He stretched his hands above him. Sand covered them—it was deep. Would he be able to get out?
Despair tried to press into him, but he warded it away.
Something shifted above him.
Please tell me that Bethany has not jumped back in here. Please.
He felt something hit his face . . . he thought.
Were his mouth and nose exposed?
He couldn’t chance it.
He couldn’t open his eyes or risk taking a breath. Not without knowing if sand still surrounded him.
Then he realized he had no other choice. His lungs were tight. He needed a breath.
He pushed his eyes open. Bethany was there. Staring down at him.
And his face was clear.
Griff sucked in a deep breath, one that ended in a coughing fit.
But he could breathe.
Somehow Bethany had managed to begin digging him out of the sand.
Thank God!
“I’m going to get you out of here.” Bethany leaned toward him, her breath shallow with exertion. “I don’t know how. But I will.”
Gratitude filled his heart. She had every opportunity to run, but she hadn’t.
Warrior Princess. Bethany was the original, and Ada was just her mini me.
“Can you take my hand?” Bethany asked.
Griff dragged his arm from the sand and reached for her. Using an impressive amount of strength, Bethany tugged and pulled and tugged and pulled. Finally, Griff was able to grab onto the end of the shaft.
“Back up!” he ordered.
Bethany began scooting upward on the shaft. As she did, Griff pulled himself out of the sand. He drew in a few ragged breaths as he sat there for a moment.
But there was no time to waste. He didn’t know where those guys were or what they were planning next. But he knew he had to get Ada. He had to get to her now.
Bethany glanced at him before scrambling back to the top of the chute. She climbed up and onto solid land. Griff followed behind her.
As they both caught their breath, they stood there in front of each other a moment. There was so much that he wanted to say.
But before Griff could get a word out, a step sounded behind him.
Anderson had mentioned something about revenge.
These men had said something about Griff needing to remember something.
There was obviously more here than anyone realized.
If Griff had to guess, this whole incident in the sand pit hadn’t been about wanting them dead. It had been about teaching them a lesson.
They were never going to let Bethany die, were they? No, for some reason, she was a target here. The whole setup had been to teach them a lesson.
This was far from being over. The men were here. They’d probably been here the whole time, just waiting until the sand filled the pit. Then they’d planned on fishing them out. At least, he assumed they’d planned on digging Bethany out.
She was the one they wanted.
Before he could move, another shock went through him.
Something came down over Griff’s head, and everything went black again.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Bethany didn’t know how much time had passed. Her captors had Tasered them again.
Best she could tell, they’d put her and Griff on some kind of boat. They’d traveled through the water to a harbor, and then they’d been loaded into the back of a utility van.
After the haze of all that, Bethany’s thoughts—and vision—were finally becoming clearer. Her head didn’t throb as much, and her tongue didn’t feel as much like sandpaper.
Their hoods were gone. She glanced around. Darkness filled the back of the space, barely a hint of light and no windows. She and Griff sat side by side, arm to arm.
Bethany looked at Griff. He was awake—and he didn’t look happy. Based on his expression, he’d been lucid for longer than she had. No doubt, he’d already searched the cargo space of this vehicle.
Without thinking, she ran a hand along his cheek, his jaw. Sand still clung to his skin, his hair looked messy, and his muscles were taut.
Yet he still looked so incredibly tough and handsome—just like the man who’d won her heart all those years ago.
“Are you . . . okay?” Bethany thought for sure that she’d lost Griff earlier—and that thought had done something terrible to her heart. As mad—and hurt—as she’d been, she still loved the man. She’d never stopped.
He grimaced, rubbing the side of his head, and then nodded. “This is about more than Daniel’s death.”
She stiffened. “What do you mean?”
“These guys have a personal vendetta against me and the rest of the Blackout team.”
She shifted toward him. “What do you mean, Griff?”
“I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it. These guys . . . they planned all of that back at the hotel construction site for a reason. More than just to torture us or manipulate us.”
“I don’t understand.” Bethany rubbed her forehead, desperate to put the pieces together.
“There was an operation my SEAL team did about two years ago. We didn’t know all the details—we didn’t need to know them, according to Commander Larson. All we knew was that a terror suspect was hiding out in a compound, and we needed to get him.”
“What happened?”
“This man had his family there with him. None of our intel had indicated that. We had to change our plans and abort the mission.”
“How does that fit with this?” It made no sense to her that those events were somehow linked to Ada’s attempted abduction as well as Griff and Bethany nearly being buried alive.
“Our aborted raid tipped off the wrong people.” Griff shook his head. “I heard murmurings that this man’s wife was killed, that she was buried alive because of his betrayal.”
“So you think . . .”
“I think this guy wants to make us pay. I don’t think you were supposed to die back there, though. I think it was all a lesson in loss and fear and revenge.”
“That’s . . . horrible.” Bethany paused. “You have no idea the name of this guy who might be responsible?”
“No idea. But it’s going to be my goal to find out when we get out of here.” Griff glanced at her, his eyes softening. “I’m sorry, Bethany.”
“This isn’t your fault.” Her throat felt raw as the words left her lips.
“But it is. I tried so hard to protect you and Ada, but I couldn’t do it. I thought if I distanced myself from you both . . .”
“Oh, Griff . . .” Grief gripped her heart as Bethany realized what his thought process had been throughout all of this.
It was nothing like she’d assumed.
Because he loved them, Griff had left. The logic was twisted, but, deep down inside, he’d been trying to do the right thing. Bethany still thought it should have been her choice, that he shouldn’t have left her out of the loop. But now that she’d had some time to let that sink in, understanding rolled through her.
“I gave my life for the military, and look where it got me?” Griff ran a hand over his face. “Nowhere. Without anyone.”
She squeezed his shoulder, desperate to get through to him. “You did great things for our country, Griff. Never forget that. All of that wasn’t wasted. Don’t believe that lie, despite some of the things that have happened.”
He pushed her hair out of her eye, his gaze softening. “I would do anything for you, you know.”
“We’re going to need to talk more about that later.” More than anything, Bethany wanted to talk now, but she knew they didn’t have much time. The van had been stopping and going for the past twenty minutes, if she had to guess. That must mean they were in traffic.
“You promise that we can talk about it later?” Griff asked.
“I promise. We’re going to get out of this so we can have that conversation.”
“I’m going to hold you to that.”
She licked her l
ips, pushing away the overwhelming feelings that wanted to creep in. “For now, any ideas on how we are going to get out of this?”
“That’s what I’m trying to figure out.”
Without thinking, she reached down and laced her fingers with his. After a moment of hesitation, Griff squeezed her hand back. Just feeling that connection seemed to give Bethany a surge of strength, of hope.
“I know this is going to sound weird,” Bethany started. “But the one man . . . the leader of the group. His voice sounded familiar.”
“Do you know from where?”
Bethany shook her head. “I have no idea. I keep thinking about it, but I’m not sure.”
“This could very well be someone you know.”
She glanced at him. “Like who?”
“We’ve explored the idea that it’s another SEAL. But we don’t know that’s true. Is there anyone you can think of who has a connection with you and with the military?”
“I don’t know. I mean, I know plenty of military personnel but . . .” Her breath caught.
“What?”
“Cindi’s husband . . . I don’t want to point the finger at someone who’s innocent, but he was asking about where I was. He’s a common denominator here.”
“What does Cindi do at the magazine?”
“She’s a secretary. I . . .” Bethany shook her head. “I don’t know.”
“We’ve wondered if there’s a connection between all of this and your job.”
Bethany stared up at him. “How so?”
“Maybe these guys are targeting the power grid. You’d be the perfect person to help them.”
“I’m just an associate editor . . .”
“But you have connections with all the right people.”
She did, didn’t she? These guys could have been wanting to get to her this whole time.
The next instant, the van pulled to a stop.
Bethany’s heart thrummed against her chest. Whatever these guys were planning, she was about to find out. A surge of panic rushed through her.
What if she didn’t get out of this alive? What if this was the end of the road for either her or Griff or both of them?
There was something that she had to get off of her chest just in case. “Griff . . . ?”
He turned to her, his face only inches from hers. “Yes?”
“I thought you should know . . .” Bethany licked her lips, wondering how to say it. She decided just to get it out there. “I didn’t sign all of the divorce papers.”
Griff’s eyes widened. “What?”
Bethany nodded. “It’s true. There were about five places I had to sign. I only signed three.”
A knot formed between his eyes. “Why would you do that?”
“Because we always said divorce wasn’t in our vocabulary. It’s not what I want for my life. Not signing somehow made me feel like I had a little bit of power in it.”
“But my lawyer . . .” Griff shook his head as if trying to process that.
“Your lawyer was horrible. And cheap. You got what you paid for. I doubt he even looked the papers over before he filed them.”
“I can’t deny that . . . but what does that mean?” Griff’s gaze was intense as he searched her eyes for answers.
“I’m not sure. I suppose our marital status could go either way. I mean, we haven’t gotten our official divorce papers yet.”
“So . . . there’s a chance we’re still married?”
Bethany shrugged. “I guess.”
Moisture filled his eyes. Bethany had only seen Griff cry one other time, and that was when his mother died. Seeing him get emotional right now did something strange to her heart. It made it swell with love and longing.
He reached for her, resting his hand at her neck. “Bethany . . . you’re the best thing that ever happened to me. If we don’t get out of this alive—”
“We can’t talk like that.” She touched his lips, ready to press her fingers into them and silence him if he talked like that again.
“I know that we shouldn’t. I do. But there are still just some things that need to be said. I love you, Bethany. I always have, and I always will, and nothing is ever going to change that.”
Their gazes locked. Bethany wanted nothing more than to kiss this man, to show him how she felt. She wanted to erase the past year—all the hurt, the tears—and start over again. But maybe, at the end of this, they would come out stronger.
Before she could say anything else, the van door flew open. A masked man grabbed Bethany and jerked her out.
The last thing she heard was Griff yelling “No!”
* * *
Griff’s panic turned into a burst of anger. He grabbed the van door and pulled on it. It was no use—it was locked.
What exactly were those men planning on doing with Bethany? Fury burned inside him at the thought. And what about Ada? Was she okay?
None of this was their fault. Couldn’t these men just leave them out of this?
Unless it was like Griff had assumed earlier. Maybe this was more about Bethany than he ever imagined. Maybe this was about revenge, about making Griff pay for the heartache he’d caused during his missions as a SEAL.
In the brief moment the van door had been opened, Griff had caught a quick glimpse of the world outside. They appeared to be parked in front of an office building. By his estimation, they’d probably been on the road for four hours. That was enough time to make it to Virginia Beach.
Were they at Bethany’s office? Griff didn’t know. He’d never been there to know what it looked like.
The bad feeling continued to brew inside his gut.
He hated feeling helpless. Hated feeling like he was just sitting here and couldn’t protect the woman he loved.
Yes, the woman he loved. There was no doubt about that. There never had been.
Hearing that Bethany hadn’t signed all of the divorce papers had done something strange to Griff’s heart. She’d always been feisty in her own way. Willing to go against the flow when necessary. It had always been one of the things that Griff loved about her.
Knowing that she’d never given up on them . . . it only confirmed that he loved Bethany more than anything.
He tugged at the door again. It was still locked, as he’d expected.
He couldn’t just sit here.
He moved around the back of the van again, looking for anything that might help him escape this prison where he was being held. But there appeared to be no way out.
Griff had to do something. Because sitting here helplessly wasn’t his MO.
He had to figure out another way out of the situation.
Bethany’s and Ada’s lives depended on it.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Bethany closed her eyes and lifted another prayer. A prayer for peace. The last thing she wanted to do was to leave Ada behind. But Bethany wasn’t afraid of death. If this was the way it was all going to end, she needed to accept that. And, above all, she needed to do the right thing—no matter how hard that might be.
She stood in front of the four-story building she worked at every day. It was located in an office park in Virginia Beach. It was the middle of the night right now, and no one else was around.
No one but her, and the three men who currently surrounded her.
She looked at her captors. They all wore masks.
Why were they trying so hard right now to conceal their identities? When they’d walked down the beach earlier, they hadn’t worn masks. Was that because they’d been so far away?
Bethany supposed it didn’t matter.
“What do you want from me?” She stared up at the men as they surrounded her, unable to control the defiance in her gaze.
“Do exactly what we tell you, and Griff will live.”
There was that voice again. Where had she heard it before? She felt certain that she recognized it.
She remembered what Griff said about someone in the command possibly being part of this. Could
this guy be another Navy SEAL? Could he be one of the high-ranking officers who oversaw the team? Or maybe somebody else in the commander’s entourage? She’d been around all of them at one point or another.
But she wasn’t sure.
“What do you want me to do?” Bethany glanced at the man who appeared to be their leader and waited for his instructions.
“You’re going to go inside and install this on your computer.” The man pulled a jump drive from his pocket.
She stared at the device, fear slithering through her. “What’s on it?”
“It’s not important. Once it’s finished installing, your job will be done.”
What could these guys possibly be planning? Was this some kind of malware?
One of the conferences Bethany had recently attended flashed in her mind. A track there had been about dealing with a terrorist attack on America’s power grid.
That’s what this was, wasn’t it? If these guys could get into the computer systems at the editorial office, it would open a back door to reach their contacts. If anyone at those companies actually clicked on a link that was sent, that could potentially give these guys access to the systems at different power companies.
That had to be it. It was the only thing that made sense.
This had never been about Griff, had it? It had about Bethany the whole time. They wanted to kidnap Ada to use her as leverage to make Bethany do their dirty work. When that didn’t work, they began harassing Griff and Bethany.
The bad feeling in her stomach only grew.
“Now, let’s get inside and get to work,” the man said.
Before Bethany could object, he took her arm. His grip squeezed into her muscles so tightly she was sure to have a bruise. But if Bethany came away from this with only a bruise, she would consider herself fortunate.
The man led her to the door, and Bethany realized she had a quick decision to make.
* * *
Griff had to think of a way to break out of this van.
He felt along the edge of the vehicle again, trying to find something that he might be able to use. At surface level, there was nothing.
Ripple Effect: Lantern Beach Blackout, Book 3 Page 13
