Chapter 16
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Pain from his broken leg was making it hard to think.
The way he and Bowie were being thrown from side to side in the trunk while the vehicle took fast turns and braked hard was making him nauseous.
But he didn’t let go of Bowie. Didn’t loosen his hold for a fraction of a second.
Nothing and no one would make him release her.
His knee was also throbbing, and he had no idea if it was his tibia or fibula that was broken, but he’d definitely heard a crack when that bat hit his leg the second time…or was it the third? He wasn’t sure at this point, but he was crystal clear on one thing.
The men who’d taken him and Bowie had talked about selling them. Which meant they had to keep them alive. And that meant time. Time for his team to find them. Because he knew without a doubt that Penny had called for help when he and Bowie didn’t return when they were supposed to.
The police might say she had to wait for hours to make sure they were truly missing, but his friends didn’t have the same constraints.
He didn’t have his phone, so they couldn’t be tracked that way, but he had complete confidence in his fellow Night Stalkers and their resources.
All he and Bowie had to do was stay alive and not get separated.
Though, that was clearly the plan. The assholes who’d taken them had been way too chatty. He knew someone else was calling the shots, and he’d only ordered Bowie’s kidnapping. But these guys were greedy, hence Pyro in this trunk with the terrified little girl.
It was weird to feel grateful that his kidnappers were greedy bastards. But if they weren’t, they would’ve left him in that parking lot with a busted-up leg—or worse—and he’d likely never see Bowie again.
The little girl’s sobs had tapered off, but she was still trembling in his arms.
“I don’t know what’s going on, but I promise that I’m going to do everything in my power not to leave you.”
Bowie nodded against his neck, where she’d buried her head.
“I’m going to need you to be strong. Can you do that for me?”
She didn’t respond.
“Bowie-Bear, you’re one of the bravest kids I know.
Remember when we were back in Africa and you were on that roof?
I had just landed with Casper, and we needed to get everyone onboard.
But no one was moving. They were all too scared.
But you know who did move? You. You came toward the sound of the helicopter without hesitation.
It was you making the first move that helped everyone else to trust me.
Every day, you amaze me with your bravery and strength. You and your mom are superwomen.”
He felt Bowie swallow against him. She didn’t lift her head but mumbled, “They hurt you. I heard them hitting you. And you fell.”
Shit, he hated this. Fucking despised it.
“They did,” he said, refusing to lie to her. “But I’ll be okay. You will be too. I just need you to be brave for a little while longer.”
“Where are they taking us?”
“I don’t know. But when we get there, you use your ears to get intel, and I’ll use my eyes. We can compare notes when we’re alone again.”
If they were alone. Pyro had no idea how this was going to go down.
He prayed their kidnappers would have to stash them somewhere to arrange for their pickup by whoever was buying them.
If they were offloading them immediately, it wouldn’t be good.
Pyro was in no condition to fight, but he would anyway.
Until his dying breath. If anyone put a hand on the precious girl in his arms, he’d go berserk.
“I can’t help,” Bowie said with a sniff.
“Why not?”
“I can’t see!” she whimpered.
“And?” Pyro demanded, not liking that this was the first time he’d heard her admit to her disability being a disadvantage. Usually she kept her chin up and demanded to do what everyone else was doing, even if it was in her own way.
“Look, Bowie-Bear, you being blind will make the people who stuffed us in this trunk underestimate you. And we’ve all got disabilities of one kind or another. Some are just easier to hide than others.”
“What’s yours?” she asked.
Because of course she did. His Bowie-Bear was smart as a whip.
“I didn’t have a mom or dad growing up. I was a foster kid. No one wanted to keep me. It made me feel like I was unworthy. Worthless. So I struggle with the fact that you love me. And your mom too. It’s hard for me to believe sometimes because of the way I was raised.”
“I do love you, Kylo-Pyro! You’re nice to me and you make me feel safe,” Bowie said fiercely.
“And I love you too. You go through life concentrating on the things your blindness doesn’t prevent you from doing well.
You don’t dwell on the stuff it might interfere with.
That’s what you need to do now. Count steps, so you know how far it is from one place to another whenever we get to where we’re going.
So when we escape, you can easily get away.
Listen to what the people who took us are saying.
Knowledge is power, Bowie-Bear. And you have better hearing than anyone I’ve ever met. ”
“I can hear good,” Bowie said, her voice a little stronger.
“Yes, you can. And you were right. They did hurt me. My leg. I’m not sure I can walk that well. So I’m going to need you to be brave and not get upset if you feel me limping or hopping. Okay?”
She sounded a little less sure when she said, “Okay.”
“I’m probably going to act in a way you’ve never heard me. Say things that don’t make sense. You don’t have to talk, just use your ears to listen, that’s what I need you to do.”
“Act how?”
“Weak. They think they took a weak man. Someone who can’t stand up for himself. Someone easy to control. I need them to continue to think that way about me, so I’m going to whine. A lot. You know, like your mom hates?”
Bowie nodded against him. “Yeah.”
“So don’t worry, okay?”
“Kylo-Pyro?” Bowie whispered.
“Yeah?”
“I’m scared.”
“Me too.”
He felt her head lift from his shoulder. “You are?” she asked, sounding surprised.
“Uh-huh. Grown-ups get scared too. Not being scared right now would be strange after what happened to us. But being scared doesn’t mean I can’t be brave. That I can’t do what needs to be done. That I can’t protect you. Understand?”
“I think so.”
“Good. I think when you’re scared, if you pretend you aren’t, if you act like you aren’t, then sometimes it lessens the fear you’re feeling, and in the end can make you stronger than you ever thought you could be.”
Pyro didn’t really know if that was true, but he’d say anything to reassure Bowie. To make her see her own strength. To give her the confidence to get through whatever might happen when the trunk was opened.
“Okay, Kylo-Pyro. I’m not scared.”
“Good girl.” He could tell she was, in fact, terrified, but he loved her even more for taking his words to heart.
How could anyone try to hurt this little girl? She had a pure soul. Was the epitome of goodness and kindness. Pyro would do absolutely anything to preserve that.
He felt the car slowing, and he took a deep breath. This was it. He had no idea what he’d be faced with when they opened the trunk. “Remember what I said, Bowie. I’m going to sound very different from the man you’ve gotten to know. It’s all an act, okay?”
She put her head back on his chest and nodded. She’d begun to shake again, and it fueled Pyro’s determination to protect her any way he could.
It sounded as if there was gravel under the car’s tires, and when the engine cut off, time seemed to slow. Pyro’s heart beat hard and fast as he waited. He heard voices outside but couldn’t make out the words. He wanted to ask Bowie if she could understand them but didn’t get the chance.
There was a click, and the trunk popped open. The light hurt his eyes, but Pyro did his best to keep them open if only a slit, so he could assess the situation.
The two men stood there, his assailant holding the bat that he’d used to break his leg. The desire to wrench it away and show him how it felt to have the weapon used on him was strong, but Pyro pushed the feelings down. His only goal right now was to stay with Bowie.
“Get out,” the other man ordered, stepping away from the trunk.
Relieved he wasn’t already trying to wrench Bowie away from him, Pyro took a deep breath. “Don’t hurt us,” he begged in the most pathetic voice he could manage. “Not again! We’ll do whatever you tell us, just don’t hit me.”
The two men looked at each other in surprise—then laughed. “Pussy. Get the fuck out of the trunk or we’ll really give this bat a workout.”
Irrationally, Pyro hated that they were swearing around Bowie, though that should’ve been the least of his concerns at the moment.
He shifted in the trunk until he was sitting up.
The movement made his leg and knee throb, and he felt nausea rising up within him.
He forced it back, trying to ignore the pain.
He’d once flown a mission with a bullet in his shoulder.
A lucky shot that came through the side window of the chopper when they were picking up a team of Navy SEALs.
The pain had been almost as bad as what he was feeling right now.
He hadn’t had a choice but to fly then, just as he didn’t have a choice but to do as ordered now.
However, he couldn’t get out of the trunk while holding Bowie. The last thing he wanted to do was let her go. He hoped like hell the men laughing at him didn’t take the opportunity to snatch her away.
“I need you to stand up, Bowie,” he told her gently.
He was awed all over again when she nodded and climbed off his lap. He didn’t let go of her, keeping her hand in an iron grip. She squeezed his hand back just as hard, obviously not wanting to lose touch with the one thing she was sure of right now.
He couldn’t imagine how scary this was for her. She had no idea where they were, he’d been hurt, and they’d just been kidnapped.