Page 32 of Her Faithful Protector

He could feel Raiden looking at him, but he ignored him. All that mattered was the here and now. They had people to rescue. They had Cami to rescue.

And her last name was still Ross, not Redmond.

* * *

“Up!”

Camilla didn’t know what was going on.

“I said get up. If you don’t start listening, I’m going to just drag your sorry ass out of the Jeep.”

Who is the woman yelling at me? Where’s Nic?

“Ahhhhh,” Camilla cried out when her hair was yanked as she was pulled sideways against her seatbelt.

“Finally, I have your attention. Get out of the Jeep. Even after we give you a ride, you find a way to slow us down.”

Camilla heard sobbing. “Don’t touch me. Please don’t touch me.”

She tried to turn her head and see what was happening in the seat next to her, but Maria was holding her hair too tightly.

“Let me unbuckle my seatbelt,” Camilla said in her schoolteacher's voice. Anything to make Maria let her loose so she could help Jan.

Maria shoved her head away. “Be quick. We don’t have all night.” That was when Camilla realized it was dark. She also noticed a loud rumble that she hadn’t heard before, but she didn’t have time to look around. Instead, she unbuckled her belt and focused on Jan. There was some thug groping her. Quickly, she pushed the man’s hands away, unbuckled Jan’s seatbelt, and pulled her toward her side of the Jeep.

“Hey, what are you doing?” the man demanded in Spanish. Camilla ignored him. She stumbled out of the Jeep before finally getting upright. When she was firmly on her feet, she tugged Jan into her arms.

“Shhh, it’s going to be all right,” she comforted the girl.

“Why lie to her?” Maria laughed.

Jan shuddered against Camilla’s throbbing shoulder. Were they ever going to get out of this?

“Time to get into the truck!” a man yelled. Headlights blinded Camilla for a moment.

“What’s going on?” she asked Maria.

“You’re always bitching about people needing to ride. Well, Princess, you’ll be happy; now everybody gets to ride. You and that sniveling bitch need to move your ass, we don’t have all night. We need to get to the village by morning.”

“What’s going to h-h-happen to us?” Jan stuttered.

“If your parents pay, then you won’t spend too long in your cage. Maybe just a month or so. It won’t be so bad. Maybe your cage will be next to that pretty boy’s who’s always so protective of you, won’t you like that?” Maria taunted.

The woman was trying to mind-fuck them, there was no other term for it. Camilla hated her more than she did El Jefe.

“Now move your asses onto the truck.” She sauntered away, leaving them to fend for themselves.

Now that Camilla’s eyes had adjusted she saw that there was a canvas-covered truck that looked like it had been built in the nineteen-fifties on the road in front of them. Most of the college students were climbing inside. Lisa wasn’t; she was standing at the back bumper looking around, making sure everybody was getting onboard.

“Camilla!” she shouted out.

“I’m here,” Camilla shouted back. “I have Jan with me. We’re coming.”

Camilla let out a sigh of relief when she saw Lisa head there way. Trying to keep Jan upright was using what little strength she had left. She realized that Lisa’s arm had to be killing her, but hopefully, between the two of them, they could manage to get Jan onto the truck.

“Some of the guards hustled the guys onto the truck, that’s why they’re not here to help,” Lisa said as soon as she was close.

Camilla nodded, she had wondered.