by KaLyn Cooper
She pounded on the man’s back, but he ran to the van where fat guy stood by the open door.
Preston flew through the air as he watched his mom punch Muscle Man in the belly with a fist then bring her knee up to his privates. She must have missed.
He hit her with the back of his hand and she fell. “Mom!” He was hurting his mother.
Preston had to get away and protect his mom. He tried to squirm from fat man’s hold, but he was shoved into the van all the way to the other side. The door slammed shut.
No. That man was hurting his mom. He managed to get to the door but there was no handle on the inside. It was dark in there. The engine started and the van jerked knocking him onto the metal floor. The side door flew open and Muscle Man jumped in.
Preston saw his mom lying on the parking lot. All bloody.
Maybe she was dead.
A rage of hate and fear surged through him. Preston threw himself across the van at the muscle man and started pounding and kicking him.
The man grabbed both his hands and held him too far away. He couldn’t reach the man.
“Stop, kid. Don’t want to hurt you, but I will.”
In a flash, Preston was on his stomach, his hands behind his back. Although he continued to struggle, he couldn’t get away. The next thing he felt was a shot in the butt. He went dizzy as the van turned another corner.
Then he fell asleep.
Chapter 23
In the afternoon heat, Josh and Jack rinsed the gear in a tub of clean, fresh water and soap before drying it off. They stowed their personal gear in custom made boxes and gathered the family’s fins and masks before they hosed down the decks of the dive boat. All Jack’s guests had seemed extremely pleased with their excursion and scheduled another for the next day. Seemed like Jack had a pretty good business.
The Jeep finally loaded, they headed to the compound to change and gear up for battle. The camaraderie and ease of working together came from years as SEALs.
“Jillian is a beautiful woman,” Josh commented as they headed north on the four-lane highway.
“Yeah, she is, and fucking smart, too. She just finished her PhD.” Jack wore his pride in the huge smile that split his tanned face. “I’m the luckiest bastard on the planet. She and Addi are the best thing to ever happen to me. Sometimes I wonder what I did to deserve them.”
“After everything you’ve seen, aren’t you afraid something could happen to them?” Josh was. He feared for every family to the point he’d never wanted one of his own. Until this past week.
“Sure, I worry about them, but the pure joy that little girl and her mother bring to my life every day is worth it.” Jack glanced over at him, as though to read his thoughts. “We’ve seen the dregs of the world and lived in the shadows too long. That’s one of the reasons I left the Navy. I was beginning to view life through a dirty fog of one set of bad guys after another.” Jack shrugged a shoulder. “I did my best for years to clean up the world and make it a better, but as soon as we killed one bad guy, another took his place.”
“And always will,” Josh added.
“If you’re asking me if I’ve gone soft because I fell in love, hell no.” The solidity in Jack’s demeanor attested to the truth in his statement. “Will I hesitate to kill the assholes tonight? Fuck no. It’s one more way I protect my girls.”
Jack had found a good life, a balance to his years in the Navy. Not that it was all bad. They trained hard. Succeeded when others wouldn’t even attempt the mission. His friend deserved the goodness Jillian and Addison brought to him.
As though he’d been reading his mind, Jack suggested, “You need to step into the light, my friend, and start living the life you’ve fought for. Maybe you should really retire and come down here and work for me.”
Josh knew that gray haze Jack had talked about. When he looked at Lilly and her boys, he saw goodness. Happiness. He had to make it through tonight and clean up one more corner that spewed dirty smoke into his world. Then he’d think about Jack’s suggestion.
Josh’s phone rang and he dug it out of his pocket. He caught himself smiling when Lilly’s name appeared in the caller ID. Before it could ring a second time, he answered. “And what can I do for you, Lilly Girard?”
“They...they,” she hiccupped in a breath, “took him.”
Josh could barely hear her over the wail of sirens on her end of the conversation.
“Lilly, where are you? What’s happened?” The intensity in his voice brought Jack’s gaze to meet his.
“Find him,” she screamed.
“Find who?” Josh wasn’t sure he was following this conversation. “Take a deep breath. Now where are you?”
“They’re taking me to the private hospital my family uses.” Lilly gasped in a breath. “They...they took Preston...”
Damn it, he couldn’t hear her. The sirens were just too loud.
“Okay, sweetheart, did they take Preston to a different hospital?” He tried to keep his voice calm hoping she’d do the same but yelled so she’d hear him over the sirens.
“No, goddamn it.” She gasped in another breath. Then a second longer one. “He’s been kidnapped. They put him in the van and I...I couldn’t stop them.”
“Kidnapped?” Josh stared Jack’s way as he weaved between slower moving vehicles. “Did you just say someone kidnapped Preston?” He watched his friend’s shoulders stiffen, controlling every reaction.
Josh could barely breathe. Okay. Which emergency to handle first? The woman he cared for more than anyone on this planet was on her way to a hospital. For what reason, he had no idea. The small boy, that wonderful innocent child, was in the hands of who knew and why.
“Lilly, are you injured?” Stupid question, Josh thought. They wouldn’t be taking her to the hospital if she was okay.
No answer.
“Lilly.” Josh was screaming.
No answer.
A man answered the phone and started talking in Spanish. Damn. He wished he knew the language. Josh shoved the phone at Jack who was busy driving. “I don’t understand what he’s saying.
Jack slowed down a fraction and grabbed the phone. In rapid Spanish he fired what seemed to be question after question. “Gracias.”
Josh knew that meant thank you. His friend shot the phone back at him. “Well?”
Josh watched Jack’s jaw work as he seemed to be forming words. He cut off a bus and hit the gas with no cars in front of him for a quarter mile.
In a hoarse voice, Jack seethed out, “They beat the shit out of her.”
Everything around Josh turned red as his anger painted the lush greenery. “Who?” he grunted through clenched teeth.
“The med staff on the ambulance didn’t know.” Jack pounded the steering wheel. Caught behind both lanes moving slower than he wanted to go. Jack tailgated the car in the fast lane.
Josh swallowed hard. “What about Preston?”
“Lilly told the police that someone had kidnapped him. The medics were too busy caring for her injuries to listen. She’s in really bad shape.” Jack dug his phone from his pocket and placed a call. As though reporting to a superior officer, Jack recounted, “Ed, Lilly’s been beat up, and Preston’s been kidnapped. I know you’re on this job for Josh, but do you have anyone who can help us?”
A few seconds later Jack said, “Thanks, cuz.” He dialed another number. “Levi, shut up and listen carefully. Preston’s been kidnapped.”
Josh could hear the swearing from his side of the car.
“That’s only half of it,” Jack interrupted his brother’s tirade. “They beat the shit out of Lilly, and they’re taking her to Dr. Stan’s clinic. We’ll meet you there.” He hung up on whatever was being said over the phone.
“How much farther is it?” Josh asked and prayed they were close.
“About five minutes. We might be there before she does.”
Josh’s phone rang. “Sit rep,” he asked Rock Star for a situational report. For the last ten min
utes he’d totally forgotten his mission. But he was on a mission and couldn’t do that.
All he could think about was Lilly. And Preston. Hoping the old adage was true, nothing is ever as bad as first reported.
“Shit bag Zak has been on board the Dream since it docked this morning.” Jeff seemed to be driving. “So I’m running heat signatures on all the safe house we know, counting bodies and comparing to their norm. Nothing yet.”
“Stay on it and coordinate with Ed’s team.” Josh then added, “Keep me posted.” He had coordinated multiple ops numerous times before, but today had thrown him. His teams had trained for specific missions and carried them out, often making in-theater decisions and reporting back to him. Somehow, today felt out of control.
They pulled up in front of a three-story white block building. Nice hospital, Josh thought as he jumped out of the Jeep and followed Jack through the huge glass doors. Inside, Jack immediately started firing Spanish at the woman in pink behind the reception desk. Fortunately, his friend translated for him, “They’re two minutes out.” Then his phone rang. “Uh-huh.” There was a pause while the other person spoke. “Yeah.” Pause. “Thanks, Ed. We appreciate it.”
Jack turned to Josh as he stuffed his phone back into his pocket. “The Cancun police were able to piece together that two men in a dark van grabbed Preston. Lilly tried to fight them, but one of the men punched her and knocked her out. Ed sent the kidnap team to the compound to get set up. We should expect a ransom call within the next few hours. He’s also checking with his snitches to see if they can find out who took Preston.”
Poor little Preston. Josh wished he’d had more time to show the boy a few self-defense moves. But most of the time, kidnappers were professionals. “Does that happen often here?”
“Don’t know.” Jack paced the waiting room that looked more like a high-end living room with its Persian carpet and overstuffed couch with matching love seat. “I’ve never heard of one before, but you never hear about them in the U.S. either. They must have some because they have a designated team.”
An ambulance pulled into the parking lot and to the side of the building.
“Jack.” A man in a white coat stuck his head out of the doors to the emergency room. “Let us see what we have, and I’ll send for you in a few minutes.”
Jack moved toward him. “That’s not going to work for me.”
“Fine,” the doctor warned, “but stay out of our way.”
Without invitation, Josh followed Jack. On the other side of the doors it was organized chaos. The doctor barked out orders and nurses jogged past. The side doors burst open and his gaze flew to the body on the gurney.
No! His brain screamed.
That wasn’t his beautiful Lilly. This person looked too much like a victim of an IED explosion or a bar fight.
That lovely face was smeared with blood where the medics had tried to find the source of the bleeding, but didn’t bother wiping it clean. Her shiny hair on the side of her head was matted next to a gauze pad soaked in her blood.
He stood silently beside Jack staring as they cut her blouse off. Black and blue spots seemed to develop in front of his eyes. He understood the word x-ray as another woman trotted off.
The doctor checked her eyes with a light and looked over at them. “She’s unconscious, and right now that’s probably a good thing.” He returned to his examination as he spoke to them. “We need x-rays of her jaw, chest, and back. Before she passed out she told them they punched her in the jaw and kicked her. I’ll check for internal bleeding.” He concentrated as he palpitated her bare abdomen.
Josh wanted to rip the man’s hands off her. She was his. But the doctor wasn’t groping Lilly, he was trying to see how badly she was hurt. Calm down and let the man do his job.
“She’s not pregnant is she?” the doctor asked without looking at them.
“No,” Jack answered.
At the same time Josh said, “I don’t think so.”
His friend spun toward him, hand fisted. Before Jack could say a word, Josh admitted, “Lilly and I are involved. Punch me if you want, but it’s not going to change the fact I care for her. Deeply.”
He watched Jack release his fist and drop his shoulders. “Sorry. Madman. I’m glad for her. For you.” He shook his head as though to clear it. “For both of you.” He stared at his sister on the bed surrounded by medical staff. “Her ex was an emotionally abusive asshole. He would have blamed her for this.”
“I’m going to kill the fucker who did this to her,” Josh said in a low voice.
“Where is Lilly Girard?” The demanding woman’s voice echoed through the busy room. “Where the hell is my daughter?”
Jack stepped a foot out of the first-class trauma room. “Mom. We’re over here.”
Mona Girard’s scream reflected his own emotions. He glanced over to see Jack with his arm around his mother, holding her up as much as comforting her.
“Get her out of here before she becomes my next patient,” the doctor called.
“I’ll be fine, Dr. Snyderman.” She had composed herself and took on her normal air of royalty. “You just take good care of my daughter.”
“Working on it.” He looked at the three of them. “It’s going to be a while before we know anything for sure. Why don’t you make yourself comfortable in the waiting room?” Then he added insistently, “Please.”
“Come on. Mom.” Jack tried to guide his mother toward the doors but she wouldn’t move. “Where’s Levi?”
She glanced around then quietly told her son, “He’s at home with the Mexican version of the F.B.I. kidnap team.” In an even quieter voice, she added, “He’s trying to liquefy as much money as he can so we’re ready when they call with a ransom demand.” Her voice shook. “They told us,” she sniffed and looked away while she pulled it together. “They said that even if we pay them the money, they might...”
Josh could barely hear her whisper.
“They might kill him or—”
This strong woman who ran a billion dollar corporation broke down and buried her face in Jack’s chest. She finally looked up at her son. “They might sell him into the sex trade for pedophiles.”
Josh knew how she felt. Sometimes there are things worse than death.
He didn’t want to leave, but he needed to find Preston. He wanted to be with Lilly, be the first person she saw when she woke up. He admitted to himself, he wanted to be the first person she saw every morning when she woke. And the last man she saw every night before she closed her eyes and fell asleep in his arms.
He wanted this woman in his life. Forever.
And her wonderful boys.
Oh, fuck. Her boys.
He had to find Preston.
That would be what Lilly would want, more than seeing his ugly mug.
He couldn’t do anything for Lilly here in the hospital, but he had a few Mexican resources. Probably other teams in the Department of Homeland Security had others they could tap. They could help find Preston. His boy would expect Aquaman to find him and save him.
His boy.
Yes, he wanted to make Preston his son. And Greyson, too.
He’d do anything for those boys and their mother. He loved them. And he’d tell Lilly as soon as she woke up.
In the meantime, he had to find his son.
Chapter 24
Josh and Jack walked Mrs. Girard to the lobby and got her settled on a very comfortable couch with a bottle of water.
Josh pulled Jack aside. “I’m going to make some calls and see if our human trafficking teams can dig something up on Preston. Mind if I take the Jeep?”
“No.” Jack dug the keys from his pocket. “Mom drove, so I’ll drive her back home.” As he handed them to Josh, he added, “I’m still going with you tonight to take out the tangos. Until we get a ransom demand, there’s nothing I can do at home. Unless you find out something.”
“I’ll let you know right away. Meet you at Ed’s office in...” Josh
looked at his watch. Shit. When did it get to be four-thirty? “We need to be there in an hour to gear up.”
“I’ll be there,” Jack confirmed. “So will Too Tall, Mikey, and Cool Hand.”
“Thanks, Jack. I hate putting you guys in danger,” Josh admitted. “Our damn State Department and theirs couldn’t agree on the color of the sky if they needed to, say nothing about allowing my tactical team into the country.”
“See what you can find out about Preston’s kidnapping.” Jack nodded toward his mother. “I need to get back to her.”
“And you let me know about Lilly the minute you hear anything,” Josh demanded.
Jack stared at him a long minute. “So, you and my sister. We’ll talk about that later.”
“No. we won’t.” Josh turned and headed to the Jeep, satellite phone out and dialing his ops center.
By the time Josh reached the Girard compound, he’d put everything in motion with the approval of the Secretary of Homeland Security. Every U.S. asset available in Mexico was looking for five terrorists and a seven-year-old boy, all most likely still on the Yucatán peninsula.
He was met at the gate by a heavily armed guard in black utilities. It felt like old times, right down to the jungle setting.
He checked in with Levi at the makeshift command center in the library where he’d met just the night before with Jack, Stacie, Jeff, and Ed. Josh was surprised when the PMI agent wandered in with a cup of coffee.
“Looks like we meet here again. That coffee looks good.” Josh’s gaze swept the room for the requisite constantly filled coffee pot.
“Mateo has some brewing in the kitchen,” Ed offered. “And he’s making food.”
“Excellent.” Josh could use a jolt of caffeine. And some food. It was going to be a busy night. “Do I have time to eat before we leave for your headquarters?”
“My team is bringing everything you need here,” Ed explained. “I don’t want to leave until it’s absolutely necessary, just in case something breaks in Preston’s kidnapping.”
