Page 15 of Protecting Josie
Then…finally she nodded. It was a tiny movement of her head, but he saw it. She continued to impress the hell out of him.
“Right. So, let’s go catch our ride. It’s going to be bumpy. And fast. But all we have to do is keep our heads down and it’ll be okay.” Blink was talking out his ass. He had a feeling this was going to suck,hard. He had no idea if their pursuers—he had no doubt they’d be chased—would stop once they crossed out of Iranian waters, but their bird would be there.Thathe knew without question.
He felt something hard against his side, and realized she was still holding the little metal cup. “I have some pockets in my pants. If you trust me with it, I can put your cup in there. It’ll free up your hands…just in case.”
Blink had no idea how badly he’d wanted her to trust him with the precious cup until she held it out to him. It was smaller than it had seemed back in their cells. But the thing had saved her life, and probably his as well. Moving quickly, he shoved it into one of the many pockets of his pants. They were usually full of all sorts of things, but his captors had taken everything from him before they’d beaten the crap out of him the first time and thrown him into his cell.
“All right. Let’s do this,” Kevlar said.
Blink held out his hand and, once again, the world seemed to shift when Spirit placed her small hand in his larger one. Their fingers were filthy, his were bloody and bent from the torture he’d received, but somehow seeing their hands clasped felt like a good omen.
They were in this together.
CHAPTER SIX
Josie felt sick. She was terrified. She’d dreamed about being out of that cell for weeks, but now that she was, she wanted to go back. Back to where she knew what to expect, where she didn’t have to worry about being shot or hunted like an animal.
But…she wasn’t alone anymore. And that was better than what she’d endured while in captivity. Nate was larger than life, both physically and metaphorically. He kept himself between her and danger. Had constantly checked on her, reassured her. He didn’t treat her as if she was a liability, which Josie knew she was.
She’d lost the sandals his friends had given her the minute they picked up their pace, and hurrying through the streets was extremely painful. It felt as if she’d found every pebble and sharp stone as they’d fled. But if Nate could endure without any sign of the pain he had to be in, so could she. There was no way she would slow him down.
But finding out they’d be escaping by boat? That nearly broke her. Memories assailed Josie…seeing Ayden shot, his body carelessly thrown overboard. The panic and terror when those men had grabbed her and dragged her onto their boat.
Out on the water, she, Nate, and Kevlar would be sitting ducks. She knew that better than anyone. There’d been nowhere to hide when the men had overtaken her and Ayden. No running away. She could swim, but in the middle of the gulf, where could she go?
And now she had to get back on another boat. Asmallerone. And they’d surely be chased. It was her worst nightmare all over again.
But she had no choice. None. Nate was right; it wasn’t as if a helicopter could come in and get them on the docks.
Her breaths were coming too fast as terror swam in her veins. But when Nate took her hand, and he and his fellow Navy SEAL stepped away from the shelter of the buildings, she had no choice but to follow. Her ears were ringing, and it felt as if she was seeing the world through a long dark tunnel. It didn’t help that the mesh over her face blocked her peripheral vision. Someone could be sneaking up on them and they wouldn’t even know.
“One step at a time,” Nate said softly from beside her.
She squeezed his hand in acknowledgement, and feeling his fingers tighten around hers in return made her feel not quite so alone. Not quite so scared.
They stepped onto the dock leading to the boat—and that’s when the shit hit the fan.
Someone yelled something from behind them, and without Nate or Kevlar having to tell her, Josie ran. Theybolted toward the brown boat, and the man sitting next to the engine stood and gestured wildly for them to hurry.
Thankful that it was the correct boat, and they weren’t about to jump into the vessel of some stranger who didn’t know what was happening, Josie felt almost numb with relief as she ran faster. Nate was practically dragging her, since his legs were longer than hers, but he never let go of her hand. Never told her she was being too slow.
When they got to the boat, the man had already started the engine. Josie didn’t hesitate. She lifted her leg to jump in, but promptly tripped over the vast material of the burka. Thankfully, she fell right where she wanted to go anyway—into the boat. She felt the craft lurch as Nate and Kevlar followed behind her.
Before she could sit up, she was pinned to the bottom of the boat as their driver gunned the engine.
“Hang on!” Nate yelled over the sound of the powerful motor.
Josie couldn’t see, she couldn’t breathe, all she could do was hold on, as Nate had instructed. She bounced slightly every time the boat went over a wave. She heard nothing but the piercing sound of the engine as she lay on her stomach and tried not to throw up.
After a few minutes, Nate lifted himself up and off her. Josie stayed where she was. Her heart was hammering and it felt as if she was having a heart attack. The boat didn’t slow. In fact, it felt as if it was speeding up.
To her surprise, Nate turned her and began trying to get the burka up and over her head. The second it was removed,even though they were in no way safe, Josie immediately felt as if she could breathe again.
“We’re doing it,” he said, his words almost whipped away by the wind. “We’re outrunning them!”
Looking behind them, Josie saw three boats in pursuit but, to her relief, it didn’t seem as if they were gaining.
“You did good, Spirit,” Nate told her.
