It took her a moment to realize that meant she was wearing his spare socks. "Thank you."
He gave her a slow smile that zinged to her heart. "No problem."
Giving her s.p.a.ce, he stepped back and let her hobble her way to the table. She stopped just before and looked around hopefully. "I don"t suppose you found a lovely bathroom with a proper toilet anywhere close by?"
"Not a one. No bubble baths or bottles of wine either."
"d.a.m.n. Must remember to send a complaint to the manager," she said cheerfully. "So I have to go to the bathroom, outside?"
Mason stepped up. "Outside around the back of the cabin. And I"ll be standing watch."
"Of course you will." She groaned comically. "Show me where, please."
She followed him around the small bushes at the back of the cabin. "Yep, definitely need to write the establishment," she said.
"Glad you"re finding something to laugh about." Mason gave her a small nudge. "Go on. I"ll keep my back turned."
"Great. Well, let"s see if I can do this quickly."
It was awkward and uncomfortable given the sore legs and puffy feet. When done, she stood up, rearranged her clothing and called out, "I"m done."
"Good. Inside. You get a few minutes then we need to leave."
Of course they did. Would this never end? Inside she washed, then scarfed the few rations the men had shared and drank a half bottle of water. Resolute, she turned to face them, all waiting and standing in various relaxed positions that completely belied their inner guard that was always on.
"Okay," she said. "What"s next?"
"There"s a small town a couple of miles away. Hawk has gone to check it out. We"ll round up a vehicle and arrange for you to be picked up."
"Sounds good." In fact, only a couple of miles away sounded lovely. She could do that. She hoped.
In silence, they filed out in a single line, with Tesla in the middle. She breathed in the fresh air now that she had a moment to look around. There was a boggy spot on the left hand side. She heard ducks flying overhead and song birds chirping in the tree. The sun was just breaking over the crest.
"Are we still in Mexico?" she asked in wonder. The trees offered a mix of smells that lifted and changed with the breeze.
It was surprisingly beautiful.
In any other circ.u.mstances, she"d love to spend some time here.
Then again, she"d loved to spend time in lots of places. She worked long and hard yet spent little on herself. She needed time off. Relax a little. These last few days, she"d come close to losing everything. She didn"t think anything the group that kidnapped her offered was going to be anything she"d like to accept. Death was not just a possibility, but rather a probability. And she still didn"t know which group it was. Not that it mattered. They were all bad news.
And these men had saved her from that.
There was a loud disturbance from a cl.u.s.ter of brush on the right. Instinctively she dropped to the ground. When no one rea.s.sured her it was all right to stand up again, she realized her instincts were correct.
"Yes," Mason said. "According to the GPS, we"re almost at the border. Let"s move."
Crowded beside her, Mason kept a hand on her shoulder. She watched as he searched the area visually. He checked his watch if that was a watch given that it held more dials and switches than a watch could possibly hold. Catching her glance, he smiled rea.s.suringly at her.
"We"re just checking."
There were a couple of short bursts of pops. She frowned. "Was that"
"We"ve got this."
She believed him.
"s.h.i.t," he murmured. "Stay down." And he flattened onto the ground beside her, placed a finger to her lips.
Wordlessly she asked if they were no longer alone.
But his narrowed gaze never changed.
She closed her eyes. Please let this be over.
"Well, well. What do we have here?" A rough chuckle yelled in her ears. "Must be my lucky day."
Oh c.r.a.p. Her gaze flew open to see a white male dressed in camouflage gear staring down at them. A rifle pointed at the two of them. A rifle. Interesting choice. Her mind rushed in circles looking at options.
"Get up...slowly."
"h.e.l.lo?" she scrambled to her feet. "My goodness. Have I done something wrong?" she asked in what she hoped was an innocent voice.
"Easy, Tesla," Mason said in a hard voice. "He knows exactly who we are."
"Of course I do." The gunman smiled. "And you have something that belongs to me."
"Belongs to you?" Tesla said in confusion.
"Don"t be stupid," he snarled. "Walk over here beside me."
She glanced at Mason but he wasn"t helping. Instead, he looked to be more bored and irritated than worried. As if trying to decide which course of action to take. She"d do what she could to give him that time. She shrugged and said, "No."
The enemy"s eyebrows shot up. "What did you say, b.i.t.c.h?"
"I said, no. I"m not going to walk over to you," she said defiantly and waited for his next move. They needed her alive at least she was gambling on that point.
"Do you think I give a s.h.i.t what you do? I"d as soon as shoot you where you stand."
She raised her eyebrows. "I hardly think that"s what your bosses have in mind."
The rifle was raised in her direction. She swallowed hard, then straightened her back. "Then shoot me if I have no value to you. What"s the point of forcing me to walk anymore?"
"Shut up. You"re coming with me. He, on the other hand, is a dead man."
The rifle swept toward Mason.
"No, stop," she cried out, stepping in front of Mason. He"d already saved her life several times. She couldn"t stand by and have him make the ultimate sacrifice.
"Tesla," Mason growled. "Move back."
"No," she snapped. "This coward would shoot you, unarmed." She glared at the man holding the gun. "Have you no honor?"
The weapon fired harmlessly in the air. "Do you think I"m joking?"
"No. Not at all." She stepped forward. "But you will let him go or I won"t cooperate."
"I don"t give a f.u.c.k if you cooperate or not."
Behind him, she saw Hawk coming through the long gra.s.s. Why didn"t he shoot? It would be all over. She had to keep the gunman distracted.
"Move or I"ll shoot him through you." He snarled. "I can carry you for the few miles required. I know how to shoot you so that you are in great pain but not in any life threatening danger."
Her mouth opened. She didn"t know what to say.
He laughed. "You stupid bit"
The knife came out from behind and sliced deep. The enemy gurgled quietly as he was lowered to the ground already dead.
Tesla gasped as Mason pulled her away and behind him.
With Hawk in the lead, they raced to the cover of the trees.
There Hawk explained they"d found two more in the bushes. Both taken care of. They were concerned there was a fourth, but they hadn"t located him. The rest of Mason"s team were on route to the village, hoping to flush out the enemy that could be there ahead of them.
Waiting for their own men to arrive first.
With time against them and knowing the fourth man was on the trail, Mason pushed Tesla harder than he had yet. By the time they reached the hill overlooking the small town, she dropped to the ground and held her ribs as she tried to catch her breath. Her feet were killing her. Whatever slight joy she"d experienced upon first standing was gone a long time ago. She studied the b.l.o.o.d.y remnant of the socks and realized they were useless now too. Her jeans had several new tears in the legs as well. And her shirt, well that was d.a.m.n near destroyed. Her light sweater was grimy and hung in tatters.
c.r.a.p.
She tried to focus on the mundane issue of clothes. Anything to forget the image of the man"s blood gushing from his neck or the limp way he went down in Hawk"s arms.
Uncontrollable shivers ripped down her body. She wrapped her arms around her knees and hung on, waiting, hoping for the shock to ease back. G.o.d, that poor man.
She knew he would have done the same thing to her men if he"d had the chance. And would have shot her just to get at Mason. This really was happening. They were really here in this nightmare. Playing for keeps.
How was it she hadn"t considered death a real possibility until now? She"d heard Harry talk about his escapades. She"d laughed along with him. He"d had fun on many of them.
Not once had he let on how d.a.m.n dangerous or scary they were.
Well, she knew now.
Mason wrapped his arm around her and pulled her close. He kept up the conversation with Hawk.
"Do we have info on this town?"
"Yes, it"s on the maps. Settled about sixty years ago."
Mason nodded. "Residents?"
"A couple of hundred. Mostly men. Older. Some families. A few children."
Right.
Over her head, as if she wasn"t even there, they planned sweeps and maneuvers and all she could do was close her eyes and burrow deeper into Mason"s chest. G.o.d, what was wrong with her?
A man had been killed in front of her. That"s what was wrong. Death had become a reality. A distinct possibility now. And quite likely her reality.
Unless these men could save her.
And she had to do what she could to save herself. And them. She didn"t think...no...she knew she couldn"t get out of here alive on her own. She needed them.
AFTER SYNCING THEIR watches, double checking on their ammunition supplies and once again checking the GPS, all with Tesla burrowed against him, they kept the conversation on point. In truth, Mason was worried about Dane who hadn"t checked in on time. He was two minutes late. But if he"d fallen here, there was no way they were leaving him behind. The only alternative was to come back and get him. But Dane was one tough b.a.s.t.a.r.d. If there was someone who could get through the entire village in smooth reconnaissance it was him. Dane was silent, experienced and lethal.
He needed time to do his thing.
And they were going to give it to him.
At the hand signal from Hawk, saying Dane had checked in and all was good, Mason glanced down at Tesla. Her arms were wrapped around her knees and, she was huddled in on herself.
Hawk motioned to her feet and the b.l.o.o.d.y remnants of the socks. Mason"s lips thinned. d.a.m.ned. The side of her head had been bleeding freely, leaving drying runs of blood on her cheeks. They"d be easy to track with the blood trail they were leaving behind. Still, she didn"t complain. That girl had guts.
"Did I see her step in front of you?" Hawk asked Mason in low tones, barely even a whisper.
Tesla never shifted and didn"t give any sign she"d heard anything.
Mason wrapped his arms around her, his hand gently covered her one exposed ear. He nodded to Hawk. "And tried to talk the a.s.shole out of killing me."
Hawk shook his head. "d.a.m.n. That"s some woman. Why would she do that?"
"We can keep her safe? We are her only chance? She identifies with us as her pack?" He whispered the ideas that came to mind.
"She wasn"t trying to save all of us. She was saving you."
"Only because I was the one there at the time," he said in a dismissive manner. The last thing he wanted was for the others to think there was anything special between them. Except they already did, given their earlier comments.
"She"s worth it."
He nodded. "Since when did you care?" With a casual deflection, he asked Hawk about the tall leggy dark haired beauty he"d spent his last leave with. "What happened to your last lovely?"
Hawk grinned. "Everything I could manage in the time given. As I have with every other one. Still, over time they all do tend to blend into a continuous roll of beauties."
"Life"s tough," Mason mocked but he understood. Life as a SEAL offered a continuous buffet of willing beauties. But over time...they stopped being special.
"Ha, you should know. You were doing plenty of enjoying yourself over the last few years."