Braxton
I hear the helicopters overhead, and I grin. That’s the thing about Navy men; we stick together. All it took was one call, and Jackson had my back. I burst into the room just as the Cole security team and San Diego PD’s SWAT rain down from above. There were over twenty men in the room, all dressed in business suits, but the man with the gavel in hand is the one who stills me. I have thought of all the worst case scenarios but this has to top them all. Willard O’Hare. He kidnapped Eliana, and God knows why these other filthy mother fuckers are here. I survey the room, but she is nowhere to be seen.
I am on him in seconds. “Where the fuck is she?”
He says nothing, so my fist connects with his face. “You’ll have to ask her new owner.”
“Owner?” My breathing is ragged as I look around me.
“That way,” one of the Cole Security guys shouts to me, and I head in the direction he points. Two men are dragging a cloaked figure down a corridor, and something in me tells me it’s Eliana. I aim and strike one of the men in the shin with my pistol. The other man looks between me and the guy on the ground, and lets Eliana go making a run for it. I bolt down the corridor, thankfully catching her just as she’s about to hit the ground, her eyes droopy.
“I’ve got you, Princess,” I reassure her. She nods, but I’m not sure she hears me. She curls into my chest as I carry her back to the room where all the men, including O’ Hare, are in cuffs.
I hand Eliana to one of Jackson’s men. “Take her to the ambulance, will you?”
I stalk toward Willard who doesn’t seem at all intimidated. “You asshole, you were actually going to sell her.”
“I did sell her,” he sneers. My fist connects with his jaw again, and he just laughs it off. “She deserved it. You both did.” The hatred in his eyes is evident.
“You had a choice, Willard. All you had to do was turn Hernandez in, let the law take care of him.” My jaw stiffens.
“The law, huh? You think I didn’t try that? He paid his way out of it, that is what people like him do, so this was the only way.” He spits.
I shake my head. “It wasn’t the only way. You took an innocent girl, and you were feeding her to the wolves.”
“Good thing you got here in time then hey, Hero?” His face is smug, and I want to ram a fist into it.
“I hope you rot in hell, Willard.” I grind my teeth.
“I’ll likely see you there.” He laughs as he’s led away.
“You okay, man?” one of Jackson’s men asks.
“All thanks to you guys,” I say, shaking his hand.
My chest is still tight with unease as I make my way outside toward the ambulance. Eliana is as pale as a white sheet. She’s hooked up to a drip.
“For dehydration,” the medic tells me after seeing the concern on my face. I nod and climb into the ambulance. “She’s still a bit out of it, whatever they gave her was some potent stuff, but she seems to be coming out of it.
“Think she’ll need to stay at the hospital long?”
“I can’t say for certain, but probably just overnight, to make sure there aren’t any side effects. The hospital will run some blood tests to see what she’s dealing with.”
I take her small hand in mine and place a kiss on it. Tears sting my eyes, and I don’t care that the EMT is staring at me.
“I could’ve lost her.”
“You didn’t. That is what matters,” the man smiles at me.
“Yeah. I guess you’re right.”
* * *
I sit by her bedside, just watching her. It’s late, and I can feel my eyes getting heavy, but I’m afraid that if I take my eyes off her, she’ll disappear into thin air.
“The doctors say she’s gonna be fine. If you need a break, I can take over,” her brother Zev tells me as he steps into the room. I press my palms against my eyes.
Her mother and brother have been in the waiting room; they’re both distraught. I’d only seen Serafina Hernandez that one time in her husband’s office, but she seems to have shrunk since then.
