Beautiful Surrender (Pride and Honor Book 4)

by Ember-Raine Winters

I looked over at him, and I could see the recognition slowly dawn on him. “Yeah, I think I did see a paperclip.”

  He jumped up and ran over to a desk fumbling around with something before he took it over and handed it to Griffin. He was the only one they didn’t bother cuffing because he’d been passed out at the time.

  I watched as Griff extricated himself from the kids’ tight embrace and unfolded the paperclip to test its durability. “This should work. Turn around so I can get your hands.”

  Obeying immediately, it was only a minute before I heard the metallic click of the lock and my hands were free. I rubbed my wrists and grinned at Johnny who was looking at us in awe. “Well shit,” Johnny said and I laughed.

  “Don’t let your mom hear you say that.” Griffin chuckled and Johnny turned red with embarrassment.

  It wasn’t long before Griffin had Ace and Hawk free and we all sat there trying to flush out a plan. The best we could come up with was an idea to rush them when they came in with food or to take the kids.

  “What?” Leanne’s high-pitched squeak nearly undid me.

  “Hey princess, we’re not gonna let them take you, okay.” Griffin smiled at her reassuringly; her relieved sigh was audible, but then added on a sniff. “Twitch said the same thing,”

  “Hey, you see those big idiots over there?” I bent down to whisper in her ear. “They are Navy SEALs. Do you know what that means?”

  Her eyes got big and she nodded. “They’re the best in the whole Navy.” She looked at them with new eyes and I grinned.

  “Yup, and they came to help us get you three out of here. We’re gonna figure this out, I promise.” I wrapped my arm around her and kissed the side of her head. “Has Uncle Trey ever let you down?”

  She shook her head and smiled. This little girl was one of my favorite people in the whole world. I would die to protect her, and I was pretty sure she knew it.

  “Shhh, I think I hear someone coming,” Ace whispered.

  I pointed over the desk, motioning for them to hide behind it. The older ones scrambled to grab Lance to go with them. Hawk stood to the side of the door, so that when it opened he could surprise them. I crouched next to the wall to take out anyone who might try to come in after guy number one.

  None of that mattered though. When the door opened, the last thing I could have expected happened. “Did you boys miss me?”

  I couldn’t help it, I jumped up and wrapped her in a bear hug. Her feet left the floor as I spun her around. “All right love birds we don’t have time for that.” Marcy pushed us out of her way looking around wildly.

  “Mom!” Johnny yelled and we all shushed him. It didn’t matter, he bolted into her arms and she fell back into a very large body. I spun around and put Kenzie behind me shielding her from the large guy that had caught Marcy.

  “Hey Pix? Come over here, please.”

  “No dummy, that’s just Bubba. Marcy’s Dad hired him to help us get the kids back.” Kenzie walked around me.

  “Bubba, Buck, and Country, meet Trey and Griffin.” Kenzie pointed at each of us in turn. “I don’t know you two, but I’m assuming you’re the SEALS I have heard so much about.”

  “Hey, Barbie,” the one called Buck said and I growled out instinctively. “We don’t have time for introductions, we need to get the fuck out of here.”

  Kenzie gave me a funny look, but I was too busy running behind the desk and grabbing the two other kids. “Get on my back, pumpkin. We’re getting outta here. Lance, buddy, run over to Griffin.”

  The kid started toddling over as Griffin scooped him up. Leanne didn’t hesitate. She jumped on my back and held on tight. “I’m ready.”

  “Good, Hawk, you got my back?” I asked and he scoffed.

  “Of course, brother. Do you even have to ask?” Kenzie handed him a gun she pulled from her pack.

  “If they get shot, I shoot you. I don’t trust SEALs after what I just saw,” Kenzie growled and I couldn’t help the grin that exploded across my face. She may be pissed at me after this was done, but she still cared.

  “You met Gabe? I owe him one.”

  “Sorry babe, but I already took care of it,” Kenzie said, sauntering out towards the door, then looked over her shoulder with a wink.

  We moved as a group towards the entrance Gabe and his minions brought us in through. I noticed men lying on the ground covered in blood and flinched. Griffin had Lance’s face covered so he wouldn’t see the carnage, and I looked back at the twelve-year-old on my back. I noticed Hawk coming in closer to us.

  “Bury your face in his back, sugar.” Hawk leaned over her, saying quietly, “This isn’t anything you want to see.” I nodded my thanks and kept on moving. Leanne’s whimpers were loud in my ears and I kept whispering soothing words to her as we made it out into the bright sunlight.

  “There, that’s our ride.” The one Kenzie had called Country was saying just as a bullet came whizzing past me and hit him in the wrist nearly severing his hand off.

  “Go, go, go.” Hawk was pushing me towards the vehicles turning every couple seconds to fire a few rounds at whoever was shooting at us.

  “Shit,” Kenzie cursed and ripped the scarf off her head and wrapped it quickly around the man’s hand and wrist as she ran for the jeep. Everyone else was moving quickly and returning fire at the horde of men who were firing at us.

  We finally made to the Jeeps and I dumped Leanne on the floor board. “Stay down and cover your head, pumpkin. We’re gonna get out of here.”

  Griffin deposited Lance next to her and she wrapped her arms around him. He was sobbing and scared but he was safe, we just had to get out of there. Hopping into the driver’s seat, I looked over at Kenzie who had a grenade in one hand and a handgun in the other. She was firing at them with little success, but the grin on her face spoke of trouble.

  “Do it,” I yelled and gunned the engine. The other Jeep was coming up alongside me. Marcy looking at us strangely and grinned just as Kenzie lobbed the grenade at the oncoming men. “Hold on tight.”

  The blast shook the jeep, and I felt the heat on my neck as I as I sped over the streets of Jamaame. Kenzie was cackling next to me as she watched the glow of the flames. “Follow them, Bob has a jet waiting for us in the jungle.”

  She sat down and faced forward still smiling with glee. Looking over, I smiled back. “Thanks for the rescue.”

  “I’m still pissed at you,” she grumbled but she was grinning ear to ear.

  “Noted, now let’s get to that plane so we can get out of this damn country.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

  KENZIE

  During the drive to the abandoned field, Trey kept looking over at me with a half-smile. I couldn’t help but be relieved that we found him in one piece. I kept thinking about what that awful Gabe had said he’d done to them.

  We were stalking into the warehouse when we noticed the SEAL from the night before coming straight at us. He had hate in his eyes and his rifle cocked.

  “Who the fuck are you?” he asked suspiciously.

  I didn’t even give him a chance before I put a bullet in his knee cap and he cried out in pain. “Were you supposed to help them and you turned on them?” I yelled.

  “Ah, you’re the girlfriend.” He chuckled, surprisingly through the pain. “You’re too late. I killed Trey myself. I put a bullet in his head before turning the gun on his brother. You’re welcome to their bodies, though. We put them out back with the rest of the garbage,” he said clenching his teeth in pain. His smile was sadistic and I lunged at him hitting him repeatedly with the butt of my gun. Tears were streaming down my face as Country pulled me off of his still form.

  “Shhh, darlin, it will be okay. He’s bluffin’. Let’s go find the kids,” he said rubbing my back.

  I was brought out of my daze with a squeeze to my hand. “What’s wrong, sunshine?” Trey smiled at me.

  “Nothing, I’m just glad we found you.”


  “What happened?”

  “That man, from the SEALs who betrayed you? He told me you were both dead. I was just thinking about it.” I felt tears about to leak from my eyes and wondered what the hell was wrong with me.

  It was scary to think about how close I was to losing him, but there was no time to think about why I was crying or how much trouble I was in. I couldn’t imagine a world without Trey in it. If I was honest? I never wanted to.

  “I’m just glad we’re all okay and going home.”

  “Yeah, me too.”

  When we got to the airstrip in the jungle, I knew something wasn’t right. It was eerily quiet and the plane was sitting there shining in the sun. The stairs were down and I looked at Trey in horror when I saw the blood trail leading to the steps.

  Marcy started screaming. She tried running to the steps, but Buck grabbed her around the waist and lifted her in a fireman’s hold over his shoulder while Ace and Hawk crept up the stairs.

  “Oh my God, Bob,” I said and started moving towards the plane.

  “You don’t wanna see this, darlin’,” Country said solemnly.

  “I have to see if he’s okay.” I looked him dead in the eyes and he moved out of my way.

  Walking into the jet I could smell the stench of death. Both Ace and Hawk looked like they were about to be sick. Someone groaned and a body shifted.

  “Bob? Oh my God. What happened?” I asked as I ran to his side.

  “I don’t know. I was waiting for you and these men came and started shooting,” he gasped. “I was able to move away and hide but they got me in the leg. I’ve lost a lot of blood.”

  “You’ll be all right. We need Marcy, she was a pretty skilled medic in the military,” I said on the verge of panic. Guilt was weighing heavy on me. If it weren’t for my stubborn ass needing to come, they wouldn’t be here. I was the reason he knew anything like this was happening in the first place. It was me that got him involved in all of this. If he didn’t make it, it would be my fault. “Get Marcy,” I yelled.

  She came in a second later holding her nose and searching for us with her eyes. “Don’t,” I said. “It’s not your fault.”

  “How is it not?” she shrieked. “I called him to help us! I am the reason he was even in this stupid country in the first place.”

  “And if you don’t stop your whining and help him he may never leave,” I huffed angrily. “Get your shit together so we can get him and Country aid and get the fuck out of here.”

  That snapped her out of her daze and she got started on Bob. It wasn’t long before she was barking orders to get her much needed supplies in order to stitch his leg up.

  “What about Country?” I asked warily. His arm was wrapped up but I had seen the mangled mess it was after he got shot. I had a feeling that even if they were able to save it, he might never be able to use it again.

  “I have him stable for now and I have stopped the bleeding… mostly” Marcy sighed. “We need to get them both back to the States ASAP, or I don’t know what’s going to happen with them.”

  “The pilot’s dead. How are we supposed to make a transatlantic flight without a pilot?”

  “Shit. I don’t know. We just made an awfully big mess of things here and now we don’t have a fucking pilot.”

  “I can fly in a pinch,” Buck said walking over to us.

  “Well, we are definitely in a pinch.”

  “There’s a military hospital in Germany we can take them to,” Ace added.

  “No. We need to get back to the States. Barnes was able to get to SEALs, there’s no telling who else is on his payroll,” I replied nervously. “We need to stash these bodies somewhere that the kids won’t see.”

  “After everything else, that’s the last thing they need,” Marcy agreed.

  “There’s a storage closet in the back we can put them in until we get back, but there are gonna be questions when we get home with a couple of dead bodies and two men with gunshot wounds,” Bubba said quietly as the other men got to work cleaning up the mess as best as they could.

  “Um… we have a problem. This plane isn’t making any transatlantic flights right now,” Buck said walking out of the cockpit. “They fucked with the controls; I can’t get it to even start.”

  “There’s an American Embassy in Nairobi. They have to take us in and help us, we’re Americans,” Hawk said thoughtfully.

  “Well I guess we are driving then,” I sighed. “Can someone get Bob? We will have to tell them about the plane and maybe they can come back for the other Americans here.”

  “We’re just gonna leave them here?” Marcy asked in horror.

  “Can you think of a better plan?” I shot back angrily.

  “No.” She sighed, obviously hating the idea.

  It didn’t take long before we were back on the road. It was nerve wracking looking over my shoulder the entire time we were in Somalia, and I didn’t relax until we were safely over the Kenyan border. The poor kids were restless, but they were clinging to Griffin like he might disappear. I didn’t blame them. Poor kids had been through hell. I was just glad they were safe. Kaylee was going to be beside herself when we got back with them.

  Maybe Mac would stop being a complete douche once we came back and he heard how we were right and the guys were betrayed. If it hadn’t been for us, they never would have made it out. So even though Bob had been injured, maybe the whole thing really wasn’t my fault.

  “Mac is gonna be so pissed that he was wrong.” Trey laughed when we were almost to the embassy late that night.

  “What do you mean?”

  “He was pissed, saying you talked Tink into going with you on a suicide mission.”

  “Ha! Little does the idiot know, that she had the plan in the works way before you left me all tied up.”

  “I figured. There was no way Bob could have pulled that off so quickly. He would have needed at least a day.” Trey smiled over at me.

  “Are they even gonna let us in here?” I asked as we pulled up to the gates of the American Embassy. It looked as if it was closed. Trey pushed the buzzer on the gate and nothing happened.

  “Did Tom come with you?” I asked them and they shook their heads. “Where’s the plane that got you here?”

  “Probably in Germany by now. We never actually landed the plane,” Trey said sheepishly.

  “So, you parachuted into enemy territory to rescue some kidnapped kids with no way to get back?”

  “Actually, the embassy should be expecting us. Tom was supposed to have some SUVs stashed in the jungle for us, but we never made it there.”

  “Call Tom. Have him call the Embassy and get someone out here. Bob and Country need medical attention and we’re sitting ducks right here.” I handed Griffin my phone and he dialed.

  Thirty minutes later a very tired, very harried looking man opened the doors after buzzing us in the gate. Ace and Buck had Bob propped up between them. Trey and Griffin each had one of the kids in their arms. It was the sweetest thing to watch Trey cradle that little girl in his big strong arms.

  “Please follow me,” the man said as he led us down the hall.

  They had guest rooms for Americans who found themselves in trouble in foreign countries. It was good for us. I was exhausted. I couldn’t sleep on the bumpy car ride over, too worried that we were going to get ambushed with the kids in the cars.

  “We will have transport ready to take you back to the US in the morning,” he continued and there was an audible sigh of relief.

  We were safe. The kids were back with us and we were headed back to the States in the morning. We only had one thing left to do before we could finally take Barnes down for good. I just hoped we could get Twitch back and get rid of Barnes before anyone else got hurt.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

  TREY

  I laid Leanne on the bed in the room they had given Griff and the kids. Mine and Kenzie’s room was next door with an attached d
oor between; it was more like a hotel than an embassy. I sighed with relief knowing Griffin and the kids were so close. Not being able to see them would have me on edge. I didn’t want those kids out of my sight, since we had no idea who might be lurking around. This whole situation couldn’t end soon enough.

  I laid in the bed with Kenzie curled up to my side and stared at the ceiling for hours. Leanne screamed the most terrible gut wrenching sound leaving her lips and I jumped from the bed, throwing the door between our rooms open. Searching the room, I noticed Griffin with his gun drawn. It took a minute for us to relax when we realized she wasn’t being attacked. It was just a horrible nightmare and Griffin moved to the bed she was sharing with Lance and wrapped his arms around her until she settled.

  Turning around, I noticed Kenzie in the doorway looking worried.

  “It was just a nightmare. She’s okay,” I tried to reassure her. She smiled sadly and walked back into our room. Following her, I wrapped my arms around her waist.

  “I’m still mad at you,” she sighed and I squeezed her even tighter.

  “No you’re not.” I chuckled and kissed the side of her neck. “If you were, I would be on the floor.”

  “Is she gonna be okay?” she asked softly.

  “I don’t know,” I sighed and nuzzled her neck. “She might end up with PTSD like her mom.”

  “Poor thing,” she murmured quietly. “He’s ruined so many lives. I can’t wait to take him down.

  “I know, sunshine. Me too.” I rubbed soothing circles on her back and breathed in deeply. We laid back down, and I wrapped her in my arms and finally got some much-needed sleep.

  **

  We woke up a few more times throughout the night to the sounds of the kids’ screams. It gutted me that they were going through this. These beautiful vibrant kids had been through enough in the last year and now they were forced to relive it all in their dreams? It was cruel and I wish there was something I could do to make it better for them. Feeling helpless and more than a bit restless, I finally decided to get up around six and went in search of the makeshift hospital.