“I know, I know. Not with Tayla in there.”
The soup-thick tension filling the SUV threatened to impair his judgement.No. I’m more professional than that. Come on, Bridger, you’ve got this. You’ve been in tight spots before. Think of something.
Except he couldn’t. Couldn’t think of any action that wouldn’t endanger Tayla. They were going to have to take a big risk.
The order stuck in his throat.
“Jason.” Leland’s voice was low. And grave. “They let her see their faces. They’re not going to let her go. We have to—”
“I know. Knox, stop that car. Before we get near any cliffs.”
“Yes, sir.”
Knox hit the gas, passed the sedan on the left, and then cut back to the right. The second their SUV was in front of the sedan, he touched the brake—lighter than he would have if Tayla wasn’t in the car. Jason witnessed Knox executing this maneuver twice before. But neither time was there a friendly in the car.
The sedan hit the back of the SUV, then swerved off the road to the right.
They were over a mile from the resort area, with no streetlights. No buildings in sight. And clouds covered the bright moon they’d enjoyed earlier in the evening.
Jason watched the sedan careen off the road into pitch darkness. And prayed they wouldn’t slam into a tree before they slowed.
Knox made a tire-screeching u-turn and followed the sedan off the road. They plowed through lush jungle forabout five seconds before they hit sand. Knox slammed on the brakes.
A few feet in front of them, the sedan was hopelessly stuck on a sand dune, its front wheels spinning in the air, back bumper in the sand.
Jason didn’t hesitate. “Knox, cover the driver. Leland, backseat.”
The three of them spilled out of the SUV and surrounded the sedan, weapons drawn. Jason, Leland, and Knox yelled for the men to place their hands on their heads. The men slowly complied.
The front passenger door was open, giving Jason full view of the man Tayla recognized. Jason called out to her, keeping his eyes, and his gun, on the man. “Tayla, are you hurt?”
The three seconds of silence that followed dropped lead into his stomach. Why wasn’t—
“I’m . . . I’m okay,” floated from the backseat.
The reaction she triggered in him with those words . . . This wasn’t normal. Not for him.
When he rescued the three kids from a deadly hostage situation a few months ago in Moldova, he felt relief. But not weak-in-the-knees relief, like he felt now.
“Alright, Tayla,” he said. “All three of these men have guns pointed at them. They’re not going to move a muscle. Climb out of the car, walk to the SUV and get in.”
Again, the silence that dragged through the next several seconds tortured his stomach. She wasn’t moving.
He didn’t want to take his eyes off the guy in front of him, but her stillness worried him. Was she hurt, after all? Was she stuck somehow? In shock? “Tayla? Are you okay? Tayla, honey, say something. Can you get out of the car?”
He heard a muffled reply, but wasn’t sure what she’d said. He heard a door open.
He repeated for her to get into the SUV and noticed her movements in his peripheral vision. She walked slowly. But she was alive. Living and breathing. Which was far better than his fears had envisioned minutes ago.
As soon as he heard the SUV door open and shut, he, Knox, and Leland started giving orders to the men in the car. Eventually, all three men surrendered their weapons, sloshed through the sand to a spot of Jason’s choosing, and were bound with zip ties.
“Leland, go check on Tayla. We’ve got these guys.”
Leland retreated to the SUV.
Jason kept his eyes on their captives while he stepped closer to Knox. He spoke at a volume only Knox could hear. “We need to call the authorities. Again. But . . .”
“But,” the corner of Knox’s mouth quirked up, “it will take them a while to get here. And if we’re going to talk to these gentlemen, this might be our only chance.”
