Chapter 10 #2
She felt his hand on her upper arm a split second before his lips unerringly found hers. The kiss was hard and fast.
“I will. Unlike Fred the grasshopper, I know exactly what I’ve got, and I’m not going to do anything to fuck it up now.”
Then he was gone.
Kelli couldn’t see anything, but she could just hear Flash moving quietly through the bus. She held her breath and strained to see something, any speck of light. But it was no use. Their tomb was just as dark as it had ever been.
The odd scraping sounds continued at the top of the bus, making the hairs on the back of Kelli’s neck stand up.
Whatever Heckle and Jeckle had put on top of that manhole cover sounded heavy, just as Flash had thought. She wasn’t sure why they hadn’t heard them piling whatever it was on it when they were first put in here, but she supposed it was because of the shock of the moment.
Then…the cover began to slide to the side.
The light that poured into the bus wasn’t overly bright, it wasn’t direct sunlight, but it was still more than enough to make Kelli wince as her eyes struggled to adjust.
She’d just made out Flash, pressed against the side of the bus beneath the hole—half the conch shell in his hand and ready to strike—when a voice called out from above.
“Flash? You in there?”
Kelli blinked in surprise. Did Heckle and Jeckle know Flash’s nickname? It wouldn’t have been on his IDs, and she couldn’t remember if she’d said it when they were in the van at the start of this nightmare.
“Flash?” a different voice called out.
Then a man’s head appeared in the hole, looking down. His gaze met Kelli’s, and they stared at each other.
“Smiley?!” Flash asked, sounding both elated and shocked at the same time.
The man’s head turned, and he smiled when he saw Flash standing under him.
“In the flesh,” the man named Smiley said.
Kelli knew that was one of Flash’s teammates. He’d told her all about his friends and their women. She felt as if she knew them now, just from Flash’s stories.
“Holy shit, am I glad to see you! Took you long enough.”
“Fuck off,” another man said, pushing Smiley out of the way and sticking his own head into the hole. “It’s been less than a day and a half.”
“That’s it?” Kelli said without thinking.
“Damn, it feels as if it’s been at least a week,” Flash said at the same time. “Who’s here?”
“We all are. Come on, let’s get you two out of there, then we can chat,” he said, before climbing to his knees. Before Kelli could blink, the man’s legs were dangling from the opening and he jumped inside the bus.
Flash dropped his makeshift weapon and gave the guy a huge hug. “Man, it’s good to see you, Kevlar! ”
“You too. Although, dude, you need a shower.”
Kelli frowned at that, thinking it was a pretty inconsiderate thing to say, considering the circumstances. But since both men laughed, she assumed Flash wasn’t offended, given he hugged his friend once more.
Then he turned toward her. “Come here, Kelli.”
Suddenly self-conscious for the first time since they’d been kidnapped, Kelli hesitated. She was filthy, still had blood in her hair and down the back of her cover-up. Was wearing a bathing suit , for goodness sake.
Flash didn’t wait for her to come to him. He quickly strode over to where she was standing. He blocked her from Kevlar’s view and put his hands on both sides of her head, tilting her face up.
“It’s okay. We’re safe now.”
“Aren’t you going to say ‘I told you so?’” she teased.
“No. But I am going to ask you to trust me. These men, my friends and teammates? They’re good men. They understand what we’ve been through. There’s no judgement here. Okay?”
This man could read her way too easily. It was uncomfortable and kind of scary.
Then he leaned in and kissed her forehead. Right there in front of his friend. Kelli couldn’t believe it.
“Come on. Let’s get out of here. We’ve got food, water, and a shower waiting for us back at the resort.”
Now those were three things she couldn’t resist. Flash took her hand and turned. Kelli looked down as she started to follow. Then she stopped.
“What? What’s wrong?” Flash asked, concern heavy in his voice.
Kelli knelt and picked up the spoon that had been in the box.
The one they’d used to get into the cans.
It was just a stupid spoon. A cheap one at that, as it was now bent from the pressure she’d used to try to open the can of peas.
But for some reason, she didn’t want to leave it behind.
It was a reminder of what she’d survived.
Some people might think it morbid that she wanted a reminder of this horrible experience at all, but it hadn’t been entirely bad.
The kiss she’d shared with Flash popped into her head. That had been…not horrible in the least.
Flash squeezed her hand and led her over to where Kevlar was standing.
“Hi. I’m Kevlar,” he said with a smile as she got close.
“I’m Kelli.”
“It’s very good to meet you, Kelli. How about we get you out of here?”
“Yes, please,” she said.
Kevlar grinned at Flash. “She’s a polite little thing.”
“Yup. How we doing this?”
Kevlar glanced up at the hole above their heads, then back to Flash. “How about you have her stand on your shoulders. The guys can take it from there.”
Flash nodded and turned to Kelli. “We’ll do this just like we did before, except this time you’ll be standing. Don’t worry about falling. My team won’t let that happen, and neither will I.”
Kelli was still nervous about her weight and standing on top of Flash, but she wanted out of this damn bus more than she wanted to brainstorm other ways to climb out of that hole above their heads.
Before she knew what was happening, Flash had turned and was crouching in front of her. Kevlar moved behind her, to help her climb onto his shoulders.
“Damn! You didn’t say she was hurt!” Kevlar exclaimed. “Preacher! She’s bleeding! Run back and see if the officer has a first-aid kit.”
“Don’t,” Flash called out. “She’s okay! It’s from when we were taken. Jeckle hit her with the butt of his pistol. It’s old blood.”
“Ma’am, are you sure you’re okay?” Kevlar asked.
The concern from these men was overwhelming. “Flash is right. It’s old. I mean, I do have a headache, but I think it’s from the bright light after so long in the dark.”
“We’ll get that cleaned up and checked out as soon as we get you topside,” Kevlar reassured her.
“Step up, Kelli. Let’s get you out of here.”
It didn’t take long at all. Kelli stepped onto his shoulders, and once she was secure—with Kevlar’s help—Flash stood.
Then her head was actually above the level of the ground.
It didn’t take more than a second for two of the men waiting outside to grab her biceps and pull her up and out of the hole.
One of Flash’s friends kept hold of her and gently backed her away from the hole, and before she could blink, Flash was out and striding toward her.
She watched as two of the men lay on the ground and reached into the hole, obviously to help Kevlar out, before her line of sight was blocked by Flash.
He took her into his arms almost roughly, and just held her as they both breathed in the fresh air.
After taking a moment to appreciate that she was free, Kelli looked around. All she saw was trees. It was hard to believe these men had actually found them. It seemed like a miracle.
“Come on, we need to get you two back to the resort and cleaned up. I’m sure the police will have questions.”
Kelli blocked out the rest of what Kevlar was saying as Flash turned her, keeping an arm around her shoulders and walking her away from the tomb she’d thought she was going to die in.
The fact that she was still here was a direct result of the man at her side.
And she had no idea how she was going to function when they parted ways.
But that time was coming. She knew it down to her toes.
He had a life, friends, a job. And she had…
what? A crappy job she did just to stay busy?
Yeah, her mom loved her, but she was occupied with her own life.
Somehow over the years, Kelli had become isolated by her own making, with no friends to speak of, while saying yes too many times to her mom and cousin and not putting her foot down when she didn’t want to do something.
Doing whatever they asked just to avoid conflict.
Well, she was done with that. She wasn’t going to be in her cousin’s wedding. But she was going to sit down and talk to an advisor at one of the local colleges, to see if she could figure out what she wanted to do with her life.
And she was going to take self-defense and survival training. She never wanted to feel as helpless as she had when she was inside that bus, ever again.
And Flash? She wanted him too. But she had no idea if what she felt was one-sided or not.
Yes, he’d said he wanted to date her, and he’d certainly kissed her as if he wanted more than just friendship…
but now that they were free, things could change.
His feelings about her might be different in the light of day, literally .
She’d have to see how things played out.
First things first. Shower, food, water. Then she’d worry about everything else.
But even as she walked toward the vehicle to get the hell out of this jungle, she couldn’t help but love the feel of Flash’s arm around her.
Couldn’t help but feel safe and protected.
Getting used to that would be a bad idea, but for now, she allowed herself the moment of weakness. She’d find her backbone…later.