Page 11 of Embedded
I caught his smile as I watched him out of the corner of my eye. God, he was a hard man to figure out. He went silent again. Good, stay that way.
I settled back and drifted in and out of sleep. If Chase moved, I’d wake with a jump. Holy shit, I was tired. No, I was way past tired. I was bone-deep exhausted. I bounced awake as I felt the engine pull back and we made a quick turn, and I hit the door with my shoulder. “Ouch.”
“Sorry,” he grunted as I rubbed the sting from my muscle, “but we’re here, and I don’t need a tail coming in behind me.”
“Behind you where?” I tried to fight the fog from my head, but it was proving to be a task. “Where are we?” I blinked and read the giant sign as we drove under it.
Fort Echo United States Military Base. That removed the fog like a jet engine clearing a runway.
I leaned forward and scanned area. “Are we? Are you? Do you know?”
We pulled up to a gate, and a man stepped out as Chili lowered his window. “ID.” He reached for the small folder Chili handed him. I couldn’t see it and was more than curious to know what his full name was and what he really did for a living. “You alone?”
“No, we got company, but they’re staying out of view.”
“Suits or rifles?”
“Suits.”
“Copy that.” The man stepped back, lowered his head, and said something quietly into his radio. “You’re clear to enter the hangar.”
“Copy that.” Chili used the same lingo as the soldiers, and it sent my head into another tailspin as we continued through the massive base.
“So, you’re a soldier?” There’s a lot more to this man than I imagined. He gave a little shrug. “Look, Chili, you clearly saved me from a bad situation at the border, and for that, I’m grateful. You said someone hired you to get me to safety, but you won’t tell me who. You didn’t let the FBI take him.” I tilted my head to indicate Chase. “Now you’ve taken me to a base and gotten past the security check point and used military language. I think it’s only fair that you tell me who you really are and what we’re doing here. Don’t I at least get that?”
He refused to answer me, and I saw we were headed inside an airplane hangar. The big rig slowed as we entered, and the hairs on my arms stood straight up as I became hyperaware that something big was about to happen. Once inside, the doors shut behind us, and I lost it.
“I have money.” I jumped into panic mode. “Holy shit, what’s happening?” My breathing picked up, and my head went light. I grabbed the handle above the seat and contemplated how I was going to escape.
“Nicole.” His voice held a warning.
“Please, Chili, you don’t have to do this. Please, take me instead. Trust me, Bruno will pay good money to have my life destroyed. Use me as a bargaining chip. Or better, let me tell you what I know, and you can go after him. He’s evil. Trust me, I’ve seen things that would make a grown man fall to his knees.” Tears burned paths down my cheeks and my heartbeat thumped wildly against my throat. “There’s something bigger happening within their family, something I think I’m close to discovering.” My mouth ran away with me. “If I just had another few weeks of digging, I could—” Everything started to hit me at once. “I’ve gone through so much just to make sure this little one had what I didn’t. A family and hope. Please,” I repeated.
He turned off the engine and shifted in his seat to look at me. “Nicole, stop,” he shouted. “Damn it, I’m not here to hurt you two. I’ll tell you everything, but you have to turn off your camera first.”
I hesitated and forced my breathing back to normal. “Sorry, I don’t know why I panicked. I mean, I don’t usually…” I reached over and turned off the GoPro.
“Thank you. Now let’s get out of this truck and we’ll talk.”
“Okay.” I took a deep breath and gathered my things. The door opened, and Chili helped me down then shut the heavy door. Chase didn’t react, but I sure did. My body shook so hard that my vision was blurry.
“All right,” Chili smiled, “I was under orders to keep my identity from you in case we ran into trouble. Which we did. I needed you to fear me so my own position wasn’t compromised, but now that we’re safe, I can tell you this. My name is Chili, and I work with a military group that helps those human trafficked to Mexico get back home. The men who took the girls from the truck are part of the same organization, but they were instructed not to engage with you in case we were being followed.”
“Why?” I tried to follow along, but my ears were ringing.
“Because I merged two missions together in order to get you out.”
Something clicked. “Is that who you told the girls you were waiting for? Was it me?”
“Yes,” he glanced at the door we just came through, “I got word that you were in trouble and might need some help to get across since your ride was compromised at the border.”
“The car in the parking lot?” He nodded as I tried to make sense of everything. “But who gave you those orders?”
His mouth pulled up on one side. “Him.” He nodded over my shoulder, and I turned to see both John and Cole walking toward me. My heartbeat drained from my ears as relief spread through me. I’d never been happier to see anyone in my life. He smiled. “Go ahead.”
I turned to run but stopped myself. “Sorry if I was hard on you. It’s just…”
“You played your part well. Never be sorry for protecting a child. You’re a good person, Nicole. Feisty as hell, but a good person.”
