Page 13 of Inevitable
There’s no way that Brock and Nate could show up in Lania to rescue her without Emma knowing the truth.
“Honestly,” Brock said. “It will kind of be a relief for her to know. You can trust her, Marshall. I don’t know how well you two were acquainted, but she’d die before she’d let that secret out to anyone else. Especially if she knows that lives depend on her keeping that secret.”
I nodded and checked my phone just like I’d been doing for the last fifteen minutes since I’d arrived at Brock’s home.
I was waiting impatiently for a final confirmation from Nick that everything was a go.
“Did your time with Emma end on good terms?” Brock questioned.
I looked up at him. “Yeah. Why do you ask?”
He shrugged. “I guess I was hoping this would be a good surprise for Emma to see you and not a bad one. Obviously, you didn’t stay in touch.”
Talking about Emma had been difficult for me with Wyatt, and I’d worked closely with him for years.
There was no way I was completely spilling my guts to Brock.
I liked and respected the whole Michigan team, but our entire relationship had always revolved around Last Hope business.
I knew almost nothing about them personally.
I knew that Brock was a popular author of suspense novels in a fictional special forces world.
I’d read every one of those novels.
But that was the extent of my knowledge about his personal life.
“No hard feelings between the two of us,” I said vaguely. “We knew the time we spent together would be brief. I was a SEAL commander, and she was a tourist on a short vacation.”
“I don’t suppose you want to expand on that explanation,” Brock said drily.
“I don’t,” I told him. “I liked Emma and for some reason she seemed to like me. I’m not the same man I was back then, but I don’t anticipate that she’ll be unhappy to see me.”
Brock held up a hand. “Okay, enough said. Just…take care of her, Marshall. She means a lot to all of us.”
“That’s my plan,” I assured him.
“Has anyone ever told you that getting anything personal out of you is nearly impossible?” Brock questioned.
“I don’t have a personal life,” I said honestly. “My priority is and always will be Last Hope.”
“It’s kind of ironic that we’ve been working with you for years and never knew that you’d met Emma,” Brock mused. “Wyatt has mentioned your name before when he was visiting here. She obviously didn’t recall hearing that name before or she would have asked questions.”
“She wouldn’t,” I said offhandedly as I glanced down at a text that had just come in from Nick. “She didn’t know me as Marshall.”
For some reason, that had been one of the rare times that I’d used my first name.
“Have you gotten word from Prince Nick that this crazy plan is a go?” Brock asked.
“Yeah,” I confirmed as I finished reading the long text Nick had just sent. “His officials didn’t give the kidnappers much of a choice if they want to talk about Nick giving himself up for Emma. They even cleared me to bring a pack with me. That’s not negotiable. I want to make sure that Emma has water, food, andsomething to keep her warm at night. They can search it. They won’t find anything.”
My tracking device would be extremely tiny and undetectable, and the last place I’d put it was inside a backpack.
“I still think I should go in your place,” Brock offered. “Gage and Seth are trying to get a flight back from the Caribbean as soon as possible. One of them could go with Nate. Marshall, it could be a long hike if they’re really remote.”
I shot Brock a scathing look. “Are you trying to say I’m too old and too lame to handle a long hike?”
He shook his head. “You don’t really talk about what you’re capable of doing when it comes to your leg. I know you’re in shape. That’s pretty obvious.”
