by Dale Mayer
She was signaling for help using signals for the deaf. And then he remembered the senator’s son had several disabilities.
Whether she understood what she was seeing or not, she’d sensed someone out here. Damn. Now how could he get a message to her?
He signaled right back, Help is here. Sit tight. And repeated it over and over. Inside he knew she couldn’t see it. Damn it. He was too far away. And what benefit would it do to find a better location.
She continued to signal until the boy leaned his head back to her. And she smiled down at him and cuddled him close. Shadow glanced down at the binoculars in his hands. He’d been given a glimpse into her personality that he’d not seen in too many other people – if any. She really loved that boy. She was the sister, not the mother, although from what he’d just seen she could have been. The bond was that strong.
There’d been something so damn caring, loving between them, he felt…and the words eluded him as he glanced at the woods around him, the rain dripping from the leaves, the moon hidden high above. He knew exactly how the boy felt. How he always felt. Alone. On the outside. Not included. This setting only amplified that feeling.
Except for one very important point. He was not a young boy any longer. He was a Navy SEAL. This was his life, and if he didn’t like it he could change it. But he wasn’t prepared to change very much. He’d become comfortable with his life. Understood it. Knew how it worked. So even though there were other things out there for other people, he was good with who he was and the way he was.
As he returned his gaze to the window, he realized the room had gone dark.
Just then, his radio squawked.
Senator is in the living room. Two men working him over. Wife on the floor. Condition unknown.
And he realized something else. He was who he was and that was a damn good thing for the senator’s son and daughter. Because of who he was, they’d get to continue being who they were.
He’d caught sight of an escape hatch for the kids. Saving the senator was a whole different story. But if they could get the brother and sister out it removed two pawns in the game.
He quietly told his team what he was going to do.
Chapter 4
She swore she’d seen someone on the hillside across from them. She knew it was likely to be her imagination, hope creating images where there were none because she was desperate for escape.
Her father’s cries below had stopped. There was only the odd moan now. And that terrified her even more. She’d turned down the hearing aids in Kevin’s ears. There was no way he needed to hear his father’s last cries. She was so angry but knew she had to keep Kevin safe. Even if she could charge downstairs to save her father, she’d get a bullet. That might still be a kindness when compared to the possible outcome waiting for them. But she damned well hoped not. And she’d be no help to Kevin then.
She’s been signaling off and on since they’d been locked in the bedroom. Hoping against hope that someone would come. Then she thought there had been an odd flash on the hillside and a weird awareness came over her, that feeling of being stared at.
Time was running out. The kidnappers had provisions for several days from what she could see, but she had no intention of being here with them. She’d been assessing options since they’d arrived. Being on the second floor with no balcony she knew it was a hell of a long drop to the ground. She might be able to tie the sheets and blankets together to lower them enough to jump the rest of the way but getting lost in the middle of the woods wasn’t exactly an answer.
But it might be the only one available. If she could evade the guards outside. She’d seen them change out the guard every hour. What she didn’t know was if they were stationed outside or if they were doing rounds on the property to keep moving and cover the cabin from all angles. She’d been staring outside since forever but hadn’t seen any of them. That didn’t mean they weren’t there. She’d been looking with the light off for the last twenty minutes. After her father had gone silent. She didn’t want them to think she was awake and listening in. Better to be oblivious.
She knew the chances of her father surviving this was poor, and grief clutched at her heart. She had no idea what they’d do to Linda either. The future looked like shit for all of them. She was loathe to run and leave the two of them behind, but if it meant saving Kevin…
She’d do it in a heartbeat.
She quietly tugged the window open. And stuck her head out.
When there were no yells or shouts for her to get back inside, she leaned out further.
And jumped back out of sight as a guard walked past.
Kevin clutched at her, fear twisting his delicate features.
She held her fingers to her lips to warn him to be quiet and leaned out again, looking for the man she thought she saw. There was no sign of anyone.
As she studied the height from the ground and mentally calculated the distance the sheets would hang she realized they were directly over the living room. If they dropped down to the ground here, they’d be seen.
Shit.
There were no balconies. There were no sloping roofs to clamber across to the left or right. There was nothing helpful in that way at all. Huge trees rose beside the cabin and the branches higher up offered safety, but she had no way to get to them. The sheets were their only chance. Maybe if they were lucky they’d escape into the woods before being caught.
She slowly led Kevin back to the bed, her mind spinning but coming up empty. Kevin was counting on her. And fear was kicking in. Jesus. If the men killed their parents she and Kevin would have no chance. They were liabilities at that point. The kidnappers might try to use them for leverage, but her father had told her often he would never give in to extortion. If her father wouldn’t do what he could to save them, then no one else could be bothered either.
Footsteps climbed the stairs. She closed her eyes in terror. Oh God. Please not. Dear God. Help.
Kevin dragged her down to the bed.
“Pretend to be asleep,” she whispered.
It was as good a plan as any. Only it wasn’t going to do the job. She knew that. But there weren’t many options. She dare not strip the bed right now if someone was coming to check on them. But if they got a chance to leave after this asshole left, then they would.
Lying on the bed, on her stomach, hair across her face so he couldn’t see her features well in the dark, she waited for the guard to come in. She briefly considered trying to kill him, but how. With what?
It wasn’t possible – was it?
She swallowed when she heard a hand on the knob.
Then the key turned in the lock. With Kevin frozen and tucked up to her side, she lay quiet as the door opened, letting a sliver of light enter the room. The guard stood at the doorway and studied them. She kept her hand lax on Kevin’s back and her breathing slow and steady.
If anyone touched them they’d know that the two of them were tense, muscles rigid.
The guard walked to the window where she’d been looking out. And she realized her one attempt to stick her head out had been seen. As she’d seen the guard, he’d seen her. Now someone had been sent to check.
God damn it.
She should have been more careful.
The guard looked down on the ground outside and studied the window and the view outside for a long moment then spun on his heels. And walked to the bed.
She lay so damn quiet, then realized it was too quiet. She made a snuffling sound and shifted slightly. They were lying fully dressed on the covers.
He stood and stared at her for a long moment. She could hear his breathing. Sense his interest.
Her skin crawled.
Then he reached down and touched her. His fingers sliding the hair back off her face.
She sighed and moved her head on the pillow as if something disturbed her and he stepped back.
After another long moment he walked through the door and closed it. When she heard the lock click inside she slo
wly opened her eyes, afraid that somehow two men had come in and one might be still there waiting for her to show she’d been faking it. When the footsteps continued downstairs, she sat up and got to work. It might not be the best idea but it was all she had.
They couldn’t stay here.
*
It took precious time to get into position. Even then he was thinking this was more foolhardy venture than good idea. But he did over the top rescues and this appeared to be yet one more. The reports coming in were rough. And they had to save who they could while they could. The minute the terrorists understood they had company, the hostages were going to be killed. If they’d killed the senator and his wife already, then there was no hope for the younger two members of the family. He had to get them out now.
Using the ropes from his pack and being a decent judge of distance, he’d climbed out on a low limb, but hopefully one still strong enough to hold the weight, and after tying several knots in the rope he lowered it down to the height of the window of the bedroom where he’d seen the brother and sister.
As there was no one in the window now to see his rope, he swung it gently forward to come up and lightly tap the glass. He knew his team was watching his progress.
The first swing fell short, the second was almost there. The third hit. A heavy enough thud, and he immediately pulled it up in case someone else heard it.
After a few moments, and lying full length on the large tree limb above, he swung it again. And it tapped the window lightly. Then he did it again. And again.
Damn it, where were they?
Afraid the two had been moved he tried one more time and watched as two pale faces appeared. Arianna wasted no time. She opened the window, did something to the brother and lifted him up to the windowsill. When Shadow swung the rope toward them, she grabbed it and had the boy grab high enough up the rope that he could stand on the knot below. Then she gave him a quick kiss and swung him out and away. She stepped back out of sight but he knew she could still see the boy as he hung on for dear life. Shadow carefully hauled him up. The boy was a lightweight. But it was still dangerous getting off the rope and over the main trunk of the tree where he wrapped the boy’s arms around the trunk and whispered against his ear, “Hold on. I’ll be right back. I have to get your sister.”
Shadow returned with the rope to where the window was still open…and the young woman waited for him.
She peered out at him then darted back, slowly lowering the window again. What was she doing? Then he watched the guard on sentry duty cross the property line, his gaze automatically going to the bedroom window.
Shadow smiled in appreciation. He could kill the guard from where he was positioned and would love to – but only once he had the girl out and safe.
She needed to be rescued too.
He waited for the sentry to pass under him and go around the house, then slowly lowered the rope. This time when he swung it to the window he found her sitting on the ledge, legs out as if to jump. She stood up awkwardly, grabbed the rope as high as she could, and then pushed the window down behind her as she let go to swing out on the rope.
Smart.
He was liking her more and more already. She climbed up that rope like a monkey and as she made her way to where he was lying silently, he couldn’t help but admire her. She was almost eye level, her gaze busy as she looked for a way to get up onto the tree. When he extended his arm, she reached up and clasped his forearm. He sat up and tugged, she landed in his arms. Very nice.
She lay there trembling for a long moment then turned to look directly at him. For a long moment their gazes locked. Then she said, “It was you, on the hill, wasn’t it?”
He nodded. “Yes,” he whispered. “Need to get the rope out of sight. Kevin is back at the main trunk.”
She caught sight of her brother, carefully gained her footing and made her way over to him. Shadow, his hands busy pulling up his rope, looped it properly then stuffed it in his pack. He was surprised to see both Kevin and Arianna had backpacks with them. It was good but it had taken a presence of mind he hadn’t expected.
He approached and with an arm around both of them he explained who he was and what they were going to do next.
Neither said a word until he was done. Then Kevin reached out and grabbed his hand, whispered in a hard to understand guttural voice, “Thank you.”
Chapter 5
SEALs. Oh thank God. Even though she was still out in the middle of the wilderness with the terrorists down below holding her family captive, having SEALs here was a game changer. A big one. Still, they were a long way from being safe. Too early to celebrate. And then there was her father…
“The guard just checked on us. So our disappearance might not be noticed for a while, I don’t know how often they will check.”
“Right. Let’s get you out of here,” Shadow said.
Kevin froze. “Daddy?”
“We’re going after them but that’s for us to do. Not you.”
“Do you want us to stay here until you come back?” she asked, looking around. They had to be a good thirty feet up in the air. They couldn’t be seen from the ground and they were out of the rain. “This works. We’re hidden and safe. We can settle on these big limbs until you get back.”
“No, we should get further away. Stray bullets and all that.”
She studied his lean face as he searched and assessed the area below them. His radio buzzed several times as the men communicated plans with each other. Suddenly there was some activity down below. Two men came out of the house and converged on the one guard who’d come back around again on his next pass. Raised voices and agitated movements said something bad had happened, but she had no idea what. She watched the SEAL as he studied what was going on.
Then a light came on in her bedroom.
“Shit.”
That had been their window of escape. “How did they know?” she muttered in a low voice.
“It doesn’t matter. They probably are checking on a regular basis anyway or maybe they saw something…” He surged forward to watch the men scurry out of the house and spread wide. “This is a good thing.”
Immediately there were several pings and the one man deepest in the woods went down without a sound. From where she sat she could see another soldier in heavy combat gear step out from behind a tree and though the terrorists were big, this man was huge. He approached the terrorist from behind, and she didn’t see what happened next but she could imagine. The SEAL shifted the man’s body until it was hidden in the bush. So simple. So easy. For him.
They had a perfect view in front and below where they perched, but for the tree branches, couldn’t see in other directions at all. So she had no idea what else was happening with the other men that had been inside. Surely they wouldn’t have all come out on the one side of the house. That made no sense. But then maybe they had more men than she knew about. There were sounds of a powerful engine arriving. She glanced at her rescuer. “Is that yours?”
He shook his head. “Sounds like reinforcements to move you to a new location.”
“Glad we’re out of there then,” she said with feeling. But there wasn’t the same joy for their parents. She watched as both were escorted out of the cabin. Relieved to see both walking, although bent over and holding onto each other as they were prodded into the new truck, she was also dismayed to see so many new soldiers exiting out the back of the vehicle. This was not good. It appeared they’d brought another eight, possibly ten men. Why would they need so many? And these were dressed in the same khakis again. That made them easier to spot and easy to tell apart from the SEALs. Then again she couldn’t see the SEALs. She had no idea where they were or how many were here. She glanced over at the man at her side, but he was studying three men sneaking up on a clump of brush to the side. She wondered what they thought could possibly be there when the SEAL beside her did a quick tie of the rope around the branch he stood on and dropped.
As in straight down.
“Wow,” she whispered.
Kevin beamed at her. “Yeah, he’s awesome.”
She’d never seen anything like it. Who could unless they did this kind of training? It was not something she ever wanted to experience again but the way this man moved, so graceful and yet wild, untamed. And he was so damn silent.
Looking down below them again she studied the ground looking for her SEAL. And couldn’t find him. She shifted to glance at other areas through the trees but there was no sign of him. She wished she’d asked his name.
“Where did he go?” she asked Kevin in a hoarse voice.
He stared down below. “I don’t know. He just…disappeared.”
With no incentive to leave the safety of their hiding place, the two hunkered down to wait. They watched the ground intently believing that their rescuer might return any moment. But nothing happened for at least an hour and by then she’d started to worry. What if he couldn’t come back for them? He was only one man. Big and strong and obviously damn capable, but still, just a flesh and blood human like all the dead men down below.
Not that she could see any of them.
The vehicles were still parked outside the house, and their parents were still seated inside the back of the newest one. She studied the truck. It was a foolish thought but what if she could get into the driver’s side… Could she drive out and get them to safety?
Had any of the men gone to guard inside the vehicle with her dad and Linda? Not likely as they weren’t a threat anymore. Did the terrorists even understand that there was a bigger threat than themselves around here? Were they looking for her and her brother? Or were they going to assume the worst. Without the bodies of their fallen comrades that should throw them into confusion as to exactly what had happened. She’d rewound the SEAL’s rope so no one else would know they were up here but as she stared at it, still tied to the limb they were sitting on, she couldn’t help but wonder if there was something more she could do. More she should do.