUV.

  Arianna gave her a hug and said, “You look wonderful. Looks like your injuries have healed nicely.”

  “Except for the permanent limp I’ll have, I’m doing well.” She reached forward and gently touched Arianna’s still slightly bruised face. “I’m sorry about what happened to you. I think your job is dangerous, and you should come home.”

  Arianna took hold of Pilar’s hand and kissed it gently. “Aw, I appreciate your concern. That’s sweet of you to say. I know you worry about me, but I love my job, Pilar. I have to go back.”

  Lisa flew into Tony’s arms, and they embraced like the newlyweds they were. Finally breaking away from Tony, Lisa turned toward Arianna and hugged her as well. While Tony gathered luggage, she and Arianna walked arm and arm into the house.

  “I saw what happened to you,” Lisa said. “I’m so sorry. Are you all right?”

  “Yes. No. Maybe. It was terrifying. Thank God the police came back when they did. I thought for sure those thugs were going to rape me.”

  Lisa hugged her tight. “Oh, Ari, I can’t imagine how horrifying that was.”

  Arianna sighed. “My emotions have been all over the place about this. Zach’s been a big comfort to me. Kevin and Raul, too. Having good friends around me has made all the difference in the world.”

  They climbed the stairs to the second floor. “So are you going back to work?” Lisa asked.