Page 30 of Healing Love

He turned a questioning gaze to her as a small snort escaped her lips. She peeked up at him, her blush returning and just gave a small shrug.

“You’d think that in our circumstances, how I look would be the last thing on my mind,” she explained. “But I’m standing here soaking wet, covered in mud and leaves, and while we may not be free yet, we’re a lot closer to being rescued…and all I can think about is how I’d love a hot bath!” Shaking her head, she muttered, “I know, stupid right?”

He placed his hands on her shoulders, pulling her in gently until her face rested against his chest once more. “Sweetheart, you are one amazing woman and don’t you ever doubt that.” Pushing her back slightly, holding her gaze, he continued, “You’ve done everything I’ve asked and under the worst of circumstances. You’ve held it together, kept up with me, and not fallen apart one time. Not one fuckin’ time.”

With the rain starting to fall harder once more, she finally felt her chin quiver as she battled back the tears. “I’m scared,” she whispered.

He slammed her back against his chest again, his large hand cradling the back of her head. “I know, baby girl. But swear to God, we’re gonna get out of here.”

Allowing him to hold her, she let her mind escape for just a minute.Back at home, him holding me like this as we are dancing. By a warm fireplace. To music that… Stop! He’s my rescuer, that’s all. A man like him would never be interested in someone like me. He looks like he would go for the tall, big, blonde with lots of attitude kind of woman.

Sighing, she pushed back from his arms and the moment was gone. Bending down, she snagged her bag, opening it up to grab another pack of crackers. Handing them to him without looking at him, she waited until he took them and then she turned and walked away. “I’ll be back,” she mumbled as she pushedher way through more underbrush to take care of business.

Cam stood watching her back as she retreated into the woods. Taking his soaking ballcap off his head, he wiped the water out of his eyes once more.What the hell just happened? One minute she’s all soft and warm in my arms like we are out dancing somewhere and the next she’s pushing to get away from me.Shaking his head as he munched the crackers, he thought,No way I’m her kind of guy. She’s used to the men with business suits or the doctors at the hospital. Not some man built like a tank, that’s sweaty, dirty, and has seen the underbelly of the world.

Hearing her coming back, he quickly headed off to relieve himself.That’s okay. She’s my mission. And I never fail.

Jack and his team of men were conferring with Marc and becoming more frustrated by the moment.

“I’ve got to give Jobe something more than Cam has his sister,” Jack growled.

“The storm isn’t passing over as quickly as was forecast,” Marc answered. “That keeps them from being followed, but I can’t get a fuckin’ plane out to them.” His frustration was palpable.I’m used to being in the thick of things, not sitting on the sidelines waiting for a phone call.A trained logistician, he used his years as a CIA pilot to make snap decisions, plan missions and above all…be flexible. He loved being active. The sitting and waiting were killing him.

Blaise leaned over Luke’s shoulder as the computer guru was trying to locate Cam using the implanted tracker. Looking up, he confirmed, “Looks like he’s nearer the falls than we anticipated.”

“Is that good?” Monty inquired, pinpointing the area on the map projected to his tablet.

Marc sighed. “The river’s current took them much further and faster than we could have predicted. It’s away from their captors, but still deep in the Sinaloa Cartel’s territory.”

“Goddammit!” Jack cursed. The time he spent in the Special Forces taught him to plan and then be ready for contingencies, but this felt different when he was not the one in the field. Having one of his men faced with the ever-changing situation—and with a young woman, the sister of a friend no less—made this untenable.

“Marc, what does your contact there say?” Chad asked, interjecting calm into the conversation. He approached everything like dismantling a bomb…slow, methodical, careful.

“Right now, planes are grounded, which normally wouldn’t mean shit to me, but the problem is that when Cam was near the plantations that I could have landed in, they were washed out or underwater. The rain has let up some, but now he’s further down the river and there’s no place to land a plane.”

“Helicopter?” Bart asked.

“Working on it. Knowing he’s close to the falls means that I probably won’t have a landing place even for a chopper.”

Jack rubbed his beard thoughtfully, thencommented, “If they can get down the cliff next to the falls, can you pick them up?”

“Not right there,” Marc added. “But, if they carry the canoe with them, then they could make it closer to the coast and I can easily pick them up as soon as they’re ready.”

The silence hung heavy among the six men at the table as they eyed each other all with the same thought.Two big, strong men carrying a canoe down a steep slope? No problem. One trained man with one petite, untrained woman?

Looking over the group, Jack growled, “Need to work the mission, guys.”

Luke, jittery from too much caffeine, looked up suddenly from his computer screen and said, “Marc? Can you get your hands on a seaplane? I can get my contacts at the Agency to help you out if needed.”

“The DEA contact here, Alberto, can get that easily for me. What are you thinking? I can’t land it on the river the way it’s going with the storm.”

“No, I was thinking of the ocean. Listen,” Luke said, gaining the attention of everyone. “If they can make it to the ocean which, at the rate they’re going, should only be another day or two at the most, then we can get a location and Marc can fly in to get them.”

Chad added, watching the storm tracking, “The storm will be over by then, at least on the coast.”

“What about food, potable water, and any other supplies they may need?” Bart asked, knowing his best friend could handle himself, but worried, nonetheless.

Blaise, continuing to check their intel, added, “Thereare some villages near the coast. They could get supplies there to last them until Marc can pick them up.”

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