Chapter 6 #2
“Yeah, I noticed that too. But if they retrofit the emergency exit with a circular manhole, I guess they could’ve somehow raised the roof too. Making it harder to reach the ceiling, and thus harder to escape.”
His words made Kelli shiver. “Do you think we can just push the lid up? I mean, I know manhole covers are heavy, but it’s not like, welded shut, is it?”
“We would’ve heard them doing that if it was, I think. I want to inspect that box before we do anything else though. Wait here.”
Before she could protest, Flash was gone. Like before, when the cover was put in place and she’d had a small panic attack, the loss of his presence was disconcerting and terrifying.
“Flash?” she called out, unable to stop herself .
In a few seconds, she heard footsteps approach right before she felt Flash’s hand on her knee. “I’m here. I’m not going anywhere. You’re okay.”
And just like that, Kelli felt stupid. Of course he wasn’t going anywhere. Neither of them were. They were stuck down here. “Sorry,” she murmured.
“Don’t be. This isn’t a situation you’ve ever been in before. For what it’s worth, I think you’re coping amazingly well. You’re doing great.”
“I’m not,” she protested. Then asked, “Wait, have you been in a situation like this before? In the dark? Buried underground with no way out?”
“Not exactly. But there was this one time when I was diving. My job was to place an explosive against the hull of a ship that…well, that doesn’t matter.
But I was underwater and visibility was shit.
Like, I couldn’t see a damn thing, kind of like now.
I was fumbling around, trying to feel my way to where I was supposed to attach the explosive.
After a while, I decided that I needed to just do it and get the hell out of there.
But after I set the timer, I got turned around.
I didn’t know which was up and which was down.
I couldn’t see the bubbles from my equipment to follow them to the surface.
I panicked. It was as if I was in a coffin. ”
“What did you do?” Kelli asked with bated breath.
“I got lucky,” Flash told her. “One of my teammates appeared as if out of thin air. He realized I was panicking and got me out of there. We didn’t get the second set of explosives set, so technically the mission was a failure, but I’ll never forget the feeling of being disoriented and not knowing which way was up or down. ”
Kelli couldn’t imagine. “I’m glad your friend found you and got you out of there.”
“Me too. And he’ll find us again this time, and get us out of here too.”
For the first time, Kelli understood Flash’s confidence.
The things he did, the places he went, he had no choice but to rely on his fellow SEALs to have his back.
It was literally a matter of life or death.
And if he said they’d be looking for him, and could find him, who was she to disagree or not believe?
“I’m okay now,” she told him as firmly as she could.
“How about we both go and check out that box?” Flash asked.
Kelli liked that idea. A lot. “Yeah.”
Flash took her hand in his and she could feel him stand in front of her. She got to her feet, swayed a little, then got her balance.
“The bus is empty, but stay behind me anyway,” Flash told her. “Against the sides are where the wheel humps are, so if you’re using the walls to guide you in the future, be aware of that.”
Kelli nodded even though he couldn’t see her. It was time to stop being a baby. Sitting around crying wasn’t going to help their situation. Yeah, she was hungry, thirsty, and scared. But she was alive.
Flash was right. Heckle and Jeckle—she smiled at the nicknames he’d given their kidnappers—could’ve shot one or both of them. She was grateful they hadn’t. And she had to trust that Flash’s SEAL teammates would come for him.
Flash felt as if he was going to go out of his skin. He wasn’t a fan of the dark, especially now. He could still feel Kelli’s blood on his hand, and he didn’t like that he couldn’t see how bad that cut was. If she needed stitches.
A little light would also help figure out how to get the fuck out of this damn bus.
How the hell had Heckle and Jeckle gotten equipment into the jungle to bury the stupid thing?
It would’ve taken some backhoes and some serious digging to accomplish it.
He wondered how long the bus had been here, how many other hapless tourists had been held captive.
His anger simmered just below the surface of his skin. He hadn’t lied to Kelli earlier. He was scared and stressed. But he was more furious. He knew better than to go off the resort’s property. And yet he’d let himself be talked into it. So stupid.
Actions had consequences, and here he was.
Here he and Kelli were. That was probably the worst part of this.
That she was terrified and hurt and there wasn’t much he could do about it.
If they’d been left in the jungle, he could find her something to eat, get her some water, and make a shelter.
But here? Inside this fucking underground bus, he was helpless to do much of anything except reassure her that Kevlar and the rest of his team would be coming.
Pressing his lips together, he just prayed they’d be able to find him.
He wasn’t sure how they would. Unless they found the kidnappers, there wasn’t a definitive way to determine where he and Kelli had gone after leaving the river tour.
And of course, he wasn’t wearing his tracker.
Tex wouldn’t be able to just pull it up on his computer and lead his team straight to him.
He was on vacation. Why would he have brought his tracker ?
One more thing he kicked himself for. Again, he should’ve known better. The travel advisory for Jamaica should’ve been enough to make him extra cautious.
Sighing, Flash held out his hand so he wouldn’t bump into the front of the bus as he walked. The last thing they needed was a second head injury.
It wasn’t long before his hand made contact with the front of the vehicle. He considered seeing if he could break through the plywood that had replaced the windows, but decided that wouldn’t help their situation. Would only make it worse if the dirt all around them filled the bus.
“I wish MacGyver was here,” Flash muttered.
“The guy from that TV show?” Kelli asked.
He’d almost forgotten she was there.
No, that was a lie. He couldn’t forget. Her grip on his hand was tight, almost desperate.
But he’d been lost in his head for a minute, and Kelli was staying quiet, her steps equally silent.
He hadn’t lied when he’d said she was doing amazingly well for someone so outside her comfort zone.
The last thing he needed was to deal with a hysterical companion, not that he’d blame her if she was.
But other than a little trembling and the way she was reluctant to lose contact with him, so far, she was doing great.
“Yeah, but that’s also one of my teammates.”
“Oh, right. He’s the one who’s trying to adopt the three kids from Ukraine?”
“That’s him. He got the name MacGyver because he’s a magician when it comes to making something out of nothing. He’s gotten us out of more jams because of his ability to make a fucking time machine out of a brick, some dirt, and a rubber band. ”
“If I could go back in time, I’d tell Charlotte that I didn’t want to go tubing, and I’d stay on the beach sipping frozen drinks and reading a book.”
“Same,” Flash agreed. He felt around with his foot until he found what he was looking for. The box he’d seen before they’d been sealed inside this bus. “Did I tell you about Little Mac?”
“No, who’s that?” Kelli asked.
“She’s MacGyver’s stepdaughter, Ellory. She’s twelve going on about twenty-seven. She has Crohn’s disease, do you know what that is?”
“I think so. Something to do with the intestines not working correctly.”
“Pretty much. Anyway, she’s struggled a lot.
Bullies in school, delayed puberty because she simply doesn’t want to eat because it hurts too much, things like that.
When her mom married MacGyver, the two got close.
My teammate and Ellory, that is. They tinkered in his garage all the time, and he showed her lots of tips and stuff.
Then she and her little sister were kidnapped and put into a Conex container, and they escaped because Ellory used the tricks MacGyver taught her… so we started calling her Little Mac.”
“Wow! Well, if a twelve-year-old can figure out how to save herself, maybe we can too,” Kelli said.
Flash closed his eyes for a moment, more grateful than he could articulate that this woman was as strong as she was.
She could be flipping out, probably should be.
Could be complaining about how hungry she was—her belly was still growling; they were both doing their best to ignore it—and yet she was trying to stay positive.
She was exactly the kind of woman Flash had been looking for.
The kind of woman he wanted to spend the rest of his life with.
Someone who wouldn’t dwell on the bad, but would find the good in every situation.
Because Lord knew dating him would mean she’d find herself in plenty of situations where things weren’t great.
His long absences, the dangerous aspect of what he did.
But there would hopefully be good things too.
Lots of them. Family, friends, reunions.
“Did you find it? The box?” Kelli asked.
Her question snapped Flash out of the rabbit hole his mind had fallen into—again. “Sorry, yeah. Although now that I’m here, I’m thinking you should probably go to the other end of the bus. Just in case.”
“In case of what?”