Chapter 19 #2
“I’m sorry,” she repeats. “You told me to stay. But the yelling. I was so scared. I couldn’t leave you alone. I couldn’t. I’m sorry.”
Her tears are breaking my heart.
“Bea. Sweetie.” Standing, I drag Bea into my arms and hug her hand. “Shit. Don’t be sorry. I’m sorry. This shouldn’t have happened. I’m so fucking sorry.”
She clings to me, crying hard. Then she jerks back and shines the flashlight at me.
“Indy. Are you okay? Did he hurt you?” Her gaze moves to my chin. “You’re hurt!”
“I’m fine.” Taking the flashlight from her, I turn her head from side to side, searching for injuries. And there. A lump already swelling behind her ear.
Rage erupts again.
He fucking hurt her.
And her implant.
“Wait.” I say. Then I move the light across the ground until I see it. I rush over to her implant and snatch it up, then hurry back to Bea.
I’ve seen her put them on enough times now to know what to do.
So I push her hair aside, pressing a gentle kiss to her bruised skin before attaching the implant again. “Is this okay?” I ask.
She blinks at me. Fresh tears fill her eyes. Then she nods. In a quieter tone, she replies, “It’s okay.”
I shift the flashlight to my right hand and cup her cheek with my left. As I look into Bea’s watery gaze, emotion wells up so quickly, I’m breathless from it. “Shit, Bea.” I lean my forehead against hers. “Shit.”
Her voice wobbles. “I’m okay.”
“Your head.” I can’t believe she was hurt again. I’m ashamed I let it happen.
“It’s okay.” Bea strokes my chin. “I’m okay.” Then she glances at Mack, still laying unconscious on the ground. “But… now what? Can we get out of here? And what about him?”
“We’ll find our way out,” I tell her. “As for him…” I’d like to leave him here. “We can send the police back for him.”
“Indy? Bea?”
An unfamiliar voice has me spinning around. I shove Bea behind me and grab the discarded gun I have shoved into my waistband. “Freeze,” I growl. “Don’t come any closer.”
A bright beam of light approaches. Then another. And another.
“Rafe sent us,” the same voice replies. “We’re here to help.”
“Although,” another voice adds wryly, “it seems like you handled things just fine yourself.”
“Indy?” Bea’s fingers are digging into my waist. “Who are they?”
“I don’t know. Just stay behind me.”
The bouncing beams of light draw closer. A new yet familiar voice says, “Indy, man. It’s been a long time. When I suggested you come for a visit, this wasn’t exactly what I meant.”
Shock slams into me. “Zeke?”
A beat later, understanding sets in.
Of course.
My teammates know we’re in trouble. I triggered the alert on my ring as soon as I saw the man in Bea’s kitchen. And just like the earrings we gave Bea, my ring has a GPS tracker in it. And a tiny button I can press if I’m ever in trouble—one that will alert my team the second I trigger it.
I knew they’d be trying to help. But from across the country… it makes sense they’d call on one of our contacts.
Or in this case, several of them.
“Zeke?” Bea whispers. “Who’s Zeke?”
“Zeke used to be a Green Beret,” I tell her. “Not my battalion, but I’ve worked with him before. We’ve done training exercises together.”
“So,” Zeke says. “Are we good to approach? Or are you going to shoot us?”
I lower the gun. “You’re good.” As Zeke comes into view, flanked by two men I haven’t met, I ask, “Can you blame me? Considering—” I glance at Mack.
Zeke follows my gaze. His expression turns stony. “No. Of course not.” He jerks his chin towards the man on his left. “This is Ethan Watson. Or Chaos, if you’d prefer.” Gesturing to his right, he adds, “And this is Drew Koopman. Koop. They work with me in Fallport. With the Search and Rescue team.”
As Bea pokes her head out from behind me, Zeke gives her a reassuring smile. “Hey. I’m Zeke Calhoun. I know Indy from way back when. How are you doing?”
“Hi,” Bea replies. She moves to my side, and I wrap my arm around her. “It’s nice to meet you.”
“You need any medical attention?” Ethan asks. “I brought along a medi-kit.”
“He punched her,” I tell him. “In the head.”
The three men stiffen. “He hit her?” Ethan asks. He walks towards us, his expression creased with concern. “Did you lose consciousness, Bea? Are you dizzy? Nauseous?”
Bea clutches my shirt. She’s still shaking, but not as much as before.
“No. I was a little dizzy at first. But part of that was because I lost my implant.” At Ethan’s confused look, she explains, “I have cochlear implants. And when he”—she shoots an angry glare at Mack—“punched me, it fell off. So it messed up my balance a little.”
“Asshole,” Drew mutters. “Hitting a woman. If he wasn’t unconscious already…”
Almost on cue, Mack moans.
Bea jolts. She starts shaking harder again.
“We can take care of him,” Ethan says. He nods at Drew, and in concert, the two of them move towards Mack. “I think you guys have done enough.”
Zeke comes over to me and holds out his hand. Since Bea is to my left, I clasp his hand with my right. “While this isn’t the place I imagined for a reunion,” he says, “it’s good to see you, Jones.”
I give his hand a quick shake. Then I clap his shoulder. “It’s good to see you, too. And thanks for coming.”
He grins. “Seems like you had it handled.”
“Maybe.” I shrug. “But I think it’ll be a lot faster going out with you guys. And if I don’t have to deal with that piece of shit—”
Mack yelps in pain.
“Oops,” Ethan says in an unbothered tone. “Did I kick you? My bad. It’s so dark in here, it’s hard to see where I’m going.”
“It shouldn’t take more than ten minutes to walk out,” Zeke tells me. “Then we can call the police.”
“How did you find us?” Bea asks. “I didn’t think the GPS would work in the tunnels.”
“It doesn’t,” Zeke replies. He gestures for us to move ahead of him.
“Tyler sent us the coordinates he had. Knowing there are old mines here, we thought it was likely you were in one of them. While we were driving here, we checked all the old maps. And given your last known location, this one seemed most likely.”
“Fallport’s less than an hour away,” Drew calls over. “So you can come back with us once we’re done with the police. Get cleaned up, have some food…”
“You’re welcome to stay with us for the night,” Ethan adds. “Or there’s a—” He stops and hisses at Mack, “Stop fighting me. Or I’ll knock you out and drag you out of here instead.”
“Anyway,” Ethan adds brightly. “Like I was saying. You’re welcome to stay with any of us. Or there’s a nice B and B in town. Whatever you prefer.”
As we move back up the tunnels, the oppressive air seems to get lighter.
Though I can’t see daylight yet, I can almost feel the warmth of it on my skin.
Bea tugs on my arm. “Is it over?” she asks quietly. “Is it really over?”
My heart wrenches hard.
Hugging her even closer, I kiss the top of her head. “It’s over. You’re safe.”
She tilts her head back to meet my gaze. “No. We’re safe.”
My chest wrenches again.
“We’re safe,” I agree.
“And soon we can go home?”
Oh.
Home. With Bea.
My eyes burn.
“Yes.” I kiss her again. “Soon, we can go home.”