Jake had no idea where they were headed, but the jungle was only so big, and they’d left the cave several hours ago. Granted, they were moving significantly slower than before, but it was only a matter of time before they came upon a town or village. After that, Jake was confident he and Olivia would be separated.
He’d either be turned over to authorities, or made an example of. Probably both. Jake didn’t allow himself to even think about what would happen to Liv. His insides twisted with the knowledge that their time was running out.
Adding confirmation to his thoughts, Asshole Two shoved Olivia again. She stumbled forward, barely keeping her footing, and...
Jake. Was. Done.
He spun around, getting right into the pudgy bastard’s face. “Don’t fucking touch her again.”
The man curled his lip, uncovering several of his nasty, yellow teeth. “She’s slowing us down.”
“Because she’stired! We all are.”
“We need to keep moving.”
The man started to take a step forward, but Jake stood his ground. “She’s going to collapse if you don’t give her a few minutes to sit down and rest.” Jake glanced over at Liv and back to the other man, forcing his voice to lose its dark edge. “Look at us, man. She’s in no shape to fight you or run away, and I’m sure as hell not going anywhere without her. Let’s just all sit down and take a breather for a few minutes, then, we can be on our merry way.”
The man looked behind Jake to Asshole One, nodded, then brought his eyes back to Jake’s. “Thirty minutes. No longer.” He took a step closer, his nose nearly touching Jake’s chin. “If you try anything...if you fight me or try to run, you will watch as I put a bullet in her head. Then, I’ll put one into yours. Understand?”
“You have my word.” Jake was lying, of course. First chance he got, these assholes were dead.
He and Olivia were led to some nearby trees. Jake bent his knees, getting as low as he could, and plopped his ass onto the ground.
Surprisingly, Asshole One held onto one of Olivia’s arms and helped her ease down more gently. Closing her eyes, she leaned back against the tree and groaned.
Jake waited until the two men stepped away from them. Asshole One lit a cigarette as both men spoke in low murmurs.
Their backs were to him, so Jake couldn’t hear what they were saying, but he really didn’t care. They’d just given him the opportunity he’d been waiting for, and he couldn’t waste a second of it.
Whispering low enough only Olivia to hear, he leaned over and said, “Tell them you need to go to the bathroom.”
She opened her tired eyes slowly and looked over at him. Confused, she whispered back, “What?”
“I need a way to separate those two,” Jake explained. “Now that we’re sitting, I can get free from these ropes and take one of them out. I need the other one away while that happens. I’ll take care of the second one, once the first one is down.”
Olivia thought for a minute. “What if they won’t let me go?”
“Make it believable, and they will.”
Olivia glanced over at the two men who still had their backs to them. Her worried eyes found Jake’s again. “Maybe we should wait, Jake. I don’t want you getting hurt.”
“We can’t wait. It has to be now.” She still didn’t look convinced, so he asked, “Sweetheart, do you trust me?”
“Yes.” Her answer was quick and unwavering.
“Then I need you to do this.”
Olivia bit her lip before nodding. “Okay.”
Jake took precious seconds to assure her, “I promise you, I will end this. We’re going to be okay.”
“Enough! No more talking!” This came from Asshole Two.
Jake quickly whispered, “Now.”
****
“I-I need to go to thebathroom.” Olivia stuttered out, praying these men would believe her.
