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“She’s not used to the cold water like you two,” Hays pronounced loudly.
“Get her out,” Quaid urged.
Hays kept one arm around her waist and used his other arm and his strong legs to propel them to the shoreline. As soon as he could touch, he cradled her against his chest and carried her through a shallow spot and up onto the bank.
Anna and Cade were right there. The bright lights of the trucks illuminated everyone. Aiden Porter and his small army of men were making certain her guards didn’t interfere. Not that they could move bound as they were. She wondered if this show was to convince her men she was in danger. They could report back to her father that she had a plausible excuse to be away from her guards.
Anna offered a large beach towel. Hays slid her feet to the ground, wrapped her up in the dry, warm towel, and then swept her up again.
Elizabeth remembered to shiver, lean into him, and pant for air. An easy job for certain. The only problem was she longed to stare up at his handsome face, be captivated by his deep-brown eyes, and sigh with happiness at finally being in his arms. The impending danger of her father sending the troops in couldn’t touch her at this moment.
Hays strode across the rock and weed-strewn beach in bare feet, like nothing could hurt him.
“Miss Oliver?” one of the guards asked. He actually sounded concerned.
“I am f-fine,” she said.
Cade was in front of Hays and opened the back door of a truck. Hays lifted Elizabeth in and climbed in himself. The door was shut behind them.
Her heart soared seeing Peter and all of her guards secured in the back of or standing next to one large truck. She was as free as she had ever been in her life.
It wouldn’t last.
Hays wrapped his arm around her and cradled her into his side. She rested her head on his strong shoulder. This was living. She was safe. She was cared for. She was with Hays. If only there wasn’t an expiration date of as soon as her father could send more mercenaries or capture one of these people’s loved ones and torture them until they gave up her, Jacey, and Quaid.
Two of Aiden’s men jumped up front, the truck roared to life, and they spun in a circle and bounced across the gravel and back to Jacey and Cade’s house.
“Can we speak freely?” she whispered.
“Let’s get you out of those clothes, Liz, and then we’ll talk,” Hays returned.
The man driving the truck sputtered at that. Elizabeth knew Hays hadn’t meant that in a crude way. Her clothing had been submerged for a while, but there was still a risk of a listening device that hadn’t shorted out. Hays and Quaid had thought of everything. Aiden Porter was obviously involved. Did that mean they trusted her, or did they simply want to isolate her because they thought she was the problem?
Soon, she could talk. She relaxed fully into Hays.
Too quickly, the truck pulled to a stop next to Jacey and Cade’s garage. Hays opened the door and slid out.
Three other vehicles were fast approaching. Where were her guards?
Hays lifted her out of the truck and carried her to a side entrance. The man who’d driven them opened the door and Hays strode through. It was shut behind them. Hays pushed a light switch and carried her through a white-painted garage with a large truck and a small utility vehicle in it. A wall of tools was on one side and two mountain bikes hung on a perpendicular wall. Did Jacey and Cade ride those bikes through their beautiful mountains? She loved that image.
Her mind was clearing as she warmed up, but being in Hays’s arms didn’t help. She felt an urgency that nobody but her, and maybe Quaid, could understand.
“Hays,” she whispered into his ear. “We can’t stay here. He’ll send more men. He’ll destroy everyone.”
Hays stopped walking and held her gaze. Did he believe her? Would he trust her? She could never hope for a relationship with him and happiness for herself. Saving him, her brother and sister, and all of these kind people would be enough. If she could accomplish at least that, she’d resign herself to returning to her father and finding a way to expose him. She hadn’t accomplished such a feat in thirty-two years, but she had to keep trying.
Jacey burst into the great room behind them.
“Let’s get you warm and dry,” she exclaimed. “Hays, carry her up to my room.”
Hays nodded and easily strode across the great room and up the stairs with Elizabeth clinging to him. This reprieve would be short-lived. She wanted to savor and catalog each moment in his arms. The memories would strengthen and sustain her during the pain ahead.
Chapter
Six
Hays glanced at his watch. It was almost ten p.m. He listened to a muted but animated discussion about Elizabeth’s intentions as he waited for Elizabeth, Anna, Jacey and Cade to come back down the stairs.
