7
Late that afternoon, they were still walking through the forest. Based on the low angle of the light through the trees, the sun would be setting soon. Noah adjusted Gracie on his chest and continued through the brush. It was surprising how normal it felt now to have a baby strapped to him like this.
My baby.
The words created a weird pull around his heart before he brushed them aside. He needed to stay clear and focused on the danger here, not fixated on how good the warmth of Gracie’s little body felt cradled against his. He still couldn’t quite get over how easily she’d taken to him, how trusting she was now, snoozing away with her tiny thumb stuck in her mouth. He’d been a bundle of nerves holding her at first, afraid he’d drop her or hurt her or somehow otherwise prove himself as incompetent in this situation as he feared he was. But she’d just snuggled in, no fear or hesitation at all. Like he was someone who deserved to be her daddy and not some idiot who didn’t know what he was doing.
And speaking of being an idiot, he still wasn’t sure how to handle this awkward as ass business between him and Serena either. Co-parenting wasn’t a term he’d ever associated with himself. He’d planned to stay single and stay sharp for his job for as long as possible and worry about the rest later. Messy, confusing stuff like family and relationships and the future hadn’t been on his radar at all.
Except the future was suddenly now and what the hell was he supposed to do with that?
At least Serena didn’t seem bothered by it all. He hazarded another glance over at her where she was trailing along, face turned up toward the sun, looking blissful despite everything. For a crazy second, he almost reached over to brush the long dark hair from her eyes and see that smile of hers turned toward him, but stopped himself. He had no business touching Serena Carson. For one, she was his mission. And for two, until they sorted out all this mess with Gracie, he needed to keep a safe distance from her, physically and emotionally.
And sure, he’d held her in his arms the other night when she’d had that nightmare. That was just asset management, as the guys at SSoF called it. Making sure things with the mission ran smoothly. Strictly business. Yep.
Maybe if he repeated that to himself enough times, he’d actually believe it.
Thoughts tangled and twisted in his brain, Noah almost missed the sound of an approaching vehicle on the road nearby. Navigating their way through the rainforest was easier with some type of landmark to use for orientation, so he’d followed a path through the trees that gave them some cover, but still allowed him to track the roadway as needed. Now, though, he began to doubt the wisdom of his decision.
Noah put out a hand to stop Serena where she stood, then held a finger to his lips while the SUV passed by them. Black with tinted windows, from what he could see through the leaves. How much could the passengers in the SUV see of them, in turn? His instincts went on high alert. The vehicle sped past without slowing and he released his pent-up breath. Okay.
“Keep going,” he whispered low to Serena.
“Do you think that’s them?” she asked, following him further down the path.
He glanced back at her. “Not sure, but after what that guy told me about the roadblocks, we can’t be too careful.”
Twenty minutes later, the same black SUV drove past again in the opposite direction and that was when Noah knew for sure that they were in trouble. “Dammit.” He tugged Serena’s arm to pull her to the other side of him, putting his body between her and the road. The SUV slowed near their location and the driver’s side window lowered. Noah held Gracie tighter against him with one arm while keeping Serena behind him with the other. He didn’t like being exposed like this. He’d figured the rainforest would give them sufficient cover, but he’d been wrong. The SUV pulled over to the berm and the engine cut.
Shit.
“Over there,” he hissed to Serena, pointing to a thicket of vegetation nearby. “Hurry!”
They barely made it into hiding before footsteps pounded down the trail where they’d been standing. The sun had lowered enough now that Noah couldn’t make out the guy’s face, just the black silhouette of a large man who rooted through the nearby trees and brush for what seemed like a small eternity. The whole time, Noah stood frozen in place, one hand on his daughter, the other on Serena, who stood still as stone behind him. Blessedly, Gracie remained asleep and didn’t make a sound.
Finally, the guy uttered a low curse, headed back to the SUV and took off, leaving their trio behind. Relief sagged Noah’s muscles and he turned slowly to see Serena’s too-pale face in the gathering twilight. “You all right?”
She nodded slowly, then swallowed hard. “Give me Gracie.”
Noah reluctantly handed the baby over, then watched as Serena held her and rocked her, silent tears streaming down her cheeks. His heart twisted and his own throat constricted. Not with tears, but with determination. No way in hell would those bastards take Serena and their baby again. He took a deep breath and took her arm. “Come on, shouldn’t be far to town now. We need to get off this path.”
* * *
About an hour later, they arrived at the hotel on the outskirts of a small village called Torina. Noah went into the lobby to check in while Serena and the baby stayed hidden outside.
“Welcome to Hotel Dourdane,” the clerk behind the desk said when he walked in. “How may I assist you, sir?”
“Reservation for Kelso. Lee Kelso,” Noah said. “It’s pre-paid.”
“Ah, yes,” the clerk said, typing on his keyboard. “We were expecting you yesterday, Mr. Kelso.”
“Yeah, I had some travel delays.” He scanned the lobby, looking for anyone suspicious, but there wasn’t anyone else there. Thank God for small mercies. “Is that a problem?”
“No, sir,” the clerk said, printing up some paperwork for him to sign. “The cleaning staff will prepare the room now for you.”
Once Noah had signed off, the clerk handed him two key cards and directions to his room. “Give them a few minutes, please, sir. I’ll text you when the room is ready.”
“Thanks.” He stopped by the vending machines near the entrance and got a couple of cans of soda and some chips, then headed back outside to where Serena and Gracie were waiting behind the dumpsters. “Okay. They’re getting the room ready now. I’m going to walk the perimeter of the property to make sure it’s secure. You wait here for me.”
“I don’t want to stay by myself,” she said, bouncing the now wide-awake and squirming baby in her arms. “Besides, walking calms Gracie down. Why don’t we come with you? Isn’t it safer to stick together?”
Noah scowled. It was, but he wasn’t used to having company on his patrols. “Fine. But stick close and keep quiet.”
Serena gave him a quick salute, then moved beside him through the shadows. Thankfully, the walk around the hotel was quick and nothing stood out as a problem. He still hadn’t gotten notification that the room was ready and he wanted to avoid running into any nosy housekeepers who might be able to identify him or Serena later, so they took a seat out back in a small walled garden behind the hotel. The last streaks of sun colored the sky in deep pinks and purples and a few stars twinkled overhead. It was still warm and humid, but there was a nice breeze blowing to cool them off.
Serena took a seat on a stone bench, unwrapping Gracie and laying her on her lap while she pulled up her top to breastfeed. “Who’s mommy’s good girl, huh? Who is it? Yes, it’s you, baby girl. Yes, it is.”
Noah found himself drawn to the crooning like a sailor to a siren. “She doing okay?”
“She’s fine,” Serena said, looking up at him as Gracie latched on for her feeding. “Babies are more resilient than you think.”
“Here.” He cracked open a can of soda and handed it to her, along with one of the bags of chips. “Thought you might be hungry too.”
“Thanks.” She took a sip, then set her can aside to pat the bench beside her. “Sit.”
“I’m fine,” he sai
d, feeling about as out of place as tits on a bull. “You’re busy.”
She snorted. “Whatever. My legs feel like rubber after all that walking today and whether you admit it or not, you have to be tired too. Now quit being a stubborn ass and sit down already.”
He wanted to deny it, but damn, she was right. He was tired. Tired and strung-out and stressed. Usually missions didn’t bother him and being a SEAL meant being ready for anything, but for some reason he’d been all tied up in tense knots today and it had taken its toll on his usual stamina. With a sigh, he sank down on the bench beside her, staring over at Gracie from under his lashes while she noisily sucked down her dinner.
“At least we’re back in civilization now,” Serena said, after another sip of her soda and crunching down some chips. “For a while there today, I wondered if I’d ever see it again. If I never come face to face with another rubber tree in this lifetime, I’ll be happy.”
Noah chuckled around a mouthful of chips. “Yeah. The novelty wears off pretty fast.” He downed a swig of his soda, then said, “And after we get you back stateside, you can stay in civilization forever.”
“I wish.” She laughed. “Unfortunately, my work is mainly in places without modern conveniences.”
“Yeah?” He raised a brow at her. “That’ll be harder to do with a baby. Maybe you need to look into changing jobs now.”
“Hmm, maybe.” Serena watched her daughter for a moment while Noah watched her. Sitting here like this, outside, just talking, seemed so natural and normal. “But then again, I want Gracie to grow up in a diverse world. I want her to have a global education from early on. To see the world and understand all the different people and cultures it holds and to care about them all.”
“Wow.” He considered that a moment. “Sounds noble as hell and I respect that. That’s part of the reason why I became a SEAL. To help others, but also to understand places and people different from me. Can’t keep someone safe if you don’t know what’s important to them and why.”
“You’re all about safety, aren’t you?” Serena looked up and caught his gaze.
“Yep.” Heat prickled up from beneath the collar of his black T-shirt. Usually, he was kind of embarrassed to tell people about how much his work meant to him because they might think he was weird, but tonight with Serena it felt okay. He stared down at the soda can in his hand, frowning. “It’s always felt like my calling.”
“That sounds noble as hell too,” she said, smiling as she lifted Gracie away from her nipple and smoothed her shirt back down so she could put the baby over her shoulder to burp. “Guess we’re just two peas in a pod, huh?”
Noah didn’t know about that, but he liked the idea of them having more in common. He was about to tell her so when his phone buzzed in his pocket and he pulled it out to see a message from the clerk. “Room’s ready. Let’s head upstairs.”
8
Serena got Gracie settled on one of the beds, then sat at the small table in one corner of their room. It was nice here, not super fancy, but not exactly a budget motel either. Noah had been busy checking in with his team on his phone while she’d gotten the baby bathed and changed and into a clean onesie from her knapsack, but now there wasn’t much else to do after she’d washed out the dirty diapers from the day before and laid them out to dry.
The longer she sat there, though, staring out the window into the darkness, the more she couldn’t help feeling like maybe they might actually get out of this situation intact and make it back to the US. Thus far, Noah had proved himself a capable protector and that gave Serena hope. The least she could do from here on in was be cooperative and helpful to him in keeping them safe.
Eavesdropping wasn’t usually her MO, but given the confined quarters of their room, she couldn’t help but overhear snippets of his conversation. Specifically, the words “retrieval” “location” and “capital.”
Right. Okay. So their final destination was Frederickston.
Her brain kicked into overdrive trying to anticipate every obstacle she might face when it came to caring for Gracie during the rest of their journey. The baby wasn’t much trouble, but when she was hungry or needed a diaper change, she got fussy, so keeping those times to a minimum while they were on the trail would be priority one. The last thing they needed was to have Gracie’s wails draw the enemy right to them. They’d been incredibly lucky that Gracie had been quiet that afternoon when the men in the SUV had nearly caught them. She resolved to keep an eye on her watch and make sure she kept a schedule of regular feedings while they were traveling, as much as possible, to avoid a cranky infant. She could also make sure she cleaned and restocked her cloth diaper supply while here at the hotel. Maybe she could look through the phone book or contact the front desk about having more diapers delivered. Onesies too. She couldn’t be the only new mom at the hotel who’d found herself running short of things without notice, right?
After Noah ended his call, she told him as much. And sure, he’d made it clear before that she needed to keep her head in the present and out of thinking and speculating about the future, but dammit. She had to have something to keep her brain occupied in here or she’d go nuts.
“So, I’m thinking I’ll call down to the front desk in a little while to see what supplies might be available for me to order and stock up on. That way we won’t have to worry about Gracie’s needs as we head to the extraction point and you can concentrate on doing whatever it is you and your team are planning. If I’m lucky, I can get enough stuff to last until we’re back in the states and out of danger. Then, man, I can’t wait to shop at my favorite little boutique again. They had the cutest baby clothes for girls last year and—”
“Please, just stop, okay?” Noah gave her a peeved stare. “Didn’t we have this talk already? I’ve got a lot of logistics running through my head and I need to keep it all straight in order to get us where we need to be. We’re nowhere near safe yet, even though this place is secure enough for tonight.” He shook his head and scowled, turning away to pace the room. “All your chatter about diapers and clothes and what you’ll do when you get home is driving me insane.”
The small bubble of joy that had risen inside her at the thought of freedom and hot baths and a life where she didn’t have to look over her shoulder constantly burst. Deflated, her shoulders sagged and she lowered her head to stare at her toes. She’d only been trying to help, but it seemed she’d made things worse.
Crap. Exhaustion mixed with her depression, quickly morphing into defensiveness. He didn’t have to be such an ass about it. Yes, he was frustrated and on edge. So was she. She still managed to be polite and upbeat, while he was just being a dick.
She rose from her chair with as much dignity as she could muster, head high and chin raised, walking past him without a glance. “Well, pardon me for having ideas. I’m going to take a bath now, if it won’t annoy you too much.” She reached the bathroom door and stopped, looking back at him over her shoulder, feeling every bit as bitchy as he’d acted moments before. “And if it does bother you? Tough shit.”
* * *
The bathroom door closed with a resounding thwack and Noah just stood there, staring at it for a long few seconds. What the hell had just happened there exactly, he couldn’t say. What he did know was that his blood was thumping through his veins and if he didn’t know better, he’d say he was turned on as fuck.
Though that situation quickly went away, thanks to the crying baby who’d woken up at the loud ruckus.
Dammit. Slowly, Noah turned to look over at Gracie on the bed and back at the bathroom door. Soon, the sound of running water let him know that nope, Serena wasn’t coming back to deal with this.
Shit. Just shit.
Carrying the kid in that sling through the jungle was one thing. She’d been remarkably unfussy, and when she had started crying, Serena had been quick to step in for a feeding or a diaper change. Picking her up now, when she was all red and squalling and seriously pissed off, and trying to
soothe that away was quite another. Great.
Okay. Fine. Think, man. Think.
He set his phone aside and walked back to stare down at Gracie. The first rule he’d learned in conflict resolution as a SEAL was to manage stress quickly while remaining calm and alert. He took a deep breath to ease the tension knotting his muscles, then knelt beside the bed to put him and the baby at eye level. The next step was to control your emotions and behaviour. If he acted nervous and upset too, chances were good the baby would pick up on that and react accordingly. So, he needed to keep his shit together as much as possible. He flexed his hands several times at his sides to limber up his fingers then gave the kid what he hoped was a reassuring smile while her little face scrunched up even more with unhappiness and her tiny cheeks turned splotchy.
Please let this work. Don’t screw this up.
This was worse than his last round of hostage negotiations in Beirut. At least then, he’d had his SEAL teammates to fall back on in case he messed up. Now, it was just him and around ten pounds of fury and frustration here on the bed. Through the bathroom door, he heard the water shut off, then soft humming. Humming? Yeah, Serena was getting back at him for the way he’d acted earlier, and damn if he didn’t feel a little guilty about that. Maybe he had been too harsh on her, but he was doing the best he could here. She wasn’t the only one out of her element these days.
And speaking of elements, things were still stormy on the infant front. Noah rolled his neck and shoulders, loosening the tension there before widening his smile. Gracie tracked his movements, her little legs kicking and her wails dialing down a few notches.
Good. Right. Keep going.
Next step, pay attention to the emotions being expressed. Well, he didn’t speak baby, but from her tears and cries and angry fists flying, it was pretty obvious Gracie was not a happy camper. Tentatively, Noah reached out a hand toward her, his heart stumbling when she latched on to his finger, holding on tight.
Protecting His Kidnapped Family: Southern Soldiers of Fortune Book Two Page 5