Chapter 15
Chapter Fifteen
I’m still reeling from coming face to face with Truck’s identical twin and being crushed by guilt when we reach a safe place upriver for the boat to land.
“Up you go.” Justice wraps his hands around my waist to lift me out. “Easy now.”
I’m so spaced out, my head full of despair, I simply nod. But when he sets me on the ground at the water’s edge, the world shifts. Every muscle in my legs tremble.
Jelly would be stronger than I am right now.
“Oh, god, I feel sick.” Swaying, I fight the sensation that I’m still moving.
“It will pass.” Justice watches me carefully, concern laced in his features. “It’s from being in the water for so long. Think about grounding your feet.”
I’m a hot mess, and no one has time for this. The slosh of saltwater in my gut, the sweeping spotlight from the boat, the humid air weighing around us in the pressing darkness. All of it on top of being sick to death about Truck sacrificing his safety for mine.
“She’s not safe to walk.”
Truck’s brother is scowling at me through the darkness, water splashing around his legs as he moves from the boat toward us.
“I just need a minute…” I shoot a hand out to steady myself by grabbing Justice’s arm. “Hang on.”
Desperation rises up my body, pricking at my throat. “I’m sorry, I know we need to hurry, but I’m not going to be able to stand up. My legs don’t want to work.”
With a rough grumble, Axle stomps over, kicking water on my already soaked pants. “Get on my back.”
My first inclination is to recoil.
His scowl darkens as he motions sharply. “Make it fast, seconds mean the difference between life and death.”
“Sorry.” I scramble onto his back, and he takes a bruising hold on my thigh, getting me adjusted.
Justice shoulders a pack and waves to the boat operator as Axle carries me toward shore. “We’ll be back. Do not leave this spot until we return.”
And then we’re off. Hustling up a riverbank that I wouldn’t be able to climb.
But just like Truck, Axle is really strong.
The boat is parked downriver from where I remember the tangle of trees being, but not far.
The hike is short and intense.
Axle’s body gobbles up the ground with long, angry strides, his muscular back flexing beneath me. The only sounds are his and Justice’s breathing interspersed with the sounds of the night jungle. Insects, frogs. Things only the other night creatures see.
The path in front of us is lit with red light from their military-looking headlamps. Ominous and eerie.
A wave of emotion threatens my threadbare composure.
I have to be strong .
These men aren’t here to comfort me, their job is to find their teammate and brother.
“Is this it?” Axle asks as he pivots toward the river, shining his light along the mass of logs that twists outward into the water.
The rush of the murky river over the logs—illuminated by red—looks like blood.
Nausea rolls through me. Truck could be in there.
“I think I’m going to be sick.”
Axle drops my feet to the ground, moving away from me as he silently strides over to inspect the disgusting tangled of wood. “Lot of water moving through here. Would be hard for a man to get free.”
The vertigo hits again, folding me to my knees.
My breath turns ragged. My stomach knots, and the first heave hits me.
Oh god .
“Better to get it all up. You probably swallowed a lot of saltwater.” Justice pulls my hair back. “Try to take some slow breaths.”
I nod and heave again. This time, half the ocean comes out of me.
“He’s not here.” Axle’s voice is distant, but clear.
My body sags forward on my hands, relief nearly taking me to the ground.
“Thank god,” I reply weakly.
Justice squeezes my shoulder and stands, continuing to search the area with his headlamp. “This is good. He could have gotten out.”
Of course, Axle is the death of hope.
“He’s probably dead. Could have broken loose.”
Vanishing like smoke in the wind, the relief of a moment ago is gone.
I’m shaking all over when I shift to my heels, my angry glare finding Axle through the beams of red light. “Can we please not say the word dead right now. I… I just can’t accept that.”
Justice helps me to my feet. “She’s right. Let’s look for signs of Truck walking out of the river.”
Axle’s arctic stare through the darkness fixes on me. As expected, his tone is brutal. “Move out.”
Tempers are hot. Emotions are high, and I’m completely exhausted.
“Maybe Justice can carry me.”
“Suit your fucking self.”
He takes the pack Justice was carrying and walks away.
“God, I’m sorry.” I hug myself as I turn to find Justice staring after him. “I’m making him mad, and I don’t know why or what to do.”
He offers a head shake. “It’s between them. Let’s go find that big asshole before his brother does.”
“Do you…” A shaky sound hiccups out of me as I motion toward the water. “Really think he could live through that?”
“We’re trained in water survival. I’m not giving up.” He scoops me up into his arms, much more gently. “You shouldn’t either.”
We pass the boat and continue down the river’s bank. Axle’s red light sweeping side-to-side restlessly scanning the ground ahead of us.
“So, what have you two been doing?”
I know Justice has to feel me flinch at his question. The memories are raw, a deep wound.
What happened between Truck and me since we jumped off that cliff feels incredibly personal.
“Well, uh… We were in a boat, going down river toward the ocean.”
“A boat? You said that earlier, but I wasn't sure how that came about.” There’s genuine curiosity in his tone.
“I’m not sure how he got it. I was sleeping.”
“Clever bastard. When you two went off that cliff, I just had to shake my head.”
“It was smart… I think. But I wanted to ring his neck at the time, especially when the crocodile bit me.”
Justice’s step falters. He makes a noise but keeps walking. “What the hell? Say that again.”
“A crocodile grabbed me. Truck shot it.”
His chuckle is warm and vibrates through me.
I shrug. “It’s true, I know it sounds stranger than fiction.”
“And you shot him through the heart, didn’t you?’
“The croc?”
He chuckles more. “The SEAL.”
“Oh no?—”
“You’re wrong on that one, ma’am.”
I’m about to argue when a shrill whistle pierces the air.
Justice picks up the pace and jogs on the slippery ground like he’s got four-wheel-drive, until we’re next to Axle.
There are tracks on the ground. Men’s boot treads.
Big and bold, and so clear that my heart wobbles around.
“Well, well…” Justice says. “This looks promising.”
He sets me on the ground, my feet touch first, but when I sag, he lowers me all the way.
I’m weak with relief.
“You sit here and let us do the rest.”
“Wait!” I grab his arm. “Don’t leave me, I’m sorry, but I don’t have a gun and there are crocodiles?—”
“For the love of god.” Axle spotlights me with the red beam. “We should have left you on the boat.”
My middle finger flips up of its own accord, and Justice chuckles. “Dude, your brother hears you talking to Allison like that, there’s gonna be blows.”
“Not the first fucking time. Not the last.” Axle’s hand wraps around my arm. Before I realize what he’s doing he’s dragged me into his arms. And for the life of me, I can’t figure out why. If he hates me, then why is he carrying me?
Without another word, the men move into the jungle, following the trail of marks. Justice stops to kneel down and inspect the prints here and there.
“Right size.”
“Right brand,” mutters Axle, glaring at the ground. “I never knew why he loved those fucking boots so much. I can’t stand them.”
These facts make me so giddy, I have to bite my knuckle to contain my sheer joy. “Thank god. I mean, it will be a miracle if he’s alive.”
“You’re the miracle, surviving in the open ocean is no joke,” Justice says over his shoulder as he resumes the trek, pushing the thick tropical foliage aside as he moves forward, careful not to walk on the print.
A phone rings on one of the men.
“We’ve got a trail,” Justice announces instead of hello. “Looks to be Truck’s.”
A loud whoop on the other end confirms it’s someone on his team. Which causes Axle to grunt something under his breath.
I’m out of patience with the man. If I could walk on my own, I’d demand he put me down.
“Why are you so angry?”
“Because I wouldn’t have to be out here tracking my brother’s ass down if he hadn’t gone cowboy and pulled some fucking stunt dragging you off the cliff.”
My claws come out.
I don’t care what beef they have. I’m not putting up with his attacks on Truck anymore.
“For Christ’s sake. He saved our lives.”
“You’re lucky you lived. His fiancée, Hope, didn’t.”
A bomb could have been louder than his grated words.
My heart leaps into my throat.
His fiancée?
Shock and sadness at hearing this news. For Truck. For her.
Pinned against his brother’s chest, I feel breathless and angry.
He shouldn't have told me.
I shouldn’t ask more. But the question just rolls out of me.
“His fiancée died?”
This makes Axle’s jaw tighten, his chest becoming rock hard against me. “You two seem close already. He didn’t tell you he killed her?”
Red pulses behind my eyes.
I want to shove his arms off of me. I don’t even know what he’s talking about, but I hate it.
“I’m not talking about this with you.”
I’m suffocating from my confusion and miss the rustle of bushes beside me, until there’s a motion, and something black flashing in the low, red light.
When my eyes focus, there’s a gun muzzle against Axle’s temple, and a man I know pointing the weapon.
“Put her down.”