“The clinic,” Trey responded.
The three of them used the shadows and the heavy rainfall to obscure their presence as they made their way to the clinic building, which was closer to their original point of entry.
Once outside their destination, Trey held up his hand and listened. Hearing nothing but the storm, he opened the door and entered a dimly lit and empty hall. The others followed and closed the door.
A man moved out of a doorway farther down the hall. He was dressed for the weather in a heavy anorak and boots and carried a black backpack. His hands were in the air, showing he had no weapon.
“Did you come for Fee and Pia?” the man asked in Russian-accented English.
“Yeah.” Trey aimed his weapon at the man’s center of mass. “Where are they?”
The man stepped further into the light. “Your women are at the cliff dwellings at the north end of the valley. With my pregnant fiancee. We are leaving with you. We are not safe here any longer.”
“Who are you?” Price asked.
“Dr. Anton Vasilov. Call me Anton. My Lucia is El Hacha’s niece and we must leave before he realizes she carries my child. Fee and Pia’s kidnapping moved our timetable up.” The tall, well-formed male moved toward them. He lowered his hands and gestured toward the door. “Hurry. Ernesto’s distraction will not last much longer I am afraid. Plus, the flood waters will soon be worse than they are now.”
“Pia’s brother helped you?” Levi asked as they moved toward the clinic’s front door.
“Yes. He did not like what Chavez planned for Pia,” Vasilov said. “So he is leading them away. Chavez thinks Ernesto has taken the women with him.”
“And why does Chavez think that?” Price said as Trey checked outside to make sure no one had sneaked up on the clinic while they were inside.
“I told him, of course,” Vasilov said. “We needed a diversion so the women could cross the open meadow to get to the cliff dwellings’ path.”
“It’s clear.” Trey looked at Vasilov. “Where are we headed … exactly?”
“Follow me.” Vasilov shoved past them and began jogging toward the northern part of the compound. “We’ll need a boat to cross the meadow. It is under water by now. I have one. Hurry.”
Trey exchanged looks with Levi and Price who both shrugged and followed the Russian. While Vasilov forged ahead, Trey and the others kept a lookout for signs of danger.
Tapping his headset, Trey muttered, “Tweeter, we’re heading out of the compound. The women escaped earlier and are hiding in the cliffs at the north end of the valley. Keep an eye on our six, if you can.”
Trey wasn’t sure Tweeter could see anything on the video feed with as heavy as the rain was.
“Copy that,” Tweeter said. “The drone’s still on the building across from the house. Still getting a good feed of most of the facility. Nice takedown of the guards by the way. The guards at the gatehouse are still in place. When the rain lightens and the winds die down, I’ll reposition the drone to the northernmost building and keep an eye on your back trail from there. Stay safe, buddy. Out.”
“Copy that. Out.” The men had reached a small outbuilding. Trey looked at the boat being inflated and cracked a smile. “Just like the Marines.” It was a six-man inflatable boat with a powerful outboard motor.
Vasilov smiled. “I appropriated it from El Hacha’s supply shed and hid it in this building for just such a situation. During heavy rains or after a snow melt-off, the stream flowing from the canyon combines with the river to flood the meadow before it all drains to the lowlands.” He waved a hand. “Gentlemen, I have a feeling you know how to handle this boat better than I. My military service usually didn’t place me on the water.”
Trey nodded. “Price, handle the motor. Levi and Anton climb in.”
After they were all on board, Price started the motor and headed a northerly direction. The storm raged all around them. Lightning flashed and turned the dark night skies to day. The thunder boomed so loudly Trey felt it in his bones.
“Where exactly am I aiming for?” Price asked.
When the next flash of lightning lit up the flooded meadow, Vasilov pointed to a place where it looked as if two sheer mountain walls met in a thick seam of darkness. “Head for the mountains. Once we’re closer, you’ll see the canyon entrance and the cliff dwellings. If we’re lucky, the water will not have reached the path leading to the ladder to the cliff.”
“Gotcha,” Price kept his hand on the tiller. “Levi, aim a tac-light ahead of us. Shout out if you see anything I need to avoid in the water. Would hate to have to swim the rest of the way.”
Trey laughed when Levi grunted and muttered, “Easy for you to say since you were a SEAL. I’m not a damn trout.”
CHAPTER 11
Bruised and dripping wet, Fee followed Pia and Lucia toward a cliff house in the middle of the row of dwellings.
“Please wait,” Lucia said, a flashlight in her hand. “I will go first and light the lanterns.”
What Lucia hadn’t mentioned was rooting out all the snakes, scorpions, rodents and other assorted wildlife which might’ve taken up residence to escape the rainy night—ugh. Fee was so not a rough-it-in-the-wild gal.
Better roughing it in the wild than being Chavez’s sex toy.
Yep.
Fee and Pia huddled closer to the building under what little overhang that remained after hundreds of years of erosion. The storm raged and howled overhead like an angry beast, adding to their misery. A lightning crack nearby had both of them jumping.
“Th-that was too c-c-close.” Fee’s teeth chattered.
Spring in the mountains was usually cold in the evenings, but adding in the wind and rain brought the ambient temperature down to below freezing. She couldn’t ever remember being this cold, not even in Detroit in January. Her three layers of clothing were soaked, leeching away any warmth her shivering body could produce.
“Way to-o-o close,” Pia agreed. “Lucia? Is it safe?”
The dark hole that was the doorway suddenly lit up as Lucia appeared, having shoved aside whatever covered the entrance from the inside. “Come in. It is clear.”
Entering the dwelling, the first thing Fee spotted was a fireplace off to the side. She moved toward it. A fire was just what they needed, but she didn’t know the first thing about starting a fire. Her Girl Scout badges had been in First Aid, CPR, and Crafts. She was such a loser.
“F-f-fire?” Fee stuttered and looked around the rest of the room that made up the entire living area of their shelter. There were several stacks of supplies, obviously placed there by Anton and Lucia for their eventual escape. Spaced around the room were four LED lanterns.
The room was very well-lit. Too well. Her breath hitched with fright and she glanced at the two small window openings. She was relieved to see thick animal skins covering them, just like the one covering the doorway.
“Will Chavez’s people see the light?” Fee asked.
“No. Anton and I checked this many times. We would sneak out here to be together.” Lucia blushed prettily. “I will build the fire now.”
Lucia pulled out a firelighter from a pack that had already been in the room and began assembling paper and kindling in the rugged hearth. “The room will warm up quickly due to the rock reflecting the heat. Then we will get our wet clothing off. I keep several changes of clothing here. We are all about the same size. I will then make us something warm to drink, yes?”
“Y-y-es,” Fee said, then coughed. Her throat was raw, irritated. She clenched her jaw and managed to speak without stuttering or coughing. “Sounds wonderful, Lucia. Thank you.”
“Are you well, Fee?” Lucia’s eyes reflected concern.
“I’m fine. Just chilled. Dry clothes and a hot drink will fix me right up.” She couldn’t be sick. She refused.
Blind as a bat.
Fee ignored the snarky little voice in her head just as she ignored her sore throat, earache, and the devils playing a heavy met
al concert on her skull. Instead, she concentrated on rubbing her hands up and down her arms in an attempt to warm up enough so she’d stop shivering.
Pia frowned at Fee, but remained silent. Her friend didn’t have to say a word. Pia had that “don’t mess with me, I’m a nurse” look in her eye.” If this had been the clinic, Pia would already be taking Fee’s vitals.
“I’ll help you, Lucia.” Pia knelt by the fireplace and began shredding up the paper while Lucia placed the kindling.
After the fire caught, Fee sat by Pia on some boxes stacked to each side of the hearth.
Pia’s eyes welled with tears. “I’m worried about Ernesto. Do you think he got away?” She sniffled.
Fee touched Pia’s shoulder and squeezed. “I know you are, sweetie. Your brother knew what he was doing. Anton gave him a good head start. I have to figure the storm will give him an advantage also. He could’ve already ditched the vehicle and hid before Chavez and his men pursued. He has a good chance.”
Pia nodded, but didn’t looked convinced. Fee didn’t really blame her, because Chavez was ruthless and wouldn’t take betrayal well—and had sent a lot of vehicles filled with hardened cartel soldiers after Ernesto.
The wind had died down a bit. The thunder sounded farther away, more toward where the compound lay, now cut off from them by a meadow full of water. The relative silence was welcome.
Fee stiffened as a rhythmic, rumbling-buzz reached her ears. “Listen. Do you hear that?”
Pia and Lucia stopped a conversation about Lucia’s pregnancy. Barely breathing, the three of them listened.
The sound grew louder. It was coming closer. It sounded like a—
“It’s a boat motor.” Fee looked at the others. “Do you think Chavez—”
Her face ashen, Lucia hunched her shoulders and whispered, “No, why would he?”
“Maybe someone saw us while we climbed up the path from the canyon floor.” Pia got off her box and moved toward the packs. “Are there any weapons?”
Lucia opened her mouth to reply, but Fee held up a hand. “Shh … listen, the boat is even closer.”
Then the motor cut-off. Fee’s heart leapt into her throat and she swallowed hard. The three of them huddled together.
Fee forced her breathing to slow down so she could hear over the pulse pounding loudly in her ears. Men’s voices. Their words indistinct.
Pia reached over and picked up one of the larger pieces of firewood. It was a pathetic weapon, but it was all they had.
Long minutes later, the voices became clearer.
One man’s voice sounded familiar. Exasperation colored every syllable as he said, “Thought you said there was a ladder.”
Fee let out a shuddering breath of relief—of joy. He’d come for her. “It’s Trey. He’s here.” She turned to Lucia. “Time to let the rope ladder down again.”
“Anton will be with him.” Lucia grinned, then rushed to the door covering and shoved it aside.
Pia and Fee followed, making sure the skin covered the door when they left so no light escaped to reveal their presence to anyone looking toward the mountains.
While Lucia and Pia unrolled the rope ladder, Fee leaned over the side to hear her brother and Trey make the decision to set pitons and climb the sheer, slippery rock wall.
*
“Neither of you have to do that. Use this.” The amused, slightly raspy, feminine voice floated down from above, followed by a rope ladder that practically hit Trey on the head.
Fee’s dirty, grinning face peeked over the edge. Thank you, God. He returned her smile. “You okay, little doc?”
“All things considered…” Her lips twisted. “…yeah. Now, get up here. We started a fire and were getting ready to fix something hot to drink. All the comforts of home on a wet, chilly night.”
Fee sounded hoarse. Her lips in the light of his flashlight were tinged blue. She shivered like a bedraggled kitten left out in the rain. All of this renewed his anger at the circumstances that had placed her in the situation and prompted an emerging concern over her health.
“Get inside where its warm and dry, Fee. We’ll be right up.” Trey tugged on the rope ladder to assure himself it could handle his weight plus his pack. He slung his pack over his shoulder and quickly ascended the handmade ladder.
As soon as he reached the wide ledge that fronted the row of cliff dwellings, he sought and found Fee leaning against the outer wall of a house in the middle. He grumbled under his breath. Why in the fuck hadn’t she gone inside? She was soaked, visibly trembling, and looked exhausted, but still … so … so beautiful to him that his heart hurt.
“Fee, I told you to go inside.” He walked toward her. As he got closer, he noted what he’d thought was dirt on her face was, in reality, bruises. “Fee … what the fuck? Who hit you?”
He’d kill the fucker.
Trey reached for her and she shrank away.
Way to go, asshole. She’s scared of you.
“Trey…” Price’s tone warned him to proceed with caution. Both men knew exactly what had happened to Fee in Detroit all those months ago, because they’d beaten the truth out of the mother-fucking douchebag Stall. Neither of them were one hundred percent sure whether or not Fee had totally processed through her trauma yet. Her willingness to date Trey had been seen as a huge step forward. But that progress had occurred right before this traumatic turn of events … and now she’d been beaten again. It appeared she was as scared as she’d been when he’d first met her.
Fuck … had she been … raped, too?
Trey lowered his arm and stepped back—afraid to take Fee in his arms as he wanted, no, needed to.
Seconds turned into a minute. A light rain fell, but no one moved from the ledge. Even Price, bristling with big-brother-concern, waited to see what would happen next. The others seemed to be as aware as Trey that this was a make-it-or-break-it moment for him and Fee.
“Fee?” He crooned as he might to coax an injured animal to trust him and then opened his arms. “Sweetheart … are you…?”
With a sob, Fee shot into his arms like a bullet from a sniper rifle and buried her face against his chest.
“Thank you, baby. Thank you for your trust.” Trey wrapped his arms around her much smaller, fragile, and quivering body. He surrounded her with as much of himself as he could … sheltering her as if he could protect her from all future danger.
When Fee let out a shuddering sob, he rubbed his cheek against her unbruised one. “Fee … sweetheart … shh … I’m here.” His words had her shaking even harder. Her weeping threatened to drive him to his knees.
Movement had Trey turning his head to find Price hovering close by, a look of extreme helplessness on his friend’s face. “What the fuck?” Price mouthed.
Trey shrugged. But he’d damn well find out and fix whatever was making Fee cry so hard.
“Baby, where are you hurt? Does the doctor need to look you over?” He scanned the area and found Vasilov holding his woman closely against his side. The couple looked concerned. “You didn’t tell me Fee’d been hurt.”
Vasilov frowned and looked Fee over. “Other than the bruise on her face, she was not hurt—not in the way you’re thinking. We tricked Chavez with a made-up illness so he would leave her alone. However, she does seem to be moving more stiffly than before.” He looked down. “Lucia, what happened? Fee has injuries she did not have earlier.”
Sniffling and rubbing her wet cheek against Trey’s chest, Fee lifted her head. “I can speak for myself.” She looked between him and Price who’d moved in even closer. “It was pouring rain. The water was rising. I was on the wooden ladder, climbing, when—”
“Fuck,” Trey muttered, picturing a wall of water sweeping the ladder down the valley with Fee clinging. “You let go?”
“Uh-huh.” She looked indignant which added a flush of red to the pale purple-blue-green bruises on her white face. “I wasn’t planning on swimming or dying, Trey.”
Her indignant and
challenging tone was more like the spunky doctor who’d held an assault rifle on him, a total stranger at the time, while protecting Keely in the wilds of Idaho.
“Fuck, baby.” He placed a kiss on the tip of her nose. “You have more lives than a cat.”
She nodded and croaked out, “Yeah … go figure.”
“Jesus, sis, don’t joke. You could’ve been—” Price stroked a hand down her back.
“I wasn’t.” Fee clutched at Trey’s arm. Her hands had cuts, scrapes, and torn nails from what had to have been a life-and-death struggle. “I found my inner barnacle pretty damn fast and clung to the rock walls until I realized Lucia and Pia had thrown me a rope.”
She chuckled and then coughed a couple of times. Taking a rasping breath, she sighed and rubbed a cheek over Trey’s chest. “I hate heights.”
Trey might never let her out of his sight again. He kissed her forehead. “Right there with ya, sweetheart.”
“Stop hogging my sister,” Price said. “I need a hug.”
“Let’s do the hugging inside,” Levi suggested. “Another thunderstorm is sweeping down the canyon. Our women are wet and cold and don’t need to get any wetter.”
Levi had his arm around Pia’s shoulders. The nurse whom Trey had met several times during his visits to New Mexico stared at Levi with a look in her eyes that should’ve warned the sheriff to tone down the possessiveness a bit.
However, Trey knew exactly how Levi felt. It was hard to meet the right woman and find she had issues which kept her from trusting any man. It had almost killed Trey to keep his distance from Fee and not claim her immediately after he’d met her. But he’d managed and given her the time she’d needed to heal. She was in his arms now and he planned to keep her there—but only if she wished to be.
Pia addressed Levi in a sharp tone, “I’m not your woman.” But something in her eyes hinted at vulnerability.
An Ill Wind Page 12