As quietly as possible she stuck her head out the door and looked both ways down the empty hallway before sneaking out. Pressed against the wall, she tiptoed toward the opposite end. She made it ten steps when voices drifted from another room, getting steadily louder.
Panicked, Darci turned down the closest hallway and searched for a place to hide. A door stood at the end so she ran toward it as the voices grew closer. She recognized the sharp tone of the woman from the beach and cursed her luck. Please let that door be unlocked.
She lunged through it and slid to a stop with a hand clamped over her mouth. A man hung from the ceiling by a pair of steel handcuffs, chin to chest, eyes closed. His arms were stiff from strain and from where she stood she could see the bulge of well-honed muscle beneath the white dress shirt, now stained with blood.
The groomsman.
The voices outside grew louder and Darci frantically looked around for a place to hide. The room was bare except for the man dangling from the ceiling. Now what?
“There’s a door behind me,” the man said as he swayed on his chain. “You can hide there.”
Darci hurried around him. Bingo. She opened the door to reveal a closet, but paused before going in.
She turned back to the man. “I’ll help you.” Then she slipped into the closet seconds before the outer door opened.
****
Inside the closet Darci pressed a fist to her mouth to stop from screaming. The muffled thuds of the groomsman being beaten and the grate of steel against chain made her sick. She had to help him. She couldn’t stay here and do nothing.
She searched the small closet for something she could use as a weapon. Empty except for a broom and bucket. She wrapped her hands around the broom, then took a deep breath. Not much, but all she had. If she broke it in half it would work as a weapon, enough to wound one of them.
Taking a deep breath she burst out of the closet. She saw four men using her hero as a punching bag and without thinking slammed the end of her broom across one guard’s back. The broom busted in half with a crack that vibrated down her arm. Wood splintered in all directions as the handle exploded. The guy let out a surprised howl and fell to his knees.
Before the others could react, Darci swung the broken broom handle and hit him square in the face, breaking his nose and probably a couple teeth. She cringed but didn’t look for blood. She had to take him out or he would come back and hurt her. Not a risk she was willing to take.
When the guy fell flat she went after the next one, knowing she had to get it done before they killed the guy swinging on his chain behind her. She swung at the second guy. He anticipated a blow to his midsection but she aimed lower and got him in the groin, the one place she knew would put him out of commission for a while. It did. He went down like a ton of bricks.
She spun around to face off with the two remaining guards that had ceased their attack on the man nearly unconscious behind her. They were staring at her as if unsure how to proceed. She could imagine how she looked with adrenaline pumping through her system and waving a broomstick. She felt out of control, like a mad woman. With any luck they would decide she was mad and high tail it out of there. In truth, she didn’t like hurting people and had never known she had it in her to do so, but they weren’t hurting this guy anymore.
“Well, which one of you wants to join your friends?” she taunted in a voice that didn’t belong to her. The woman speaking sounded deranged. She had no idea how to take on two men and was scared spitless, but what choice did she have? Their lives were on the line. Too late to stop now.
Darci readjusted her grip on the broom handle and held it like a baseball bat over her shoulder.
The man closest to her lunged and she swung the broom.
She hit him in the chest instead of the face like she’d planned. The broom busted again and splintered in her hand.
He retaliated and swung at her.
She squeezed her eyes shut and braced for the blow. Someone pushed her out of the way from behind. She stumbled sideways from the force of it and looked back to see she’d been pushed by the man she’d been protecting. He swung in a full circle and lifted his legs up and over her attacker’s head. She watched in awe as he squeezed and twisted at the waist, cutting off the guy’s air supply.
The last guy jumped to action. Darci shot up from the floor to intercept. Her dress limited her movement and she half-ran, half-stumbled into the man, hitting him at the waist just before he reached the man on the chain. They fell to the floor with Darci on top. A second body fell on top of her and she screamed.
Darci squirmed out from beneath the dead weight before the man beneath her reacted. She hit the floor and rolled away, but he snagged her ankle and jerked her across the floor, scraping her palms and knees. He flipped her onto her back and pounced on top of her. Grabbing her head, he slammed it on the floor, then jumped off her and ran out the door. Darci lay there, dazed and waiting for her vision to return.
“The key,” a husky male voice said. “On the guard. Hurry.”
Darci blinked, groaned, and rose to a sitting position. She looked up to see the man swinging on the chain staring at her. He fought to remain conscious and it spurred her into action. She pushed to her knees and crawled to the guard she’d hit in the groin, frantically searching for the keys.
“Other one.”
Nodding, Darci moved to the other one and dug the keys out of his pants pocket. “Got them.” She held them in the air.
“Hurry, there’s more coming.”
Darci stood and hurried to his side, but when she looked up she realized she couldn’t reach his hands.
“You’re too tall.”
She braced a hand on his waist to keep him still and stretched as high as she could. Not even close. She lowered back down and let out a frustrated sound.
“’S okay. Go now.”
Darci looked up into a pair of warm brown eyes. “I won’t leave you. They’ll kill you.”
“Never happen, I have nine lives. Only used three so far.”
She let out a burst of air that was half-laugh, half-sob and shook her head. “Well, you’re not using any more tonight. Wait! The closet.”
Chapter Two
What the hell? Jack fought against his restraints in a surge of anger. Stay put, how hard was that? She never should have left the closet. Now they were in real trouble. He could take a beating, no problem, but he couldn’t protect her while he hung from a freaking chain in the ceiling. What had she been thinking going head to head against four men with nothing but a broomstick? A broomstick that managed to take out two of them, mind you. Not bad.
One tough cookie, he’d give her that. Terrified or not, she’d faced the enemy and not backed down. Jack helped the best he could by pushing her out of the way and taking down one of them. He’d wanted to snap the guy’s neck, but settled for squeezing the breath out of him until he passed out.
Right now she stood on an overturned bucket unlocking his cuffs. Resourceful, too. He smelled the spicy scent that clung to her skin as she pressed full against him in order to reach his wrists. If he’d had use of his hands he would have touched the soft skin wrapped around him. She tantalized his senses and had him thinking of other, inappropriate matters rather than the predicament they were in.
“Just about…got it,” she cried as his hands released.
His feet dropped to the floor and he winced when he lowered his arms. He rolled his shoulders to get some feeling back in his limbs and glanced down when an arm slid around his waist and a soft body leaned into his.
A pair of stunning blue eyes stared back at him, full of concern. “Lean on me.”
Amused, Jack unwrapped her arm and tucked her hand in his. “Come on. Reinforcements will be arriving anytime.”
“But you’re hurt,” she protested as she followed him out the door.
“Nah, just looks like it.” Jack looked both ways down the hall. Which way to go?
“We can’t go right,”
Darci said. “That’s where I came from and it’s a dead end.”
“Then we go left.” He could hear voices but couldn’t decipher how close they were. He passed a long, dim hallway and turned down another.
They rounded the corner and ran straight into two guards. Aw, hell. Jack came to a stop and felt the woman behind him bump into his back before drawing in a sharp breath.
“Sorry,” she whispered. “Did I hurt you?”
Honey, you didn’t hurt a thing. In fact, her gentle touch soothed his battered body, but now wasn’t the time for those kinds of thoughts. He was about to add a couple more bruises on top of the ones he already had.
Jack stretched an arm behind him to protect her from the two men advancing on them and pressed her back against the wall, using his body as a shield for her smaller frame. He heard her speak but her words were muffled by his back. The sensation of her warm breath distracted him.
In a low tone, he said, “I’m going to head them off. You make a run for it. Straight out the front door and don’t stop for any reason.”
She stiffened against him and then peeked over his arm and shook her head when she saw the two men easing in closer with feral looks in their eyes.
“Oh, no.” Her hands gripped his waist, surprisingly strong for a slender thing. “You can’t do this. You can barely stand as it is.”
Jack winced. “Hey, easy on the ego.”
Her nails dug into his flesh and she pressed closer into his back as the guards stopped a few feet away, spoiling for a fight. There was no mistaking the gleam in their eyes.
“This is no time for playing. These guys want to hurt us and I don’t think you can take much more.” She poked him in the back, emphasizing her point.
Jack sighed without taking his eyes off the two men. “Trust me, honey, I know what I’m capable of. I can take care of myself. It’s you I’m concerned about. Now, would you please get moving!”
“And leave you here alone? No way.”
“You two love birds about through?” The taller, dumber-looking of the two cracked his knuckles.
Jack’s feathers were ruffled at the taunt, but he didn’t let it show. He held up his index finger. “Almost.”
The hand that had been holding onto his waist now slapped him on the shoulder. Jack wanted to smile at his spirited little escapee, but he kept his expression carefully neutral for the sake of the two challenging him. He couldn’t protect her if she wouldn’t let him.
She slid up against his back and whispered, “I’ll take the smaller one on the right, you take the big one.”
“What?”
Jack couldn’t believe what he’d heard. He didn’t get a chance to tell her how ridiculous the suggestion was, because the first guy jumped him, obviously tired of waiting. Jack sprang into action and met the guy halfway, preventing him from reaching Darci. Adrenaline surged as his training kicked in. He slammed his palm up and into the guy’s jaw, snapping it shut with a painful crack that echoed down the hall and effectively took him out of the game.
A scream registered in the back of his mind as he took a couple of quick jabs to the midsection. This guy might be small, but he was quick. Jack preferred an opponent the size of the Hulk to a speedy little one like this. They were the worst, quick and accurate to make up for what they lacked in size. The big ones were strong, but slow.
As Jack dodged a blow and brought his elbow up to bust the guy’s nose, he thought of his precious boat bobbing quietly in the marina and how much he looked forward to a weekend of relaxation on her shiny deck. His body certainly looked forward to it.
The hall echoed with grunts and curses as Jack parried blows and returned punches, driving his opponent farther down the hallway and away from Darci. When Darci screamed, his concentration broke and he turned to see two men grab her just before everything went black.
****
Darci tried to warn him, really she did, but the jerk that grabbed her from behind clamped a hand over her mouth. She didn’t like being pushed around. It scared the daylights out of her and she hated being scared. Even more, she didn’t like being afraid for someone else and right now that someone crumpled to the ground unconscious. He’d put up a good fight, but she had distracted him when she screamed, making it her fault he had been hit from behind. The brute he’d been fighting took advantage and knocked him out with the butt of his gun.
Seeing her only hopes of escape lying in a heap on the floor, a wave of anger surged through her and she bit down hard on the hand covering her mouth. The skin broke and a trickle of blood seeped into her mouth.
The guy howled, tearing his hand away from her mouth. He backhanded her and Darci saw stars. Again. Sweet Mary, she was getting tired of seeing them.
The other guy grabbed her before she could regain her footing.
“Take them down to the cellar and make sure they don’t escape this time. If they do, shoot them,” the guy she’d bit snapped.
Cellar? Oh, no, no, no. She didn’t like small, dark spaces any more than she liked the water. God only knew what kind of creepy crawly things were down there. The cellar under the house she’d grown up in had been a great place for her and her sisters to play chicken. None of them liked going down there, but neither would they be called a chicken.
A guard dragged her down a series of hallways until they reached the kitchen. Then shoved her through a door in the back. They threw the groomsman in beside her. He landed with a thud on the cold, dusty floor.
“Hey.” Darci, moved to his side, covering him with her body in case they decided to finish what they’d started. No way she’d let them hurt him anymore.
The door closed with a distant click, the bolt thrown from the outside, plunging them into darkness. Darci took a deep, calming breath and coughed when her lungs filled with dusty, dank air. Stay calm. She could do this. First things first. Find a light. She’d caught a glimpse of a light bulb and white string hanging from the ceiling when they threw her in here.
Rising to her feet, Darci reached up and felt for the string. It took a couple minutes but she found it, and to her relief, it worked. Dim light filled the small cellar, empty except for the wine rack in the far corner. Bummer, because she could really use a drink right now. Otherwise, they were surrounded by cement walls and dust. It smelled damp and musty and made her sneeze, but at least she didn’t see anything that crawled or slithered. Yet.
Suppressing a shudder, Darci managed to drag her well-muscled companion to the nearest corner. She sank down, winded, and cradled his head in her lap. She wanted him close to her.
Staring down at him, she threaded her fingers through his short, spiked hair. More for her comfort than anything. He really was a handsome man beneath the bruises.
Though now discolored, his square jaw had been cleanly shaven for the wedding. She ran her hand along his smooth skin and wondered how it would feel rubbing against the rest of him and immediately blushed. What was she doing? Fantasizing about an unconscious man? Sweet Mary, she was losing it. She’d probably taken one too many blows to the head.
What if he didn’t wake up? The blow to the head had knocked him out and that didn’t seem like an easy task. This man was good sized. Six-two, maybe three, and heavily muscled from head to toe. Not an ounce of fat on him anywhere.
Darci sighed and cradled his head a little more securely on her lap. So who was this groomsman? Certainly no ordinary man.
Biting down on her lip, Darci stifled a sob. Her head hurt, her nerves were shot and she feared for her life. If that blow had put this guy in a coma, what then? She would be lying here holding him like this until they came back, and then what?
She didn’t know how to handle the people that brought them here. She could pick a lock and use a few self-defense techniques, but that wouldn’t help her when staring down the barrel of a gun. She tried to swallow past the lump in her throat as harsh reality set in. This was more serious than someone stealing her purse on the street.
She really wa
nted this guy to wake up and talk to her, tell her they were going to make it out of this alive. She could handle a few bumps and bruises as long as they lived through this. She needed his help to do that.
Even as she stared at him, his eyes didn’t open. Darci placed a hand on his chest and sighed with relief when she felt it rise and fall in a slow, steady movement.
“Thank goodness.” She leaned over him so she could rest her cheek against his. It gave her comfort to know she wasn’t alone. She wrapped her arms around his broad shoulders the best she could in this position, and tried to forget the danger they were in, if only for a moment.
“Did I win? Because this is one hell of a consolation prize if I didn’t.” Like a voice from above, the deep baritone washed over Darci and although it was a smart aleck thing to say, she found herself laughing, despite herself. Maybe it was stress, or relief, but either way she couldn’t be happier to hear his voice.
She laughed because she wanted to cry and cried because she was happy.
“Maybe I should quit my day job, huh?”
Darci lifted her head and laughed through the tears that streamed down her cheeks. She didn’t care that she sounded hysterical or that once she started she wouldn’t be able to stop.
“Hey, don’t do that. Everything’s going to be okay.” Her comedian struggled to sit upright. He pulled her into his arms and surrounded her with his strength, turning her into the one receiving comfort instead of giving it.
Darci didn’t resist. She took what he offered and held onto him so tightly he winced. She cried on his shoulder, then sank against him, feeling like she’d been put through the wash. He held her the entire time, mindless of the physical discomfort she caused him.
“I’d give you a hankie if I could, but I’m afraid I left it in my other jacket.”
Darci laughed and lifted her head. “Are you always this prepared?” Although tired, she felt tons better than before.
Her companion’s lopsided grin made her heart somersault in her chest. How could she not think this man was gorgeous? She didn’t attempt to move out of his embrace; it felt too good to be there. His arms were strong and comforting, his heat drawing her like a moth to flame.
A SEAL's Song Page 2
