Chapter 2 #2
Taking a deep breath, Spike tried to control his body’s fight-or-flight response. He needed to get control of his emotions so he could be at the top of his game when they landed. Reese was relying on him. As was Woody. Maybe even Isabella and her brother too.
But something was wrong. Spike knew that as well as he knew his name. He and Tiny were going to find out what it was…and do anything necessary to get everyone home.
Reese questioned what the hell she was doing for the hundredth time. What had possessed her to come down to Colombia on her own?
Her brother, that’s what—or rather, who. When he’d been in the Army, going on countless missions, she’d worried about him constantly. At the time, it hadn’t been unusual to not hear from him for weeks.
But this was different.
Woody wasn’t in the Army anymore. And he had promised, promised, to keep in touch. He’d said he was going down to Colombia to meet up with Isabella, the woman he’d been in love with forever, and bring her back to Missouri.
The first day she didn’t hear from him, Reese hadn’t been too concerned. But when another day went by, then a third, and he hadn’t responded to her texts or voice mails, she knew in her gut that something was terribly wrong.
She’d even called Bubba, one of Woody’s old teammates who lived in Kansas City, and he hadn’t heard from her brother either.
He’d done his best to reassure her that Woody was probably fine, that he was perfectly capable of taking care of himself, and Isabella and her brother too, but Reese wasn’t so sure.
The longer he went without contacting her, the more she thought about her brother being tortured or thrown into a dark cell somewhere.
It wasn’t rational. There was no reason for anyone to kidnap her brother.
But she couldn’t stop thinking about it anyway.
And really, how much did reason factor into kidnapping?
She had no idea what she could do if anything bad had happened, but she felt a deep-seated need to be in the same country as Woody regardless.
So she’d impulsively bought a ticket and flown to Colombia. Stupidly, she hadn’t told anyone where she was going. She’d sent an email to her boss saying she needed to take a week off work, and since she rarely took sick days or vacation time, her request was immediately approved.
Even worse, she’d left her phone in the bathroom in the Dallas airport, and didn’t realize until she was back in the air. Reese swore sometimes if she didn’t have bad luck, she’d have no luck at all.
She’d checked into her hotel in Bogotá and then taken a taxi to the address Woody had given her for Isabella, but no one was home.
She tried to talk to the neighbors, but they either didn’t speak English or didn’t answer the door when Reese knocked.
She’d called dozens of the nicer hotels in the city, attempting to discover if Woody had booked a room somewhere.
Again, her zero grasp of Spanish made it a less-than fruitful effort.
She was now at a loss as to what to do next. She had no clue how else she might go about tracking down her brother. It was frustrating as hell, but Reese couldn’t bring herself to go back to Missouri. Woody was somewhere in this country, and she wouldn’t leave until she found him.
However, that would have to wait temporarily. Her second day in the city, she’d eaten something that hadn’t agreed with her—and she’d been stuck inside her hotel room for the last day and a half, alternating between puking her guts out and pooping. She was scared to go too far from the bathroom.
It was embarrassing and disgusting. She’d flown all the way to South America to find her missing brother, only to be brought to her knees by a stupid hot dog she’d bought on the street.
Okay, it wasn’t exactly a hot dog…but it had kind of looked like one.
Her stomach growled as Reese lay on the double bed in her small hotel room, staring at the ceiling.
She was finally hungry again, but she didn’t want to risk eating anything just yet and exacerbating her stomach issues.
She was pretty sure whatever irritant she’d ingested had worked its way through her system by now, thank goodness.
But better safe than sorry. Or…sorrier. And it wasn’t as if she was wasting away.
Reese was well aware that she was overweight.
She’d tried various ways of working out, but had honestly hated all of them.
She’d attempted walking, riding a stationary bike, jogging (which had been a joke), swimming, Pilates, water aerobics…
even yoga. She’d ended up quitting each one.
And that was a problem for someone who loved food so much.
Since she needed to lose some weight, maybe this stomach bug was a good thing.
She sighed, thinking about the real cause of her love affair with food…she ate when she was lonely and unhappy. And with every year that passed, and each unsuccessful date, she was eating more and more.
She’d tried dating co-workers, with disastrous results. Had gone the online dating route, and that was even worse. She hadn’t stooped so low that she’d asked Woody to set her up with any of his friends…but she was seriously considering it.
The problem was, Reese had no idea where to find a man who was genuinely looking for more than sex.
Even the older men she’d dated had no desire to be in a long-term relationship.
Her few female friends had been lucky enough to meet their husbands in college.
But Reese was beginning to think she’d be single forever.
Which sucked. She considered herself a good person.
She donated to charity, volunteered her time to help others, had a good-paying job, a decent head on her shoulders…
and even with the extra weight, she didn’t think she was horrible to look at.
But time and time again, men didn’t bother to contact her after a first date.
She was ashamed to admit that she’d even put aside her lifelong reservations and had indulged in a couple one-night stands, in the hopes that sexual chemistry might spark some deeper feelings for either her or her date.
She’d only succeeded in making herself feel cheap, so she’d stopped that fairly quickly.
Besides, taking her clothes off in front of a virtual stranger wasn’t exactly her idea of a good time. They always said the right words, claimed to find her sexy, but she could see the disappointment—sometimes even disgust—in their eyes and body language.
Reese sighed when her stomach growled again.
She needed to go find something to eat. This time, she’d be smarter about it and only get packaged food.
Nothing from the street vendors, no matter how good it smelled.
And no ice in her drink—that was one of the first things Woody had hammered into her head from all his travels overseas.
She sat up, determined to find something to munch on, even if it was only a candy bar from the small store downstairs in the hotel. Then she’d figure out where to go next in her search for her brother.
She didn’t even get off the bed before there was a knock at her door.
Reese froze, staring at the wooden door across the room.
She had no idea who would be on the other side.
It wasn’t as if she knew anyone in Colombia.
For a heartbeat, she wondered if Isabella or Woody had gotten word that she was here and looking for them, and had come to tell her that they were fine and she could go home.
She instantly sagged at the thought. If it was Woody, he would’ve called out to her immediately. Let her know it was him.
She stood, and as quietly as she could, tiptoed to the door. She had every intention of pretending she wasn’t there, but she still wanted to see who was knocking.
Reese leaned into the door, holding her breath, and peered out through the security peephole.
All she could see was a green eyeball blinking back at her.
Gasping, she stumbled backward and stared at the closed door.
“Reese? I know you’re there. I saw the light change as you looked through the peephole. Open the door. We need to talk.”
The man’s voice was deep and sexy, like the narrators of some of her favorite audio books. She shivered, even while frantically trying to figure out what to do.
“Reese? You know me. It’s Gus Fowler. I’m a friend of your brother’s. We were on the same Delta team.”
Blinking in confusion, Reese stood stock still. Gus?
She did know him—she’d had a crush on the man forever.
She could still remember the first time she saw him.
She’d gone to welcome her brother home from one of his missions and had met all his teammates.
But the only one who really made a lasting impression was Gus…
who her brother and his friends called Spike.
He hadn’t talked or smiled much, but she’d felt his gaze on her throughout the evening.
They’d all gone out for dinner, and Gus had ended up sitting on one side of her, with Woody on the other.
She’d been so self-conscious around him, she’d ended up ordering a salad.
It was ridiculous; she tried hard not to bow to public opinion, ordering a salad at a restaurant when she really wanted a burger… but he’d made her feel off-kilter.
When he’d offered her a French fry, she hadn’t been able to resist. The next thing she knew, he’d cut his huge steak in half and split his fries with her.
Afterward, she’d been utterly embarrassed that she’d eaten half his meal.
When Woody teased her about it, Gus had told him to shut the hell up and leave her alone.