by Elle James
Jake loved his team. They thought of everything, and they’d come to back him up on his fool’s errand. He couldn’t have succeeded without their assistance.
But they weren’t out of trouble yet. The reverend and his wife were slow, their old bodies no match for the younger rebels running through the night.
When Buck, Diesel and Pitbull caught up, Pitbull covered their tail while Buck and Diesel wrapped the old man’s arms over their shoulders and ran with him.
Mrs. Townsend complained that her arms hurt from being carried in such a manner.
Jake and Harm stopped to regroup.
“I’ve got this,” Jake said. “Sorry, ma’am, but we need to move faster.” He tossed the woman over his shoulder and ran toward his SUV.
Darkness was their friend, allowing them to get away without providing clearly visible targets for the rebels. But the rebels were closing in on them. Soon they would be within firing range.
The group split, heading in the direction of their hidden vehicles.
Harm stayed with Jake, offering to carry Mrs. Townsend.
Jake refused the offer, knowing they were only seconds away from trouble. They couldn’t afford to stop again. His lungs burned and his muscles strained against the added weight. But he didn’t quit. These people were Americans.
Shots rang out behind them.
Harm turned and fired into the darkness.
And then they were at the SUV.
Harm opened the back door.
Jake dumped Mrs. Townsend onto the seat, and Harm ran around to the driver’s side.
By the time Jake slipped into the passenger seat, Harm already had the vehicle in Drive. He blasted through the brush and raced across the bumpy ground, navigating by starlight. He didn’t hit the brakes once, knowing the brake and taillights would give the ISIS rebels targets to aim for.
Headlights flared behind them.
“What the hell?” Jake muttered, looking back at two vehicles following them.
“Damn, I must have missed a couple,” Diesel said into Jake’s headset. “We’re closing in on you. You’ve got the missus?”
Jake glanced back at Mrs. Townsend, who was still trying to buckle her seat belt. Thankfully, she was all right. “We’ve got Mrs. Townsend. How’s the reverend?”
“A trooper,” Diesel responded. “Now, if we could only shake this tail.”
Harm drove the SUV out onto the dirt road leading back to Niamey. Another vehicle burst from the brush onto the road in front of them. Since it was running without lights, Jake knew it was the one carrying the rest of his team and the reverend.
They sped along the road, picking up speed, but they were at a disadvantage without lights. Several times, the vehicle in front of them skidded sideways to negotiate a turn.
Just when Jake thought they might actually lose the vehicles behind them, brake lights glowed bright red in front of them.
“Why are you slowing down?” Jake asked.
“Watch out. There’s a herd of African buffalo lying on the road.”
Jake muttered a curse and spun in his seat to watch as the rebel vehicles grew closer. “Honk! Bump them, do something. It’s getting hot back here.”
“Does no good for us to hit them. They’d put the vehicle out of commission.”
The sound of a horn honking ahead might help with the cattle situation, but the oncoming ISIS vehicles weren’t slowing one bit and Jake’s vehicle was at a complete standstill.
“Pick me up on the other side of the herd,” he said and jumped out of the vehicle.
“What the hell?” Harm said as Jake slammed the door.
Diesel was only halfway through the herd and making such slow progress they’d never get through before the ISIS militants closed on them.
Jake ran through the creatures, waving his hands and yelling at the top of his lungs.
One by one, the animals rose to their feet and ambled along the road.
Jake kept running to the other end of the herd and started on his way back, waving, shouting and sometimes shoving the animals out of the way.
The rebel headlights were less than a mile away and closing fast.
Slowly the buffalo woke and started to move a little faster.
Diesel’s vehicle cleared the herd and sped away.
Harm pulled up next to Jake.
Jake jumped in, and Harm drove past the rest of the buffalo and picked up speed. But they’d lost a lot of their lead and the buffalo had, for the most part, cleared the road by the time the trailing vehicles reached them.
“Mrs. Townsend, lie low in the seat,” Jake said. “We’ll likely take some bullets.”
She ducked out of the shoulder strap and lay across the seat, her eyes wide.
Within seconds, bullets peppered the back of the SUV, cracking the rear windshield. The bumpy road shook the glass so hard that shards broke loose. Soon the rear window was nothing more than a jagged hole.
Jake climbed over the console and Mrs. Townsend to the rear of the vehicle. He knocked out the glass and, staying below the tailgate, he aimed his rifle at a position just above the right headlight. With the SUV rocking over every rut, he knew his aim would veer off course. He pulled the trigger, firing several rounds.
The lead rebel vehicle swerved sharply to the right, flipped and rolled.
Jake pumped a fist and then braced himself as they hit another deep rut.
The second rebel vehicle slowed only slightly and then raced forward, leaving the other crashed vehicle on the side of the road.
Sitting cross-legged, Jake took aim again. The vehicle was closer. A man hung out of the passenger side firing rounds from a machine gun.
Focusing all of his attention just above the right headlight, Jake fired once, twice, three times.
The vehicle slowed and then jerked to the side. The man hanging out the window pitched forward and fell to the ground. The truck raced to the side and smashed into a tree.
Jake drew in a deep breath and let it out.
“Good job,” Harm said. “Now, let’s get these good people to Niamey.” Harm turned on the lights. Ahead of them, Diesel did, as well.
Jake crawled back into the passenger seat, his heartbeat returning to normal. “That wasn’t so bad,” he said.
Harm chuckled. “You’re just damned lucky we showed up when we did.”
“Yeah, yeah. I could have handled it.”
Diesel snorted into Jake’s ear. “Yeah, right.”
Jake knew his team had saved his butt, as well as the Townsends. And they knew he knew. “Thanks, guys.”
Fifteen minutes later, they came across another vehicle headed their way, headlights glaring.
When Diesel swerved to the right, the other vehicle swerved in front of him.
Diesel and Harm slammed on their brakes.
Jake jumped out, weapon drawn.
Ahead of him, Buck and Pitbull had done the same, aiming their weapons at the vehicle blocking their way.
The driver in the other vehicle climbed out, his hands in the air. “Hey, it’s me, T-Mac. Don’t shoot!”
Jake ran toward the other man, his pulse kicking up. “What’s wrong? Why are you here? Where’s Alex?”
“We have a problem,” T-Mac said. “Alex got away. I was hoping she’d found her way to you.”
A lead weight settled in Jake’s gut. “No, she’s not with us. I thought you could handle her.”
T-Mac shook his head. “I had a call from the CO. While I was online with him, she snuck out of my room. By the time I realized it, she was gone.”
Jake’s heart squeezed so hard in his chest he thought it would burst. “Where the hell is she?”
“I went to her room, hoping to find her there.”
“And?” Jake snapped.
T-Mac shook hi
s head. “Nothing but a cell phone in the middle of the bed.” He dug the device out of his pocket and handed it to Jake.
Jake took it in his hand. It appeared to be a burner phone. He touched the keypad and it lit up.
No Service.
“Damn,” Jake cursed. “She didn’t have a cell phone on her. Are you sure the maid didn’t leave it there?”
“The maid didn’t leave it. Someone else did.” T-Mac pointed to the phone. “There’s a text message.”
He pushed the button for the messages, and words appeared on the screen.
Jake’s heart sank.
If you want to see the girl, follow the instructions.
He pressed several keys, but no more messages came up on the display. “What damned instructions?”
“We have to assume they’ll be coming,” T-Mac said.
He’d be waiting. Alex might be gone, but Jake wouldn’t give up on her. She wouldn’t give up on anyone she cared about.
Neither would Jake. And he really cared about the feisty female he’d met only a few days ago. He cared more than he’d ever cared about a woman before. If he had to go AWOL, he’d keep searching for her until he found her.
Chapter Fifteen
Alex blinked her eyes wide open. Where was she? The seat beside her wasn’t part of an elaborate living room set. It was a car seat, and she wasn’t on it. She was wedged between it and the backs of more car seats. Based on the bumps and vibrations, she was lying on the floorboard of a moving vehicle.
The windows were dark, indicating it was nighttime. How long had she been unconscious? Was it the same day Jake had left her, or had she slept through to the next night?
Where was she? What happened? Why were her wrists bound with zip ties?
A thousand thoughts raced through her fuzzy head as she shifted to relieve the pressure on her hip. The vehicle she was being transported in hit bumps too often for the road to be one of the Niamey city streets. Dust seeped in through the vents, settling on her skin and every surface.
They were on a dirt road, but where were they going? Did it even matter whether she knew? No one would find her. No one had seen her being taken in the night.
A face appeared between the two front seats—a familiar one. “Ah, Miss Parker, so good of you to join us.”
“Philburn,” she said, and winced at the pain slicing through her head. She felt like she had a hell of a hangover, but she pushed past the discomfort and the drowsiness threatening to reclaim her, desperate to know what was happening to her. “Where are we?”
“We’re out in the godforsaken hills of Niger. You will likely recognize some of the landmarks along the way, as you and your navy SEAL boyfriend traveled this route recently.”
“You’re taking me to the mine?” she asked, attempting to pull herself up onto the seat and failing with each successive bump.
“I’m taking you to the test site. We aren’t mining yet. That would be presumptuous of us when we haven’t received government clearance to mine yet.”
“In other words, you jumped the legal gun and started without government approval,” she stated, wishing her head didn’t hurt so badly and that she could push up to a sitting position. Every bump jolted her back and made the muscles in her body tense up.
“Only a formality,” Philburn said.
“In the meantime, you’re mining materials you aren’t reporting to the Niger government.”
“Not mining. Testing,” he corrected.
“I see. And anyone who says differently will be silenced?” she asked, knowing the answer. A shiver shook her frame, but she refused to let him see that she was afraid.
Philburn’s lip curled. “You’re smarter than I gave you credit for.”
“And the ISIS raid on my village?”
“Takes the heat off my operation and provides me with fresh workers.” He smirked. “A killer combination.”
“I’m surprised the Niger government hasn’t caught on to you yet. Surely word gets around.”
He snorted. “Only if you let it.”
Based on the angle of the vehicle and the strain on the engine, they were climbing.
Whatever Philburn had drugged her with still pulled at her, making her drowsy. She drifted in and out of consciousness. Each time she came to, her mind was a little clearer and her throat more parched, dust filling her nostrils.
After what seemed like an eternity, the driver pulled the vehicle to a stop and switched off the engine.
Alex opened her eyes and noted the sky out the window had lightened into the dull gray of predawn.
Seconds later, another engine roared to life and wheels rumbled over the gravel near where they were parked.
Philburn exited the SUV and slammed the door. The driver climbed out and opened the rear door. “What do you want me to do with her?” he asked over the top of the roof.
“Take her to my office and secure her there,” Philburn said.
His driver grabbed Alex beneath her shoulders, hauled her out of the vehicle, stood her on her feet and bent to toss her over his shoulder.
Alex brought her knee up hard, smashing it into the man’s nose.
He fell to his knees, pressing his hand to his face.
Alex swiveled around in a sidekick, catching him in the temple. He went down and lay still.
With no plan in mind, only a loose-baked idea, Alex ran back down the hill they’d just climbed in the SUV.
Shouts sounded behind her, but she kept running, her hands bound at her back. If she could make it into the brush, she might have a chance of losing her pursuers.
Footsteps pounded in the gravel, closing in on her.
Drawing on her years of racing on the high school track team, she pushed harder, ran faster and ducked into the brush.
She’d run hurdles higher than the bramble and limbs she cleared, but she didn’t have her arms free to balance her landings. On her first leap, she made it over the bush, landed, stumbled and righted herself. Alex charged forward, trying her hardest to put distance between her and the guards following her.
Just when she thought she might have a chance, she flew over the top of a bush and landed on the other side in a small rut. Small by the road’s standards, but deep enough to twist her ankle. She went down hard. When she tried to stand, pain shot up her leg.
Alex rolled into the bush and lay still, praying the guards would run right past her without seeing her lying on the ground.
She focused on controlling her heavy breathing, wiggled herself into the dried leaves and brush, and willed herself to become the smallest, most easily ignored lump of human being she could be.
The first guard ran past her. The second one slowed and walked by. The third stopped directly in front of the bush where she lay.
“Do you see her?” shouted the first guard.
“No. She was here a moment ago,” the second one answered.
“Maybe she’s hiding,” the third guard said, and glanced down at his feet.
Why couldn’t he have asked that question after he’d passed her? Alex didn’t dare to breathe or move even an eyelash.
The three guards stopped running and glanced around the area, pushing branches aside, kicking at clumps of grass.
The one in front of her used his foot to push aside a low-hanging branch. The toe of his boot brushed against Alex’s side.
She swallowed the gasp rising up her throat, her muscles tensing.
“She’s here!” the guard shouted, and lunged for her.
Alex pushed to her knees and threw herself forward, half running, half limping, but not moving fast enough to get away.
The three guards surrounded her.
She glared at them. “What you are doing is illegal. You will go to jail when you’re caught. Let me go and I’ll see to it you are free.”
One darted forward.
Alex swung her injured foot out, caught the man in the chest and shoved him backward. Pain reverberated through her ankle, calf and thigh.
The other two pounced, grabbed her beneath her arms and legs, and lifted her off the ground.
She fought and kicked like a wild animal, but they were stronger and managed to carry her back up the hill to the mining compound.
Quinten Philburn waited with his arms crossed over his chest. “Do that again, and I’ll authorize them to kill you.” He jerked his head to the side. “Put her in my office, bind her and don’t let her escape again, or I’ll have you shot.”
That was when Alex realized there would be no reasoning with the guards at the camp. They worked for Philburn. And if they didn’t do what he said, he’d have them killed. Nice management philosophy, and, based on the number of guards and the number of men working the mine, it worked for him.
Her chances of escaping the compound looked pretty slim. Still, she wasn’t giving up yet.
As the guards carried her into a small portable office made from a metal shipping container, she studied her surroundings, searching for something she could use to cut the zip ties they’d applied to her wrists and the one they secured around her ankles. If she could free her hands and feet, she might have another chance of escaping. She’d have to wait until dark and sneak out of the camp. Running in daylight gave her pursuers all the advantages. And this time, they wouldn’t run after her. They’d just shoot.
She waited until the men left the building before she put her plan into place. All the while she worked at her bindings, she wondered if Jake had found the Townsends. And if he had, had he been able to get them away from their ISIS captors? Mostly, she wanted to know if he had survived.
Her heart squeezed hard in her chest. She prayed he was okay and that she would see him again soon. His kisses were heaven, and making love to him... Well, he was the kind of man dreams were made of. If she got a second chance, she’d tell him how she felt, even if it seemed silly after only a short time. And if he didn’t reciprocate those feelings—oh, well. By putting herself and her feelings out there, she would have at least tried.
