Chapter 2

CHAPTER TWO

Evie spat out blood as she pushed herself up, her arms trembling with weakness and fear. The man who’d brought her here had taken his frustrations out on her by way of his meaty fists and booted feet. And after hitting and kicking her until Evie was certain she would die right here in this room, he’d left, taking any hopes of her survival right along with him.

Hers. The girls. And there wasn’t a damn thing she could do to stop it.

I can’t believe my father refused to pay the ransom.

Not only had the coldhearted man acted as if she didn’t exist, but he’d also singlehandedly stolen any reason for their captors to keep them alive. They’d been taken for one reason, and one reason only—money. If these men didn’t see a big fat payday in their near future, they’d no doubt rid themselves of the burden that was Evie and the girls.

She glanced over at the door. It had been several minutes since her guard had left, and she could only assume he’d gone to deliver the bad news to his terrorist friends.

How will they do it?

The macabre question was one she couldn’t help but ponder. She’d read horror stories of Taliban prisoners being shot, stabbed, beheaded… That last one scared her more than the thought of enduring another beating.

At least it would be quick.

A humorless laugh bubbled up inside her chest, bringing with it a waterfall of tears. How had this become her life?

Evie had been born into privilege. She’d been raised in a mansion with enough bedrooms and bathrooms to accommodate a small country. Had attended the most elite private schools in East Hampton with kids whose parents were all mega-rich doctors, lawyers, famous actors, or politicians.

But no amount of designer labels or fancy schools had ever made her feel like she’d belonged. Not the way she did when she was in front of a classroom filled with students eager to learn.

Her first two months here with the girls had been every bit as rewarding. If not more so. But now…

Now they were going to be executed in this Godforsaken cave, and the rest of the world would probably never even know.

How could he do this to me? To us?

It was a question to which Evie knew she’d never get the answer to. Not when the man who’d left her here had promised her death upon his return.

More tears escaped, falling in unending streaks along her bruised and tender cheeks. Painful sobs tore through her as she remained on her hands and knees in the dirt. She was almost certain the bastard had cracked one of her ribs in his unprovoked attack, and it was all she could do not to cry out when she began the slow ascent back to her feet.

Another glance toward the door and more thoughts began to form. Rather than focusing on her impending death, Evie began to contemplate her odds.

She’d been down on the ground, crying and doing her best to breathe through the pain when he’d stormed out of the room. But even through her blurred vision, Evie had been able to see there was no other guard posted outside the room.

One could have been sent after the fact, she supposed. But something told her the arrogant jerk who’d left her here probably assumed she’d be in too much pain to even think about trying to escape.

People were always doing that. Her whole life, Evie had been underestimated. The kids she’d gone to school with. Her fellow teachers.

My father.

He was the worst offender, by far. Always lecturing, spending what little time he’d carved out of his busy schedule to be with her over the years to mansplain why every choice she’d ever seemed to make was wrong.

But they weren’t wrong. They were just different than the ones he’d made for himself. Of course, going against her father in any manner was unacceptable. Lord forbid the only heir to the Mitchell fortune have a mind of her own.

I do have a mind of my own, damn it.

And right now, that mind was telling Evie to get herself and the girls the hell out of here now, before it was too late.

The sound of muffled male voices reached her ears, and her head automatically turned toward the source. Keeping a hand pressed against her injured side, Evie took slow, shallow breaths as she made her way across the room to the window.

Standing to the side, she kept her back plastered against the wall. Careful to keep her face from being seen, she risked looking out into the night.

Through the shadows, she could just make out two men standing near the cave’s entrance. From the looks on their faces, they appeared to be almost bored. Not upset or angry, like the way the man who’d beat her had looked when he’d stormed out.

Maybe he hadn’t yet passed along the news that they wouldn’t be getting paid for their troubles. Or maybe they didn’t care.

Guys willing to kidnap innocent young girls for money probably had other marks already picked out. Other unsuspecting souls going about business as usual, living their lives without the slightest inkling that they could be the next to be kidnapped and held for ransom.

Evie had been there, done that, and she had the bruises to prove it. And if she didn’t find a way out of this mess soon, she and the girls would be little more than fleeting statistics.

She gave the window another quick glance to ensure the men outside hadn’t seen her. With their focus on the blackness of the night, she moved as quickly as she could across the dirt floor. Reaching up, she hesitated briefly, knowing if she got caught trying to escape, it would mean certain death.

You’re going to die no matter what, Eves. At least this way, you’ll go down fighting.

The encouraging voice in her head was right. She may not be a physical match against these guys, and this was almost assuredly a fool’s errand, but Evie knew she had to at least try. For the girls, because damn it…they deserved a chance at a life.

A real life. One where females of all ages had the same rights as males. A life that promised a future filled with laughs and love and joy.

Regret seeped into her veins just then as Evie accepted the fact that she’d likely die without having experienced love herself. Oh, her mother had loved her, of course. There was never any doubt about that.

Unfortunately, her mom had died suddenly, and far, far too young. And for the remainder of Evie’s childhood, she’d been forced to contend with being raised by a father who seemed to tolerate her—barely—and a nanny and staff who followed his strict instructions to the letter.

But true love, the kind between a man and a woman destined to be together until the end of time…that was something she’d never known. And unless a miracle happened, and she somehow managed to escape…

It’s now or never, Eves.

Pulling in a breath as deep as her tender ribs would allow, Evie inched the door open as slowly and silently as humanly possible. The pounding in her head had nothing on that within her chest, but she pushed through the pain and fear enough to look out into the dimly lit pathway.

Relief nearly had her weakened legs crumbling beneath her when she found the corridor empty. New tears formed, but she blinked them away as best she could. There’d be time for tears later. At least, she hoped there’d be time. Now, though…

Now, it was time to act.

Act. Right. Which means you need to actually start moving.

The first step was the hardest, but with some mental encouragement—and the support of the wall beside her—Evie eventually made her way down the length of the empty path. As she moved, her thoughts bounced between the fight to ignore the incessant headache her guard’s blows had created and trying her best to recall the turns she’d taken while being forced after leaving the room.

She reached the wall’s end and was faced with a choice—go straight into a black abyss or turn right. Evie could recall at least one turn while being dragged away from the girls and into that room, so she rounded the corner and headed right.

Several yards later, she was coming up on another dark room when she heard a man shouting something in Pashto. Though she didn’t understand the words being spoken, it was clear the man was angry.

Less than half-a-second later, she heard what she thought was a muffled gunshot. The man’s words were silenced almost instantly.

Fear raced through Evie’s veins. With her palm still pressed against the wall’s cool, rough surface, she stopped and waited, listening intently for further signs of trouble.

The girls!

Though part of her wanted to hide, Evie knew that wasn’t an option. If that was a gunshot, and she was pretty damn sure it was, then it couldn’t have come from anyone good.

No one knew she and her students were here, so an unexpected rescue was most definitely out of the question. But who had just shot the gun and…why?

Maybe you’re wrong, and it wasn’t a gunshot after all.

Maybe. Unfortunately for Evie, there was only one way to find out. With the girls’ safety at the forefront of her mind, she resumed her steps and continued through the shadows.

She couldn’t remember a time when her heart had beat as hard and fast as it was right then. Her legs quivered beneath her, and her ribs and face hurt from the abuse she’d recently suffered. But she kept going.

Step after shuffled step, Evie carried herself closer to the place where she and the girls had been held. In her mind, she silently prayed with all she had that her young students were still locked safely away from any danger.

And how ridiculously ironic was that ?

For days, she’d begged God for a miracle. Pleaded for Him to provide her and the girls a savior. Some sort of miraculous event that would ensure their return to safety.

Now here she was, throwing herself at His mercy with the hope that those sweet, precious girls were still in there. Still locked away in the very prison cell where they’d been forcefully kept.

Better there than in the hands of these monsters.

Evie was almost there. Just a few more rooms to pass before she’d be to the girls and?—

Someone’s there!

It was hard to make out, and for a minute, she thought maybe her throbbing mind had conjured up something that didn’t actually exist. But even as she considered this—even in her frantic state—Evie was convinced she’d seen something move.

There it was again!

She crept a few feet closer, stopping just before the opening of the next to the last room on her right. Laser-focused, she honed her vision in on the spot where she’d seen the shadow move just seconds before.

The small lights along the narrow path weren’t enough to make out any specific details, but even from here, she could tell the shadow belonged to a person. Beads of sweat formed on her forehead, and Evie’s lungs worked faster as they filled themselves with several quick, shallow breaths.

A glimpse inside the room to her right yielded nothing more than the same crude rock walls and dirt floor as the others. With her focus bouncing back to where she’d seen the ominous shadow, Evie watched the area like a hawk.

Her heart thudded against her ribs with maddening fear as she prayed whoever the shadow belonged to would decide to go the other way. Rather than shrink in size, however, the shadow expanded, and the sound of muffled footfalls grew closer.

Evie wasn’t as na?ve as everyone always assumed, and she understood perfectly how dire her situation had become. If she were caught out here—caught trying to escape —she’d likely be shot on sight. Especially if these guys knew their anticipated windfall wouldn’t be coming anytime soon.

Pain knifed through her broken heart, but she refused to let it steal her focus. Being systematically disowned by her only living parent had been a massive blow. Add to that the knowledge that her father had seemingly had no problem letting her die, and…

That was a realization from which she may never fully recover.

But right now, none of that mattered. Survival was the number one goal, and given her current situation, Evie knew her odds of making it out of this hellish cave alive were slim to freaking none.

I have to at least try.

She slipped quietly into the empty room. Rough edges scraped against her back as she made herself as invisible as possible, keeping her trembling form plastered to the wall just inside the unobstructed doorway.

Evie listened and waited, praying the room’s unlit shadows were enough to conceal her presence from whoever was about to walk past. The room’s state of emptiness provided hope that those she’d heard would simply walk on past. If they did that, she’d at least have a chance at getting to the last stretch of hallway, and to the room where she prayed the girls were still secured.

Approaching footfalls sounded, and Evie knew they were getting closer. She pressed her entire body back against the wall, making herself as small as humanly possible.

The air in her lungs ceased all movement as she refused to allow even the tiniest of breaths. Her injured ribs ached painfully from the pressure, the urge to reposition her arm as a makeshift brace tempting. But she didn’t dare move a muscle.

Sore ribs she could live with. A bullet to the head, not so much.

Evie listened intently as she waited, hiding in the darkness. Within seconds, it was clear the person whose shadow she’d seen was coming her way.

Don’t move, Eves. Don’t move. Don’t breathe. Don’t ? —

A bright light appeared, its rays cutting through the room’s center. She made herself impossibly smaller as the thick beam swept the space from left to right, and it took her a moment to realize the light’s source was a long, terrifying-looking rifle.

Evie’s lungs burned with a desperate need for air, but she refused to draw in even a partial breath. Seconds ticked by, and the pressure in her head and lungs increased ten-fold as the light made another pass, pausing dangerously close to the edge of her right foot.

Her toes curled inside her worn and dirty shoes as if that would somehow make her feet invisible should the light catch them. The aching in Evie’s jaw worsened, not only from the blows she’d endured but also from clenching her teeth in terror.

She began to feel a bit lightheaded and feared she would pass out at any second. But then the beam—and the weapon it was mounted to—vanished, sending tears of relief rushing to the surface.

With several quick flutters, Evie blinked them away, finally releasing the air trapped in her lungs. She wanted to gasp like a fish out of water. To fill her lungs to their capacity again and again. But her fear of being heard overrode her body’s instinct to suck in as much air as she could.

Instead, she carefully allowed some much-needed oxygen to enter her system through slow, silent breaths. At least, she hoped like hell they were silent. The man behind the intrusive light may have continued on his path, but that didn’t necessarily mean she was safe.

Not even close.

Whoever he was, it appeared as though he was searching the rooms. For someone or something, she wasn’t sure which. Either way, she had no intention of still being in here when he returned.

Evie began counting the seconds silently in her head. When she reached one hundred, she decided it was time to try to move.

Going against her natural instincts to stay hidden, she slid her body to the edge of the doorway and risked a glimpse outside the room. Her shoulders sagged when the hallway appeared empty from both her left and her right.

After another glance in each direction, Evie decided the coast was clear and rushed from the room. She could only assume whoever it was had gone down one of the tunnel’s other passages, so while he was busy sifting through the remaining rooms, she moved as fast as her quivering legs would take her.

Her pulse raced like never before, and the pain in her left side had worsened to the point it was nearly impossible to pull in a full breath. But she kept on. Pushing her tired and sore body to its limits, Evie was almost to the room where she and the girls had been held when something caught her attention from behind.

She started to spin around, her lips automatically parting in preparation of releasing her scream. But she never got the chance.

A gloved hand filled her vision half a heartbeat before it came crashing down over her gaping mouth. Evie flinched, doing her best to prepare for the pain she just knew would be coming. Though her attacker’s hold was steady and firm, however, there was a gentleness there she had not been expecting.

“Evelynn Mitchell?” The man’s hot breath struck her ear as he asked her name as if to confirm her identity.

Her spine straightened, and her muscles locked down all at once as a new set of fears took hold. The men who’d kidnapped her and the girls already knew her name. So why was this guy asking who she was?

He’s not one of them.

Evie was pulled into the nearest room. With her back to the jerk’s front, he moved lightning fast, spinning her fully around.

It took a moment for her to register the fact that her back was now pressed against the wall near the doorway…and his front was pressed against hers.

The irony in that she’d been in this exact position minutes before as she’d been hiding from, as it turns out, this very same man wasn’t lost on her. The only difference was he hadn’t been with her then.

Now, however…

Now I’m probably going to die.

No, screw that. If this asshole thought he could use her as bait to draw out the remaining Taliban terrorists—or as a human shield, those bastards wouldn’t think twice about shooting to get to him—he was sorely mistaken.

She was going to die regardless, but that didn’t mean she had to make it easy on the son of a bitch.

“My name is?—”

The man started to speak. At the exact same time, Evie lifted her right knee straight up with as much force as she could muster.

The blow struck the man square in the crotch. He grunted as the hand that had been covering her mouth slipped free. And when his left knee started to buckle, Evie saw it as her one and only chance to escape.

She pushed against his vest-covered chest with all her might. Pushed. Shoved. Began kicking and slamming her fists against any and every part of the jerk’s body she could reach.

If anyone had walked by at that very moment, they’d probably think she was some sort of psychotic banshee who’d completely lost her mind. And maybe she finally had gone crazy. But at least she wasn’t rolling over and letting this asshole kill her—or use her as a pawn in whatever sick, terrorist game he was trying to play.

Her side burned with every movement she made, but unlike the other man, this one didn’t hit her. Instead, he grabbed her wrists while twisting his lower body from side to side to avoid her incoming blows.

But he never once retaliated.

Though she’d fully expected his fist to come flying her way any second, this guy didn’t so much as even act as though he were trying to hurt her. Not with his hands or the automatic rifle strapped to his chest.

He did, however, regain control over her by resuming their earlier position.

Evie wasn’t even sure how he did it. One second, she truly thought she was gaining the upper hand, and the next?—

“Damn it, Evelynn, stop!”

The hushed order came with her being pressed back against the room’s rough wall. It was only then that she realized this man was keeping his body against hers, but he wasn’t pushing himself against her.

If she didn’t know better, she’d almost think he was trying his best not to put pressure on her injured core. He also didn’t have an accent, which was also odd in this region. Well, he did , but it sounded almost like…

A southern drawl?

“Who…” She cleared the dryness from her throat. “W-who are you?”

“My name is Beckett Stone.” The man took a step back, keeping his voice low enough for only her to hear. “I’m an American, and my team and I are here to take you home.”

Confusion tore through her as she stared up at her newest captor. Because the room was so dark, it took her a moment to process what she was seeing…and what this man had just said.

He wasn’t dressed like the others. Or like any of the local Afghan men she’d seen during her time here, for that matter. Instead, he had on a helmet, a camouflage shirt and pants, and a protective vest that held extra ammunition—among other things she couldn’t even begin to guess.

In the center of that vest was a patch. Not just any patch, however. An American flag.

Evie’s eyes flew back up to his. “Y-you’re really American?”

Even in the shadows, she could see the man’s scruff-covered lips curve into a small smile. “Born and raised.”

Her own knees threatened to buckle as she threw herself into the stranger’s arms. Having surprised him with the unexpected move, it took him two full seconds to react. But then?—

“Hey,” Beckett crooned, wrapping his arms around her in a warm and gentle embrace. “It’s okay. We’re here now, and you’re safe.”

After a few wonderful seconds, he pulled back. An assessing gaze fell over her tear-filled face, but then…

Beckett’s expression turned lethal as he slowly lifted a hand toward her split and swollen lip. “You’re hurt.” The low growl a direct conflict with his soft, gentle touch.

“Just some bruises,” she did her best to brush off his concern.

“Where else?”

“I’m okay. Really.”

Okay was a bit of a stretch, and from the look on Beckett’s face, he knew it. Countless questions whirled in Evie’s overwhelmed mind, but for a moment, she reveled in the fact that help had finally arrived.

Tears of relief poured from the corners of her eyes because she knew—she knew —that this man was the answer to her prayers. But then she remembered…

“My students!” Evie blurted much too loudly. Lowering her voice, she rushed to tell him, “There are four young girls being held here, too. I’m their teacher, and I need to get to?—”

“The girls are fine,” Beckett promised. “They’re with one of my teammates. All four are safe and already headed to the chopper.”

“Oh, thank God!” More tears fell as the rest of what he’d said sank in. “Wait…you have a helicopter?”

That smile of his grew with a hint of a nod. “Yes, Ma’am. And trust me, Falcon will guard those girls with his life.”

“Falcon?”

With every new detail Beckett shared came more questions.

“Falcon is my teammate who’s taking care of the girls,” he explained. Then, as if he’d read her most recent thoughts, he added, “Look, I know you probably have a ton of questions, but right now, we need to focus on getting you the hell out of here and back with your students. Sound good?”

Good? No, it didn’t sound good. It sounded more like…

A miracle.

She’d prayed for one, and here he was…standing right before her like a camo-wearing warrior. There was always a chance he was lying, she supposed. But Evie didn’t think so.

This man hadn’t caused her harm in any way, despite having had multiple opportunities. In fact, Beckett had gone out of his way to make sure he hadn’t hurt her. Or at least, that’s how it had felt.

He was clearly an American, and since she was out of options, at this point, anyway, she decided to go with her gut and trust he was speaking the truth.

Evie wiped her face dry and straightened her spine. “Getting the hell out of here sounds freaking amazing. But?—”

“But?” Beckett’s dark brows rose beneath his helmet.

“I need to see the girls.”

She needed to see with her own eyes that they truly were okay.

“And you will,” he promised. “In fact, if we leave now, we can probably catch up to them.”

“What about the others? The ones who took us hostage, I mean. What if they?—”

“They’ve been handled,” he answered vaguely. “But this place does have a lot of hiding places, plus a rear exit located on the other side of the mountain, which is why I’m keeping my voice down and my eyes peeled. Until we’re in the clear, you need to do the same, okay?”

After posing the seemingly rhetorical question, Beckett pulled himself back a smidge and glanced down. Starting at her feet, his darkened gaze traveled all the way up the length of her body. The assessment wasn’t sexual in nature but rather more cautionary. As if he was checking to make sure she was physically okay.

“I saw you holdin’ your side earlier.” A muscle in his chiseled jaw bulged beneath the strap holding his helmet in place. Studying what she assumed was the dried blood still present beneath her nose and at the corner of her mouth, he asked, “Are you hurt anywhere else, or are you okay to walk out of here on your own?”

“My ribs are sore, but I’ll sprint out of this place if that’s what it takes.”

It would hurt, and she wouldn’t be very fast, but she’d damn well do it all the same.

Beckett’s lips lifted in a sideways smirk as he drawled out a low, “Not surprised, given the way you tried kickin’ my ass just now.”

“Sorry,” Evie whispered back, feeling slightly chagrined. “I thought…I-I thought you were another group of militants wanting to take me captive, too.” Or worse.

The man’s smile fell, and even in the dark, she could tell his expression had once again grown hard. “No one else will lay a hand on you.” His hard swallow was audible. “You have my word on that.”

As Evie stared up into the darkness of his eyes, she found herself believing this man’s word meant something to him, which was good because it meant everything to her.

“I just need to find the girls and make sure they’re okay.”

“Let’s get you out of here, and then I’ll contact my teammate so you can hear for yourself that they’re just fine.”

“Thank you, Beckett.”

“No thanks needed, darlin’.” He flashed a quick smile before detailing his plan to get them both out of the mountain safely. “You stay with me the entire time. No exceptions. If I tell you to do something, you do it without question. Shit goes sideways, and I go down, you take off in that sprint you teased about. And you don’t stop until you find a safe place to hide. One of my men will find you and get you to safety.”

“You want me to leave you if you get hurt?” Evie shook her head in earnest. “I’m sorry, but I can’t do that. The rest of it, sure. But not that.”

This man had come here to rescue her and the girls. She had no idea how he even knew they were here, and that was a question she’d definitely be posing later. But regardless of the hows and whys, the fact was, he was here, risking his life for her and her students.

For now, that was all she needed to know.

“That’s not up for discussion, Evelynn. You stick around, we could both end up dying, then all this was for nothin’.”

Crap. The man had a point.

“Fine. If you go down, I’ll…leave.”

Maybe.

Probably not, though.

Evie kept her expression steady, hoping Beckett bought the fib. He must have because the next thing she knew, she was being carefully pulled behind his tall, muscular form.

He lifted his automatic rifle and held it out in front of him. Glancing back over his shoulder, he met her gaze before asking, “You ready?”

Boy was she.

“Oh, yeah.” Evie nodded. “I’m ready.”

With a quick lift of his lips, Beckett began to move. Almost as if on reflex, she reached up with one hand and held onto the belt loop at the small of his back.

When he looked back at her again, Evie asked quietly, “Is this okay?”

He smiled down at her with a wink and said, “It’s perfect.”

She followed him just like that the entire way. Where he stepped, she stepped. When he turned, she turned. But Evie’s steps faltered when she spotted a man’s body lying motionless on the ground up ahead.

“Don’t look,” Beckett ordered. “Just focus on my back and follow me.”

Evie tried to obey his command. She really did. But at the last second, she glanced down as they passed the obviously dead terrorist.

“That’s definitely one of them,” she told the man serving as her guide out of hell. “He brought us food and water sometimes. But he always taunted me with lewd comments and threats.”

The asshole was constantly reminding her how he could—and eventually would—"have his way with her” anytime he wanted. Thank God he never made good on the horrifying promise.

Without missing a beat, Beckett responded with, “In that case, I wish he was still alive just so I could shoot his ass again.”

She didn’t say anything to that because…what was the appropriate response to a comment like that? Deciding there really wasn’t one, Evie remained quiet as she inched toward the room where she and the girls had been forced to stay.

“Evelynn?” he uttered her name softly. “You okay?”

She stared into what had been her and the girls’ prison and shook her head. “That’s where they kept us,” she told him unnecessarily. “We were only allowed to leave to use the bathroom or when…” Her delicate throat worked with a wince-driven swallow. “Or when they took me away to question me.”

Of course, he already knew that was the room they’d been held in. He and his team had already rescued the girls from there, after all.

“Look at me, darlin’,” he whispered softly. When she did, Beckett solemnly vowed, “You’ll never be in a place like that ever again.”

Her heart gave a hard thump as it filled with the realization that he was right. She was being rescued—they were all being rescued. And right now, that was the only thing that mattered.