The Ranger's Secret Read online

  “THERE’S UNCLE CHASE!”

  Nicky broke away from his parents and came running toward the car, his cute features alive with excitement. A tortured Chase had been resting against the passenger door waiting for them. He scooped the boy from the ground and hugged him close, so full of conflicted emotions he was dying inside.

  “Did you get my postcard? It was the Tower of London!”

  “I did and I loved it.”

  “They used to torture people in it.”

  “That’s what you told me.”

  Nicky gave him a peck on the cheek. “I brought you a present, but it’s in my suitcase.”

  “I can’t wait to see it.”

  His hazel eyes twinkled. “You’ll love it.”

  “You will,” Vance assured him.

  Chase turned to his best friend, who’d never looked better. Happiness radiated from his eyes. In fact, Chase would say marriage had taken five years off him. As for Rachel, she exuded that aura of true fulfillment you felt when you knew you were loved beyond all else.

  When Chase left the park tomorrow, this picture of them would be indelibly impressed in his mind and heart. He hugged Rachel extra hard. He was going to miss his friends like crazy. “How’s your father?”

  “He’s fantastic!” she cried. “The surgery was a complete success. They’ll be moving out here before we know it.”

  “That’s wonderful,” he whispered, but he was functioning on automatic pilot. Since yesterday when Mark had told him the passenger in the helicopter was named Margaret Anne Bower, Chase’s life had been turned inside out.

  He could feel Vance’s eagle eye on him. Already the Chief could sense Chase wasn’t being himself. The two men had never been able to hide anything from each other, but this was one time when he’d have to bluff his way through.

  “You guys get in and I’ll stow your bags.” He moved to the rear of the car and opened the trunk. Vance followed him. For the moment they were alone.

  “Pardon my English, but you look like hell.”

  Yup. Chase had been one of hell’s occupants since yesterday. It was Mark Sims who’d provided him his only lifeline to the world of the living. Through their communication he’d learned that Annie had come out of the crash with nothing more than a fractured arm and a few stitches in her head. Thank God for that.

  “Being chief ranger of Yosemite Park was a lot harder than I thought it would be. Your shoes are too big to fill.”

  Avoiding eye contact, he shut the trunk lid and got in the driver’s seat. Nicky and Rachel had installed themselves in the back where Chase had put Nicky’s car seat. Vance climbed in front. Again Chase felt his friend’s laser-blue glance doing a full probe while they fastened their seat belts.

  Once they left the airport Chase purposely engaged Nicky in conversation. “Did you see any white owls?”

  “I got to see Hedwig!”

  “The real Hedwig?”

  “Yup.”

  “The one in the movie?”

  “Yup. Except they used seven different owls. The one I saw was really called Oak.”

  “How did you manage that?”

  “Mommy and Daddy drove us to this town. I don’t remember what it was called.”

  “Walsall,” Rachel interjected.

  “Yeah, and this lady came to the library with some animals. She brought Oak, who was really snowy.”

  “Well, lucky you.”

  “Yup. We got pictures of me standing next to her and I also got to touch a pygmy hedgehog.”

  Chase chuckled in spite of his pain. He’d learned to love Nicky and couldn’t imagine not being around him anymore. “I can’t wait to look at your pictures.”

  “Have you ever seen a pygmy hedgehog?”

  “I don’t think so.”

  “They’re really little.”

  “I bet. You didn’t happen to see the Queen too, did you?”

  “Nope, but we saw the guards guarding her with these huge hats. What were they called again, Mommy?”

  “Beefeaters.”

  “Oh yeah, and we rode the red double-decker buses all over London. You can see the river and everything upstairs. Oh, and guess what else?”

  “What?” Keep it up, Nicky.

  “We rode on a train.”

  “Did it take you to Hogwarts?”

  Nicky giggled. “Hogwarts isn’t real. You’re funny, Uncle Chase.”

  Their little blond chatterbox entertained them until they reached the entrance to the park. Chase wouldn’t have stopped, but Jeff Thompson, the ranger manning the guard station, had seen them coming. When he spotted Vance, he stepped out to say hello. Chase had no option but to apply the brakes.

  “Glad to see you back, Chief.”

  “It’s good to be home.”

  Jeff tipped his hat to Nicky and Rachel seated in the rear. “Just so you know, Ranger Jarvis did such a great job, no one would know you’d left,” he added.

  “That’s laying it on a little thick don’t you think?” Chase scoffed.

  “It’s the reason I left him in charge,” Vance followed up. “What’s new with you?”

  “Not a thing, but I guess you know all about the forestry helicopter crash over Mount Paiute,” he said in a quieter voice.

  Vance’s head swung toward Chase in consternation.

  Chase almost bit his own tongue off. Thanks a lot, Jeff. “Let’s talk outside,” he muttered to Vance, who nodded. They both got out of the car, not wanting Nicky to hear anything.

  “When was this?” Vance asked. A grimace had broken out on his face.

  “Yesterday.”

  “Why didn’t you tell me?”

  “If there’d been fatalities, I would have. Fortunately, the pilot and passenger on board came out of it with only a broken leg and a fractured arm.”

  “It was miraculous they survived in such great shape, all things considered,” Jeff said.

  Vance was waiting for a more detailed explanation from Chase. “So far the inspectors think it was a tail rotor malfunction or an in-flight mechanical malfunction. There’s no other logical explanation for what happened.”

  “Who was at the controls?”

  “Tom Fuller,” Jeff supplied.

  Chase elaborated. “The good news is that pilot error has been ruled out. It happened around noon in perfect weather, providing optimum conditions for a happy outcome.”

  “Who was the passenger?”

  The blood pounded at his temples. “A new archaeologist from the CDF on an orientation flight.”

  “A new one—”

  “It was Superintendent Telford’s idea to hire an additional archaeologist. He found the funding for it.”

  “The rescue guys said she’s a real looker,” Jeff said.

  “What’s her name?”

  “Margaret Bower. The guys are lining up to meet her, but I plan to be first to nail a date.”

  Chase could feel his blood pressure rise.

  “She’s single then?” Vance muttered.

  Jeff nodded. “She has a daughter who’ll be living in the park with her.”

  A daughter? For the first time in Chase’s life he nearly passed out from shock.

  “How old is she?”

  Jeff shrugged. “I don’t know. You’ll have to ask Mark for those details.”

  Chase eyed his friend. “I’d hoped to spare you that information until tomorrow, Vance. Welcome home.”

  “I’m glad I found out tonight. Forewarned is forearmed. I presume it’s been plastered all over the news here.”

  “Of course, but the positive outcome has caused the clamor to die down.”

  “The new superintendent must have come close to having a coronary.”

  Jeff nodded. “It’s safe to say we all did until they were taken off the critical list. Superintendent Telford felt so responsible, he wrote out a statement for the park publicist to give to the press so we’re covered.”

  “That’s a relief.”

  Chase c
ouldn’t take any more. “It’s great talking to you, Jeff, but they’ve had a transatlantic flight and need to get home.” I have to talk to Mark.

  They both got back in the car. Jeff waved to the two in the back seat. “See you around, Nicky!”

  “See ya!”

  He backed away so Chase could drive the car on through.

  For the rest of the drive to Yosemite Valley they talked shop while Chase brought Vance up to speed. Rachel and Nicky held their own conversation in the back seat. Before long Chase turned into Vance’s driveway and shut off the motor.

  “I’ll help you with the luggage.” Chase couldn’t talk to Mark fast enough, but that wouldn’t happen until he was alone.

  Vance helped his family into the house then came back to the car. Together they carried the bags inside the door. As Chase turned to leave, Vance caught his arm. “Hey? Where’s the fire? We want you to stay. Rachel’s going to fix us a snack. Come on in.”

  Chase flashed him a wry smile. “This is your first night home with your bride. Four’s a crowd, if you know what I mean. Don’t forget I’m still in charge until you show up for work tomorrow, so enjoy yourselves.”

  After clapping a hand on Vance’s shoulder, he walked back to the car. Though he felt like running, he controlled the impulse. When he looked through the side-view mirror he noticed Vance still standing in the doorway with a deep frown marring his rugged features.

  After rounding the corner, Chase turned into his own driveway and pressed the remote to enter his garage. He hurried inside the house and pulled out his cell phone to call Mark from the kitchen.

  “Mission accomplished. Vance and family are back home and safe. All is well.”

  “Terrific. How does he look?”

  “Better than a man who just won the ten-billion-dollar lottery.”

  “That’s very good,” was Mark’s emotional response. Like all the rangers, the head security officer for the park thought the world of Vance.

  “Did Nicky enjoy himself?”

  “He’s been chattering nonstop. You’re going to be hearing all about his trip.”

  Mark laughed. “I’m crazy about that little guy.”

  “Everyone is.” Until he had the answer to one specific question, Chase’s anxiety was so severe he could hardly breathe. “Speaking of children, Jeff told Vance that Ms. Bower has a daughter.”

  “That’s right.”

  “I didn’t realize. By any chance is she Nicky’s age? If so, that would be nice for him to have a friend. We’ll be in short supply around here this winter.”

  “According to the information sheet provided by the CDF, she’s ten years old, my Carly’s age. It says she’s in the fourth grade and her name is Roberta.”

  The phone slipped from Chase’s fingers and fell to the floor.

  He’d made Annie pregnant. They had a child together—

  “Chase? Are you still there?”

  A girl—he had a daughter!

  “Hello? Chase?”

  He had to reach down for the phone, but his hand trembled like a man with palsy, making it difficult. “Yes,” he murmured in a daze. “Sorry about that. The phone dropped. Thanks for the info, Mark. Feed all emergencies to me. Vance won’t be back on duty until tomorrow. Stay in touch.”

  “Will do.”

  The second they hung up, Chase braced himself at the sink. While he stared blindly out the window trying to come to grips with the fact that he was a father, someone knocked on the front door. It was the kind of summons you couldn’t ignore. One of the rangers, no doubt, but this was one time when the intrusion seemed more than he could handle.

  Still, he strode through the house and flung the door open wide. Vance took one look at him and said, “I thought so.” Sidestepping him, he moved inside.

  Chase shut the door. They faced each other like adversaries.

  “I’m not leaving until you tell me what’s going on.”

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  Chapter Three

  A full minute passed while Chase stared at him. It was truth time. “You’re not going to like what you hear. When I’ve told you everything, you’re not only going to hate my guts for lying to you, you’ll be enraged that my being here has put the park in danger.”

  All animation left Vance’s face. “Why not let me be the judge of that. Let’s hear it.”

  Taking a fortifying breath, he began. “For starters my name is Robert Myers. I was born in New York City, not San Diego. There’s no Barbara in my life. I was never married or divorced. Never a navy man.

  “Like my parents I too received my Ph.D. from Duke University in archaeology, but I need to backtrack. I didn’t grow up in the States. Before I was a year old, my parents left for China. We virtually lived our lives following the Eastern to Western outposts of the Silk Route from the Orient to Afghanistan where we ended up in Kabul to do an excavation.

  “As you know from being a marine in Iraq, archaeologists often have entrée into countries where few others can get in. I was a young boy when the CIA approached my parents to do intelligence gathering for them. At the time I didn’t understand the significance. All I knew was that I was warned never to talk to anyone about our activities.”

  Vance shook his head in amazement.

  “When Afghanistan was under Russian occupation and subsequent Taliban rule, their national museum in Kabul was looted of its treasure, but it never showed up in the Western auction houses or in Russia. The world was stumped.

  “To make a long story short, it was learned that the Afghan government had hidden it in an impenetrable vault beneath the presidential palace complex in Kabul. After the Taliban were expelled, a team of locksmiths were called in to open the seven locks.

  “Save for a few pieces, the fabulous Bactrian Gold treasure was all there along with the priceless two thousand coins dating from the fifth century B.C. showing the profiles of successive kings. Other teams of archaeologists including ours were sent in to verify the authenticity of the contents, proving a central Asian identity midway on the Silk Route.”

  “You got to examine it?”

  Chase nodded. “A part of it, but victory came at a price. An Al-Qaeda cell still working with the Taliban got their revenge against anyone connected to the find. They set off an explosion at our excavation site, killing my parents and thirteen others. I was given up for dead too, but I survived and was flown to Switzerland by the CIA for rehabilitation.

  “I was in the hospital a year to recover. Besides the massive scarring and skin grafts from successive operations, I was told I wouldn’t be able to have children. And one more thing…”

  Chase could tell Vance was holding his breath.

  “There was an inoperable piece of shrapnel lodged in my heart. If it moved, I was a dead man. Knowing it could happen at any time, my life wasn’t worth two cents so I agreed to go back to work for the CIA. It was better than waiting around for the end to come. Because of my knowledge of Arabic, Punjabi and Persian Dari, my job was to infiltrate and gather intelligence for them.

  “The taste for revenge was strong. To my shock, my heart survived the training. The doctor just scratched his head. I ended up giving them six years of my life. On my last mission where I was embedded with a group of special forces, my cover was blown by a double agent who recognized me from the Kabul disaster. They immediately put me in the witness protection program here at Yosemite where I could fade into the woodwork.

  “In case you’re wondering how I made it through my physical, the powers that be planted someone else’s chest X-ray during my park service physical. For three years nothing has disturbed the tenor of my existence…until yesterday.”

  Vance folded his arms. “I knew there had to be a reason I felt an affinity to you from day one.” He gazed at Chase with a mixture of fascination and admiration. “Go on.”

  Chase swallowed hard. “I’m in trouble, Vance.”

  “You mean your identity here has been compromised?”

>   “Not yet.” He rubbed the side of his jaw. “But this is something related and deeply personal. A little while ago I found out I’m a father.”

  Those blue eyes squinted. “Say that again?”

  “I can’t believe it either. Apparently I have a daughter. Her mother happens to be the woman who was in the helicopter yesterday, Annie Bower. She’s the woman I fell in love with in Afghanistan. She was there as an undergraduate archaeology student from UCLA volunteering for credit.”

  The news brought Vance to his feet.

  “When Annie first appeared at the dig site, no male working there could keep his eyes off her. I took one look and felt an immediate attraction that only grew stronger the instant she smiled.”

  Her intelligence had fascinated him, drawing him to her. The warmth of her personality captivated him. “We became inseparable…until the day disaster struck and separated us permanently. Thank God she’d stayed at the apartment that morning.” His voice trembled.

  “Thank God,” Vance echoed.

  “We’d planned to be married at the end of the summer, but now you know what happened. She went back to California believing I was dead. I’d taken precautions, so I had no idea she was pregnant when she left.

  “With Al-Qaeda cells active everywhere in the U.S., I was terrified they’d track her down because she’d been part of the excavation team. I had no choice but to remain dead to her. And let’s face it. Who would want a scarred shell of a man who could drop dead at any moment?”

  Vance grimaced. “I hear you,” he whispered.

  “The CIA has kept her under surveillance all these years, but they’ve never given me any knowledge of her. I guess they knew that if I found out we had a daughter, I wouldn’t be able to stay away from her.” He sucked in his breath. “Can you imagine how I felt yesterday when I flew to the crash site and there was Annie lying crumpled in the brush?”

  “Chase—”

  “It’s one of those coincidences that has defied all logic. As we lifted her into the basket, she looked at me and cried my name. The guys figured Robert must be her husband’s name and didn’t find it unusual she’d called out to him.”