“Keep it there,” Axe reinforced. He held up his hand, signaling that it was time to leave. His deadly looking eyes peered at the group. “Do as I say, when I say it, and we’ll try not to get anyone killed.”
Ellie took one vital step forward as inner turmoil raged through her body. She stood just in back of Axe, causing the man to peer at her with a neutral expression on his face.
“May I stand beside you?” came the soft question. Ellie’s gaze bore into the man that she was now trusting with her life. Every single thing as she knew it, was at a standstill. Everything she knew, she was beginning to question. Everything she knew in life, could be killed within seconds.
“Why?” Axe almost did not ask the question, but his conscious got the better of him. “Why do you want to stand beside me?”
“Because my family and I are trusting you with our lives right now and I would like to be standing next to the man who has a gun drawn and who appears to know how to use it,” Ellie replied. She hoped the man could not hear the constriction within her own throat. “I know that must sound awful, but-”
“No.” Axe bent closer. Their faces were only inches apart. “Don’t apologize for how you feel right now. No one is judging you for your emotions.”
“I’ve turned my feelings off,” Ellie admitted with some reluctance. She took a deep breath of air and swallowed. “Right now I just want my family to, ah, survive.”
Axe could understand that.
He could respect that.
And he agreed with that.
Axe raised his gun and double-checked his pistol again. He then zeroed in on Ellie. “Stay right behind me. Got it? Right on my tail.”
“Of course,” came the serious reply. Axe noticed the young woman scoot a little closer to him and for a brief moment he wondered if by being closer to him made her feel any more secure.
He guessed that it probably didn’t.
No one had ever felt better by being in his presence and he was very certain of that. He often intimidated people and that had never bothered him before. Axe told himself that it should not upset him at this moment….but for a fleeting moment, it did. He did not want to intimidate the young woman or her family. Axe knew his primary goal was to keep them safe at all costs.
Now, he turned toward the group and noticed Samuel and his entire family had their eyes squarely focused on him. Axe felt the responsibility of the situation because everyone’s survival rested on his abilities. “Everyone needs to keep their body low to the ground, but their eyes up and focused. We’re splitting into two groups and taking two vehicles to the airstrip. The pilots have already been notified of your arrival and all of you will be leaving this country within minutes.” Axe stopped to glance at the quiet group. He noticed when the family members glanced at each other, as if silently communicating their love for each other, and for some reason an invisible shell of hardness cast itself over his soul. “Any questions?”
No one said a word. Axe fully turned toward the doorway. “Let’s move out.” Axe began to quickly and quietly maneuver his way down the hallway. The dim light made it difficult to see, but Axe crept along steadily. He noticed Riot and Duff with their weapons drawn, flanking the family. The other armed guards were brining up the rear.
Axe saw the young woman crouching just off to his side. Her eyes were wide open and Axe suspected her body was pumping with an extreme amount of adrenaline. She appeared to be searching the area, looking for any signs of trouble.
Another step.
Then another.
Then another.
In a fluid motion, the group continued to walk down the hallway, as if bracing themselves for what might come their way.
Agonizing moments ticked by as they shuffled their way through the empty hallway. It was Riot that noticed a set of twin tears slowly slide down the cheeks of the young Asian woman. He watched as her brother with the brown hair whispered something to her and then Riot turned his attention back on the surrounding area.
Axe halted. There was no sound….
With a sinking feeling tingling his nerves, Axe raised his right fist in the air. Without turning around he held up two fingers and then one, signaling to the men behind him.
Axe continued to scan the abandoned area around him. There was no noise in the resort. No laughter. No footsteps. Nothing.
“Stay here, miss,” Axe told the woman who was hovering just behind him. There was a certain amount of expertise needed in situations like this and Axe displayed his highly trained skills to their finest ability.
Ellie watched the man creep forward with his gun in position. He crept further ahead…and further ahead…until Ellie nearly cried out that she wanted to be by his side. It was that form of protective nature that Ellie craved. In her innermost soul, she knew that she was safe with the leader of the group…the man who was risking his life for her and the entire Carrie family. The horrific situation was nearly unimaginable, yet frighteningly real.
Pop!
Pop!
Pop!
Axe swore under his breath as the bullets whizzed by his body. There was no single moment of hesitation before Axe raised his gun and began to return the gunfire.
He saw the unknown man in the doorway. The attacker’s aim was directed precisely at Axe. Less than a mere second later, Axe had fired his own weapon at the man…
Ellie watched in horror.
She noticed the unknown attacker fall backward into the doorway and then body slump down. Ellie bit her lower lip to keep from crying out. Her heart began to beat with a newfound dose of fear. She got the pepper spray from her back pocket, needing the reassurance of some sort of weapon to make her feel just a tad safer.
Axe did not glance behind him as his eyes continued to scan the area for the possibility of more armed men and women. “Riot, out.”
Riot Rodney positioned his own weapon toward the doorway. “I need everyone to hustle forward. Move! Move! Move!”
After exchanging a quick glance with Damon, Ellie hustled her way toward the man in front of her…the place where she felt the safest. Ellie could hear her sister trying desperately to muffle her anguished cries. She noticed her mother and Samuel each place a hand on Brisa’s shoulder, while trying to whisper words of comfort. It was Sibby that kept repeating, “We will be okay, Brisa….we will be okay.”
Axe hovered by the doorway, his weapon still in a trained position as his eyes searched the location. His breathing was steady and his body never trembled. It was those actions that both frightened and reassured Ellie all at once.
“We’re going to do just as I said earlier,” Axe whispered to the group, without turning around. “We’re going to haul our asses out to the two vehicles outside, get in, and drive to the airstrip. Questions?”
There were none.
Satisfied with the conditions, Axe maneuvered himself further ahead. Nerves cascaded through her spirit as Ellie followed behind the man that she trusted with her life. There was no other time in her existence when she had felt as vulnerable and yet in some insane way more protected.
Axe halted the group once more and remained hovering in a menacing position. He walked forward, into the abandoned hallway. “Come on out,” Axe whispered to himself. “Show yourself.” Axe was ready. He knew there had to be at least two more armed men wanting to kill him and this family that he had vowed to protect.
Pop!
Pop!
Pop!
Axe had seen the attacker step out of the hallway, his machine gun raised, when Axe had shot the man with exact precision. With his head on a swivel and professionally trained movements, Axe began to run forward. “Follow me!”
With every ounce of her will, Ellie did as she was instructed. Her entire life was placed in the hands of the men surrounding her and she had to trust them.
She had to trust the men.
She had to trust their best intentions.
She had to trust the man standing directly in front of her…his weapon dr
awn and ready to use…for her safety.
There was no time for hesitation, only brave action. With trust protruding through her taut body, she followed the man through the doorway. Darkness greeted her. It was the quietness that was so incredibly eerie.
Axe quickly jogged toward the known exit that he had located earlier. With the fluid movements of a trained professional, Axe slid his body against the doorway and peaked outside.
Two vehicles were parked near the building. Axe noticed the three men he had paid to keep an eye on the jeeps were still there. Fortunately, Axe had worked with the men in the past and knew their loyalty was to the highest bidder.
After opening the door, Axe walked into the darkness of the night. It was the silence that was most terrifying. He noticed the young woman right behind him and silently gave her credit for not dissolving into a fit of hysterics. Axe saw the small can of pepper spray clasped tightly within her hands and for the tiniest of moments he wanted to grin, but didn’t. The dire situation was much too serious to showcase any forms of expression.
Axe and Riot secured the area as Duff got behind the wheel of the second jeep. The other men flanked the vehicles, their weapons drawn and ready for use. Ellie noticed her parents, Cray, and Brisa getting into the second vehicle. There was one last look she shared with her father before she scurried into the front jeep.
Pop!
Pop!
Pop!
Ellie ducked into the backseat. She said her prayers as she noticed her twin brother beside her. Damon had gotten into the backseat with her, draping his body over hers, in an effort of protection. “Ellie!”
The anguish was real. The anguish was destroying. The anguish was the most dire set of circumstances that Ellie had ever encountered.
“Damon!” Ellie screeched at her twin. “Are you okay?” She could only pant the words. The air was being crushed from her lungs and for a solid moment, Ellie wondered if he had been shot.
“I’m fine, Ellie,” Damon said. He began to shift away from her, sitting in the middle of the seat and hovering beside her. Without thinking of his own safety, Damon reached around her and closed the back door. He then scanned the area.
His parents, older brother, and older sister were securely in the jeep located just behind them. Damon watched as the men surrounding both vehicles began to fire into the darkness. The loudness of the gunfire ricocheted through the once peaceful and welcoming resort environment.
The heart beating within Damon’s chest heaved rapidly with the most tormented sense of fear and adrenaline.
Axe continued to fire his gun as he positioned himself behind the driver’s seat. “Damn it!”
After shutting the door, Axe put the jeep into gear. He was just about to drive forward when Riot hopped into the backseat and shut the door. “Go! Go! Go!”
Axe punched his foot on the accelerator. “You’ve got a man at your two o’clock, Riot.” The calmness in which Axe stated the words caused Ellie to suck in a deep breath of air.
“I got it,” Riot replied and fired his gun as the jeep continued to speed forward. Ellie watched in horror as the man continued to fire his weapon.
Everything was happening too fast.
It was ten minutes later when Axe wished he had not given up smoking. Right now he wanted a cigarette and knew that was not going to happen. Instead he glanced in the side-mirror, noticed the jeep that Duff was driving was directly in back of him.
“Hey, Mister?”
Axe did not acknowledge the male in the backseat. He wanted to keep his attention on the road and not engage in chit-chat. But then he thought the guy might have a legitimate question and asked, “Yeah?”
Damon sat in the backseat, wedged between his twin sister and a man named Riot, when he asked, “Who are you guys?”
“No need to know that information,” Axe smoothly replied. He thought of calling the young man a kid, but then thought better of it. Axe knew no man wanted to be referred to as a child. Besides the young man had to be in his early twenties.
“John?” That came from Riot, using the name for Axe and to not reveal their real identity. “See it?”
“I see it,” Axe said and swore under his breath. “Inform the car behind us.”
Ellie turned in her seat and shuttered when she saw three loud motorcycles surrounding the jeep. “What’s happening?”
“I was just about to ask you that.” Axe swore under his breath as he saw the first biker etch closer to his vehicle. “Just who the hell did your dad piss off?”
It was Ellie who answered, “Our father is a businessman. He works in the insurance industry.”
Axe doubted that but remained silent.
The less he knew about this family the better.
“It’s true,” Ellie said again, this time with more feeling behind her words. “Our father is the most honest man there is and he’s a solid man within our community.” Ellie eyed the back of Axe’s head. “He even began a youth chess league in the neighborhood.”
Axe swerved toward the biker.
Riot quietly swore. “John, don’t swerve for a moment,” the man cautioned. “I’m trying to see if the bikers are hostile or not.”
“I don’t know who the hell they are and I would like to figure it out before they blow us up,” Axe said. He kept his eyes focused on the details surrounding them. “Do you recognize them? Are they Julio’s people?”
“I’m working on it,” Riot answered. He began speaking Spanish into his cell phone. A moment passed. “The bikers are Julio’s men. He sent them as protection.”
No amount of relief coursed through Axe’s body. It was not safe yet and he knew it. There was no time to relax. “Next time Julio should probably let us know and keep us in the loop.”
“I informed Duff about the bikers,” Riot announced. Ellie kept her eyes trained around her, soaking in every detail. So many questions were cascading through her mind that she wanted to ask, but knew she couldn’t.
As if on cue, Damon began asking for information. “How much further until the airport?”
“The pilots have already been contacted and we’re meeting at a more secluded spot,” Axe advised. “They are getting the jet ready as we speak and we’ll be there in roughly five minutes.”
Five minutes…
Five minutes…
Five minutes until they board the plane.
Five minutes until they leave this awful country.
Five minutes until they are airborne, flying back home.
“What happens to you?” Ellie asked. This man and his team had risked their lives for her and the entire Carrie family. “What happens to you after we leave?”
The question surprised Axe and he did not like that. “Nothing. I go back to my life and you go back to yours.”
“But you’ll be okay?” Ellie further inquired. She briefly caught Axe’s glance in the mirror. “You will be safe, right? Nothing will happen to you?” Ellie eyed the man who called himself Riot. She was not at all offended when the giant of a man ignored her. “Everyone will be safe?”
“Don’t go soft on me now, lady,” Axe said. “Remember that you about pepper sprayed my ass back at the hotel.”
“My name is Ellie,” she informed the man. The lump in her throat felt so grainy, like she had just swallowed sand. “Ellie Carrie.”
“Well, don’t go soft on me, Ellie,” came Axe’s repeated response. Without much warning, Axe pulled the jeep off the main road and onto a much more private dirt covered path. The vehicle jockeyed from side to side on the bumpy terrain.
The nerves that Ellie did not acknowledge earlier, were now on high alert. Her entire body trembled with fear of the unknown. She absently wiped her clammy palms against her jeans.
As if sensing her discomfort, Axe said, “Don’t worry about any of this. The boys and I are going to get you to the jet and make certain that all of you are safe.”
“Are you asking us to trust you?” It was Damon who had enough gumption to a
sk such a question.
“No,” was Axe’s honest reply. “You don’t have to trust me. I just want your asses on the plane and out of this country.”
True to his word, Axe pulled the jeep to a stop near a building that Ellie thought would resemble more of a shack during the daylight hours. She did not care.
Still perched in the back seat, she watched as Axe exited the jeep. He had a pistol in his hands and Ellie assumed the man also carried one in the small of his back and probably had other concealed weapons strapped to his body.
“What the hell do you think is going on, Ellie?” Damon whispered to his sister. He watched as Riot stood just outside the vehicle with a large machine gun clasped firmly in his grasp. “Do you think dad is in some sort of trouble?”
“No,” came the immediate and honest reply. “Maybe it was a thing regarding mistaken identity.”
Damon briefly contemplated that before saying, “Yeah, but usually mistaken identity doesn’t end up with people trying to kill you.”
“I don’t know what to think, Damon,” Ellie replied, but she accepted what her instincts told her. “But I’m staying close to the guy named John who carries a gun and looks like a complete badass.”
“He could kill us out here, bury our bodies, and no one would be the wiser,” Damon informed his sister. “It would be the perfect set up.”
“No.” Ellie continued to acknowledge her gut reaction. “John is the one person who will make certain that we are on that plane.” Now Ellie only hoped that she believed herself.
Axe Liam stood just inside the jet. After he had triple checked with the pilots about their destination, Axe left the cockpit and shut the door behind him.
Now he silently inspected the people gathering inside the private jet. Samuel strolled up the middle walkway, checking to make certain that each of his children were safe.
Brisa Carrie had already buckled her seatbelt and now was covering her small body with tan cozy looking blanket. Her hands continued to shake. Cray sat several feet behind her. He kept inspecting his watch and checking the time every minute. Axe could sympathize with the man.
Humping Her Hero Page 17
