Page 82 of Rescuing Brinley

Shadow closed his eyes once more. Havoc Six had been Zamora’s nickname when he was an active Delta. He didn’t use the name often, but they’d all heard stories about how the man was chaos under control, and how valuable he’d been on the teams.

He heard Echo talking to Zamora, and Kodiak telling Grinder what they’d seen on the video. But their voices were muffled, as if he was hearing them from the end of a long tunnel.

He tried to put himself in Tamika’s shoes. What would she want from Brinley? She’d want her to regret not agreeing to work with her. She’d want her scared. Want to terrorize her.

But did she want her dead?

Shadow wasn’t sure. But he couldn’t get the image of the unknown guy out of his head. Him being there wasn’t good. If he’d agreed to help Tamika kidnap someone, and had a weapon to make sure their plan worked, he was hardly an upstanding member of society. And he might be willing to kill…if whatever Tamika promised him was worth it.

Brinley was in danger. Shadow thought about the scream he’d heard out in the field, and about the strange sensation of not being able to breathe, and he wondered if he’d somehow, inexplicably, experienced what Brinley was going through.

He shook his head and took a deep breath as he opened his eyes. No, he couldn’t believe that. It would break him. She had to be all right. She simply had to.

“Zamora says to get our butts back to his office. He’s going to make some calls,” Echo said, as he put his phone back in his pocket.

“He knows this Tex guy?”

“Not personally, but he’s heard of him. He confirmed that if anyone can find Brinley, it’s him.”

A bolt of relief shot through Shadow. Knowing there was someone out there who might be able to help them find Brinley almost made his knees buckle. Yes, they could go to the police, and they would, but their hands were tied by rules and regulations. Shadow knew better than most how sometimes, in order to have a successful mission, rules had to be bent. If there was ever a time to bend some rules, it was now.

Brinley’s life was in the balance.

He could feel it in his bones.

She needed him, and he had no idea where she was.

But there was one thing he did know. Brinley was the strongest woman he’d ever met. She’d survived a hellish childhood and had come out the other side with a spine of steel as a result. She’d succeeded and thrived, despite how hard the people who were supposed to love her unconditionally had tried to keep her down.

She was a beautiful person, inside and out, and Shadow would promise any kind of marker this Tex guy demanded for his help. Nothing mattered but rescuing Brinley from the monsters who’d taken her away from him.

They’d pay—but his first priority was finding the woman he loved.

* * *

The first thing Brinley took note of was the silence.

For a moment, she thought maybe she was dead and this was Heaven. But when she turned her head, she could hear leaves crackling with the movement.

The second thing she realized was how much pain she was in. Just turning her neck hurt. Not just hurt, but an intense ache that was bone deep. And not only her neck, but everything. Her arms, her legs, her stomach, her face…

She groaned as she turned onto her side and retched. Even that was almost overwhelmingly painful, as her stomach contracted when she threw up the breakfast and coffee she’d consumed earlier that morning.

Then she lay there, next to her own vomit, for at least a minute before forcing herself to turn onto her back again, then to her other side. Each movement sent agony shooting through her body, but she forced herself to do it.

Because she suddenly remembered what had happened.

All of it.

Thinking she was going to meet Natasha and having Tamika and her flunky get in her car instead. The gun. The drive to the middle of nowhere. Her flight into the woods, Louis punching her, trying to get her pants off, his hands around her neck.

Frantically, she reached down—and let out a huge sigh of relief when she found the button to her jeans undone but the zipper still intact.

He obviously thought he’d killed her, and he’d left her in the woods. Thank God he hadn’t decided to violate her “dead body” before he went back to her car to meet Tamika.

Thoughts of the bitch who’d orchestrated everything that happened to her threatened to overwhelm Brinley. Hatred for her rose hard and fast. She’d pretended to be Natasha Blue, who most likely had no idea she was being impersonated by a jealous, bitter, spoiled-rotten bitch. Had arranged for Brinley to be kidnapped. Had to know that Louis might assault her sexually…and was too fucking chicken to be there when he killed her.

She and that asshole had probably laughed at everything they’d put her through as they drove back to Fairbanks in her car, leaving Brinley stranded. Of course, they likely thought she was dead, and that no one would ever find her body. Louis obviously hadn’t watched enough crime TV. Clearly he didn’t know that it took minutes to actually kill someone by strangulation.