The scary a.s.shole held her arm in a death grip as she walked to the small bathroom around the side of the large building. She"d love to run screaming inside, but she had no idea what they"d do.
"See that pregnant woman walking around the vehicle waiting for her husband to fill up the car?"
She nodded, her stomach sinking.
"Any funny stuff from you and she gets the first bullet. Right in the belly."
Yeah, he got off on hurting women.
"Understand?"
She nodded. "Yes."
"Good." He unlocked the bathroom, stuck his head inside, nodded then shoved her in. "Hurry up."
And he locked the door behind her.
s.h.i.t. He"d left her hands tied up. c.r.a.p. She sat down on the floor and ran her arms and the rope under her b.u.m so she could slip her legs through and stand up with her hands now in front of her. Much better. She dropped her pants and relieved herself while her mind raced in a million directions looking for answers. She had to leave a message. Something of some kind. But if they came in and saw it then the poor woman outside was going to die.
So what options did she have?
Not to mention she had no pen or pencil and no way to write a message that would be hidden from someone using the bathroom and not the scary dude.
Then she got it. Her wrists were raw already so she used her teeth to make one bleed a little more freely, then sitting on the toilet she wrote the message at her feet. Only to be seen by someone sitting down and likely not noticed from the door as the linoleum floor was a mottle brown.
After she finished, she flushed the toilet and ran to the sink. She quickly washed her hands and grabbed and extra bit of paper towel to staunch the bleeding, but it was already slowing so all was good.
The door opened suddenly and it was the scary dude looking at her.
She mustered a smile. "Good timing, I"m done."
His face fell as if he"d hoped to catch her sitting on the toilet. Sick b.a.s.t.a.r.d.
Without saying a word he led her back to the vehicle. Once there, he gave a surrept.i.tious glance around, and ordered, "Get in."
She stared at the back of the SUV and groaned. "Why can"t I sit in the seat like a normal pa.s.senger?"
"Shut the f.u.c.k up and get in," he snarled.
So much for that. She glanced around, but no one appeared to be in a position to see the single female get into the back of the SUV. Too d.a.m.n bad. Someone might see her and call it in. And she"d gotten a message out. Maybe someone would see that.
It did give her a little bit of hope. And she"d take all of the hope she could get.
Once inside, she tried to listen to the two men as they talked. She was hoping to hear a location, a name, some sign of direction as to their destination. So far nothing.
"Where are we going?" she called out.
Silence.
Then the scary dude yelled back. "None of your business."
"Really, well it is my business as that"s where you"re taking me. If I wasn"t involved in your stupid deals then it wouldn"t involve me but as I am..."
She didn"t know where the bravado came from maybe the thought that someone might finally see the message was helping. Bolstering her confidence.
Only she smelt his breath first. Then felt the blow that came out of nowhere.
She blacked out.
THE ENEMY VEHICLE had been spotted heading toward the Mexican border. It could turn off before hitting that checkpoint, but at least Mason had a direction to start. They"d receive live updates as they got them. They also had no proof that Tesla was in that vehicle.
That bothered him more than anything.
He and the team were getting ready to board a plane to a point just past where the vehicle was a.s.sumed to be headed. They were due to fly out in ten minutes. Ten of the longest d.a.m.n minutes he"d felt in forever. What the f.u.c.k was taking so d.a.m.n long?
"Easy, Mason. We"re leaving in a couple of minutes."
"A couple of minutes she doesn"t have."
A gas station attendant had called the police to say a number had been left written in blood in the washroom. The cops called the number and got Mason. It was his cell number. He had no idea how Tesla got the number but she was brilliant in anything tech so it was no surprise. Better yet, it was the first real confirmation that Tesla was indeed in the vehicle they were tracking.
Now the team was geared for war. They might be fighting in their own country, but it was going to be lethal nonetheless. If Tesla was taken across the line, well they"d be heading down there too. There was no place in this world they wouldn"t go to do what needed to be done.
"Mexico doesn"t make much sense," Hawk said. "Unless they are meeting someone who will take them overseas."
"That"s possible. The Mexican authorities aren"t going to care except if the money crossing their hands isn"t quite enough."
"Which is an easy fix for these guys. We need to find them before they cross, or we could lose her."
"Not going to happen." Mason jumped to his feet and raced to get on the plane. Before he got halfway, he heard the engines start up in preparation.
"d.a.m.n good thing," he muttered.
The time was short. The distance difficult. And the timing everything.
The military plane was in the air within seconds. It would be a short flight so no one had a chance to relax. They set up a strategy as soon as they landed. Nothing else was possible.
"Take it easy, Mason," Dane said. "You"re going to need to calm down or you"ll scare the h.e.l.l out of her."
Hawk laughed. "Have you looked at that girl? She doesn"t scare easily."
"No, she doesn"t. But everyone, especially those not trained like we are, have their breaking point. She"s going to hit it at some point."
Mason nodded. "She will. But it won"t be today."
The others grinned.
"So did you decide," Swede asked, a big grin on his face.
"No." Mason snapped. "But she"s not for you."
"She just needs a chance to see me without you around," the big man said. "Besides, once she gets to know me, she"ll love me."
"Just like all the other women," Hawk teased. "I"m sure you say that about them all."
"h.e.l.l no," Swede said. "She"s different."
"She is. She"s honorable. Trustworthy. Stubborn," Shadow said. "I admire her. What she"s doing and how she"s faced all this torment so far. I love that she was still going strong on her project instead of letting the pressure cause her to back off."
"I have to admit to having been worried about that myself," Mason admitted. "But once she healed enough, she"s supposedly been working sixteen hour days on her project."
"And now the demonstration is tomorrow and the presentation is tonight. And she"s not going to make it."
Mason growled. "She"s going to make it. Not tonight. But she"ll be there, ready and capable of giving her demonstration by ten in the morning, or I"ll know the reason why."
His comment was more than an order. It was a request that the men give their all to make this happen. That no matter what, they"d get Tesla back at the base to give that very important demonstration. There were too many lives at stake. Tesla"s was one of them. But he"d spent way too many days in combat boots to not understand the advantage her software could give them. And she was a genius. If she"d been able to do what she said she"d done, he knew she could take this level and shoot it up so much higher. She was gifted. And dedicated.
Had Harry known?
Mason could wish he knew how well Tesla had done now. What she"d been motivated to do in the wake of Harry"s death? Did her father even understand? Or did he not appreciate a daughter still alive when his son had died?
One never knew. The world of parenting being one he"d avoided all his life. He had been an only child, his parents dying when he was just a child. He"d been raised by his aunt and uncle and he"d had a good life, enough he hadn"t craved that need to be loved. If anything he wanted something like they had. A long time relationship with someone who understood. Given his profession, the number of failed marriages amongst the veterans after they came home from the wars, the violence he dealt with every day...he was just d.a.m.n happy to be almost normal himself.
He couldn"t imagine finding someone else that would appreciate who and what he was at this point in his life. Better to love and leave them.
Right?
Sure, his head said. As long as we"re not talking about Tesla.
Chapter 18.
MINDLESS AND IN pain from the uncomfortable position, Tesla lay almost comatose in the back.
The vehicle swerved violently to the side, hitting the shoulder before being reefed back out to the road again.
She moaned as she bounced forward, smashing the back of the seats and then down to the other side as the vehicle swerved across the road. Luckily with her hands in front, she could brace herself slightly.
"Who the f.u.c.k is that?" Daniel screamed in frustration as he struggled to keep the big vehicle on the road. "f.u.c.king idiot drivers."
Tesla cheered. They needed a few more drivers like that. It woke Daniel and his nasty partner up. And her. She was more alert now.
Was that a good thing? Still, just knowing that her kidnappers had been shaken was good enough for her. She"d started to wonder if anything could rattle them.
And where was Mason now? He should be tracking her. He wouldn"t leave her to her fate. Even if she"d upset him. Had she upset him? That badly? She hoped not. She wanted that idiot driver vehicle to be them, but it wasn"t likely. Just then the SUV slowed down and took a sharp right. And hit rough road. She moaned as her sore shoulders were jostled and bounced. She had no control as the big rig carried her further away from Mason.
Hot tears clung to her eyes. And she shuddered. She was going to give him a piece of her mind for this. He"d said she was safe.
He"d lied to her. Her rational mind knew that he was not responsible, but she wanted someone to be responsible, and Mason was the one who came to mind. h.e.l.l, he was always the one who came to mind. He was too d.a.m.n beautiful. No guy should be so gorgeous. And of course that was reason enough to have nothing to do with him. Get rid of him before he got rid of her with a prettier model. She was fine, but there was nothing special or unique about her. She was all about average. And in this world average sucked.
Brush banged against the side of the SUV, filling the back window with dark shadows. The air inside tensed. Was there something wrong?
Please let there be something wrong. She desperately needed there to be something to disrupt their plans. A chill had settled on her skin as she realized a turn off the highway meant they were coming to their intended destination. And a hidden one at that.
She was running out of time.
"They aren"t here yet?" Daniel"s worried voice filtered to the back.
"They should be. Although we made good time. We"re actually a little early."
"Not that early."
She heard Daniel swear as he pulled the vehicle to a stop.
"Is this the right location?"
"According to the GPS, it is."
"There"s no way a plane is going to land on this strip."
"Bush planes land in all sorts of places," Daniel said. "It"s a proper runway, just rundown and overgrown with weeds."
"Good thing I"m not going. I doubt any plane could take off here."
"Oh, you"re going all right. That was the deal."
"Except we didn"t pick up Charlie. He was supposed to take the rig back. Now that"s left to me."
Tesla could hear Daniel"s muttering under his breath but not a resolution. If she was up against only one man, even a mercenary like Daniel, she"d have a much better chance than if she were up against the scary dude as well. But she wasn"t going to be able to ditch him until she was on the plane. And that was really bad news.
The men got out of the truck. She expected them to come around and haul her out but sounds faded as they walked further away. She struggled to her knees and looked around. With her hands in front of her, it was easier to twist around and look out the window. As far as she could see, there was nothing but trees and more trees. There had to be something. They spoke of a runway. Surely that was here somewhere. Except as she studied the area outside the vehicle, there was no sign of the men.
There wasn"t going to be a better time. She opened the back door as quietly as she could, and pushing it open just enough that she could slip out, she bent down and crept to the closest tree. Then the next one and the next one.
When she didn"t hear a mad shout behind her, she flat out ran. She kept the tracks in sight, knowing she"d end up lost if she didn"t, while yet trying to stay hidden. Following the tracks would be easier, but they"d also have an easier time of tracking her down too. She didn"t dare get caught. Unless it was by her SEAL.
She almost giggled at that.
A SEAL to the rescue. Or he would be if he actually got here and rescued her.
Thank G.o.d her feet were mostly better. And that the a.s.sholes had grabbed her shoes and jacket. She was in a better position now than ever. Well, almost. Unfortunately, her jacket was too bright to keep her hidden in the brush. The neon yellow reflective stripes did their job well. It helped others to see her. And so not what she wanted right now.