Chapter 17
For the first time since I woke up zip-tied to a chair and saw Jade bound and terrified, cautious hope sparks to life.
This could be the break we need right now.
I turn her shoulders so she’s facing the right direction, and after a few seconds she sees it too. A small building. Barely visible through the trees.
“Stay close, keep your eyes open,” I remind her, picking our way over ground that is scattered with pipes, trash, and plastic netting.
The air is dank. Faint smells of skunk and fertilizer floating around. Debris is everywhere.
This is an illegal marijuana grow.
After scanning the tree line, I slip into the small shed, pulling her inside. Can’t see a damn thing, but my hands find what I need. A shelf with tools, containers, buckets, odds and ends.
The thrill of the discovery lifts a mountain of weight from my shoulders. This is gold. Not only do I have tools—where there’s an operation, there’s probably a stash.
After swiping a screw driver, a utility knife, and pair of pliers, I pull her back outside, only to come face to face with a man.
Shit.
Shit.
He’s mid-fifties. Aged beyond his years. Ratty beard. Dirty clothes. Expression of someone that’s dealt with more than one intruder.
A shotgun points at my chest as his eyes stay too long on Jade.
That alone punched his ticket.
“What did you steal?” he sneers at me, still looking at her, the scent of alcohol rolling off him.
I don’t talk. There is no negotiating now. I snatch the gun from his hand and toss it to the ground behind me.
“Who the fuck do you think you are?” He wheezes, crouching, circling like he could really take on a man twenty years younger, a hundred pounds heavier, and five times as fit as him.
Jade’s pale face flashes in my periphery as she grabs the shotgun.
The man stumbles when I make my move, his hand coming up in a defensive strike. “No!”
But it’s over before it starts. I’m on him. Cold-blooded killer sliding easily into place. Trained hands making fast work.
His vertebrae give with a muted crack.
Silently, I lower him to the ground and dust my hands off on my pants.
“Is…is he dead?” Jade mouths silently, standing a few feet away, her mud-stained chest collapsing then rising shakily, her eyes glassy.
For a single heartbeat, I wonder what she thinks of me now. Knowing I can kill so easily with the same hands that touched her.
“Yeah,” I say, holding her gaze.
She steps close, passes me the shotgun. “We have this now.”
No judgement. Not a single ounce of hate in her eyes.
I pat down the man’s pockets for extra shells, finding a few. That and a cell phone which may or may not have a signal out here.
“You good?” I straighten and ask, beckoning her closer.
“Remind me not to point a gun at you.”
“Battlefield humor, huh?”
“Something like that,” she whispers, moving to my side, leaning into me.
I pull her in tight, taking only one second to ground myself in her touch, before I set her away and find a long stick on the ground.
“Walk in my footsteps.”
Falling in behind me, Jade stays close. We circle wider, scanning the ground. I test the soil with a make-shift walking stick as we move, tapping, listening.
Plunk. Plunk.
Not the sound of dirt. A faint metallic sound rings when I thump it again.
Yes.
When I sweep the dirt away with my boot there’s a small door. “Fuckin-A,” I murmur, relieved.
Jade leans in as I haul the lid open. It’s been recently oiled, but a puff of musty air rises from the opening.
I waste no time dropping in, wedging my shoulders through the narrow opening.
“Come on.”
She scrambles after me as I reach up for her, completely trusting no matter where I lead her. Even into a tomb-like bunker I’ve never been in.
Even after watching me snap a man’s neck for being in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Her hands grip my shoulders as I lift her down.
“Stay here.”
She makes an agreeing sound when I transfer her hand to the closest wall for balance. Vertigo can happen in the extreme darkness.
Once I know she’s set, my hands skim the walls. Across concrete, shelving, some conduit and finally land on a switch.
“Ryker?” Her voice is thin in the dark, a few feet behind me.
I flick the light on.
“Oh my god. You’re a freaking miracle worker.”
We both look around, blinking in the bright light. The room is stocked. Gigantic barrels and bags of fertilizer on one end. A cot and shelves of food on the other. Generator. Propane cans. Enough here to survive a week or more. More ammo for the gun we just acquired.
“I’m not celebrating yet.” I tug her forward and lift her up to sit on a barrel, wasting no time.
The clock is ticking inside my head, louder and louder.
I grab a blanket and some rags and move back to her side.
“Unless the collars failed after the river, they know exactly where our signal blinked out because we went underground.”
She’s watching me, a tired sheen coating her eyes as I wrap her in a rough wool blanket.
For a few seconds, neither of us moves. Or even seem to breathe. It’s the first moment alone, and the first time in the light for us, since we were on camera with that psychopath.
“Hey,” I say, voice swamped with emotion as I let my eyes trace over her exhausted, beautiful features. Mud, tears. All of her.
“Hey, you as well,” she whispers. “I was so glad to see you.”
“You have no idea.” I kiss her, knowing I’m burning time, unable to stop myself from taking her face in my hands and groaning.
Bolts turn left and right behind my ribs. My fate being sealed. I’m so fucking gone for this girl.
The emotions are so strong, I have to look away when I pull back. This thing between us is too big. A force. Tempered in the fires of hell.
What’s been woven between us now can’t be undone.
My job is to keep it alive.
Focus, Ryker.
“We can’t linger here,” I tell her, forcing myself back into operational mode. “You need to eat and drink water while I work on these collars.”
The protein bars are heavy and have good expiration dates. The seal on the water bottles is good.
Jade digs into a bar. “I don’t know when I ate last.”
“We lost a day.” I start inspecting her collar.
She stops, the bar halfway to her mouth. “You mean this isn’t Thursday?”
“Friday night.”
“Oh, Jesus. No wonder I’m starving. Is the twenty minutes up?”
“Half an hour ago.”
“They probably didn’t wait.”
“That’s okay. Because we’re about to turn their game upside down.”
Jade shivers as I slide my finger under the hard plastic around her neck. There’s a mechanical lock, a small camera, and enough mass to contain the explosives he warned about.
I’m still not convinced he’d have that tech.
More likely that was a mind-fuck. A control lever. Keep his prisoners terrified.
But…
Doubt tries to creep in.
One wrong move if it is explosive, and she dies. We die.
Trust your training.
The first thing I do is cover the mud-caked camera on both of our collars with old shop towels.
Being underground probably killed the signal. The mud would likely block the image. But I’m not taking any chances.
While I work, her hand moves to rest against my bare stomach. The soft, warm touch kicks up my blood pressure, making it harder to think.
One chance. I get one shot at this.
“Can we talk?” Jade asks, cautious after she takes a long drink of water.
“Nothing specific.”
“So… nice weather huh?”
I glance at her eyes and the center of me softens when I realize she’s smiling.
How the fuck?
“Sure is,” I reply, hoarse, my thudding heart trying to block my vocal cords.
I lean closer, angling my head for a better view of the latch. “Look to the right, baby.”
She hums softly, a song, as her fingers crinkle the protein bar wrapper. Whatever she’s humming is a lullaby or something sweet as honey.
Here I am looking at what could be an explosive device on her neck and she’s proving just how resilient she is. Once again.
I grumble at myself, draw a breath. I’m trained in explosives. Diffused many devices. None with the woman I love in the blast-zone.
Fresh anger makes my hands clench, and I have to take a step back.
“What?” She asks, her gaze following me.
“Every fucking thing.” I pace, scrub my eyes. Do some controlled breath work.
“Please tell me.”
That soft request shuts down my pulse then kicks it off at a painful, slow thud.
“Vesuvius said the collar’s explosive.”
Jade blinks at me, her expression crumbling for a second, before flashing hard. “Do you believe him?”
“I’m not sure. It’s a bad time to be indecisive.”
“Ryker, you have to do it. You have to try to take them off. Otherwise they’ll come right to us.”
“I know. I fucking know.” I shake my hands and move close again.
I lean into her ear, letting my breath warm her skin, trying to get my voice to work right. “I’ll try to be easy.”
“Just hurry.”
With a vile curse, I get to work with a flathead screwdriver that I found in the shed that belonged to the dead guy.
Don’t think. Just work.
“Okay. Moment of truth.” I steady my hands. “God, if you’re real, I could use some backup right now.”
The screwdriver clicks against the lock mechanism. I hold my breath. Moving carefully.
Fuck! There’s a wire. A goddamn red one. Sweat erupts on my back, my hairline, all over my palms.
“Are you okay?” Jade asks, sensing the change.
“We’re good.”
I twist the collar slightly, making sure not to stretch the wire. “Don’t move.”