Chapter 6
CHAPTER SIX
Brinley was terrified.
She’d never been so scared in her life, and the only thing holding her together was the man whose pants she was currently holding onto with a white-knuckled grip.
She didn’t want to be here, slinking around the building, most likely walking toward danger rather than fleeing in the other direction.
But at the moment, she didn’t know where to go that wouldn’t put her in the crosshairs of the assholes who’d taken over the pageant.
Who were probably already counting the money they’d make off the women they managed to kidnap.
The only thing she knew for certain was that she felt safe with Dash. That was probably a stupid thing to think, since the only reason he was in Fiji was to protect the Vice President and his family, not to babysit random women he met while on the job, but she couldn’t shake the thought.
She made a mental vow not to get in his way. To do whatever he demanded, the second he told her to do it. She wasn’t going to make his job harder, but she also wasn’t going to let him out of her sight if she could help it.
The kiss he’d given her lingered in her mind as they snuck around the area, doing their best to stay out of view of windows and behind the abundant foliage in the lush landscaping of the resort.
When she licked her lips, she could still taste him there.
It had been short, and his lips had pressed almost painfully against her own, but it had been the most real kiss she’d ever received.
Filled with emotions the likes of which she’d never experienced with a guy before.
And she wanted more.
Which was totally inappropriate, given the circumstances.
She didn’t know why he’d done it, but she didn’t really care.
Dash stopped abruptly, and Brinley’s thoughts immediately turned from the kiss to what was happening around her.
She heard shouts and cries. They’d made their way to the back of the building, where there were two solid doors.
But no one was exiting. She figured they’d probably been chained shut as well, or maybe a gunman blocked them so no one could escape that way.
There was a wall of windows that she and Dash had just crawled under, but when she’d risked peeking in after they’d cleared the last one, she hadn’t seen any movement in the hallway outside the large ballroom, where the pageant had been taking place.
As they continued to move around the building, gunfire broke out, making her jerk in terror.
“Easy,” Dash soothed.
Brinley had no idea what was happening, but whatever it was seemed to be coming from the opposite side of the large building, where they’d previously been. Away from where she and Dash were now, thank goodness.
They’d made it the length of the building, and she had no idea what the plan was, where they were going next, but she still firmly believed that being with Dash was the safest option.
When they reached the back corner, Dash stopped and knelt on the ground.
Brinley immediately copied him, one hand on his back to steady herself.
She found she was breathing way too fast and hard, and she could feel her heart beating out of her chest. She’d never been this scared in her life. Never.
Because she was behind Dash, she couldn’t see what was beyond their side of the building, but she heard a loud bang, then angry voices. She ducked her head against Dash’s back and prayed no one would see them.
There was shouting and more gunshots from the opposite side of the building, but they still didn’t sound as if they were coming any closer to where she and Dash were huddled.
“Fuck.”
The word was nothing more than a breath of air, but it had Brinley lifting her head to see what made Dash sound so pissed and worried at the same time. She stood and cautiously leaned forward, to peek around the corner.
She saw several men wearing the same black hoodies and pants as the one who’d chained the side doors shut.
They were each carrying a woman out the side door of the building.
None of them fought or struggled, were simply lying limp in the men’s arms. She hoped like hell they were simply unconscious and not dead.
There was a pickup truck parked near the door, and they were dumping the women into the bed as if they were nothing but sacks of flour or something.
Literally stacking them up, one atop the other, as if they were inanimate objects and not human beings.
Brinley sucked in a horrified breath, but she didn’t need Dash’s quick look to warn her to stay quiet. She felt sick as she watched the men put eight women in the back of the pickup, before two went back inside and two climbed into the front cab.
If Brinley thought they’d drive off, she was wrong. Instead, the truck bounced a short distance past the hotel and down the now-deserted beach—all the tourists had obviously fled when the gunshots started—in the direction of the long wooden docks.
“Fuck,” Dash repeated. “We need to go.”
She didn’t know where Dash planned to go, but she wasn’t going to be left behind. No way.
It was harder to stay under cover as they got near the beach and followed the tracks the truck had made in the sand toward the piers, but it seemed speed was Dash’s goal right now, not stealth.
They jogged toward the bench where they’d sat and talked, and Dash crouched behind a few tropical plants that bloomed nearby.
The truck had backed onto one of the piers, and one man had gotten into the float plane that was still parked there, while the other guy began transporting the still-unconscious women from the truck bed and putting them into the plane.
She gasped. “Is he…are they going to take those women somewhere?”
It was a stupid question, because that’s obviously what was happening.
It just seemed so unbelievable. She recognized some of the women.
Not too long ago, they were talking and smiling and strutting their stuff onstage.
None were the Vice President’s daughter, or her sister, or any of her clients, but they were still human beings that were being treated like cattle.
And Dash had told his friend on the phone earlier that the men who’d taken over the conference center were involved in human trafficking.
If that plane took off, those women would probably disappear forever.
The shots and shouting continued behind them, but Dash was wholly focused on the pier.
“What can we do?” Brinley asked.
She could see Dash’s gaze going from the truck, to the center, then back to the truck.
“Stay here. I’m going to go out there and take care of those two men.”
“But what if more come?”
His lips flattened. “You stay hidden, no matter what happens. Understand?”
She couldn’t do that. She couldn’t hide in the bushes and watch while this man got hurt or killed. She wasn’t some badass military operative…but she did have one skill that would be useful right about now.
“I can fly it.”
His head whipped around. “What?”
“The plane. I can fly it. I mean, I think I can. I took lessons when I first moved to Alaska. It seemed like a good thing to learn at the time. It gave me something to do and I’d always heard that so many places in Alaska were only accessible by plane.
” Realizing she was babbling and should get to the point, that it didn’t matter why she’d taken those flight lessons, she finished with, “I can fly that plane and get the women to safety. The water is calm, perfect conditions for taking off and landing. I don’t know where to take them, but if I can at least get the women out of here, they can’t do anything bad to them. ”
She was scared to death. It had been months since she’d flown, but at the moment, she wasn’t sure what other chance those women had.
“Fuck.” Dash looked behind him at the building once more, then pinned her in place with his gaze. “I don’t like this. But I’m thinking this could’ve been their plan all along. They’re distracting the Fiji police force and the Secret Service at the conference center while they move the girls.”
Brinley nodded, feeling sick.
“We aren’t going to have much time. They have radios, all I’ve got is my cell phone and no time to get backup over here.
And I’m sure my team has their hands full with protecting the VP and his family.
We’re on our own right now. And the second those assholes see us, they’ll call for help.
Will you be able to power up the plane and get it ready to go before any more terrorists can make it out here to us? ”
Brinley looked back at the plane—and saw the propellers were very slowly starting to rotate. She met Dash’s eyes. “Yes. He’s already started the engine. Getting it ready.”
“You’ll stay at the end of the dock. Out of sight. Do not move until I’ve neutralized the threat. Only then should you run to the plane. Understand?”
Brinley nodded. She had no problem with that. She didn’t want to die and she didn’t want to kill anyone, didn’t even have a weapon. The last thing she wanted was to get in the middle of a shootout.
Dash stared at her for a long moment. He looked tormented. “If I don’t make it out of here, find one of the guys on my team. Tell him…” His voice cracked and he cleared his throat before continuing. “Tell him to tell my mom that I love her.”
Those words had her understanding exactly how dangerous this really was. She’d known it, but if he was worried about what they were about to do, she should probably take back her offer. Stay right where she was, hidden until the terrorists or whatever they were had been subdued.
But if she did, eight women’s lives would be changed forever. Their families would always wonder what had happened to them, where they were, if they were dead or alive. She couldn’t have that on her conscience.