She had a secret stash of baby books that she got out every night after she talked to Calvin, her way of coping with his absence and her constant fears for his safety. She could never tell from her conversations with him whether things were going well or if they were going badly, all she knew was that he was planning on being home on time. This time when his plane landed in L.A., she was going to be there to meet him, no more waiting at home for him to show up.
With only four days to go before Calvin came home, Brooke was finally beginning to believe that he was coming home safe and sound. They’d had a longer than normal conversation the night before, Calvin expressing his pleasure that the natives were actually being friendly, welcoming even.
“The General must have finally listened to me, the natives are begin helpful and friendly,” Calvin said, the relief clear in his voice. “I just need a full day of work and I’ll be out of here, even better it looks like this is going to be a hit. What I’ve seen so far looks promising. I’ll be home in a few days, sweetheart, and I’m not going anywhere for a long time,” he’d said, the happiness in his voice reassuring her that his words were true.
But after her nap, the phone didn’t ring as it usually did. At first it didn’t bother her, he’d said that he had a full day of work ahead of him and she knew how badly he wanted to get home. He might have decided not to stop working to call her so that he could get finished, but when he still hadn’t called by bed time, she began to get worried. Taking the phone to bed with her, she fell into an uneasy sleep, tossing and turning worrying about Calvin. When the phone finally rang in the middle of the night, she was instantly awake.
“Calvin?” she said in greeting when she clicked on the connection.
“Hi, sweetheart,” he said.
Relief washed over her. He sounded tired but okay. She opened her mouth to ask him about his day, but before she could, there was a big commotion in the background. When the noise had finally receded, Calvin asked, “How are you, feeling okay?”
She almost told him right then, but thankfully another commotion in the background stopped her. “What’s going on over there?” she asked instead.
“The natives are having some kind of celebration. We weren’t invited, but I’m so exhausted all I want to do is get some sleep so I’ll be ready to get out of here in the morning,” Calvin said over the noise in the background.
Brooke thought those were the best words she’d ever heard. “I can’t wait until you get home,” she said, again tempted to tell him.
“Me either,” Calvin said, then took a deep breath as if he was going to say something else, but there was a long silence instead. Then she heard him say, “Hey, what are you doing in here?”
Brooke didn’t like the sound of his voice when he asked the question. “Calvin? Calvin?” She repeated his name several times trying to get his attention. “Calvin, are you there?”
Then to her horror, she heard a scuffle and Calvin saying, “Hey, let go of me. You can’t do this, I’m an American citizen.” Then the line went dead.
She frantically tried to call him back, but the line just rang and rang. Panicked, she jumped out of bed and began to pace the living room not sure who to call. It wasn’t like she could call 911 and have them rescue him from South Africa. Her brain on overdrive, the fear immobilizing her for minutes, it finally occurred to her to call Cooper. Grabbing the address book from her desk, she ran back to the living room and picked up the phone.
When she opened the book, it came open to a note that Calvin had left her, her fear suddenly replaced by anger as she read the note. She sat down heavily on the bed, reading the note again, her mind reeling at the amount of danger Calvin had known he was in when he left her a month ago. Taking a deep breath, she read the note a third time, then dialed Donovan Terrell’s number on the satellite phone knowing that she was going to wake him up.
When he answered sleepily, she identified herself then launched into a frantic description of the phone call with Calvin, knowing that this was the person he’d wanted her to call in this situation. Still angry that he’d deceived her, she was panting by the time she was finished. Her panic level had gone through the roof while she told her story, but Donovan, who was instantly awake, made her take several deep breaths before telling him again about the phone call.
If she’d expected reassurances from him, she wasn’t going to get them. Instead, he said, “Damn, I was afraid of this. Brooke, I need you to listen to me very carefully. I only want to explain this once. Time is of the essence and the sooner I can get off the phone, the sooner we can do something about getting Calvin out of there.” She felt her heart drop to her stomach.
Taking a deep breath, she gathered her courage, silencing that little voice that seemed to be back. “I’m listening,” she said, pacing the room.
“Scott called me a while back and asked me to look into this General who Calvin’s working for and what I discovered isn’t good. He’s a drug lord who thinks he’s some kind of modern day king, he’s left a path of death and destruction everywhere he goes, and the government as well as the native tribes are tired of it. I’m afraid that Calvin has been caught in the middle of a war between the two. If what you’re telling me is true, it sounds like the natives have captured him,” Donovan said, then paused, letting that information sink in.
It was so much worse than anything Brooke could have imagined, but there was no way she was going to let Calvin come to any harm, especially now that she’d talked to Donovan. “What can we do? We have to go get him,” she finally said, the depth of the situation finally becoming clear.
“We can’t just go off without a plan. Let me make some phone calls. I’m in Washington, D.C., right now so that a good thing, but it’s going to take a couple of hours to figure out what exactly is going on,” Donovan said, then added, “I know it’s hard but try to stay calm. Call Cooper as soon as we get off the phone, he’ll need to know the situation.”
When she got off the phone with Donovan, she called Cooper, and within hours most of the population of Coldwater Canyon was at her house or had stopped by to see how they could help. Together with Marissa, Paige, Scott, and Cooper, they waited for word from Donovan. When Carter showed up, Brooke dreaded him asking to examine her knowing that he’d discover the pregnancy. The last thing she needed right now was that news becoming common knowledge.
When Donovan finally called, they were all ready to jump into action, listening on speaker phone to his plan. “Carter and Cooper need to fly to South America and meet up with the guide who Calvin always works with. He managed to get away and is willing to lead you back to where they’re holding Calvin. He says that they aren’t planning to harm him, just stop him from doing any more work on the diamond mine. The land doesn’t belong to the general, it belongs to the tribe.”
“I’m going with you,” Brooke said, her voice full of determination. “I can’t just sit home and wait.”
“It’s going to be dangerous, I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Donovan said.
“Good idea or not, I’m going. I can defend myself just as well as any of you,” Brooke said, scanning the room daring anyone to oppose her.
Marissa and Paige raised their eyebrows at Brooke, but one look at her face told them what they needed to know; she wasn’t going to sit idly by while the men went off without her. In the same circumstance, they both knew that they would do the same. “We’ll go start packing for you,” Marissa said, getting up from the chair she was sitting in. Paige followed her out of the room.
Cooper and Carter tried to talk her out of going, but she wouldn’t listen to any of their arguments. Instead, she went to the gun cabinet in the corner of the room and got out her favorite pistol. “I’m going and nothing you can say is going to stop me. I love him and...” She started to say something about the baby but managed to stop herself. The men only looked at her and shook their heads, knowing when to give in, all the while planning to leave her at
the first convenient hotel they found in South Africa.
Chapter 12
They took one of the Terrell’s private jets, which had stopped in D.C. to pick Donovan up. He would be their contact with the government and their best hope to negotiate for Calvin’s release, but they’d also come prepared with generous gifts for the natives. Donovan’s plan involved more diplomacy than force, so when Brooke had said that she was going, he took her side, thinking that a woman would make the party seem less threatening.
They’d have to go with a full armed guard and they’d all be armed as well, but Donovan was convinced that Brooke’s presence would help calm the situation. “I think she should go,” he said when Cooper and Carter objected. “She says she can shoot and take care of herself. I say let her go.”
Defeated, they agreed and together they set off to find Calvin’s guide, who they were scheduled to meet at a café not far from the hotel where they were staying. When they sat down at the table, he gave Brooke a wary look but accepted her presence with a nod of his head when Cooper introduced her as Calvin’s fiancé. Her heart caught in her chest, making it hard to breathe when he said it, but she managed to keep her cool and not show her emotion.
The man who had a black eye and scratches all over his arms and legs began to explain what had happened that night when the natives had taken Calvin. “They must have had it all planned, I don’t know why I didn’t see it from the beginning. It was too late by the time I caught on. I knew that alone I’d never have a chance to get him free, but at least we know where they’re holding him,” the guide had said.
“Do you think we’ll be able to bargain for his freedom? He’s not really a part of this fight, he was only doing the job he was hired to do by that general,” Cooper asked, his face tense with worry. “They won’t hurt him, will they?”
“I don’t think they’ll kill him, but tempers are high. I can’t promise that they won’t hurt him. I just hope they understand that he doesn’t have any stake in that mine. If they’ll listen to us, I think we can come to some sort of understanding with the tribal council,” the man said, then added, “The sooner we get up there, the better.”
“We’re ready when you are,” Cooper said, getting to his feet. “When can we leave?”
“Dawn tomorrow, Mr. Montgomery.”
“Please, call me Cooper. If we’re working together I think we can be on a first name basis.”
“Very well then, Cooper. Call me John, it’s much easier than my native name for you to pronounce,” John said in his lilting accent.
After gathering the supplies they’d need for the trip and hiring as many armed men as they could, they separated for the day, planning to meet at first light for the first leg of their trip. Brooke had a vague understanding of how travel worked in the jungle before they arrived, but now she truly understood why Calvin always came home exhausted. First, they rode in the back of trucks, an armed convoy which left them at the very edge of the Amazon, then they switched to riding on the back of some kind of huge hairy animal that smelled bad, but provided a comfortable ride.
After days on the back of the animals, they were finally forced to go forward on foot, an exhausting trek through the jungle on a barely recognizable path. When they got close to the village where Calvin was being held, John cautioned the men that they were here on a peaceful mission and not to engage with the natives. They’d brought them along to guard the goods they’d brought as gifts for the village, not to break Calvin out of his prison.
They approached the village slowly, and when the first armed guard appeared, John shouted that they’d come in peace and they were allowed to pass on to the village. The chief of the village appeared with a group of elders behind him to greet them, John translating for them as he explained why they were there. The chief seemed skeptical at first, eyeing the armed guard warily, but Cooper ordered the guard to go back to the last village and wait for further instructions.
Once the guard was gone, the chief seemed to relax and allowed them to enter the village while the gifts and their gear disappeared into the jungle. Cooper wanted to protest, but John shook his head at him and he followed along quietly, seething the whole way. They were taken to the middle of the village where they were seated by the communal fire, then one by one the villagers began to gather around the fire, eager to see the negotiations.
After they’d all been served a hot cup of tea, made from what Brooke wasn’t sure, John was formally invited to explain their presence in the village. After many hand gestures and much waving of his arms, John pointed to Brooke and used a word that she was sure explained her relationship with Calvin. When he’d finished, the chief turned away from the fire and gathered the other leaders around him, while John explained what had transpired.
“This is the tribal council, those men represent most of the tribes in the area, he was willing to listen to me, but I can’t predict what they will decide,” John explained.
Brooke sat nervously waiting while the tribal leaders engaged in a long discussion, but her attention was soon drawn to a young woman who crept up to the men and stopped to listen to their discussion. At one point, the entire group turned to look at her and the woman was exposed to the firelight, Brooke nearly came out of her seat when she saw Calvin’s locket around her throat. The woman met her eyes, and Brooke met her stare without flinching, then the woman nodded her head and said something in the chief’s ear.
The woman walked around the fire and stood in front of Brooke, then she held out her hand and helped her to her feet. Brooke followed her away from the fire and through the village to a small hut, ducking inside after the woman when she waved her in. Brooke let out a cry of both relief and despair when she saw Calvin lying on the floor on a thin pallet, nothing covering him but a thin blanket.
Falling to her knees next to him, she couldn’t stop the tears as she looking at his bruised and broken body. Hardly able to touch him, she held out a shaking hand and placed it on his chest, hoping to feel the steady beat of his heart. When she felt it beating steadily under her hand, she sobbed, her relief so great she couldn’t hold it in. But after only a few seconds of this self-indulgence, she took several deep breaths and looked around her. Calvin had clearly been beaten, and the beating had happened several days ago from the look of the purple bruises and infected cuts all over his body. Barely able to keep from vomiting right then, Brooke looked to the heavens and steeled herself for what she knew she had to do.
Turning to the woman who had been watching her the entire time, she tried to make her understand that she needed to clean Calvin’s wounds. The woman looked at Brooke for a long time, then left the hut, returning quickly with a bowl of warm water and a cloth. As much as it pained her to do it, Brooke had to get Calvin out of his clothes, the tears running down her cheeks each time she uncovered a new bruise or wound.
Finally, she was able to begin the slow process of cleaning Calvin up. Each time the water in the bowl became too cloudy the woman would leave and return with clean water, bringing with her other supplies each time she left. Hours later, her back cramped from bending over Calvin’s prone body, she finally sat back to survey the damage. Besides several broken ribs and numerous cuts that had become infected, he had a fat lip and several cuts on his face that would leave scars, but what concerned her the most was the fact that he was running a high fever.
His lips were chapped from dehydration, a condition she was intimately familiar with and his heart rate while steady was elevated. But there was nothing she could do about that except drip water into his mouth and hope he swallowed it and wipe his brow with the cloth soaked in cold water. As soon as she’d rested for a few minutes, she began the process, dipping the rag and putting it on his head, then her fingers letting the water drip between his parted lips. So focused on Calvin, she hadn’t really noticed the woman in a long time. She was surprised when she approached Calvin.
She knelt down next to him and dribbled a foul smellin
g concoction into his mouth, then motioned for Brooke to continue what she was doing. While Brooke continued her tedious ministrations, the woman cleaned up the hut and covered Calvin with a soft blanket, then left the tent only to return with a large cask of water and some food. She pushed Brooke out of the way and pointed to the food and a large cup of tea she’d set beside a pallet in the corner.
Brooke understood what she wanted her to do and as much as she wanted to stay by Calvin’s side, she did have to think of the baby and she was both hungry and exhausted. After a meal that was simple but full of flavor, she laid down on the pallet and fell immediately into an exhausted sleep. When she awoke hours later, the woman was still at Calvin’s side methodically going through the motions of keeping him cool and trying to get water into him.
She rose from the pallet and went to where the woman sat and said, “Thank you.”
The woman motioned to the food again, so Brooke quickly ate some more, eager to be back at Calvin’s side. Satisfied that Brooke had eaten enough, she picked up the empty plates and cup, then disappeared out the door. She didn’t reappear until the sun was coming up hours later, pushing her way through the door, her arms full of food, another young woman following her with steaming cups of tea. She set everything down and gave Calvin another dose of the foul smelling liquid, but Brooke had to admit that foul smelling or not, the stuff worked.
Calvin had spent a restful night thanks to the woman, now her biggest concern was getting rid of the infection. As she watched the woman began apply a brown looking goo to Calvin’s wounds, but she knew enough about medicine to know that a salve might be the best hope to get rid of the infection. By now, she understood that Carter was not going to be allowed to come to his brother’s aid; it was up to her and the woman to save him. Smiling at the woman, she thought that at least this time she wasn’t alone in the middle of a storm trying to save his life, only the Amazon jungle.
Never Let Go (Brothers From Money Book 9) Page 12