Protecting Fiona (SEAL of Protection Book 3) (7 page)

The other reason she didn’t want to leave it behind was because she didn’t know if there was any identifying information in it or not, and she didn’t want anything coming back to Hunter. She had no time to search it to make sure and the last thing she wanted was some drug dealer in Mexico knowing who Hunter was and possibly coming after him in the States. She had no idea how likely that was, but then again she never would’ve thought she would’ve been kidnapped and taken away to be sold into the sex slave trade either.

Fiona laid the pack on the ground and lay down on her back on top of it. She snaked her arms through the straps and struggled to get upright. She put her feet to the side and shifted around. She got her legs under her and used a nearby tree to pull herself painfully to her feet. She fell back once, and luckily there was a tree there to stop her from falling on her ass. Fiona shifted her weight until she felt comfortable standing with the heavy backpack on.

Fiona looked nervously back up at the chopper hovering overhead. It was time for the million dollar question. Would they leave her behind? They’d rescued their man and the original hostage. They’d completed their mission. Would they rescue her too? Or was she too much of an unknown?

Fiona held her breath. If they left, okay, she couldn’t think about that, but maybe just maybe…the seconds ticked by. Just as Fiona thought the chopper was going to take off and leave her to fend for herself in the jungle, the ladder started lowering again. Thank God! Fiona almost sobbed in relief, realizing what a close call she’d had. That ladder was literally the difference between life and death for her. Fiona choked back a sob, now wasn’t the time or the place to break down. She still had to make it up to, and in, the helicopter alive.

Fiona staggered toward the ladder swinging crazily in the air flying around by the blades of the chopper. She couldn’t walk in a straight line because of the pack on her back. She was also still trying to shoot randomly into the trees, but she was almost out of ammo. Fiona figured she looked ridiculous, but all she cared about was getting the hell out of the jungle.

She looked up. There were men hanging out of the open door still firing their weapons at the drug runners, but Fiona heard it all through a daze.

Only a little more
, Fiona told herself, trying to make herself as small a target as possible, which was really laughable since she had a giant backpack on and was quite tall.

Finally Fiona grabbed the ladder, reaching it just as she started to fall on her face. She stepped up to the first rung, and hung on tight. There was no way she could get the strap around herself with the pack on, so she simply wrapped her arms around the sides of the ladder, buried her head, and hoped like hell Hunter’s teammates would pull her up fast. They did.

Fiona heard a bullet hit the pack on her back and she thought she felt something hit her leg, but amazingly it didn’t hurt. She was numb to everything. Her body was shaking from the adrenaline rush like it was twenty degrees outside rather than ninety. Fiona didn’t think she’d feel it if a bullet had hit her in the head at that point.

Fiona opened her eyes to check on her progress in getting to the chopper and saw they were flying away from the clearing at a high rate of speed. Terrified she inhaled sharply and squeezed her eyes closed and prayed she’d make it to the chopper quickly.

After what seemed like an eternity, Fiona felt hands on her arms lifting her, practically throwing her into the interior of the helicopter. Her eyes immediately searched for Hunter. He was lying toward the back of the small space with a man dressed all in camouflage giving him first aid.

Fiona looked around for Julie, she also seemed to be fine. She was sitting off to the side with her head buried in the chest of another camo-wearing man.

The two men who’d hauled her aboard the chopper, pantomimed for her to crawl over to the side of the aircraft next to the man who was comforting Julie. Fiona gestured at her back, knowing there was no way she could move with Hunter’s pack on her back. One of the men helped her remove the backpack as if she carried feathers instead of what had to be at least a hundred pounds of gear, and she made her way over to where they’d pointed.

It was too loud to talk, and no one would be able to hear her if she did try to speak anyway. Fiona saw the men all wore ear pieces, so she figured they could communicate with each other, even with the noise. She saw their lips moving, but couldn’t hear anything but the motor of the helicopter. Fiona didn’t care. She was out of the damn jungle and everyone seemed to be okay. At the moment that was all she could muster up inside to care about.

She watched as Hunter’s shoulder was bandaged up by one of his teammates. He was unconscious, but at least they’d seemed to stop the bleeding. Fiona realized, with a start, that she’d never been so scared in her life as she was when she saw Hunter fall and the blood seep from him. Even when she’d been grabbed and had woken up to…yeah, even then. Watching Hunter fall after being shot, was scarier than even that. Fiona couldn’t say why, it just was.

The chopper flew on and on and after what seemed like forever, finally landed at a dirt covered airstrip. Fiona saw a small plane and figured that was how they were leaving. Just as Fiona got the nerve up to ask about what was going on, Julie was there to ask the questions so Fiona didn’t have to.

“Where are we going?” she asked nastily. “I thought we were getting out of here. Why are we stopping? Where’s my dad’s plane?”

The man who Julie had been clinging to, responded, “Don’t worry, Julie, you’ll be home soon. Your dad will be glad to see you.”

And with that Julie started crying dramatically again.

Fiona turned away. She caught the eye of one of other men. She had to ask, “How will we get back in the United States without passports?” She didn’t mean to be the buzz kill of the moment when they were about to get out of the country, but she’d always been too practical. Fiona had asked the question generally. She figured they probably had
Julie’s
passport since they were expecting to rescue her, but they didn’t even know who she was. How would
Fiona
get back into the country? They wouldn’t leave her at the airport would they? She had no idea how these things worked and wished Hunter was awake. Fiona knew he’d explain everything to her and make her feel better.

“Well, we’re not going back into the country the usual way.” The man chuckled when he answered.

At Fiona’s stricken look, he rushed on to reassure her, “Don’t worry, all will be fine.”

Fiona shut up. Whatever. She was glad that someone else was handling things; she didn’t think she could stay upright much longer, nonetheless think about what to do next. The adrenaline was wearing off and Fiona was feeling sick again. She felt like crap, her leg hurt, she stunk to high heaven, and she couldn’t get her hands to stop shaking. But she was alive. Hunter was alive. That should be all she cared about at the moment.

They all transferred to a small plane. Hunter was laid down in the back of the plane on a small cot, while Julie and the guy she wouldn’t let go of, sat near the front. Two of the men climbed into the cockpit area while the two others got Hunter settled and chose a seat themselves.

Fiona climbed aboard the plane and looked around to decide where she should sit. She didn’t want to sit near Julie, she was sure the feeling was mutual, and she didn’t want to sit far from Hunter, so she could make sure he was okay. But she didn’t want to sit near any of the other men because she knew she was disgusting. She stunk and was covered in filth. Fiona was also uncomfortable with the SEAL’s obvious maleness as well. They oozed testosterone out of every pore and now that Fiona was out of the jungle and immediate danger, she couldn’t help but remember what other men had done to her while she’d been in captivity.

Fiona also knew another bout with her withdrawal symptoms was coming. She couldn’t control the shaking of her body, just like before. Her leg also hurt, but Hunter needed attention more than she did. She kept quiet. She’d take care of it later.

The trip to wherever they were going, took about three hours. Hunter woke up once and Fiona heard him talking to the men sitting near him. She couldn’t hear what they said, but she was so far gone inside her head at that point, that it wouldn’t have mattered anyway.

Fiona couldn’t stop the shakes and she’d been dry heaving into the air sick bag in the seat pocket in front of her for the last hour. She knew the men thought she was airsick, and that was all right with her. She prayed Hunter wouldn’t tell them anything about the drugs. Fiona was embarrassed enough as it was. If she could only get to a hotel, or somewhere, and be left alone, she’d deal with it. Eventually the symptoms had to stop. She just had to wait them out.

Cookie had woken up in the back of the plane. He tried to sit up and was restrained by Wolf and Dude.

“Settle down, Cookie, you’re okay,” Wolf told him in a low calm voice.

Cookie hurt like hell, but there was something he had to do, something he had to remember.

Wolf saw his confusion and tried to reassure him. “The women are safe, don’t worry. You got them out. Not sure who the second broad is, but they’re both okay. Only you could pick up a woman in the jungle, Cookie!”

That was it!
Cookie caught Dude’s arm as he leaned over him to check his shoulder wound. Wolf also leaned toward his teammate to hear what he had to say.

Looking at each of his teammates, Cookie urgently said, “Fee. Help her, don’t let her go.” It was all he got out before he passed out again.

Dude tucked Cookie’s arm back by his side and he and Wolf looked at each other, realizing that Cookie cared for the second woman. Neither knew what had happened in the jungle, but he’d specifically been worried about the woman he’d called Fee, not Julie.

Even though Cookie couldn’t hear him, Dude told him softly, “Don’t worry, Cookie, we’ll take care of her for you until you can see to her yourself.”

The plane landed with a bump and a slide. Fiona took a deep breath. This was it. It was time to get on with her life. She didn’t know where they were, but she’d figure it out. She always figured it out.

Julie and one of the men got out of the plane first, then the two pilots, then her, then Hunter was carried out by the two men who’d been seeing to him. Fiona knew the men were Hunter’s team. She’d recognized their names from when Hunter had told them to her what seemed like ages ago.

One of the men who’d been in the back with Hunter had been called Wolf by one of the other men. She was so glad Hunter was with his team. They’d take care of him.

Fiona squinted as they emerged out of the plane and into the sunshine. They were on another deserted dirt airstrip, but this time there was a van waiting for them. It was hot, but the sun felt wonderful on her face. Fiona hadn’t seen the sun directly in months. Besides, she was freezing. She knew she shouldn’t have been, but she was. Fiona staggered and Wolf was there to catch her arm.

“You okay?” he asked.

Fiona didn’t like the scrutiny the big man was giving her so she simply nodded and moved away. She just wanted to be alone.

All eight of them climbed in a van and the same two men who’d been helping Hunter before, arranged him across one of the seats and climbed in behind him. Fiona managed to crawl in without assistance, and watched as Julie and the others also settled themselves into their seats. It was all done without a word spoken. Even Julie wasn’t babbling now. It was weird, but Fiona didn’t have time to even care. She wasn’t in Mexico anymore. That was all she cared about at the moment. They headed down the road and away from the little plane.

It didn't matter where they were going, just that they were going somewhere away from the jungle. Her feet hurt like a bitch, so hopefully they didn’t have to walk far. Looking down at them, Fiona had no idea how she was going to get her damn flip-flops off. Hunter had taped the hell out of them in an effort to protect her.

They drove for a while until they reached a crappy little house in the middle of nowhere. Another van was waiting. They repeated the drill from before, and everyone got settled. The men had put Hunter in the back of the van this time and he was sprawled on the back seat. Wolf was sitting near him making sure all was well. Fiona hoped they were bringing him to a hospital. She didn’t like to see him so quiet and still.

Finally, after driving for another fifteen minutes or so, Fiona started to see signs of civilization. A few houses here and there, then finally some stores. Eventually, they pulled up to another small airport, this one with an actual concrete runway spread out behind the small building. Fiona didn’t have any identification so she had no idea how she’d be able to fly commercially, but again, she kept quiet and waited for the SEALs to tell her what was going on and what she should do.

When the van stopped, Fiona watched as the men all got out, except for Wolf, who was monitoring Hunter. No one motioned for her to stay, so Fiona climbed out too, but stayed close to the van…and Hunter. She knew eventually she’d have to leave him, but if they weren’t going to ask her to do it right now, she wouldn’t. Just being near him comforted her. She knew it was because he’d rescued her, but she also thought it was more. What more, she couldn’t say…just more.

Fiona saw a limo pull up nearby. An older man got out of the limo and it finally clicked. This must be Julie’s father. It was. Julie shrieked and threw herself toward the man and hugged him close. She saw the man close his eyes and embrace his daughter. As annoying as Julie was, Fiona couldn’t help but tear up. If it wasn’t for his man and his daughter she’d still be in that hellhole with no hope of rescue.

She stayed glued to the side of the van watching the drama unfold in front of her. A part of her wanted to thank the man herself, but she just wasn’t feeling up to it. She’d have to step away from the van, walk across the space separating the van and limo, explain who she was and…Fiona stopped thinking. It just wasn’t worth it.

Fiona watched as one of the men who’d rescued them, approached the Senator and Julie. The Senator had a short conversation with the military man, without letting go of his daughter, then they shook hands, nodded at each other, and that was that. The man led Julie away. They got into the limo and the door closed behind them.

Fiona sighed. She hadn’t liked the woman, but it was almost anticlimactic to see her just walk away without a backward glance. Fiona shivered, put Julie out of her mind, and turned to watch the men as they headed back toward her to the van. She had no idea what would happen next. She didn’t have long to wait to find out.

“Hop back in, Fiona,” Wolf called from inside the van. He held out his hand to help her back inside.

“But…” Fiona said, looking between the airport and Wolf sitting in the vehicle. She shrugged. She obviously wasn’t going to be flying anywhere, not looking or smelling like she did, and certainly not without any identification.

She climbed back in without Wolf’s help. When the van was on its way again, Fiona finally asked, “Are we taking him to the hospital?” gesturing toward Hunter.