Page 75 of Her Delta Force Protector

“Sorry, cousin,” he said as he backed the Hummer out of its hiding place. It didn’t have to come down to this, but the blame was all on Theo. As Rex drove away in Stockton Rawls’s Hummer, excitement for his new adventure grew with each mile he put behind him.

Chapter Thirty-Nine

Harper had a new appreciation for military snipers. She was bored, this piece of plywood was as hard as a rock, her muscles were screaming for her to move around, and she really had to pee. How did combat soldiers stay in positions like this on uncomfortable surfaces for hours at a time?

She stretched one leg and then the other. There hadn’t been any communication from the guys since Chase left with those men and the team had returned to their assigned places. She wanted to talk to them, but it would only be to relieve her boredom, and that would distract them from their jobs.

“You still doing okay, foxy lady?”

She grinned. It was like Kade was reading her mind. “Just bored. Other than that, I’m great.” Except for her sore muscles and needing the bathroom, but he didn’t need to worry about her. She leaned around the trunk of the tree to see him and panicked a little when he wasn’t on the porch where he was supposed to be. “Where are you?”

“At the side of the house with Viper. We caught us another snake.”

“That’s good. Only two more to go, right?”

“Yeah, and it’s only a matter of minutes before we have them, too.”

“Ace, the Hummer that these jokers arrived in took off down the road,” Cupcake said over the comms.

“You see who was in it?”

“Negative. Just caught the back of it headed down the road.”

“Looks like your friends left you hanging in the wind, Mr. Rawls,” Kade said.

“Don’t know what you’re talking about. I was just doing a little deer hunting.”

Harper noted that the man ignored the fact that Kade knew his name. But it was over. Well, until they somehow caught up with Theo Watson and his cousin. She wasn’t going to give up on that happening.

As she listened to Kade and Viper question Rawls, she picked up the rifle, then climbed down the tree. One foot had fallen asleep, and it felt like thousands of needles were attacking it. She set the rifle on the ground so she could massage her foot. “I’m going to the cabin.” Before she peed in her pants.

“No! Stay in place until—”

She didn’t hear the rest because her comms were ripped out of her ears before Kade finished what he was saying. A hand wrapped around her mouth, a body pressed against her back, and cold metal dug into her cheek. She froze.

“Hello, love. Miss me?”

That voice. She’d never forget it.

“I’m going to remove my hand, but you call out to your boyfriend, and I’ll shoot you.”

“He’s going to kill you, Theo.” Who left in the Hummer?

“Ah, so you learned my name. Shows you care. Here’s what’s going to happen. We’re going to walk away. If you open your mouth for any reason, it will be the last thing you ever do.”

“Did you not hear what I said? You should go while you can.”

He pressed the gun so hard into her cheek that tears stung her eyes. “I’ll forgive you that one, but only that one. Do not speak, or I will shoot you. Doubt me, and you die. Start walking.” He dropped her comms to the ground and stomped on them. “Walk.”

He picked up the rifle, put his handgun to her back, then pushed her forward with the barrel. She believed him and didn’t see she had a choice. The only thing that kept her from having a meltdown was knowing Kade would find her. She’d made a possibly deadly mistake leaving her perch in the tree before Kade said it was safe to do so. He wasn’t going to be happy with her. And she still had to pee.

They came to a clearing, and he put a hand on her shoulder, pulling her to a stop. She could see a road, but she wasn’t sure if it was the road to the cabin. Even if she could break away from him, she wouldn’t know which direction to go.

“I’m going to kill Rex when I find him,” her captor snarled.

Cupcake had said he’d seen the Hummer that the men had arrived in leaving, so Theo’s cousin had taken off and left him behind? She’d laugh if there wasn’t a gun poking into her back. By now, Kade would know she was missing, and the guys would be looking for her.

“Change of plans,” he said. “Move.”

---