by Julia Bright
“We need you all to tell the story that Lisa broke free and rescued you. We can’t be placed here.” They all nodded as the information was explained in their language. Adam relayed the information to the two boys and one woman who spoke Arabic while Jackson talked to Lisa who tried to explain in Italian.
Before he left the van, he sat with Marissa on his lap, holding her close. His throat closed with emotions as he stared at the bruises on her arms and face.
“I don’t want to leave you,” he whispered.
“I know, but we have little choice. They have to believe Lisa rescued us. You killed those two men. They ‘d try you and send you to prison here.”
“I can’t let you go,” he said.
“I’ll be safe.”
“Please text me when you can.”
“I will. I have your number on my computer. I’ll get hold of you.”
Leaving her in that van in the parking lot of the shopping center was the hardest thing he’d ever done. His heart felt like someone had ripped it out. Having her drive away, though he knew she was safe, made his worry ratchet up. The asshole had hurt her so much. He wanted to go back and kill the man again. But he was dead, and he couldn’t hurt anyone again.
Jackson sat in the passenger seat beside Adam and waited for the relief which didn’t come. He could still see the van and thought maybe that was why he didn’t feel better yet. Adam started the car, and Jackson’s gaze stayed on the van as they drove away.
“We have six hours before our flight,” Adam said.
“Just enough time.” Jackson couldn’t see the van any longer and worry hit hard.
“That’s what I thought.”
“What if they don’t make it to the embassy?”
“They’ll make it.”
“God, I should be relieved, but I’m not.”
“We’re not home free yet. I get why you’re not happy. Once you get home and have Marissa in your arms, you’ll feel better.”
He stared out the window, thinking about Adam’s words. Seeing Marissa had been amazing. He’d missed her so much, and then he had to let her go again. That had damn nearly killed him. His heart still ached from watching her leave.
They didn’t talk much on their drive back to the Marrakesh where they returned the car. Their flight to France was uneventful. Once on the ground, Adam texted Kelsey, telling her their mission was a success. Jackson wanted to call Marissa, but he had no clue how to get ahold of her. Her phone had been destroyed, and he didn’t have a new number for her. He would have to wait.
“You doing okay?” Adam asked.
“Yeah, I’m just worried about her.”
“I get that, but she’ll be fine. She’s alive.”
“God, I hope she’ll be fine. She looked so broken.”
Adam only nodded. What else could he say? Marissa looked terrible, and it wasn’t the hair, it was the bruises. Jackson hoped she had no broken limbs that had healed wrong and would have to be broken again.
He’d found her and killed the bastard who had taken her. Relief filled him, and he allowed himself to relax for the first time since learning Marissa had been abducted. They may not make it as a couple, but she was free to live the rest of her life in happiness.
17
Marissa sat up in the van seat as the vehicle approached the Embassy. There was no way they’d get in without her being alert enough to tell them who she was. The food had helped. At first, she’d thought she would throw up the first thing Adam had bought for her to eat, but it had stayed down. The burger they’d purchased at McDonald’s had felt good going down, giving her enough energy to sit up straight and looked kind of alert though she felt like she could fall asleep and stay asleep for days.
When they pulled into the drive for the Embassy, the guard stepped forward. She knew they had guns trained on them. They would shoot to kill if any of them made a wrong move. Lisa rolled down the window and called out.
“Your citizen, Agent Marissa Edwards, she’s with me.”
Lisa had practiced that line in English twenty times before they’d pulled up to the gate. Marissa watched the guard’s gaze flick to her, and she waved, giving him a little smile. The guy spoke into his mic on his collar and then held up a hand. A minute later the gate was open, and fifteen Marines came out. They looked very intimidating. The Arabic woman whimpered and pulled her knees up.
“It’ll be okay,” Marissa said in what she hoped was a soothing voice.
The Marine asked them to open the doors slowly and step out. Lisa opened the door first then stepped out, her hands on the top of her head like Marissa had instructed. The young boy was next and then the girl who spoke Arabic, followed by the other two women. Finally, the boy who was older who only spoke Arabic stepped down and held out his hand to her.
The Marines lifted their weapons a little higher. They had no clue what was going on.
“Sorry,” she said in a shaky voice. “I was beaten and haven’t been able to walk.”
“Merritt, go help her,” a commanding voice said to her right side.
One of the Marines stepped forward, his gaze flicking to her arms then her face. “Is anything broken?”
“Ribs, maybe. I don’t know about anything else.”
The young Marine nodded then scooped her up, moving her to the edge of the drive. Two Marines moved in with bomb dogs, going over the van twice before they seemed to relax. A woman had joined them at one point, Marissa didn’t know when. She knelt next to Marissa and studied her face.
“Tell me what happened.”
Marissa nodded and began her story with the abduction, explained the abuse she’d suffered, then told the story of Lisa rescuing them. She told the woman they’d stolen the keys to the van and escaped, driving here because she knew of the embassy located here.
“Okay, that is a crazy story. It’s just, you’re supposed to be dead. Someone dropped a burned body off and said it was you,” the woman from the embassy said.
“Well, they lied. I’m still alive.”
That drew a few chuckles from Marines. The woman from the embassy smiled and nodded. “I’m Elise Williams. I work for the embassy. I’d like to invite you and your gest in until we figure out who everyone is and get them home.”
She nodded and glanced over her shoulder at the people with her. They looked afraid. Once she stepped into those gates, she’d be home, they were still on foreign soil, well maybe not the three who spoke Arabic, but the rest were. They had all suffered abuse and had reason to fear.
“Okay, we have a wheelchair here for you. The Marines will stay with your party to make sure nothing happens,” Elise said.
“Thank you,” Marissa choked out over tears that had started to fall. She was going home. The bastard hadn’t been able to sell her. She’d made it to freedom all because Jackson and Adam had shown up to rescue her. They were acting outside the law, but the law hadn’t done much to save her. These Marines hadn’t rescued her, or anyone else in the US government. Instead, two men acting on their own killed her captor and set her free. Kelsey had to have helped too. When she got home, she would head out to Wyoming and thank them all in person.
The gate was open, and she was being lifted into a wheelchair. She broke down as they wheeled her in. Tears ran openly as they whisked her inside. They took her to a room where one of the Marines was set up with a medical bag. There was also a female in the room with them who looked like she worked for the embassy.
“You are a mess,” he said as he smiled at her.
She chuckled and winced with pain. “I know.”
He looked young, barely over twenty. “I’m Lance Corporal Zabek, and this is Maria who works for the embassy.”
She smiled but said nothing.
“Okay, let’s see what we can do. I don’t have facilities here, so you’ll probably end up going to the hospital.”
“No, I want to get out of the country.”
He squinted as he nodded. That meant he didn’t think they
would fly her out before they sent her to a hospital. But she was an FBI agent for now. So maybe her being a government employee trumped the need for her to be seen by a doctor immediately.
“I’m going to listen to your heart and take your vitals. I’m also calling a doctor at the base in Spain. We’ll see what they say.”
She nodded and closed her eyes as he worked. When she’d been driving in the van with Jackson, the reality of the situation hadn’t hit. Now, in this cold room with the medic, she went back over her situation, realizing what all had happened. Someone had run their car off the road and kidnapped her. They’d abused her, told her they’d sell her to the highest bidder, abused again, and then rescued by her almost boyfriend. It was unreal, wholly and entirely unreal.
“Hey, your blood pressure is okay. I’m calling the doctor. I need to know a few things.”
“Like what.”
His cheeks turned pink, and he glanced away. Maria cleared her throat, and Marissa glanced up at her.
“This is a delicate subject, and I’m sorry we have to ask but were you raped?”
Her stomach twisted, and she shook her head. “No, they beat me, but hadn’t gotten around to raping me.”
Lance Corporal Zabek blew out a breath. “That’s good. Well, not the beating part. I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay, Zabek, I feel the same way. The other women and the two young men weren’t a lucky as I was.”
Zabek placed the call to the doctor on base in Spain. After Zabek told the doctor about her vitals, she held out her hand. Zabek paused speaking and cleared his throat.
“Sir, the patient wants to talk to you.” There was a short pause before Zabek nodded. “Yes, sir.”
He handed the phone to her, and she lifted it to her ear, trying to stay in control of her emotions. “This is Agent Marissa Edwards, with whom do I have the pleasure of speaking to.”
“Hello, ma’am, this is Lieutenant Commander Allen, I’m guessing you’re having a better day today than yesterday.”
“Yes, sir, I think I am.”
“So you tell me how bad do you think you are.”
“If you’d asked before I ate, I would have said I was about to die. The woman who ended up saving us all stopped at McDonald’s. We stole money from the house after she killed the bastards, so we had money and got food. I would say I can make it on a flight over. I think I have cracked ribs, but I’m not passing any blood.”
“Okay. If you think you can make it over with Lance Corporal Zabek riding with you, then I’d say we’ll arrange a flight. If anything changes, Zabek is to take you immediately to the hospital there, and we’ll work it out. I’ll call the FBI and tell them we’re bringing you home. I think the Marines will come out on top with this one, what do you think?” He chuckled, and she realized the Lieutenant Commander was joking.
She let out a short laugh that hurt her ribs. She groaned as pain shot through her and circled back around. “Okay, I’ll give the phone back to Zabek. And thank you, sir.”
Zabek took the phone, and she sat back and closed her eyes. She was going home. It would take a few days because they wanted to subject her to tests, and she’d have to spend a few days at the hospital on base in Spain, but she’d be home soon.
It took three hours to arrange a flight to Spain. She learned that each of the other captives had been picked up by their own country’s embassy. She wished she had another chance to thank Lisa, but the woman was gone.
The night after she arrived in Spain, when she was still feeling sore, her boss, phoned her. She was all congratulations on making it home, but Marissa didn’t think Cheryl meant the words.
“When will you be back to work?” Cheryl asked.
The lack of empathy was almost overwhelming. The woman hadn’t even come to see her, and she was asking when she’d be back at work. “I’m not sure. I’ll be taking an extended leave.”
“I’m not sure your position will be here when you come back.”
“Okay.” She had no fight left in her, and honestly, she didn’t want to work under Cheryl another day.
“What do you mean, okay? Don’t you want to advance in your career.”
“Listen, Cheryl, two days ago I thought I would be sold as a slave to the highest bidder, I have more important things in life than working right now.”
Her boss said nothing for a good twenty seconds. “Well, I guess we’ll see what Director Black says.”
“I guess so.” She ended the call and shook her head. The woman had no clue and no empathy. She’d almost died, and Cheryl thought she’d just go about living her life like normal.
When Lieutenant Commander Allen came in to check on her, she was awake enough to ask to use a computer so she could look up the number for a friend. It took about an hour for someone to bring her a tablet. Jackson’s phone number wasn’t listed, and she wanted more than an email, she wanted to hear his voice, make sure he arrived home okay.
She searched for Kelsey’s number, her agitation increasing with each second. She closed her eyes, thinking about Jackson and the ranch. Canyon View was what they’d called the place. Canyon View Ranch. That had to be the name. Her head swam when she opened her eyes to search for Canyon View’s phone number. So few people had home phones, and she was aware there might not be a listing. When she found the number, her eyes filled with moisture.
She checked the time, counting back the hours, realizing it was around noon. Would Jackson be there? The phone rang four times, then three more. Ready to give up, she turned, but there was a click, and she perked up.
“Hello?” Hearing Kelsey’s voice was the sweetest thing she’d heard so far. “Hello?”
“Um, this is—” she had to clear her throat because the emotions were so thick. “It’s Marissa.”
“Oh God, let me get Jackson. He’s sleeping.”
Marissa heard something, maybe Kelsey running then someone shouting. There were more sounds she couldn’t understand then finally the one voice she wanted to hear more than anything.
“Hey, it’s me.” Jackson’s voice was thick with sleep and rough like emotions were clogging his throat.
Tears filled her eyes, and she choked on her words, coughing a few times.
“Kelsey, babe, don’t cry.”
“Jackson.”
“God, I never thought I’d see you again.”
“I need you.” She blew out a breath and tugged at the sheet, wiping her nose.”
“Where are you? I’ll come to be with you.”
“They’re sending me back to Madrid for a few days.”
“I’ll hop on a plane and be there.”
“After Madrid, I want to come to the ranch.”
“I’m looking up info for flights right now. I can be in Madrid tomorrow morning. I need to grab a bag and pack. The flight from Denver is at four, so I need to get moving.”
She choked back a sob and wiped her nose again. “You’re really coming here.”
“Yes. I’m hanging up now so I can catch the flight.”
“Thank you for everything.” Tears were running down her face now.
He cleared his throat, and she heard him sniff. “I don’t know how they found you, but whoever did, I’m happy.”
She might have laughed at that, but it sounded more like a sob. They could discuss what happened once they were alone at home. There was no reason for anyone listening in on this conversation to know the truth.
“Goodbye,” she said.
“Goodbye, love. I’ll be there soon.”
The line disconnected, and more tears fell. Marissa had closed her eyes, thinking about Jackson. For a while, she’d believed she would never see him again. Now she planned to spend days with him on the ranch. Her future was still up in the air, but she had a future, and it was all because of Jackson.
18
His plane landed in Madrid, and he caught a cab to the location Marissa had emailed him. Their communication had been short on the phone, and she’d not put anythi
ng in the email other than her address. She had to know the FBI monitored her conversations.
Kelsey and Adam had been watching the news in Morocco for any mention of the two men they’d killed. No one was running with the story. He’d seen a short interview given by the Spanish woman, Lisa, who was being credited with saving the group. The woman said she acted when she had a chance and wasn’t a hero, just a person who stepped up when she needed to. He was glad she was okay too. Compared to the hundreds of thousand trafficked every year, the few they’d saved wasn’t much, not even a drop in a bucket, but it changed the world for those people.
The cab dropped him at an apartment building with tall windows and red brick. It looks nice with the small bushes out front and flower pots. He guessed if Marissa wanted to stay here, he could live in this building. It wasn’t the ranch, but for her he’d make the sacrifice.
He was on his way up the sidewalk when the door flew open, and Marissa hobbled out. She was using a cane, and her bruises had faded a little. His heart squeezed, and the air seemed too thick to breathe. He dropped his bag and moved to her, hesitating before pulling her into a hug.
“I don’t want to hurt you.”
“You won’t.”
“God, Marissa, I was so worried.”
“Let’s go inside, and we can talk.”
“Is your apartment bugged?”
She met his gaze and her lips twisted. “I haven’t checked recently.”
“Do you have the equipment to check?”
She nodded. “I do.”
He let go of her, which was hard, and he picked up his bag before moving back to her side. “I’ll run a sweep of your place while you relax.”
She threw back her head, laughter spilling out. “I’m packing. I’m not relaxing.”
“Packing?”
The look she gave him was part apology, part fear. “I can’t…” she blew out a breath, and he leaned in and kissed her forehead.
“We can talk once I do a full sweep of your place.”
“Yes, we need to talk.”
Her words made his heart speed up. What did she mean by that? He followed her inside, praying she didn’t tell him to take a hike.