by Elle James
“He won’t do it,” Jacob said, his lips pressing into a tight line. “Let’s just hope he leads her on long enough for us to rescue him.”
“Yeah. I’m afraid that if he tells her no way in hell,” Casey gulped, “Camila’s family might terminate him.”
Jacob sat up straighter, staring at the road ahead. “We’ll just have to get to him before that happens.”
Casey focused on the road. Jacob gave her the directions, indicating each turn well before she had to make it. The homes were close together and built into the sides of the hills, with views of the San Diego Bay.
As they neared the address, they descended into a neighborhood where the homes were not as well cared for, and they didn’t have the views of the ones high on the hills.
“Slow down,” Jacob said. “Camila’s is three doors down on the right.”
The house he indicated had a high stucco fence surrounding a terracotta one-story house. A solid wooden gate didn’t invite strangers to enter. A package lay against the gate, and mail spilled out of the mailbox. When they’d rolled past the address and several more doors down the block, Jacob said. “Stop.”
Casey hit on the brakes. Though she was already moving at a snail’s pace, she hadn’t expected him to want to stop.
Jacob rocked forward and then back against the seat. He didn’t say anything but got out of the vehicle.
Casey’s pulse leaped. She leaned across the console toward him. “Where are you going?”
“Doesn’t look like anyone’s home,” he said. “I’m just going to look around to make sure.” He captured her gaze. “I’ll be all right. But it wouldn’t hurt for you to drive around the block.”
“I’m not going anywhere without you,” she said. “Get back in the vehicle.”
He smiled. “I’ll be all right. But you look really conspicuous in that vehicle.” He tipped his head toward the road ahead of her SUV. “Go. Ride around the block. I won’t put myself at risk.”
“And if you don’t come back out?” Casey shook her head. “Don’t go,” she pleaded.
“Really, I wouldn’t go if I didn’t think it’s a non-issue. She’s not home.”
“Yeah, but her neighbors might be. They might take exception to a stranger poking around Camila’s house.”
“I’ll be careful.” He shut the door and walked away.
Casey glanced in the rearview mirror as she drove slowly away. Jacob was walking down the side of the street toward Camila’s house.
When she reached the stop sign at the end of the street, she put her blinker on to turn left and looked back. Jacob had disappeared. Her heart leaped into her throat.
She craned her neck around, searching for him, with no luck. He’d ducked behind a bush, a vehicle or a house.
A horn honked in front of her. An angry driver shook a fist at her and drove past her shaking her head.
Casey made her turn and hurried to the next block, which was farther than she’d expected. When she finally was able to turn left again, her stomach had knotted, and her hands were sweating. Was Jacob all right? Had he run into trouble?
Damn him for getting out of her car. Didn’t he know the cartel didn’t mess around? They’d just as soon shoot you as look at you.
By the time she got back around to the street Camila’s house was on, Casey was in a full lather of worry.
She turned onto the street and crept along as slowly as she could go without actually stopping.
Four men stood beside an older model car that had been converted into a lowrider and painted a dark purple with orange and black flames running the length of the sides.
Casey was so intent on finding Jacob, she didn’t see one of the guys step out in front of her.
She turned in time to slam on her brakes and come to a complete stop inches away from hitting the guy. “What the hell?” she said out loud, her heart slamming into the wall of her chest.
“Hey, pretty lady.” Another one of the men stepped up to her window. “What’s a chica like you doing in the barrio?” He sneered. “Get lost?” He switched to Spanish and turned to the others. “Look what I caught. It must be my lucky day.”
Casey let the man think she couldn’t understand him, but she was fluent in Spanish since her daycare provider had spoken Spanish to her for the first twelve years of her life. She understood every word and inuendo. Her belly clenched, but she put on a blank face and forced a smile to her face. “I’m not lost.”
“Didn’t you drive through here a few minutes ago?” One of the other men stepped up to her window. “And a man got out.” He looked around her SUV. “Where’d he go?”
Casey shrugged. “I don’t know. My boyfriend got out because he was mad at me. You haven’t seen him, have you?”
“You don’t need him, when you can have me, chica,” the first man said. He had a tattoo of a buxom woman on his right shoulder, and he wore a wife-beater shirt, the waistband of his pants hanging low enough Casey could see his black, gray and red boxer shorts.
She wanted to tell him to pull up his pants before they fell off. Clamping her teeth shut, she resisted and shook her head. “Trust me, I don’t want him back until he apologizes to me. It’s just that he left his cellphone in my car. I wanted to return it to him.” She gave them a faint smile. “I’d better get back to work before my boss misses me.” Casey eased her foot onto the accelerator and let the vehicle roll forward a little at a time, not wanting to hurt the men. The one who’d stepped out in front of her to begin with was still there and not moving.
Casey jammed her foot on the brake again, stopping before hitting the guy. If push came to shove, she’d run the bastard over. She hoped it didn’t come to that, but she wasn’t stupid enough to stick around when she was outnumbered. And she wasn’t dumb enough to get out of the vehicle.
“Don’t leave now, chica.” The guy at her window reached in to touch her hair. “Things are just starting to get interesting.”
Casey jerked back, glad her doors locked automatically. “Gotta go.” She started to roll up the window when the man standing at the rear of the others came at her car with a wooden baseball bat in his hand. He cocked his arm and started to swing when a shout sounded behind them.
The four men all looked behind her vehicle, their brows dipping.
Casey’s gaze shot to the rearview mirror.
Jacob jogged toward her, his biceps flexing, his thighs thick and powerful encased in denim. He appeared to be someone who was fit and capable of defending himself against his foe. But four against one would be impossible odds.
Casey glanced down at the locking mechanism on the door handle. She could unlock the SUV long enough to let him in on the passenger side, but to do that, her side would be unlocked for that second it would take for him to get in.
Instead of coming up on the passenger side of the vehicle, Jacob charged right into the thick of the men gathered around her.
She rolled her window down again and thought fast. “Have you come to apologize to me?” she demanded.
His brow furrowed, as he stared into her eyes. Hesitating for only a moment, he nodded. “Yes, ma’am.” He dipped his head, appearing contrite. “I’m sorry.”
“Is that all I get? A simple I’m sorry?”
He smiled. “I’m sorry, darlin’. How can I make it up to you?”
She narrowed her eyes, wanting to get him into the car and drive away as fast as she could. “These nice men were more than willing to be with me without being rude to me about my mother.”
He turned to the men. “Clearly, their mothers all taught them how to treat a lady.” He dipped his head toward them. “Thank you for looking out for my woman. I promise to be a better man for her.” When he started to go around the men and the car, the man with the baggy pants stepped in front of him.
“What were you doing in the barrio, white man?” He stood so close to Jacob, there was no going forward.
Jacob took one step backward. “I considered walking home,
and I’d started that way when my girlfriend came back. I assumed it was to give me another chance to do right by her.” He shot a glance her way. “Is that right, hun?”
“If you’re big enough to admit you were wrong,” she said, “I can be big enough to forgive you.” She tipped her head toward the passenger seat. “Get in.”
Jacob cocked an eyebrow at the man with the saggy pants blocking his path. “Excuse me,” he said.
“You got someplace you wanna be?” the man asked.
“Yeah. With my woman.” He puffed out his chest and looked down at the man standing in his path. “You got a problem with that?”
“I don’t, but mi amigo might,” he lifted his chin toward the man standing by Casey’s window.
The other men closed in on Jacob.
Casey shifted into park and started to get out of the vehicle.
“Stay in the car,” Jacob said without looking her direction, his tone brooking no argument.
Casey automatically sat back in her seat, her pulse racing. Four against one.
Jacob shoved the sleeves of his shirt up his arms. “I don’t have a lot of time, so I won’t be able to go easy on you.” He clapped his hands together. “Who’s first? Come on. I’ve had Hell Week instructors who scared me more than the lot of you.”
The men exchanged glances at the mention of Hell Week. Anyone who lived in San Diego or Coronado knew what Hell Week was—one of the most grueling weeks of Navy SEAL BUD/S training.
The man who’d stood beside Casey’s vehicle door snorted. “You gonna let one pussy SEAL scare you?”
The others looked from their apparent leader to Jacob and back.
Casey prayed they’d back down and let Jacob go without throwing any punches.
The three men stood silent.
Their leader snorted again and approached Jacob. “Come on. Just because you can swim, doesn’t mean you can fight.” He kept coming, cocking an arm as he closed the distance between him and Jacob.
As the man swung, Jacob ducked, drove his fist into the man’s gut and shoved him hard, making him fall backward, landing hard on his back.
“Next,” Jacob brought his fists up and curled his fingers in a come-hither motion.
The man closest to him held up his hands. “The girl ain’t worth the trouble.” He bent, pulled his leader to his feet and shoved him toward the other side of the road. “Let’s go.”
The others followed, leaving Jacob standing in front of Casey’s SUV.
He waited until they were far enough away he’d have time to react if they changed their minds. Then he rounded the vehicle.
Casey hit the unlock button as he reached for the door handle.
Once Jacob was inside the SUV, she locked the doors, shoved the shift into drive and hit the accelerator. She ran through the stop sign at the end of the street and left the barrio behind.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to leave you exposed to those jokers,” Jacob said, rubbing his fist.
Casey wanted to rail at him for putting himself in danger. Instead, she tamped down her adrenaline-pumped anger and asked, “Did you find anything?”
“I jumped over the fence around Camila’s place and got into her house.”
“That’s breaking and entering,” Casey said. “It’s a crime.”
“And kidnapping is a crime.” He shrugged. “I was able to get a piece of her mail with an address from Mexico on it.” He pulled the envelope from pocket and held it up. “And I know, that’s stealing. I figure we don’t have time to play by all the rules. So, I bent a few of them.”
Casey drew in a breath and let it out slowly. “Okay. I can’t fault you there. I’m sure we’ll be breaking a few more before the day’s out.”
“I hope not,” Jacob said. “But, if it means getting Hawk back, I’ll do whatever it takes.”
Though she balked at breaking laws, Casey was glad she had Jacob helping her recover the missing groom. The SEALs were a tight-knit band of brothers. They had each other’s backs.
If anything ever happened to her, she’d be out of luck. Casey had no doubt that Kalea would turn over every stone in the world to find her, but to have an entire Navy SEAL team at your back…well, that was pretty powerful. She hoped it would be enough to bring Hawk back alive, and more…in time for his wedding.
Chapter 7
Jacob sat back in his seat, staring at the document in his hands. The address on it was from a place in Mexico. It appeared to be a personal letter from a loved one. It could be a starting point for their search for Hawk across the border. “Let’s go back to McP’s. I need my truck.”
“Your truck…or your gun?” Casey asked, shooting a glance in his direction.
He looked up at her. “Both.”
Her fingers gripped the steering wheel until her knuckles turned white. “You think they’ve taken him across the border?”
“At this point, we don’t have enough information to know what’s happened to Hawk. If Camila is involved, that would be my guess. Either way, I’d like to have my truck, and what’s inside it, in case I need to get somewhere quickly.”
Casey nodded. “We’re going to find him.”
“Yes. We are,” Jacob said. “Sooner rather than later.” He looked out the side window. “I’m wracking my brain for any other reason someone would want to kidnap Hawk. I’m coming up with nada. It might be time to get Kalea in on this search. If Camila isn’t the one who had him kidnapped, Kalea might have an idea of who else might be after him. Kalea ran into some trouble recently that Hawk helped her resolve. They might have left some loose ends lying around that have come back to haunt them.”
Casey sighed. “I think you’re right.” She glanced at her watch. “Kalea’s at the spa right now. They should be finishing up her nails and facial. After we get your truck, we could run by there and bring her up to speed.” She shook her head. “She’s going to freak out.”
“Can’t be helped,” Jacob said.
“I know. And she’d want to know.” Casey grimaced. “She’s going to be mad that I didn’t tell her sooner. Hell, if it were my fiancé, I would be livid.” She shot a glance toward Jacob.
He met her gaze. If someone had taken Casey…if she were his fiancée… He shook his head. The woman was practically a stranger. One night of fabulous sex wasn’t commitment. Nor had she intended it to be. He was an active duty Navy SEAL. Casey knew what that meant. An absentee boyfriend, lover or husband. No. Just no. He couldn’t do that to her. He shook his head to clear his thoughts of that dangerous path he didn’t want to go down. Dating was one thing. Anything deeper was off limits until he was off the SEAL team.
“Well, it can’t be helped now,” he said. “You have to tell her. We need any information she might have that could assist us in finding him.”
“I know.” Casey came to a halt in the parking lot at McP’s and started to get out.
Jacob placed a hand on her arm. “You might want to stay with your vehicle.”
“Where you go, I go.” Casey frowned. “We’re in this together. We both need to get Hawk back. If we hadn’t been—”
Jacob placed a finger to her lips, loving how soft they were to his touch. “Like you said. We don’t know that for sure. I could have slept right through it all. I mean, who would’ve predicted that our groom would be a target for kidnapping?” He cupped her cheek in his palm. “Don’t beat yourself up over this.”
She leaned into his palm, breathed in a deep breath and met his gaze. “What if they hurt him?” Casey’s eyes filled with tears. “I don’t think I could forgive myself.”
Her tears made his heart contract. “You have done nothing to be forgiven for.”
“I talked Kalea into this wedding taking place here. They might not even have come to San Diego to make it happen. Her father wanted her to have it in Hawaii.”
Jacob gave her a crooked grin. “Hawk was excited to share his bride with his teammates. He couldn’t wait for me to meet her. They would have come t
o San Diego, eventually. Wedding or not.”
Her brow twisted. “You think?”
“Definitely.” Jacob pushed open his door. “I’ll follow you to the spa. Then we can swing by your apartment. Hopefully, with what we know so far and anything Kalea might recall, Hank and Swede can use the information to dig up more leads on where we can find our groom.”
Casey stayed in her SUV as Jacob climbed into the driver’s side of his black, four-wheel-drive pickup. He checked the hidden compartment beneath the steering column for his Glock 9-millimeter pistol. It was there with a magazine full of bullets. Reassured by the solid feel of the weapon in his hand, he shoved it back in the compartment, started his engine and followed Casey to the spa and Kalea.
Casey parked, got out and waited for Jacob.
He joined her and they walked into the spa together.
The white columns and lush greenery on the outside were nothing compared to the extravagance of the marble floors and soothing water features on the inside.
They had just stepped up to the reception desk when a door opened and Kalea emerged, her face clean of makeup, her hair piled high on her head in a loose bun. She smiled when she saw Casey. “That massage and facial was amazing. And look…” She held up her hands to display her fingernails.
Jacob wasn’t sure what she was showing them that was any different than what he’d consider normal.
Casey took Kalea’s hands and smiled. “They do the best French manicures in the state. Your nails look wonderful.”
“I know, right?” Kalea hugged Casey. “Thank you for the wedding gift.”
“Only the best for my favorite bride.” She hugged her back, and then set her at arm’s distance. “Kalea, we might have a problem.”
Kalea’s smile faded. “I knew it.” She drew in a deep breath. “What is it? Did my father miss his flight?”
“No,” Casey said.
“Thank God. Did the florist not order the right flowers?” She laid her hand on Casey’s arm. “I’d be okay with a bunch of wildflowers at this point. Don’t get all worried that the ceremony won’t be absolutely perfect.” She smiled at Casey. “You’re doing a great job.”
