She’d been beaten and damn near starved. They’d given her some type of drug and she’d been shot, for Christ’s sake. She held back a hysterical laugh, thinking the odds most definitely did not seem to be in her favor.
Gracie glanced down at her throbbing arm. She thought maybe the bleeding was slowing, but was so light-headed now, she was having a hard time focusing.
Maybe I’ll pass out before the end comes.
She shook her head, unwilling to give up now. She’d come too far and fought too damn hard to just sit back and wait to die.
Gracie made a decision, then. If these were to be her last moments on this earth, she refused to spend them willingly surrendering her life to this man. A life she’d never get to have with Nate.
She looked out the front windshield. The road they were travelling on was leading them to what looked to be a river or lake.
There was a narrow, wooden bridge they had to cross in order to get to the other side. Neither the bridge nor the body of water was overly large, but they’d work for what she had in mind.
She damn near smiled at the idea that had formed. Gracie glanced at Yavuz, whose attention was split between what was in front of the car and the road behind them.
Perfect.
Her plan became clearer the closer they got to the bridge. Eyeing both it and its distance to the water below, she sat back and waited.
She would do everything in her power to survive this, but if she was going to die today—and it was looking like she would—at least she’d die knowing she fought to the end.
* * *
“No!”
Nate ran toward the car, but it was too late.Hewas too late. It had taken too long to hack into that goddamn lock, and Yavuz had slipped right through his fingers. With his Gracie.
Stopping in the middle of the road, his chest heaved and his heart broke. He could barely see the back of the car, now.
With his hands on his hips, Nate hung his head between his shoulders and squeezed his eyes shut, trying to fight against the helplessness threatening to take over.
After a few deep breaths, he stood straight again and stared at the empty, dust-covered road. His mind was a melting pot of swirling thoughts and numbers. He worked to calculate Yavuz’ speed and the distance he’d already travelled.
Nate then figured up the time it would take to run back to their vehicles so the two teams could catch up to the car.
He was still trying to come up with a plan of action—one that didn’t end with him losing the best thing in his life—when one of the two Jeeps pulled up next to him.
“Get in!”
Nate’s head swung up and around. Behind a cloud of dust, he saw Ghost behind the wheel and Gabe and Matt sitting in he back.
A rush of hope flourished once more as Nate jumped up into the passenger side. Ghost took off down the road, his booted foot slamming the gas pedal down to the floor before Nate’s ass even hit the leather seat.
“Go! Go! Go!” Nate yelled, slamming the palm of his hand onto the dashboard. Renewed hope billowed throughout his veins as the four men sped down the dirt road.
Ghost glanced over at him, and Nate instinctively knew he was assessing his mental status.
“I’m good. We’ll get her,” Nate told the other man, his determination clear.
“Fuck, yeah, we will,” Matt exclaimed from the back.
Gabe agreed. “Didn’t come all this way to lose her now.”
Nate was never more appreciative of his teammates as he was right then. They were ready, willing to fight to the death to help him get Gracie to safety.
Hang on, baby. We’re coming.
Until now, Nate hadn’t allowed himself to think about it, but he’d seen the blood. He hated that she’d been hurt, but at least she was alive.
