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“My friends will let you go,” Quaid continued, “after they remove your weapons and any communication devices. You will be bound. If you resist, you will be gagged and left on the hard ground for the night. There are a lot of critters running around out here that wouldn’t mind snacking on you. Do you understand?”
Elizabeth’s cell phone buzzed against her hip. She ignored it. Her stomach revolted. She’d never dared ignore her father’s call, but she’d never seen her father’s guards not in control. An unfamiliar hope was fluttering in her heart. Hays had defeated Peter. What else could her heroic Hays accomplish?
“We cannot leave Miss Oliver unprotected,” one of the guards called out.
Elizabeth wanted to roll her eyes. “I am safe with my brother and sister and their friends,” she said loudly. “My father knows that and has sent me to make amends for the abuse my mother heaped upon them for years. You will not challenge these men, or you will pay the consequences.”
She was terrified that her father would order armies of men with evil intent to head their direction, but her words fit with her mission. She was to make allies of her siblings, and possibly even Aiden Porter, as she continued to portray Mother as a demon. There was a chance she hadn’t ordered everyone’s death sentence, so she had to keep up the charade.
Four of the men listened, handed over their weapons, and allowed their hands to be secured behind their backs. Peter and two of the other men fought. Elizabeth watched in awe as they were bound hands to feet and gagged. She’d never seen them defeated.
Hays helped Aiden tie Peter securely. They didn’t leave the men on the ground, but they did lift them into the back of a pickup truck.
Hays strode across the space toward her. The very way he moved was incredible. He’d bested Peter. That boggled her mind. She knew Hays was impressive, but … she’d never met a man who could best Peter. That was why he was top guard, that and how deep-down evil and loyal to her father he was.
Easily scaling the rocks, Hays moved to her side. He didn’t say anything, but he reached for her and gently wrapped his large hand around hers. It was a big, brave move. If defeating and binding Peter hadn’t sealed his fate, him claiming her hand was a death sentence when her father received the report.
Despite her fears, Elizabeth’s heart raced from the simple touch. A man had never been gentle with her. Except for him. No one had ever supported her like Hays did. To think he could touch her so gently and be so fierce with Peter…
He truly was Superman.
“My father will send more men,” she whispered to him. “You all need to evacuate.”
He didn’t disagree, simply nodded and escorted her onto the ledge next to Quaid. Anna was on her brother’s other side. Hays’s very presence strengthened her.
She eased toward Quaid and glanced down. Only darkness below. “How far is the jump?”
The phone buzzing in her pocket added to the urgency she felt to leap and act. First, she had to convince Quaid and Jacey about the danger they were in. Then Quaid, Hays, and Aiden needed to take her and her guards back to her father’s plane, making certain the plane lifted off and Peter had placed no tracking devices on her siblings or Aiden’s men, before they all ran for their lives.
It was ludicrous that three full-grown adults were jumping, fully clothed, into a cold mountain lake after dark, but she felt a sense of exhilaration. She had never done something like this. If only Hays could hold her hand while she did it. Her elite Navy SEAL warrior could easily keep her safe in that dark water, and jumping with him would be thrilling.
That wasn’t the plan. Hays would protect the note, and that was what she needed. As soon as any tracking devices on her and her phone were destroyed, she and her siblings could talk, but they needed to move locations. She’d pay the price when she returned to Father. If only he’d exact pain on her and not someone else.
“About thirty feet from this spot,” Quaid said.
That sounded high to her. Very high. She swallowed.
“Yay,” Jacey called out as she edged around Hays and between Elizabeth and Quaid. “This is so fun!”
“It is fun,” Elizabeth said. Her sister was still naïve to the danger surrounding them. Peter and her guards had been bested, but it wouldn’t last. For just one moment, though, she felt like a carefree child. Or at least what she imagined a carefree child would feel. She had never experienced being carefree before.
Jacey took her hand, and Elizabeth forced herself to release Hays. She glanced up at him.
“I’ll be here for you,” he said softly.
Her eyes widened and her heart fluttered with indescribable joy. There wasn’t time to reply as Jacey counted loudly.
“3 … 2 … 1!”
No chance to think or second-guess as Jacey tugged her forward and they leaped off the cliff together. They fell through the warm night air, and Elizabeth’s stomach hopped up to her throat. She let out a scream and Jacey laughed.
Her bare feet slapped the water with a sting that reverberated up her legs, then they plunged down into the cold, cold water. Bitter cold. Her dress floated up, and she tried to push it down with one hand. Her body immediately felt sluggish and heavy in the stinging, freezing liquid surrounding them. She kicked and Jacey pulled on her hand. They changed their trajectory and burst through the surface of the water. The warmer outside air kissed her wet cheeks.
Jacey screamed out, “Cold!”
Even as her sister screamed, Jacey tugged Elizabeth back away from the cliff, the lights, and the crowd.
Quaid yanked on her other arm and said too loudly, “Did you love it, Elizabeth?”
