Chapter Six

Chapter Six

Bob wasn’t sure how long he and Marlowe had been in the “safe room” under the floor, but he was surprised to realize that he’d slept. Truly slept, for the first time in years. He hadn’t woken up from a nightmare. Hadn’t tossed and turned. From what he could tell, he hadn’t moved throughout the last several hours.

Not that he could’ve moved much anyway, but he’d slept well, content to hold Marlowe in his arms. He knew he had her to thank. She was a minor miracle. His miracle . . . and it would be excruciating to give her up once they reached the States.

Pushing that thought to the back of his mind to deal with later, once they were both home, he took a deep breath, trying to clear his mind. He was hot and sweating, and he could feel the dampness of his clothes where Marlowe was plastered against him. Her skin was dewy where his hand rested on her lower back, but they were safe. That was all that mattered.

Just as he was about to sit up and figure out what time it was, and wake Marlowe so they could head out to their next destination, he heard voices. The spot under the floor was well built and kept out the light from the room above, but apparently it didn’t completely keep out all sounds.

Something fell onto the floor right above their heads, making him jump and waking Marlowe.

She stiffened in his arms, and Bob hurried to reassure her. In a toneless whisper—because if he could hear the people above them, they could surely hear him as well—he said, “It’s okay, Punky. We’re safe.”

She nodded against him, but every muscle in her body was tense. He could practically hear her thinking. She was probably plotting how she could give herself up to save him. When she’d suggested that earlier this morning, dread nearly overwhelmed him. There was no way he’d allow her to do such a thing. He’d die first.

The only other people he’d ever considered giving up his life for were his teammates. But he wasn’t the least bit surprised that Marlowe was now at the very top of that short list. His feelings for the woman were getting deeper by the day.

It wasn’t even hard to admit to himself. Especially after learning more about her before they’d fallen asleep. He liked everything he knew so far. And she was now his wife. Their marriage may or may not be legal back home, but he didn’t care.

Marlowe’s entire body trembled as the voices grew louder, and her fear cut through Bob like a knife. He hated that she was scared, but there was nothing he could do at the moment other than hold her tight.

He couldn’t understand what was being said above them, but he did hear Marlowe’s name more than once. Whoever was up there with their host was definitely looking for her. Bob prayed the woman wouldn’t give them up.

He heard more words, then footsteps receding.

Ten minutes later, the footsteps were back—then the trapdoor above them was wrenched open.

Bob moved instinctively, shoving Marlowe against the wall and pulling out the knife he kept in a sheath at his waistband, all in the same motion.

But the only person waiting for them was the elderly woman. She frantically gestured for them to get out of the hole. She looked anxious and kept glancing over her shoulder.

“Go!” she said urgently. “Go now!”

Praying she wasn’t double-crossing them, that the money Willis was paying her was more than she’d get for turning them in to the authorities, Bob stood and held out his hand for Marlowe.

“What’s going on?” she asked as she swayed on her feet.

Bob steadied her and climbed out of the hole. Not giving her a chance to climb out on her own, he grasped her waist and lifted her up and out. “We’re leaving,” he said tensely.

“Are they waiting for us outside?” she asked.

“I don’t know. But I’m thinking not.” Bob had no idea what to think, but he wasn’t going to heap any more worry onto Marlowe’s shoulders. He kept a tight hold on her hand as he followed the woman out of the office, toward the back of the house. She went straight to a covered window, peering around a tiny sliver in the curtain before turning to them and pointing to the door.

He shouldn’t have been surprised when Marlowe stepped toward the woman and gave her a long, hard hug, but he still was.

“Thank you,” she told the woman.

She pulled back and stared at Marlowe for a moment, then held up a finger, asking them to wait.

Anxious to be on his way, Bob had to use all his self-control not to rush Marlowe out the door. But the woman was back in less than thirty seconds, holding a piece of paper. She handed it to Marlowe with a small smile.

Looking over her shoulder, Bob saw the document was written in Thai, but it had both their names—their real names—in the center of the form. The woman held out a pen to Bob. Nodding at it, then at the form. She pointed to a line at the bottom.

“I think it’s our wedding certificate,” Marlowe whispered. “She wants us to sign it.”

Bob didn’t hesitate. He took the pen and gently removed the paper from Marlowe’s hand. He held it up against the door and signed his name on the line the woman had pointed to. Then he passed the pen to Marlowe and held her gaze for a heart-stopping moment. Praying she’d follow his lead.

He needed her name on that paper. It made what they’d done legal. At least in this country. And knowing he and Marlowe were officially tied together in at least one country in the world made the anxiety inside him about the future settle a bit.

Marlowe took the pen from him and copied his motions, adding her signature to the line below his own. “Kendric and Marlowe Evans,” she whispered, reading their names that had been printed at the bottom of the form.

The woman said something else and smiled at them, before frowning once again at a noise toward the front of the house.

“It’s time to go,” Bob said, taking the paper, folding it up, and stuffing it into his pocket. He wished he could get it framed. Wished he didn’t have to put even one crease in the document. But their time here was up. They needed to get out. Now.

Without complaint, Marlowe nodded and turned to the door. Bob took five seconds to bow over their host’s hand and kiss it before nodding at her and opening the door.

Looking around, he saw it was once again dark, which was a huge relief. The scooter that had faithfully brought them this far was waiting. Praying it had been filled with gas, as it had at all their other stops, Bob climbed on, watching as Marlowe quickly donned the blonde wig once more. He’d forgotten about it until now, and he was more than thankful she hadn’t.

It had saved them at the checkpoint in Bangkok, and he hoped it would continue to be a good luck charm.

Without looking back, Bob eased the scooter out of the yard, started it up, and raced down the dark alley.

The closer they got to the border, the more tense things seemed. Neither spoke much as they rode along the dark back roads, trying to avoid heavier traffic. They only had one more stop in Thailand, a safe house less than a mile from the border. So far, everything had worked out according to plan. But Bob knew more than most people that the second he let down his guard, that’s when things could go awry. So the closer they got, the more on edge he became.

It was still dark when they neared another run-down house in yet another small village. Most of their safe houses had been little more than shacks . . . but for some reason, just looking at this one made the hair on the back of Bob’s neck stand up.

He shut off the scooter, but didn’t attempt to dismount.

“Kendric?”

Bob would never tire of hearing Marlowe say his name. “It’s okay. Everything’s fine,” he said to reassure her. She sounded just as nervous as he felt. “This time tomorrow, we’ll be in Cambodia.”

He felt her nod against him. She was plastered to his back, her arms locked around him, as she had been for every second of the last few nights. The scooter might not be the fastest mode of transportation, but it got them where they needed to go, was able to travel on smaller roads and paths that a car couldn’t. And it gave him an excuse to keep Marlowe wrapped around him.

“Come on. Let’s greet our hosts and get some sleep.”

His lips twitched at the huff of annoyance that left Marlowe’s lips. “As if you’ll sleep,” she muttered.

She wasn’t wrong. He didn’t sleep much, the previous day notwithstanding. Definitely not deeply. And it was only partly because of the nightmares he couldn’t seem to shake. He wanted to make sure Marlowe was safe. That no one sneaked up on them. The thought of her being taken back to that prison—and treated even worse because she’d escaped—was unbearable. A lack of sleep was a small price to pay to ensure her freedom.

Bob believed her story about what had landed her in this unbelievable situation in the first place. He’d made a mental note to find this Ian West and make certain he couldn’t screw over anyone else ever again. He’d rue the day he decided to not only steal from the dig, but also set up one of the sweetest women Bob had ever met.

Taking a deep breath, he said, “Hop off, Punky.”

She immediately swung a leg over the seat, and Bob couldn’t help but remember the first time she’d tried to stand after riding behind him. She’d definitely gotten the hang of the bike since then.

He climbed off himself, then reached for her hand. It was instinctive. Natural. Every day, as soon as they were done riding, they reached for each other. Held hands as long as they could. Neither had brought it up; they’d just fallen into the routine.

Pushing the scooter with one hand and holding on to Marlowe with the other, Bob headed for the back door of the dwelling owned by their latest contact.

It opened before he knocked, and a man stood there with a frown on his face. A woman peeked out from around him.

“In,” he said gruffly, opening the door farther.

For a moment, Bob hesitated. He wasn’t sure what it was about the man that made him so uneasy, but just like when he’d seen the small dwelling, his gut instinct flared to life.

He was about to turn away, to tell Marlowe they’d find somewhere else to hole up for the day, when she yawned.

Studying her for a moment, even in the dark he could see the deeper shadows under her eyes. She was exhausted. And while he had no doubt if he told her they were going to continue on, she’d not let one word of complaint cross her lips, he didn’t want to do that to her. She’d already been through so much.

“Hang on a little longer and you can get some sleep,” he said, trying to shove his unease aside.

“I’m good,” she said, lifting her chin as if to challenge him.

Bob simply smiled and squeezed her hand before following the man inside. He left the scooter propped against the house and prayed it would still be there later. This far from the city, and away from the possibility of better-paying jobs, it was obvious people were struggling.

The couple led them through a cold, dark kitchen and a room with a low table, two wooden chairs, and nothing else, and finally into a bedroom at the front of the house. There was a pallet on the floor, a few threadbare blankets, a couple of broken crates that held what Bob thought were clothes, and some worn shoes against the wall.

The man nodded at them, then turned and left, closing the door behind him.

Bob sighed. It wasn’t as if he expected another hot meal and shower—the fact that they’d gotten both at the older woman’s house was a bonus, not an expectation—but he knew the people helping them get across the country were being paid generously to do so. Even a bit of rice would have been appreciated.

“It’s okay,” Marlowe said, as if she could read his mind. “I’m not hungry. Just tired.”

“We’ve got a few protein bars left,” Bob said. “You can eat one of those.”

She nodded, then looked at the bed with a small grimace.

“Over here,” Bob said, well familiar by now with her reluctance to sleep on anyone else’s bed. He steered her over to the wall, eased the backpack off her shoulders, then sat, pulling her down with him.

To his satisfaction, she sat right next to him, so close her thigh touched his own and their shoulders brushed. He dug through the backpack and brought out a protein bar and handed it to her.

“Are we safe here?” Marlowe asked after taking a bite.

Bob’s first inclination was to say yes. To reassure her so she wouldn’t worry. But she wasn’t stupid. She’d never asked that question at any of the other places they’d stopped. Something about the couple’s greeting had struck her as wrong, just as it had with him.

“We should be,” he settled on saying.

She stared at him with big brown eyes for a long moment before nodding.

“I should’ve done this before now, but I need you to do something for me,” Bob said, keeping his voice low.

“Anything.”

God, this woman. The longer he was around her, the more he wanted to keep her for himself. “I need you to memorize this phone number. If anything happens, you call it. Tell my friends who you are and that you were with me. They’ll help you.”

“Chappy, Cal, and JJ, right?” she said softly.

Relieved she wasn’t going to argue with him, Bob nodded. “Yeah. Chappy’s real name is Riggs. Riggs Chapman. Cal is Callum Redmon, he’s the Liechtenstein prince, and JJ is Jackson Justice. We all work at Jack’s Lumber, named after JJ. The number is 555-824-8733. The last four numbers spell the word tree—555-824-8733. Repeat it back to me.”

She did.

“Again,” Bob insisted.

She recited the numbers again without hesitation.

“Good. If anything happens, find a phone and call. During business hours, someone will answer. Probably April. But even on nights and weekends, a service forwards any emergency calls to her cell. My friends will help you.” It was important to Bob that Marlowe understand she had someone else to turn to, should anything happen to him.

“Don’t do anything stupid,” she said earnestly. “Don’t sacrifice yourself for me. I couldn’t bear it if you got caught making sure I got away.”

Bob wasn’t going to promise anything. Somehow in the last week, he’d fallen hard for this woman. He believed in her innocence, and nothing was going to stop him from getting her across the border. There was no guarantee the Thai authorities wouldn’t come after her even when they were in Cambodia, but he was pretty sure with Willis’s connections, they’d be able to get out of the country before the two governments could work together to stop them.

When he didn’t respond, Marlowe sighed. “Fine. I’ll just have to make sure you don’t do anything stupid.”

Bob couldn’t help but smirk at that.

“Here,” she said, holding out the half-eaten protein bar. “I’ve had enough. You finish that up. I’m going to nap. But Kendric?”

“Yeah, Punky?”

“Maybe we can head out a little early? Would it matter if we left when it was still light outside? Now that we’re so close, I can’t wait to get out of Thailand.”

Yup. She was definitely as uneasy as he was. They just had to hope their hosts didn’t sell them out. “Yeah, I think we can do that.”

“Good.” She reached up and scratched her head. “I hate this wig,” she mumbled, but didn’t move to take it off. “I know it’s super important, but I still hate it. There’s a reason I keep my hair short.”

He put his arm around her shoulders and pulled her against him. She snuggled in immediately, wrapping an arm around his chest and pushing the other behind his back and holding on tight.

He turned his head and kissed her forehead. “Sleep, Marlowe.”

She nodded and sighed. A minute or two went by before she said, “You slept today.”

Bob frowned. “What?”

“At the woman’s house. You slept. I woke up and you were out. Like, really out. I was worried for a moment, but then I realized what was different. You were sleeping hard. You really needed it.”

“It’s you,” he whispered.

She lifted her head and stared at him with big eyes. “Me?”

“Yeah. It’s as if my subconscious knew I was safe with you, that you’d protect me while I was asleep.”

“I will,” she said fervently. “I dare anyone to try to touch you while you’re sleeping.”

Bob grinned. She was adorable. He put his hand on her head and gently eased it back down to his chest. “Down, girl. We’re good. Close your eyes and get some sleep. We’ll head out late this afternoon and hopefully get across the border right when it gets dark.”

“I’m afraid to believe that I might just get home,” she whispered against him.

“You will. I promise.”

Marlowe hugged him tight and nuzzled his chest. Just minutes later, she was asleep.

Bob’s heart swelled as he held her close. He’d always felt protective with the people he was sent to rescue, but nothing compared to the feelings coursing through his veins at the moment.

Marlowe didn’t deserve what happened to her. The same was likely for some of the other women who were incarcerated with her. He wasn’t a proponent of drug use, but enduring a life sentence for a few ounces of pot or a couple of yaba pills wasn’t right either.

He’d get Marlowe to safety, and he only hoped any other innocent prisoners still at large were able to hide. To continue to evade the police, with or without someone’s aid. That they’d be able to start their lives again.

Sometime later, Bob jerked awake. Glancing at his watch, he was surprised to see he’d actually dozed for a good while. It was now afternoon, and while he’d promised they could get an earlier start today, it was still a couple of hours before he felt they could safely continue their journey.

He scooted down until he was lying on the hard wooden planks of the floor, moved their backpack under his head, and adjusted Marlowe in his arms, more than content to let her use him as a pillow.

He was staring at the ceiling, going over the trickiest part of their escape in his head—getting across the border undetected—when he heard a sound that made his gut clench.

Their hosts were in the other room, arguing. They were trying to be quiet, but it was obvious they were having a heated disagreement about something.

The hair on the back of Bob’s neck stood up as he listened.

They were in a very poor area, like so many others they’d passed through. He wanted to trust Willis’s network, and an argument didn’t necessarily mean anything in regard to him and Marlowe. But he understood how tempting it would be for their hosts to turn them in for the reward money, no matter how much Willis had paid them.

Bob had also been a Special Forces soldier long enough to trust his instincts. And his instincts were telling him to get the hell out of this house. Now.

He sat up, shaking Marlowe as he did. “Punky, wake up. We need to leave,” he whispered.

To her credit, she didn’t ask why. Didn’t complain about more sleep, or moan about any aches and pains she might have from sleeping on the floor. She silently got to her feet, put the backpack on, and looked to him for direction.

Elsewhere in the house, the voices had stopped. Bob quietly strode to the door and opened it a crack, looking out. Not seeing anyone, he gestured for Marlowe to come closer. She was at his side immediately.

“We’re going to go out the front door,” he whispered. “I’m guessing our scooter is probably long gone. We’re going to have to go the last bit on foot.” He glanced down at her shower shoes with regret.

“It’s fine. We’ve got this,” she whispered back.

Damn, he adored this woman. When the going got tough, she didn’t break. Unbelievably, she got even stronger. “Come on,” he said, reaching for her hand. “We’re just two tourists out for a walk. We don’t want to bring any more attention to ourselves than we’ll already do because we don’t fit in here.”

“Do you think they called the police on us?” Marlowe whispered.

Bob pressed his lips together and nodded. He had no proof, but from the moment they’d arrived at this house, his gut had told him something was off. If they had notified the authorities, he wasn’t sure why they’d waited so long. They could have had the police waiting for him and Marlowe upon their arrival. Based on the argument he’d overheard, he could only guess maybe one of their hosts hadn’t been so eager to betray them.

Whatever the reason, he was kind of surprised it hadn’t happened before now. The lure of a double payout was too much for some people to resist. And looking at the poverty most of their hosts lived in, he could hardly blame them.

He cautiously left the bedroom, thankful now that it was at the front of the house, and took the few steps to the front door. Closing it behind them as silently as he could, Bob quickly ushered Marlowe down the street, remaining on high alert. After a few blocks, they cut between two run-down homes, then traversed a long alley.

Suddenly, he heard sirens from a police car.

The sound seemed to echo around them before Bob pinpointed its location—in the direction they’d just come from. Again, there was no proof the police were actually coming for them, but for Bob, it was confirmation that his instincts were likely correct. The couple had notified the authorities.

“Easy, Punky,” Bob crooned as he continued walking at a brisk pace through the small town.

“Should I take the wig off?” Marlowe asked. “I mean, they didn’t see me without it, so they’d probably describe me to the police as having long blonde hair.”

Shit, he should’ve thought about that. Bob nodded. “Yeah, give it to me,” he said, holding out the hand that wasn’t clutching hers.

She quickly ripped the wig from her head and handed it over.

Bob couldn’t stop the grin from forming. “I bet that felt good.”

“No, it felt great,” she countered, returning his smile.

The next rubbish bin they passed, Bob threw away the offensive wig that had kept her safe for days. Marlowe ran a hand over her head, making her short black hair stick straight up. The hair at her temples and the back of her neck was wet with sweat, but he still hadn’t seen anyone as beautiful as this woman in a very long time.

“Stop staring at me,” she murmured with a self-conscious huff.

“Can’t help it. You’re radiant.”

She rolled her eyes. “Such a sweet talker. If I had known that earlier, I wouldn’t have said yes.”

“Yes, you would’ve. I’m irresistible,” Bob teased. He was well aware how much danger they were still in as he continued to lead them away from the house where the police likely expected to take them both into custody. But keeping Marlowe calm was more important than ever right now. Panic caused mistakes. And they couldn’t afford even one misstep. Not when they were so close to the border.

“And your ego is huge,” she said with a smile, letting him know she was kidding. “But I suppose you have reason to be a bit egotistical. I mean, you did break me out of prison, get us through that roadblock, and get us this far.”

“You helped,” he insisted. “Without your levelheadedness and willingness to sleep on floors, and under floors, and do whatever’s necessary to stay under the radar—like wear that uncomfortable wig and marry a bum like me—we wouldn’t be as well off as we are now.”

“Are we well off?” she asked seriously. “I mean, I know you said we’re near the border, but what if there’s an extradition policy and they’re waiting for us on the other side? Or what if Thai police follow us across and grab me?”

“Don’t borrow trouble,” Bob warned. “We’ll figure things out as we go. Just as we’ve been doing.”

“Okay.”

“Okay,” he agreed.

They walked through the town, sticking to the alleys and between homes as much as they could. They continued to hear sirens, and Bob guessed the police were now searching for them. The sun was hours from setting, which would make it that much more difficult to get to the border undetected. Bob further suspected the police were well aware they’d try to cross into Cambodia, and therefore would have the road that ran parallel to the border fence well patrolled.

About twenty minutes later, they reached an area of isolated, run-down-looking shacks beyond the edge of town, with plenty of space between each. Bob stopped behind the one closest to the surrounding jungle and pulled Marlowe into a crouch beside him.

“This next part’s going to be tricky,” he said.

Marlowe nodded and pressed her lips together.

“There’s about two hundred yards of jungle, then a rural road, then another fifty or so yards of scrub brush and trees before the border. From the intel I was given, there’s a chain-link fence running along the border, with barbed wire across the top. There are no trees close to the fence for cover, of course, so once we get there, we’re going to have to move as fast as possible.”

He was impressed all over again at Marlowe’s ready acceptance of the situation he described.

“Once you get to the fence, start climbing and don’t look back, no matter what. Understand? When you get to the top, be extremely careful. Aside from the police, the main thing we have to worry about out here is infection if you happen to cut yourself.”

“Infection, and not being shot in the back as we’re climbing?” Marlowe asked dryly.

“They want you back alive,” Bob said bluntly. “They’ll want to make an example of you. Make sure foreigners are aware of their zero-tolerance policy for drugs. Your only job is to get up and over that fence, then run like hell. There’s a farm about a mile in from the border. That’s your goal. The owners are expecting us.”

“Our goal,” she said with a frown when Bob stopped talking.

“What?”

“That’s our goal. I’m not leaving you, Kendric. Don’t ask me to. I won’t do it. If the Thai authorities want to make an example of me, they won’t hesitate to arrest you for aiding and abetting. Hell, they’ll probably plant drugs on you for good measure. We’re doing this together or we aren’t doing it at all. To love and protect, for better and worse . . . remember?”

Marlowe would’ve made a hell of a soldier. Bob was proud to have her at his side. “Our goal,” he repeated softly.

“I’m serious.” Marlowe scowled. “Without you, I won’t make it. I won’t know where to go or what to do. The only reason I’ve made it this far is because of you. I’m not leaving you.”

Bob clutched her shoulders and stared into her eyes. “You’d make it. I have no doubt. You’re smart. And stubborn. And resourceful. But I give you my word that I’ll do everything in my power to get us both over that border. Okay?”

“Okay.” She took a deep breath. “I’m ready. Piece of cake, right?”

“Right,” Bob echoed. He couldn’t stop himself from leaning forward and kissing her lightly on the lips.

Marlowe grabbed his shirt when he started to pull away. She stared at him for a beat before blurting, “I want you.”

Bob blinked in surprise—but exhilaration coursed through his veins. “I want you too,” he admitted.

“Good. Then when we both get across that border, we’ll take a shower, find a soft bed of some sort, and make love before sleeping for hours.”

“Sounds like heaven,” Bob said.

“Yeah.”

They stayed crouched, staring at each other for another long moment, before Bob took a deep breath of his own. “The sooner we go, the sooner we can find that bed,” he whispered.

“Let’s do this.” She squeezed his hand.

They stood up, and Bob muttered, “Fast walk across the field toward the trees. No running, it’ll bring attention to us if anyone’s in these shacks. When we’re in the trees, we’ll make our way to the next road, wait until the coast is clear, then make a break for the border.”

“Got it,” Marlowe said a little breathlessly.

Bob imagined her adrenaline had kicked up a notch. Sirens sounded not too far from where they stood, and it was now or never.

Without another word, he stepped out into the narrow strip of field behind the shack, holding Marlowe’s hand and praying harder than he had in years. He had more to lose this time. Just the thought of Marlowe being hurt or taken back into custody was as terrifying as anything he’d ever experienced in his life. Including being a POW.

But he’d get her into Cambodia—or die trying.