Page 84 of Rescuing Brinley

She didn’t even want to imagine what she looked like right about now. Her pale skin always bruised easily, and she remembered racing through branches and bushes and being scratched up as she ran. But then again, all those marks would help the police make a case against Louis and Tamika.

She also had to have bruises around her neck from his fingers, and since she could only open her right eye partway, since it was swollen almost shut, her face had to look awful as well.

Her normally out-of-control hair would probably terrify small children right about now. She could imagine the frizz and how wild her curls were, not to mention the dirt that was in the strands. For all she knew, a spider or two had made a home in there while she’d been unconscious.

None of that mattered.

Just keep going.

The words were a mantra. She said them over and over in her head.

As she crawled, Brinley realized she had to find help before all the marks on her body healed. That meant she couldn’t be crawling—and eventually, hopefully, walking—around the wilderness for weeks. She needed the proof of her injuries to help document what she’d suffered.

It was difficult to keep revenge from sneaking into her thoughts.

But then again, whatever kept her going, kept her pushing forward when all she wanted was to lie down and cry, Brinley would embrace.

Even though she wanted Tamika and Louis to pay for their actions, her main goal was feeling Dash’s arms around her, telling her everything would be okay. That she was safe. That she could relax, he had her.

Despite recalling her escape from Louis being brief, it took Brinley an hour to crawl through the trees and reach the road—but she finally made it.

Immense satisfaction filled her.

She’d actually done it!

Moving slowly, she sat up on her heels and took a few deep breaths to control the agony that coursed through her body at the change of posture. Then she looked to her right and left. She saw where her car had made a U-turn in the middle of the road, trampling some of the vegetation on her left in the process.

It was a sign as clear as day, telling her which way she needed to go.

Brinley faced right and began to painstakingly make her way once more on her hands and knees.

Toward Fairbanks.

Toward Help.

Toward Dash.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

Shadow looked at his watch impatiently. Five o’clock. Brinley had been missing for hours. While Zamora had attempted to contact this Tex person, Shadow couldn’t make himself sit around and do nothing. He’d gone to the police station with Grinder and had met with a detective. It had taken two hours for him to explain, over and over, what was happening, and his suspicions about who had kidnapped Brinley. Thankfully, Grinder had asked the coffee shop employees to email him the video of Brinley from the parking lot, and they were able to show that to the detective as well.

By the time they left, he’d convinced the detective that Brinley was in danger, and the man agreed to work on tracking her phone, as well as talking to other businesses around where Brinley was last seen…but as Shadow knew, that would take time. Time Brinley probably didn’t have.

He and Grinder then drove around town, fruitlessly, trying to see if they could spot Brinley’s Outback, before getting a call from Torch telling them to get back to the base. Zamora had been able to get a hold of Tex.

His remaining friends had come back from the field and been briefed about what was happening, and when Shadow entered the conference room on the Army base, he was relieved to see them already there.

They all looked as worried as he felt. No one was dismissing his fears, attempting to downplay what was happening, telling him that maybe Brinley had decided she “needed a break” or some such bullshit.

The only person missing was Echo. He was at Brinley’s apartment with Cypress, doing his best to keep her from going off half-cocked. She wasn’t doing well, apparently alternating between threatening to kill Tamika Black herself and crying hysterically.

Zamora approached Shadow and put a hand on his shoulder, looking into his eyes for a long moment, as if trying to gauge how he was doing.

The truth was, he wasn’t doing well. He was hanging on by a thread. Every minute that passed was a minute that could be the difference between life or death for Brinley. And Shadow felt helpless, which was the worst feeling in the world for a man who was used to taking charge. To doing what was needed to save lives—his own, his teammates’, and the civilians around him while on missions.

“I haven’t met John Keegan, Tex, but I’ve talked to others who have, and they say if anyone can find your Brinley, it’s him. He’s already been briefed on the situation and he’ll be calling at any moment to tell us what he’s been able to dig up so far. Whatever he says, you need to stay calm. Understand?”

“Yes, Sir.”