Chapter 17
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Bree was lightheaded and feeling quite sick.
She needed food. And water. But it wasn’t as if Smiley could produce those things out of thin air.
He’d explained that he didn’t have anything with him, any supplies, because he and the rest of his team expected that if they found her, they’d go straight to the motel, and then the airport.
And he’d left his pack in the vehicle they were using.
Her mouth watered at the thought of what he had in that backpack. Clothes. Socks. Shoes. Food. Water. Chapstick…all the things a girl who’d been kidnapped could ever want.
Instead, she was sitting on Smiley’s lap in a building that felt as if it was going to completely collapse on top of them at any second, still in the nasty slip—but at least now, also in the shirt Smiley had literally given her from his own back—and so hungry she thought she was going to pass out.
But she wasn’t in a cage. Wasn’t on her way to becoming anyone’s sex slave. And Smiley’s team was going to find them hopefully sooner rather than later. She could hang on for a little while longer.
“At least it’s not the jungle,” Bree said out of the blue.
She should be sleeping, but she was too keyed up.
And sensing Smiley’s tension made her too nervous to close her eyes…
er, eye. Every sound she heard made her wonder if that was it, if Mateo’s goons had found them.
“I hate bugs. And snakes. And itchy plants. For the record…I’m not a camping girl. ”
Smiley chuckled, and she felt it along every inch of her body. “Noted.”
“Smiley?”
“Yeah, sweetheart?”
“He’s not going to give up.”
His entire body went hard. She hadn’t meant to blurt that out, but she couldn’t stop thinking about it.
Mateo Castillo had gone to extraordinary lengths to find and recapture her.
Just because she’d gotten away a second time didn’t mean he was going to let her go.
For some reason, he was determined to add her to his collection of women.
She had no idea why. She wasn’t anything special. She was just…her.
“I know.”
Bree wasn’t expecting that response. She met his gaze and bit her lip.
“But he’s not going to win. He’s on the radar now. Mine, yours, the team’s, Tex, Wolf and his friends. A guy from Colorado named Rex. He’s going down, Bree. I guarantee you that.”
Bree believed him. It would be easy for her to blow him off or get upset, because he wasn’t the one Mateo was after. But he was in this as much as she was. His being here, right now, proved that. “Okay.”
“Okay?” he repeated, dipping his head so he could look into her good eye better.
“Yeah. I’m scared, Smiley. I won’t deny that. But I got away not once, but twice. I’m not the stupid, weak woman he obviously thinks I am. Of course, me getting away means he’ll be more careful next time, but whatever.”
“There won’t be a next time,” Smiley said gruffly.
“I hope you’re right.”
“There won’t,” he insisted. “This is gonna end. Sooner rather than later.”
Bree prayed that was the case.
“I need to talk to you about something else.”
She braced even as she nodded.
“I need to go out and find you something to eat and drink. Maybe get you something more appropriate to wear.”
Her first instinct was to say no. Hell no. But she seriously didn’t feel well. Was feeling sicker by the minute. If she wanted to be any kind of help, or just not have to be carried everywhere, Bree knew he was right.
It was one of the most difficult things she’d ever done, giving him a nod of agreement, but she did it anyway.
“Fuck, Bree. You amaze me.”
She shook her head firmly. “No. Don’t tell me how strong I am or how impressed you are.
Everything within me is screaming to say no.
To hold on and refuse to let you leave. But I’m not in good shape.
I don’t know if I can even stand up on my own anymore.
I feel like shit, and I know it’s because I’m hungry and dehydrated.
And if you can find anything for my feet, I’d be extremely grateful. Even flip-flops.”
“You are strong, and I am impressed with you,” Smiley countered. “And the fact that you want to tell me to stay but aren’t, just solidifies your strength.”
Bree rolled her eyes and huffed out a breath. “Whatever,” she mumbled.
“I’m not going far. I’ll be back before you can miss me.”
She snorted at that. “I already miss you, and you haven’t even left yet.”
Smiley looked into her eyes. “I’m not losing you again,” he declared, somewhat dramatically.
Bree couldn’t stop the small smile that formed on her lips.
He looked confused. “What? That wasn’t funny in the least.”
“You didn’t lose me the first time. I was kidnapped. By assholes.”
It was his turn for his lips to twitch. “Semantics.”
“Go, Smiley. Before I change my mind and become someone I don’t like. A weak, begging, pathetic woman who can’t function without her man in sight.”
“Don’t do that again,” Smiley said sternly, all humor gone from his expression and his tone.
“Do what?”
“Denigrate yourself. You aren’t weak or pathetic. And if you did beg me not to go, I’d never hold it against you. Not after everything you’ve been through.”
Bree swallowed hard and nodded.
Carefully, Smiley moved her to the side and put her ass on the wooden board he’d been using as a seat. Then he began to move other boards and debris around the small area.
“What are you doing?” she couldn’t help but ask.
“Arranging things so if someone does happen to look in here, all they’ll see is junk.
If you hear something, don’t move. Stay as silent and still as possible.
But if someone discovers you, scream. As loud as you can.
I’ll hear you and come running and kill whoever it is who dared put their hands on you. ”
Bree frowned. That made her remember what he’d done back at the port. “I’m sorry you had to kill those men.”
“Why? I’m not.”
The three words made Bree blink. Why was she apologizing? Yes, those men might have families, people who relied on them. But they were also working for Mateo. Were going to take her to his jungle compound and most likely take part in sexually assaulting her.
“I have no remorse over killing anyone who puts one fucking hand on you. If that’s not something you can live with…
I’m sorry, but…tough. And I’m not saying I’ll lose my shit in the future if someone does something stupid in a bar.
I’m talking if they hurt you. If they try to force themselves on you. They’re dead.”
Smiley was definitely not the easygoing, fun kind of guy the rest of his teammates seemed to be.
Yes, they were all Navy SEALs and had probably killed bad guys.
But Smiley had an edge the others didn’t.
And Bree might be crazy, but she loved him all the more for it.
Because when he did show his gentler side… it made her melt. “All right.”
He stared at her for a beat, then asked, “All right?”
“Yes,” she told him with a nod. She wanted to smile at the ridiculousness of their conversation. How so much could be shared with a few simple words was beyond her. But with Smiley, nothing surprised her.
“I’ll be back,” he told her firmly.
Bree’s first instinct was once again to protest, but she took a deep breath instead and simply nodded.
But he hesitated. “I only have one tracker on me,” he said softly.
Bree frowned.
“I’d give it to you in a heartbeat, but it’s sewn into my boxers.”
“It’s okay, Smiley.”
“It’s not. The team brought extras but they’re in my pack. Fuck. I’m such an idiot.”
Bree hated how hard he was being on himself. “You’re not an idiot. You’re my man. My SEAL. And you found me. I trust you, Smiley.”
“I love you,” he whispered, running the backs of his fingers down her cheek in a barely there caress.
“I love you too,” she said, tilting her head into his fingers.
“I’ll be back,” he said again.
Between one blink and the next, he was gone. Disappeared into thin air.
She almost yelled for him to come back immediately, but refrained.
Wrapping her arms around herself, Bree carefully lowered to her side.
She closed her good eye, giving herself permission to shut down for a moment.
It had taken all her strength to stay upright for Smiley.
But now that he was gone, she could be weak.
For just a little while. When he returned, she’d sit up and put on a brave face once more.
All she wanted was to be back in Smiley’s apartment. In his bed. Looking up at him as he made love to her. As she drifted, that was the image she took with her. One of love and comfort and without the threat of kidnappings, starving to death, or broken bones.
As Smiley made his way through the rough neighborhood, he realized it wasn’t going to be as easy as he hoped to get Bree out of there and back to the motel.
For one, he had no idea where he was. All the buildings looked the same.
And two, the desperation and distrust on the faces of many people he passed made it clear that he and Bree stuck out like sore thumbs.
And to make matters worse, he saw a crude “Missing Person” poster tacked up on a pole…with Bree’s picture.
It was homemade, and the picture was grainy and looked as if it was taken with a first-generation digital camera, but there was no mistaking that it was Bree. He could understand a few words on the flier…American, Guayaquil Port, and Mateo Castillo’s name.
And the amount of money listed under the image was enough to change the life of anyone in the area who found her.