Chapter 19
Alaska’s heart was beating so hard, she thought she was going to have a heart attack right then and there. The only thing holding her together was Drake.
When she’d first realized he wanted her to climb into the hole in the ground, she’d full-on panicked. It was too much like back in Russia, when she’d been enclosed in that metal box and realized what was happening.
But this wasn’t Russia, and she wasn’t alone.
She wasn’t being shipped off to an evil man for nefarious purposes.
She was in New Mexico. With Drake. The man she’d loved all her life.
And Mutt. And she had food and water. Even a soft place to sleep, if needed.
She ignored the toilet she’d seen in the corner, not wanting to think about that.
It was way too similar to last time for her comfort.
The longer she sat on the ground with Drake’s arms around her, and with Mutt’s warm body weight against her belly, the easier the situation got. She didn’t like it in here, not in the least, but with the light, and Drake, it was bearable.
Though, as the minutes ticked by, she realized Drake wasn’t relaxing. Not even a little. He was stiff as a board against her. A muscle in his jaw ticked, and every once in a while he let out a frustrated sigh.
It slowly dawned on her that he hated being in here just as much—but not because it was an enclosed space.
Drake was a SEAL. Maybe not on active duty anymore, but it was still who he was. A warrior. A righter of wrongs. And she knew without having to ask that being down here, hiding while his friends put themselves in danger, went against everything he believed in. Everything he was.
After being helpless to assist his teammates when he was hurt, having to watch them die…this had to be even more excruciating for him than it was for Alaska.
Drake had said he loved her. Only now did she understand she hadn’t completely believed him.
But in this moment? Exactly how much he loved her sank deeply into her bones. He wanted to be out there. Hunting down the evil man who thought it was all right to buy and sell human beings. To rape them. To do whatever perverse things he could dream up.
Her Drake was a hero, and he was suppressing his own needs and instincts to make sure she felt safe.
She knew what she had to do…she just wasn’t sure she was strong enough to do it.
It took another ten minutes or so for Alaska to get up the nerve to speak.
“You need to go,” she said as firmly as she could. Although she had a feeling she fell way short of the strong, confident woman she wanted to portray.
“What?”
“I’m okay. No one but you and your friends know about this place. That guy isn’t going to find me. You need to be out there, tracking him down, making sure he isn’t hurting anyone back at The Refuge.”
“I’m not leaving you,” Drake said resolutely.
His words made Alaska feel good, but she also knew it wasn’t the right thing for his peace of mind. Taking a deep breath, she turned in his arms and shook her head. “It’s okay, Drake. I’m okay.”
He stared at her for so long, she felt trapped. As if he was staring into her soul. That he could somehow read her mind. See how badly she wanted him to stay with her. Know that, while she may have said the words, deep down, she was terrified to be left in this metal box by herself.
But while she might truly be terrified, she knew without a shred of doubt that she needed to let Drake be the man he was.
The SEAL he’d trained to be for so many years.
He wasn’t the kind of person to hide when everything went to hell.
He’d want to be in the middle of the chaos.
He hadn’t been able to save his SEAL teammates, and that still ate at him years later.
Hiding here with her, while a man who’d duped him and his friends crept around in the forest, trying to find her, wasn’t in his DNA.
And it would do his recovery far more harm if he stayed.
“I’ll call one of the others to come stay with you,” he said after another long moment.
But Alaska shook her head. “There’s no time.
We don’t know where that guy is. The last thing you want is for one of your friends to be hurt or lead the guy right to me.
Besides, it sounded as if they had their hands full back at the lodge with all the guests on lockdown.
I’ve got Mutt. And I know you’ll come back to me as soon as you can. ”
“I don’t like this,” he said fiercely.
Alaska couldn’t stop the snort of laughter from escaping.
“You think I do? Because of me, that guy terrorized all our guests. I’m sitting in a metal box scared out of my mind and there’s a sex trafficker out there somewhere wanting to grab me.
This sucks. But you aren’t a simple hotel owner, Drake.
You’re a SEAL. If I can’t trust you to keep me safe, who the hell can I trust? ”
She could practically see the wheels turning in his head. “Are you sure?” he whispered.
“Yes,” Alaska said, even though she was anything but sure.
The one thing she did know was that she loved Drake exactly how he was.
And making him stay with her was killing him.
She had no doubt he’d willingly remain tucked away, just to keep her safe.
But his innate need to fix what was wrong, to catch the guy now so he couldn’t disappear and show up again at a later date, was more important than being coddled.
“All right. But I’m leaving the flashlight.
And Mutt. And you aren’t to come out, no matter what.
I know that will be difficult, but it’s important.
As long as I know you’re safe here, I can do what I need to do.
If I have to worry about where you are or whether you’ll get caught in whatever shit goes down out there, I won’t be able to do my job as well. ”
Alaska nodded immediately. She didn’t want to think about shit going down, but that was why she was sending Drake out there, right?
“I love you so much,” he said, his voice sounding tortured. “You have no idea. You’re the strongest person I know. You can do this.”
The fact that he was giving her a pep talk when all she had to do was sit here, and he was going out there to try to find an armed man amongst hundreds of acres of forest, was almost laughable. “I can do this,” she echoed.
Drake kissed her then. A long, deep kiss that told her without words how much she was loved.
If he stayed even a moment longer, Alaska would lose her nerve and beg him to stay. Tell him that she couldn’t handle it. That this bunker reminded her too much of that Conex container. “Go,” she whispered. “But please don’t forget about me.”
“Never,” Drake vowed. “Once this is done. Once this asshole is caught, I’m coming straight back here. That’s a promise. Mutt, stay. Guard.”
Alaska nodded and swallowed back the cry that almost left her lips when he stood and made his way to the short ladder. She watched with wide eyes as he pushed up the circular lid and climbed out of the bunker.
Mutt put his head across Alaska’s legs and let out a low whimper.
“I love you,” Drake said, before closing the lid once more.
And then Alaska was alone. At least she had the light from the flashlight. It sucked that she was in another metal box. But she wasn’t on her way to a fate worse than death.
“Drake knows what he’s doing,” she whispered. “He’ll be back before I know it.”
But her words didn’t make her feel better. With every second she sat there alone, the more memories pressed down on her, making her feel as if the walls were closing in.
Then Mutt nudged her hand, and Alaska jerked. Right. She wasn’t on a train. She was here in New Mexico. Drake loved her and he was going to come back as soon as he could.
Alaska repeated those words over and over again in her head.
Drake loves me and he’s coming back for me as soon as he can.
The silence around her was eerie. She strained to hear something, anything, but the only sound in the bunker was her own fast breathing and Mutt’s soft exhalations.
Drake loves me and he’s coming back for me as soon as he can.
Drake loves me and he’s coming back for me as soon as he can.
The words became her mantra. Alaska gripped Mutt’s fur and held on for dear life. She could do this. She was the one who’d told Drake to leave…she couldn’t fall apart now. The last thing she wanted was for him to come back and find she’d completely lost it.
Every step Brick took away from the bunker was painful. He knew Alaska was suffering. She’d been so damn brave, but it was costing her.
Even knowing that, he’d still left.
She wasn’t wrong. Hiding away while his brothers-in-arms looked for Chen, knowing they could be in danger and he wasn’t doing anything to help, was physically painful.
Not only that, but mentally, it had threatened to send him back to the dark place he’d been in right after his SEAL teammates had been killed.
But this time was different. He needed to help track Chen not only because his psyche demanded it, but also because he knew without a shadow of a doubt, Chen would never stop coming for Alaska.
For whatever reason, he was obsessed. And obsessed men were the most dangerous type.
If he didn’t find her today, he’d escape and come up with a new plan.
He’d send someone else after her. Maybe someone disguised as a guest. She’d have to constantly look over her shoulder. And Brick didn’t want that for her.
He certainly didn’t want to think about her being used as a sexual plaything for Chen and his dark web deviants.
No, the guy needed to be taken down—and Brick needed to have a hand in doing so.
The problem was, as soon as he left the bunker, everything within him screamed to go back. That Alaska needed him. That she was probably freaking out being alone in that metal box.