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The trek down the mountain continued with the group of men surrounding her and Rafe. Minutes later, the noises from the kidnappers searching the mountain faded away to nothing.
She watched the other five men as they walked. Their movements reminded her of Rafe’s. Had they also been in the military, possibly SEALs like him?
That thought alleviated some of her uneasiness. Military backgrounds were common among the security team her father employed. The Fortress Security men were nothing like her father’s security guards, though. All of them seemed to be a cut above a regular soldier. Perhaps several cuts above. Special Forces of some type, she decided. No other explanation seemed to fit their skill level.
Callie had talked about Rafe, but never about his military career. She didn’t seem to know much about what he did aside from the fact that he was a SEAL and was gone more than she wanted. Man, if Callie could see him in action, she would be impressed. Kristi was. She pushed her guilt aside at admiring Callie’s boyfriend. Callie had been gone for three years.
Minutes later, Josh held up his fist and Rafe stopped Kristi, a finger to his lips to indicate a need for silence.
Kristi saw nothing but trees and heard only the rapid beating of her own heart. Josh glanced at Rafe and held up two fingers, then gave him another hand signal. As Rafe started them moving again, he angled toward the left. Rio kept pace with them while Josh and the rest of his group disappeared into the woods.
Less than a minute later, a man’s shout cut off abruptly. Oh, man. She prayed none of Rafe friends had been injured.
Rafe and Rio glanced at each other, then picked up the pace so much that Kristi was practically running to keep up with their longer strides. Although she understood the reason they wanted her out of the area as fast as possible, Kristi didn’t have the stamina of soldiers who obviously trained their bodies to endure long runs in rough terrain. She was totally out of her element. She rocked at making a surgical strike through a fabric shop, not running for her life down a mountainside in the dark.
When she started to lag behind, Rafe scooped her into his arms without breaking stride and ran faster. Although Kristi wanted to protest that she could keep going under her own steam, she would have been lying. Her energy reserves were tapped out. The best thing she could do was hold on to Rafe, stay quiet, and help Rio watch for the kidnappers.
One minute they were hurrying down the mountain alone. The next, Rio’s teammates had rejoined them. She stared at the group of men dressed in black. How did they move so quietly?
“Two down,” Josh said. “How many are left?”
“At least three. Hopefully, they’re searching on the other side.”
“Need one of us to carry her?”
“I’ve got her. Just keep the bogeys off of us.”
They continued in silence. As the sky began to lighten with the coming sunrise, the terrain leveled off. Josh pointed to the left. Rafe angled that direction along with the other Fortress men. Within minutes, Kristi saw three black SUVs parked in the shadows of the woods near an asphalt road.
“Rafe, you and Kristi ride with me and Rio,” Josh murmured. “The rest will follow us in Nate’s vehicle. Toss Quinn your key fob. He’ll drive your SUV.”
Rafe carried her to the first vehicle and set her on the backseat before grabbing his fob and tossing it to one of the three men she had yet to meet. “Thanks, Quinn.”
“Yep. See you at the compound.”
Compound? Kristi frowned. She thought Rafe would take her back to the hotel, or maybe drive her to Nashville to her father’s fortified estate with the army of guards he employed.
No matter what their plan was, Kristi couldn’t be gone from Bakerhill for long. She had a design consultation with a client on Monday. The time line for choosing a dress design and making the wedding gown was tight as it was. She couldn’t afford to miss the consultation.
Shivering, she wrapped her arms around her middle. Her teeth chattered. Hopefully, the vehicle would warm up quickly. She glanced at the men who had run down the mountain with her. The cold didn’t appear to faze any of them.
Rio climbed in beside her with his bag. After a glance at her, he twisted and grabbed a blanket from the cargo area. He draped the cover over her, then rooted in his bag for a bottle of water and a small packet. He ripped open the packet, dumped the powder into the water bottle, and shook it up.When Rafe got into the vehicle on Kristi’s other side, Rio tossed the bottle to him.
“Thanks.”
“Yep.” Rio prepared another bottle with the powder and handed it to Kristi. “Drink this. It’s an electrolyte mix.”
Kristi unscrewed the top and drank the treated water. So good. She hadn’t had anything to drink in hours.
Josh climbed behind the wheel and cranked the engine. “Is this the only road out of the area, Rafe?”
“Yes, sir.”
He touched his ear. “Alex, get ahead of us. Quinn, on our tail. Chance of ambush.”
Kristi’s breath caught. Ambush? Oh, no. Wasn’t the race down the mountain on foot enough? Surely those men would give up now. After all, she’d escaped.
Rio turned to Kristi. “Where are you injured?”
