CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

April felt as if she’d just run a mile or two. She was sweaty, and her heart was beating so hard it almost hurt. Part of it was the stress she’d felt while helping to deliver June’s baby, but the other part was seeing Jack and the rest of the guys through the hole in the door. It was obvious they didn’t have any idea how to get close to the cabin.

She didn’t care about Ryan, what the big man and his friends might be doing to him; she was positive he wouldn’t be a problem ever again. She should’ve felt remorse over his death, but she was having a hard time mustering any sympathetic feelings toward their kidnapper right about now.

She wanted out of this cabin. Wanted to feel Jack’s arms around her. Wanted to get June and Max to the hospital to make sure they were both okay. Wanted to marry Jack. Wanted to go home. To Maine.

She saw Jack jerk in surprise when he heard her voice, and she smiled a little at that. He was obviously in “soldier” mode, intensely focused on the task at hand.

“I have an idea,” she told him through the hole in the door. “I can talk you through how to get to the door the same way we did. Ryan picked up the markers he used, the ones we stepped on to get here . . . but I think I remember where they were.”

“No,” he said firmly, turning around to look at his team and the other men in the small clearing with him.

Disappointment slammed into April. It was true she wasn’t a Special Forces soldier, but she could help, she had no doubt. Jack wasn’t even considering it. It hurt.

She watched as his head dipped and he stared at the ground for a moment. Then a hand came up and massaged the back of his neck before he turned back toward the cabin.

“Where are you right now?” he asked.

Confused, April said, “The cabin.”

The way his lips twitched in amusement was so familiar, it was painful. She’d seen him try to hold back his laughter about something she’d said so many times.

“Where in the cabin? Can you see me?”

“Oh! Yeah, there’s a hole in the door.” She stuck two fingers out of the small hole and wiggled them before putting her eye back up to it.

She saw most of the men, other than Chappy, Cal, and Bob, were grinning. She belatedly realized her actions probably looked a little obscene from their point of view.

“Right, the path that you took to get to the door, was it straight or zigzag or what?”

“Straight,” she told him. Was he really going to let her guide him to the door? His trust felt good, really good—then just as suddenly, nervousness struck.

What was she doing? If she wasn’t completely certain about the path, if she told him to step in the wrong direction, he could literally be blown to pieces right in front of her.

“Never mind!” she called out, completely panicked now. “I don’t know what I was thinking! I can’t do it.”

“April!” June hissed from behind her. She turned to see her friend sitting up with her back against the hard wall, Max cuddled against her chest. They’d used the sheet to wrap him up, and only his little face was showing above the material. The blanket under her was stained with bodily fluids and blood, and the umbilical cord was still attached. There hadn’t been anything they could use to cut it, and it was freaking all of them out. They needed a hospital. Immediately.

“What?” she asked belatedly.

“You can do it. I saw you studying the path as you walked to the cabin. Your mind was going a million miles an hour. If anyone can guide our men to us safely, it’s you. We trust you.”

Carlise and Marlowe nodded their agreement, and April couldn’t help but notice that both women had a hand on their bellies, as if touching their unborn children.

The pressure was immense. Not only was she risking the lives of their men, she could end up killing her best friends and their children.

“April!” Jack called.

Taking a deep breath, she turned back to the hole in the door.

“Where exactly was the trailer backed up when you got out?” Jack asked.

Was she doing this? Her gaze went from the man she loved to the trees the trailer had been sitting between. She took a deep breath.

“See those trees to your right . . . wait, I mean my right, your left.” She let out an exasperated breath. How could she tell him where to step if she couldn’t even figure out left and right? “The ones that are kind of skinnier than the others around them? They’re at around two o’clock in relation to the door.”

Jack turned and immediately walked over to the trees she’d pointed out, Cal, Chappy, and Bob at his heels.

“These?” he asked.

“Yes.”

“Okay, now what?”

She didn’t say anything for a long moment.

It felt as if Jack was staring straight into her heart. She could see his focus even across the distance. “I trust you,” he said.

He didn’t yell the words. He said them calmly, and April heard the sincerity in his words.

“You’ll need something to get the boards off the door,” she told him.

He turned to some of the men standing nearby, and the small break gave her time to take a deep breath. Her hands were shaking, but she clasped them together and turned her attention to the ground in front of the cabin. Twenty-five markers. She’d counted them. As if she was right back in that moment, walking on those pink circles, she saw them as clear as day.

“Okay, I’ve got a hammer. Where should I go?”

April blinked. “Where in the world did you get a hammer?”

One of the men near him laughed. “We’re a resourceful bunch!” he yelled out.

Whatever. If they wanted to carry a whole toolbox around with them, she wasn’t going to complain.

“You need something to mark your trail,” she told him. “Ryan used bright-pink circles made of paper or something, but he picked them up to hide the path.”

“Right, smart.”

All the men started looking around them for something they could use to mark the path to the cabin. One of them suddenly pulled his shirt over his head and began using a knife to cut it into pieces. Before long, he’d handed a fistful of jagged strips of material to Jack.

“All right, hon, talk to me. Tell me how to get to you.”

April felt a hand on her shoulder and turned to see Marlowe standing there.

“Breathe, April.”

Realizing she’d been holding her breath, April let it out with a whoosh. “I love you guys. So much,” she said.

“We love you too. Now hurry up. I’m hungry,” Carlise told her from where she was sitting next to June.

April smiled, hearing the teasing in her friend’s voice. They were all stressed to the max and wanted nothing more than to get out of this damn cabin . . . and take a shower. April felt grubby and disgusting, but that was the least of their worries right now.

Nodding, and more grateful than she could say that Marlowe didn’t move away from her side, April peered back through the door.

“From the trees, walk forward until your toes are at the edge of where the grass ends and the dirt begins.” Jack did as she directed. “Now step forward. No!” she immediately yelled as he was about to step down. He froze with his foot in the air.

“Move your foot back a little.”

“Here?” he asked, moving his foot.

“Yes, that’s better. I remember the steps being comfortable for me. Which means you’ll probably think they’re too close together as you’re walking.”

Jack nodded, and as a bead of sweat rolled down April’s temple, he put his foot down.

When nothing happened, when the earth didn’t blow up around him, she let out a shaky breath. “Okay, see that tiny patch of grass several inches in front of your right foot?”

Jack nodded again.

“Put your left foot in front of that, so your heel is right at the edge.”

He stepped forward where she told him to, then turned and lifted his right foot a fraction of an inch and placed a piece of fabric under his boot.

“Okay, now move a little to your”—she hesitated, making sure she had the direction right before continuing—“left. There’s a small branch sticking out of the ground. Put your right foot next to it.”

Slowly—ever so slowly—April guided Jack closer and closer to the cabin. With each step he took, she got more confident in her directions. With every step, there was some kind of landmark. They’d seemed so inconsequential at the time, she’d barely noticed them when she’d made the journey herself. She was too focused on the pink circles. But when her friends crossed the minefield, she’d watched more carefully and realized each circle was next to some sort of natural marker.

When Jack was just three steps away from the door, April looked at the path and panicked. She didn’t see any kind of rock, stick, or anything else that would give any indication of where he could step next.

“I’m almost there. Where next, April?” Jack said calmly.

But looking at his face, April could see he was anything but relaxed. He had sweat trickling from his temples, even though it definitely wasn’t warm enough outside to sweat. His hands were clenched and his brow furrowed.

“I don’t know!” she said, a sob escaping, surprising the hell out of her.

Marlowe tightened her grip on her shoulder, but April couldn’t take her gaze from Jack. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see the rest of the men standing stock still by the trees where Jack had started his perilous journey. They looked just as tense as she felt.

Jack was so close and yet still so far away.

“April? Look at me,” he ordered.

“I am,” she choked out. He was blurry because of the tears in her eyes, but she refused to lift her head away from the hole in the door.

“I admit when you told me on the phone that you could help, I dismissed it. How could you help a bunch of Special Forces soldiers? I agreed just to make you feel better—but I was an idiot. You are literally the smartest person I’ve ever met. Who else would be able to do this? Lead me through a literal minefield to reach you?

“Two more steps, sweetheart. Then I’ll get this door open, get us out of here, and you can marry me.”

April huffed out a laugh. “With everything going on, that’s what you’re thinking about?”

“Damn straight,” Jack said seriously. “I waited too long to ask you out, and I almost lost you. If you think I’m waiting an extra minute to put my ring on your finger, you’re wrong.”

“You have a ring?” she asked in surprise.

He looked a little sheepish then. “Well, no. It was a figure of speech.”

April actually grinned. She backed away just long enough to wipe her eyes on her sleeve, then brought her face back up to the door. She glanced at the dirt at his feet, and—just like that—something clicked. “See that rock that looks like an arrow?”

Looking down, Jack nodded.

“Step right on it. I didn’t see it until Ryan picked up the pink circle, so that means it was directly on top of it.”

Jack did as she said. With his long legs, he was close enough to skip the last step and jump to the small landing outside the door, but he looked at the door as if waiting for her to tell him what to do.

“You can jump to the door now,” she said in confusion.

“I could,” he agreed. “But it’s a little too far for you to step comfortably. One more, sweetheart.”

Even though he couldn’t see her, April nodded. “The dirt a few inches from the step is a different color than the soil around it. Darker. Step there.”

He did, not forgetting to turn around and put a piece of fabric over the arrow-shaped rock.

April let out her breath in a whoosh and fell to her knees, sitting back on her heels.

“You did it,” Marlowe said in awe.

“I knew you could,” June said. “You’re the most observant person I know.”

“April? Step away from the door,” Jack said from so close.

She immediately stood and shuffled backward toward June and Carlise. Marlowe had an arm around her waist, and all four stared at the door as they heard Jack working to remove the boards Ryan had nailed across.

Then he was there. Standing in the doorway, looking larger than life.

April threw herself at him, hitting him so hard he took a step backward on the minuscule front stoop to stay upright. The feel of his arms around her was better than anything she could remember in a very long time.

“Jack!” she croaked. His tight embrace almost hurt, but she didn’t complain.

They stood there for a long moment before she felt arms go around her and Jack. Marlowe had joined them. Then Carlise was there too. The four of them stood just inside the door in a grateful and joyful embrace. Jack adjusted to hug the three of them, and April fell in love with him even more than she already was in that moment.

“I wish I could join the lovefest,” June said with a sniff behind them.

April wasn’t surprised when Jack gently disentangled himself from her and their friends to walk over to June. He knelt on the floor and gently hugged her. Then he put a hand on little Max’s head and said, “Hey, Max. I’m your uncle Jack, and I’m gonna be your favorite.”

Everyone laughed tearfully.

Finally, Jack stood with a smile on his face and said, “How about we get out—” He froze suddenly, his gaze locked on April. He stalked toward her with a look so scary, she was alarmed.

“What? What’s wrong?” she asked.

“Your face. He hit you,” Jack growled.

April blew out a breath. “Jeez, Jack, you scared me! I thought something was wrong.”

“It is! He hit you,” he repeated.

“Yes, but he’s dead . . . right? I mean, that’s what the big scary guy with the tattoos and his friends were going to do, wasn’t it?”

Jack studied her for a moment, running his fingers over her face with a featherlight touch. “Yeah. Does that bother you?”

“No,” April said flatly. “He kidnapped us. Locked us in a trailer. If I wanted to eat, I had to choke down his leftover hamburger, and for water, I had to suck on his gross contaminated ice. He didn’t care that June was in labor and kept threatening to shoot her unborn baby. Then he put us in here with the goal of blowing us up. Why the hell would I care if he died?”

He looked pissed all over again. “Right. So, feel like getting out of here?”

“Yes! Please yes,” Marlowe breathed.

Jack turned back to June. “I’m thinking you’re first,” he said.

April nodded in approval. If he’d even suggested she be the first to leave, she would’ve been disappointed. She should’ve known better.

He gently picked up June and Max and turned to the door. “Wait here,” he said.

“Why?” April asked in confusion.

Jack didn’t answer for a long moment before he took a deep breath. “I don’t know. I just . . . I can’t . . .”

April put her hand on his arm and leaned up to kiss his cheek. “You made it across okay. We will too. Now that we’ve got the markers.”

“Be careful,” he said. Then looked at Carlise and Marlowe. “Your husbands will kick my ass if anything happens to you. If you’re scared, Chappy and Bob will come for you.”

“I’m sure they would,” Marlowe told him. “But I’m not willing to be in this stupid cabin a minute longer than necessary. Lead the way.”

“Can you see where to step while holding her?” Carlise asked.

“Yes,” Jack said confidently, making April relax a fraction.

She still held her breath as he took the first step out of the cabin. She gestured for Marlowe to follow behind him but held her back a moment. “Wait.”

“Why?”

“Put some distance between you . . . just in case.” She hated saying the words, but she couldn’t banish the vision of something going wrong and everyone getting hurt or killed because they were following too closely together.

Marlowe nodded and waited until Jack, June, and Max were halfway across the clearing.

“Okay. Piece of cake,” April said.

In response, Marlowe, hugged her hard, then pressed her lips together, held her hands out to her sides, and started the dangerous trek.

“April?” Carlise said as they watched Marlowe traverse the path.

“Yeah?” she said, glancing at her friend. To her surprise and alarm, Carlise’s eyes were filled with tears.

“I’m so glad you were here.”

April threw her arms around her, and Carlise returned the fierce hug. “Me too,” she told her.

“I mean it,” Carlise mumbled into her shoulder. “Without you . . . I don’t think the rest of us would’ve fared so well. You kept us calm, you got us food, water, and blankets, you did most of the work with Max. Hell, you even found a way out of this hellhole without anyone getting blown up.”

“Don’t speak so soon,” April quipped.

She felt more than heard Carlise’s laugh against her. Her friend raised her head and stared at her. “I mean it. You’re the reason we’re almost home.”

But April shook her head. “We’re going home because we worked together. Because we’re married—or almost married, in my case—to honorable men who would do whatever it takes to keep us safe. We’re lucky, in all the ways that count.”

“Yes, we are.”

“Carlise! April! Are you guys all right?” Chappy called out impatiently.

April wiped the tears off her friend’s cheeks. “Your man is worried. Go on. And whatever you do, don’t trip.”

“Shut up,” Carlise muttered. “Although this would be easier if I wasn’t so damn pregnant.”

April agreed with her one hundred percent but didn’t say anything out loud as her friend stepped into the dirt. She held her breath as Carlise very carefully picked her way across the yard.

April waited until she was all the way across, until Chappy snatched her up in his arms and fell to his knees with Carlise in his lap. She could feel the relief and love from all the way across the clearing.

“Your turn, April,” Jack called. He’d passed June and Max off to Cal, who was nowhere to be seen. But since half the men who’d arrived with Jack and his team were also gone, she assumed they were busy getting her to a hospital.

Taking a breath, April turned to look at the empty cabin behind her. The plastic tubs were on their sides. There were empty water bottles strewn around the floor, as well as the soiled blanket. The floorboards were cracked and the windows still boarded shut.

And somehow, it felt as if April was leaving a part of herself in this run-down little building. She’d been terrified, for herself and her friends, but she felt stronger for having this awful experience. She didn’t want to repeat it, ever, and probably would never feel the urge to vacation in a remote cabin in the middle of the mountains, but she was proud of herself.

Turning to the door, and Jack, she took a deep breath and stepped on the first piece of fabric.

The walk across the dirt didn’t seem to take nearly as long as it had when she’d first arrived, or while she’d watched her friends and Jack do it minutes earlier.

And when she got to the end, Jack was there. He grabbed her and hauled her against his chest, much as Chappy had done to Carlise. April smiled against him. Even smelly, and badly in need of a shower, food, and two gallons of water, she’d never felt better.