Deadly Games - Cate Noble [94]
The nurse looked from Travis to Riley, then pointed to herself. “Me?”
“Yes.” Travis held out his hand to Riley, who passed him a red velvet ring box. Turning back to Maddy Travis opened it. “We’ll pick out another set when we’re home.”
Inside were a solitaire diamond engagement ring and two gold wedding bands.
Once again Maddy’s eyes filled with tears. The nurse scooted closer and looked at the rings. “Awwww.”
“I love you, Maddy.” Travis removed the diamond ring first. “And I never want to be separated from you again. Would you do me the honor of becoming my wife?”
“Yes.” Maddy nodded. “Oh yes.”
He slid the ring on her finger and kissed her.
“Awwww.” The nurse looked ready to cry, too.
“Ready, Riley?” Travis moved closer to the bed.
Riley pulled a folded paper from his pocket. “Will you repeat after me?”
“What?” Maddy rose up on her elbows and stared at Travis. “You mean marry you right now?”
“Right now. Technically it won’t be legal until we are home and get a license, but my vow to you won’t change. And we can still do the big wedding thing if you’d like. Anything you want, but I can’t wait any longer to pledge my heart to you.” Travis squeezed her hand. “The whole time you were gone, it was all I thought about. Marry me, Maddy. Right here, right now.”
Maddy smiled and relaxed. “That’s the most romantic thing I’ve ever heard.”
Riley cleared his throat. “Will you repeat after me?”
Maddy went first. Then Travis repeated his vows and kissed her. “I love you, Mrs. Franks.”
“Awwww!” The nurse pushed forward and hugged Maddy.
Riley shook Travis’s hand, and then he hugged Maddy. “I hate to marry you and run, but I’ve got a flight to catch. I’ll see you back in D.C.”
When they were alone, Maddy held out her hand and stared at her rings.
“I’m serious. We’ll pick out different ones together,” Travis said. “These will be our memory rings.”
“I don’t know. This will always be the ring I married you with.”
The door opened again as a technician pushed in a cart. “I need blood and urine.”
“So much for our honeymoon,” Maddy joked.
Travis’s phone rang just then. He checked the screen, saw it was Dante.
“You can step outside if you need to.” Understanding Travis’s need for privacy, Maddy glanced at the lab tech.
“Thanks. I’ll be right back.” Travis answered the call as he left the room. “Hello.”
“How’s Maddy?” Dante asked.
“Better. We had to stop in Singapore for some emergency surgery, but we plan to leave here in the morning. What’s up there? Did you get the reports I sent?”
“Yes and at first I thought it was a joke. Now? Well I’m having a lot of thoughts about Harry. Second thoughts.”
Me too, Travis thought. “Start pulling his old case reports and travel logs. See if any of it matches up to Abe Caldwell’s travels. Get phone records, too. Harry would have been too smart for that, but Caldwell might have slipped up.”
“I’m on it. I’ve got a situation you need to be aware of, too. Rey Salvador, a retired INTERPOL agent Rocco and I worked with years ago, just called me. He said Rocco contacted him yesterday looking for private security. Rey referred him to a trusted friend, Clay Watkins. But Watkins was found dead at his home. Looks like he was tortured. Nothing missing except his identification.”
“When did you last hear from Rocco?”
“Over twelve hours ago. He’s not answering his cell, which isn’t unexpected, but he’s never gone this long without calling in.”
“Damn it!” Travis moved farther down the hall. Were some of Minh Tran’s men still tracking Rocco and Gena? Even if Tran was dead, the contract on Rocco probably hadn’t been rescinded.
“Rey is checking on his end to see how info might have leaked about Watkins,” Dante said.
“Any idea who else knew Rocco was calling Rey?”
“As a matter of fact, Rocco asked Cat to get Rey’s contact information for him.”
“And where did she get it from?”
“The Agency database. Nothing secure, but Rocco gave her a password to use to get into his archive,” Dante said. “Look, Cat took precautions.