Page 74 of Deadly Secrets
The slightest movement comes from Ryder’s foot as the guard by my son pops his cheeks.
“Hey, hey,” the man says over Ryder.
I feel the banded arms around me loosen and I waste no time slipping through his fingers, making a mad dash to where my heart physically is laying on the ground. Falling to my knees I realize there is no blood anywhere around him.
“Ryder? Ryder!” I nudge and shake him on the chest.
“He okay,” the guard says in broken English next to me. “I make him pass out.”
“You fucking what!” I spew and shove at his chest, making him fall on his ass.
The guard narrows his eyes on me but a groan distracts me. My son is starting to wake up.
“Mmm, my ears,” Ryder moans and puts his hands over them. I’m sure that they are going to be sensitive and ringing for a while.
“Let’s go,” my guard states from above me. He reaches down, grabbing me from the back collar of my jersey, bringing me up on my feet.
I watch as the man I pushed over bends down and tosses Ryder like a sack of potatoes over his shoulder. They deposit us back to the original room, slamming the door behind them. I hear the lock engage and let out a breath.
“Mom,” I hear Ryder say and my eyes dart down to my boy in my arms.
“Hey, buddy,” I gently say as he continues to come around.
One thing is for sure though— we can’t stay here. The first chance we get to escape, we’re taking it.
By the time I regain consciousness, I’m strapped to a chair in the back of the airplane. I look around the cabin area, getting my bearings about me. When I remember where we are, I realize several sets of eyes are looking at me. A soul crushing pain rips through me as the video replays in my head.
“We touch down in five minutes, brother.” Brass comes and sits across from me. He’s in full tactical gear with a bulletproof vest and armed to the teeth with weapons.
I just stare at him, not able to say any words at the moment.
“Reaper, we need to know if you can handle this,” someone voices next to me. I turn my head to see Havoc looking at me. “Need to know that you’ve got our backs and not going to go cowboy on us, leaving our six unprotected.”
“I’m not staying on the fucking plane while y’all go and retrieve my family,” I grit, finally finding my words.
“They are our family too, Reap,” Brass pipes up.
“I’m going,” I firmly state, looking my VP right in the eye. “Untie me.”
Havoc looks over at Brass and gives a nod. Brass reaches down and produces one of his knives from his pant pocket and starts cutting the straps around my legs. Once I’m fully released, Stone brings over some equipment.
“You solid, Reaper?” my Prez asks.
“I’m ready to kill those fuckers.”
“Good. Put this on and get ready for battle.” Stone hands me my stuff.
Ten minutes later we are loaded into military cargo trucks with a canopy top over the back, heading to the location where Bishop’s men told us to meet. There is fucking nothing out here in this remote area except insects and humidity. It’s mid-morning and the heat has me sweating my balls off. It makes me have even more sympathy for Sutton and what she had to endure for the four years she was stuck here.
There are no roads so large vehicles with enormous tires are the chosen way of transportation. We turn off between two trees and barely fit as tree limbs scrape the sides of the truck.
“One of the men has a way in through a bunker,” Hawk tells the group as we hit bumps and dips through the foliage. “Once our boots hit the ground, we have to move to make space for the next truck coming.”
Our plane was the first to land and we had to deplane quickly and get into the vehicles so everything could move out of the way and the next jet could land.
“Bishop’s man, Creed, confirmed that they heard the shots come from the main building. Haven’t seen anyone exit since then. We’ll head there first to locate Remi,” Stone says.
A sharp pain hits me square in the gut when Stone doesn’t mention Ryder. I shake off all those emotions and will deal with them later. Right now, I need to focus on getting my family home.
