Rescuing Bryn: Delta Force Heroes, Book 6

by Susan Stoker

  “Humph. You’re late,” the man grumbled.

  “Sorry.” Dane didn’t elaborate.

  “Well, come on then. Let’s get this over with.” The man rested his rifle in the crook of his arm and gestured for them to follow him with the other.

  Bryn could tell Dane wasn’t thrilled that the man hadn’t put down his weapon, but he didn’t say a word, just walked toward the man slowly and carefully, as if afraid any sudden movements would spook him. For the first time, Bryn understood what he’d been trying to tell her. He hadn’t been blowing smoke up her ass.

  Mr. Jasper was jumpy and uncomfortable with them being on his property. Whatever the incentive for him to allow this was, it had to be huge. Bryn made a vow to herself to keep her mouth shut as much as possible. She could take everything in and research it later. There were a few chat rooms she’d found when she’d been surfing the web for prepper info, where she could ask questions.

  They stopped in front of the man and he held out a pair of blindfolds. The kind that people wore to sleep in. “Put these on.”

  “Oh, but—ow!”

  Bryn’s words were cut off when Dane squeezed her hand so hard she couldn’t help but cry out in pain. He didn’t say anything, merely held out his hand for the material.

  He turned to Bryn and looked down at her. “It’s fine. He just doesn’t want us to be able to find his bunker in the future. The only way we’ll get to see it is if we wear these. Mr. Jasper isn’t going to hurt us. He’s protecting his family.” Dane glanced over at him as if to confirm his words, but the man stayed silent. “Trust me, Smalls. I’m not going to let anything happen to you.”

  Bryn nodded, even though she wasn’t happy about it. She realized that Dane knew this would happen. He didn’t seem surprised or even upset at the blindfolds. Even as she figured that out, she understood why he’d not told her. She wasn’t happy about it, not at all, but she trusted Dane.

  “Okay.” He nodded and leaned down to brush her lips with his before using his prosthetic and other hand to lift the elastic around her head and settle the material over her eyes. When her world went dark, Bryn panicked for a moment, before sighing in relief when Dane curled her fingers over the waistband of his jeans.

  “For what it’s worth,” Mr. Jasper said to Dane, “I don’t mean to be so jittery about this, but there’s been some talk amongst my friends and I about outsiders trying to worm their way into our community. We don’t mind others who have our same mindset moving in, but when someone comes in and starts asking odd questions about law enforcement presence and how we stay under the radar, we get nervous. I might be a prepper, but I do love my country. Outsiders talking shit about the good ol’ US of A make us nervous. You got me? I want nothin’ to do with that, and I’ll protect me and mine from anyone and everyone who tries to take my freedom away. I’m doing this for my protection, and that of my way of life. Okay?”

  “Yes, sir,” Dane responded immediately.

  Bryn heard him shuffling next to her and was relieved when his hand curled around hers once again.

  “Hold on to me and I’ll hold on to the rope, Smalls. I’ve got you. No worries.”

  “Lead on, oh fearless warrior of mine.”

  He huffed out a laugh but didn’t respond. Within moments they were on their way. It was temping to use her facial muscles to try to wriggle the mask up a bit so she could see, but Bryn didn’t want to do anything that might piss off Mr. Jasper. He was jumpy enough as it was. Besides, she really did want to see the bunker. If the man was this worked up about it, it had to be amazing.

  They stumbled their way for about ten minutes until they reached the area where the bunker was.

  “Keep those blindfolds on until I tell you to take ’em off. I’m gonna open the door. I’ll tell you where to step.”

  Bryn had really wanted to see the bunker from the outside, but she wasn’t going to say anything at this point. She was so close to seeing a real-live prepper hideout and didn’t want to screw it up now.

  She heard a loud creak, and then she and Dane shuffled forward. She gripped his hand harder and held her breath as he stepped down. Bryn followed behind him, putting her free hand on Dane’s shoulder as they descended ten steps.

  The door slammed shut behind them and Mr. Jasper said, “Okay, you can take ’em off now.”

  Bryn brought a shaky hand to her face and pushed up the material. She kept hold of Dane’s hand, not wanting to lose contact with him, and absently noticed he’d also pushed up his blindfold. Blinking at the bright light from the lanterns set up around the area, she squinted at her surroundings.

  It looked like a lot of the survivalist shelters she’d seen online. They’d entered at one end of the space. Her first thought, and it was one that popped out of her mouth without her thinking, was, “It’s not as big as I thought it’d be.”

  To her right was a surprisingly comfortable-looking sofa. To her left was a TV in the corner and a table with a bench seat. In front of that was a kitchen area, complete with a sink. There was a small hallway-looking space farther in, with a room walled off to the left of it.

  “It’s ten feet by fifty feet,” Mr. Jasper told her with what sounded like pride.

  “It doesn’t look fifty feet to me,” Bryn said honestly.

  “That’s because there’s a hidden room.”

  Bryn took a step forward, then stopped. “May I look around?” she asked the gruff older man.

  “Yeah.”

  It wasn’t exactly said politely, but Bryn didn’t hesitate. She walked over to the sink first and opened the cabinet under it. It looked like it had regular plumbing. The questions came to her mind fast and furious, but she bit them back. She wanted to know so many things, but she’d promised Dane…and wanted to be rewarded. It was incentive enough.

  She opened cabinets and saw stacks and stacks of MREs, Meals Ready to Eat. Dehydrated food that could be stored for years without going bad. There were books, filters, and boxes of ammunition as well. Plates, cups, utensils, soap, shampoo…the stacks of things were endless.

  She opened a small closet and saw winter clothes vacuum packed in storage bags, along with piles of blankets and towels. There was a large section of the closet allocated to storing first-aid supplies as well.

  She opened the bathroom door and was amazed at how modern and sleek everything was. This wasn’t a do-it-yourself job. Mr. Jasper had spent quite a bit of money on making sure he and his family had a safe place to escape to in case of nuclear war, the apocalypse, or even a zombie attack. She figured there had to be storage tanks for the clean water and waste water, but would look up how it all worked when she got home.

  Dane hadn’t moved from the door as she’d explored, examining every inch of the bunker but not saying anything. Finally, she asked tentatively, “May I see the hidden room too?”

  Without a word, Mr. Jasper went to the wall next to the bathroom and moved a picture that hung there. Behind it was a digital lock. He punched in a code, making sure to stand in front of it so neither she nor Dane could see what numbers he used, and the wall folded back to reveal the hidden room.

  Bryn stepped inside without a thought to her safety and looked around. There was a queen-size bed behind another open door against the back wall, and a set of bunkbeds to her left and right. The “master bedroom,” so to speak, had some privacy with the door. She walked forward and looked inside. There was a closet to the left and what looked like a big hose tucked away in the corner.

  “What’s that?” The question popped out before she could recall it.

  “NBC air filtration system, with blast valves and overpressure valve as well. The toilet is composting and the doors are bullet resistant. There’s a tankless hot-water heater and a pump to evacuate the gray water. The stove is alcohol-burning and the water comes from the stream on the property. I hooked up a pipe to travel from there to here. It’s stored in a large tank under the bunker.”

  Bryn was impressed, and more eager th
an ever to get home and look up everything he’d just mentioned, but managed to merely nod.

  “You done?”

  No. She wasn’t done. She wanted to open every cabinet, look under every bed, turn on every gadget, take a shower, watch a movie and cook a meal…just to see how it all worked…but she’d promised Dane. So she nodded.

  Dane’s lips quirked up, but he merely said, “Thank you for showing it to us.”

  Mr. Jasper grunted in response, having seemed to blow his conversation wad moments earlier.

  Bryn walked back to Dane and looked up at him. She mouthed, “thank you,” then turned to the older prepper. “Thank you, Mr. Jasper. Seriously. I know you didn’t have to show this to us.”

  “I didn’t do it out of the kindness of my heart, girly. When will I get my shipment?”

  His question was directed at Dane.

  “As soon as I get home, I’ll arrange it.”

  Without a word, the older man locked the secret room and recovered the keypad with the photo on the wall. He went to the other door and turned back to them. “Masks on.”

  Bryn didn’t hesitate this time, and pulled the black blindfold over her eyes again. With her hand tight in Dane’s, she followed him up the stairs and back to the main house. There they exchanged a few more words with Mr. Jasper, thanking him once more, then Dane opened her door and waited until she got settled before closing it and walking around the front of his truck and climbing in.

  Without further ado, Dane backed the truck up, turned it around and headed up the gravel driveway toward the long, winding roads that would lead them to Rathdrum.

  “You gonna explode, Smalls?”

  Bryn huffed out a huge breath and exclaimed, “Maybe.”

  For the first time in the hour or so they’d been on Mr. Jasper’s property, Dane relaxed. He laughed heartily and smiled over at her. “I’m proud of you.”

  “Thanks. But, um…do you think we can postpone my reward until after I’ve had some Internet time? There are a few things I need to look up as soon as possible.”

  Dane continued to smile at her. He hooked his prosthetic over the wheel and reached out to her with his other hand. He lay his warm hand on her thigh. “Yeah, sweetheart. I’ll be waiting for you whenever you’re ready. But do you think I can get a kiss to hold me over when we get to your place?”

  “Yeah, I think that can be arranged,” Bryn told him, bringing his hand up to her lips and kissing the palm. “Thank you for arranging this for me. It was amazing.”

  “You’re welcome. Anything you want to ask me while we head to your place?”

  Bryn nodded. “Now that you mention it, yeah.” She took a deep breath and started talking. She asked questions all the way back to her place, and for ten or so minutes while they were parked in front of her apartment building.

  When she’d wound herself down, Dane told her, “Go on. I know you’re dying to look up the things I couldn’t answer. Call me later?”

  “I will,” Bryn told him, then bit her lip.

  “What?”

  She looked over at him shyly. “Do I get a kiss?”

  “I thought you’d never ask. Come here.” Dane reached down and pulled the lever to move the seat all the way back. She scooted over on the truck seat and got up on her knees next to him. He turned her and she plopped down on his lap. She’d gotten really used to him hauling her around and being in his lap. She felt comfortable there. Protected.

  Before she’d gained her balance, Dane was kissing her. His hand wrapped around her waist to keep her steady and his lips devoured hers. His tongue plunged into her mouth without any warm-up. Bryn opened wider to facilitate his exploration. Her head rotated back and forth, changing the angle of the kiss, but her lips never broke free from his.

  Finally, he pulled back. Dane rubbed his nose over hers.

  “Call me when you’re done.”

  “Okay.”

  She sat without moving on his lap and stared at his lips. They curled into a grin.

  “Up you go.” Dane helped her sit up and scoot back over to the other side of the truck. When she was sitting normally on the passenger side, he asked, “You good, Smalls?”

  “I’m more than good, Dane. Thank you again for today. It meant a lot to me that you humored me like this.”

  He nodded. “Later, sweetheart.”

  “Later.”

  She opened the door and hopped out. Knowing he wouldn’t pull away until she was inside the building, she closed the door and waved, then backed away, keeping eye contact with him as she went.

  When she reached the door, she opened it and disappeared inside. She brought her fingertips up to her mouth and smiled, remembering how good his lips felt against her own and how amazing it felt to be in his arms. She’d never felt so content anywhere in her entire life as she was when he had his arms around her.

  She locked her apartment door, and headed straight for her computer, her mind switching gears almost instantaneously as she thought about Mr. Jasper’s bunker and how it’d been set up. It was genius, and she wanted to find out as much information about it as possible. She’d just get a few searches in to assuage her immediate need for knowledge, then she’d call Dane.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Bryn woke up slowly, groaning as every muscle in her body stretched when she sat up. She was sitting at her desk, laptop in front of her, still open to the prepper forum she’d visited the night before. The people she’d met had been overall very nice and open to answering her questions. She’d gotten the impression from Mr. Jasper and Dane that all preppers were paranoid and close-mouthed. That hadn’t been her experience at all. Of course, the more questions she got answered, the more she’d thought of.

  She yawned and put her arms over her head to stretch. She’d had weird dreams all night. About bombs, and mobs of people trying to get into her house, and—

  Shit!

  Dane!

  She looked at the clock on the computer and groaned in exasperation when she read it. Six-thirty. She didn’t remember what time she’d finally fallen asleep, but it had been late…or early. She’d logged into the forum and had been chatting with several different preppers at the same time. It had been fascinating, and all thoughts of Dane and how she was supposed to call him had disappeared.

  She took a moment and logged out of the website, trying not to think about when she might have more time to talk again to the preppers she’d met online, and headed into the living area of her small apartment. It would be a while before the sky started lightening with the morning sun, so she clicked on the entryway light and went to the small table just inside her door and grabbed her cell.

  There were three text messages. All from Dane.

  * * *

  Dane: I had a good time today.

  Dane: Still researching?

  Dane: I’m going to assume you’re still sitting at your computer and lost in information on how to save our hides if the end of the world comes and not purposely avoiding me. ;) I’ll call tomorrow. I hope you got some sleep.

  * * *

  Bryn stared at the texts for a moment, a funny feeling in her chest. He’d checked up on her and didn’t sound mad that she’d forgotten all about him. The last time she’d done that to a man she’d just started dating, he’d been so pissed that he’d “wasted his night,” and had told her he didn’t want to see her again.

  Dane got her.

  And didn’t seem to care that she was scatterbrained sometimes. That she gave money to the homeless. That she didn’t seem to see the bad in people. That she could get lost in searching for information and block out everything around her.

  Glancing at her watch again, and seeing it was only four minutes since she’d last looked and too early to call Dane, Bryn headed for her bedroom. She’d shower and change and go see him. She didn’t have to work today, but she wanted to stop at the library and look for a book one of the preppers had recommended. The title was, of course, Surviving Doomsday. She wanted to se
e if the library had it already, or if it could be ordered.

  One of the things a man had told her last night in the forum was that it was important to get hard copies of instruction books. If the infrastructure fell after a nuclear bomb or mass chaos, the Internet would be tough to get connected to. So having the actual books made sense rather than relying on the Internet or other electronic devices.

  After showering, Bryn killed time by baking muffins from scratch for breakfast. She didn’t want to get back online because she knew she’d just end up sucked into the knowledge on the screens.

  Finally, at ten minutes to eight, she headed for the library. They typically opened early for people who liked to read the newspaper and generally start their day relaxing with a book or magazine.

  Bryn waved hello to her coworker behind the circulation desk, but didn’t go over to make small talk. She headed for the computer and searched for what she wanted. As she was searching, she remembered that she hadn’t returned the two books she’d found about bunkers and fertilizer.

  The thought stopped her in her tracks. Finding a prepper wasn’t exactly easy. Heck, it took a friend of a friend of Dane’s, who had some sort of pull with the government, to find Mr. Jasper. But thanks to those two books, she’d already found someone else she could talk to in person. Whoever had checked out those books was obviously an extreme survivalist.

  Bryn thought about if she should try to check out the address where this John Smith person lived. She remembered one had been listed, but the question was whether it was real or made-up. He’d be fascinating to talk to. She could find out a ton of information from him. It’d be like having a prepper forum come to life right in front of her.

  She thought back to what Dane had said…and their experience with Mr. Jasper. He’d been willing to show them his bunker, but only because Dane was giving him something in return. She totally got that preppers could be dangerous. She didn’t think they all were, but knowing who was and who wasn’t was the tricky part.

  Bryn recognized the feeling inside her. It was just like when she’d been young and had wanted to dissect the frog to learn more about it. She knew it could be dangerous to talk to someone who’d checked out both a prepper book and one about explosives, but she was having a hard time letting it go.