Page 74 of Protecting Maggie
As soon as she was out of sight, another soldier joined the first. Peeking out through a small hole in the wall, Maggie realized just how close a call she’d had as the second soldier bent down to look under the car she’d crawled out from under sixty seconds earlier. The first soldier said something to the newcomer…then gestured to the very building where she was hiding.
Her breath caught in her throat. Was he ratting her out to his friend? Telling him where she’d gone? But she was shocked again when the second soldier simply nodded and they both started walking down the street, back the way she’d just come, stopping occasionally to look inside other buildings, and under and inside more cars.
The soldier—he’d hidden her! She could only assume that he’d told his buddy he’d already searched the building where she was hiding. Maggie didn’t know why he’d donethat, she was just grateful that he had. War was a nightmare for both sides. The Russian soldiers weren’t bad people; they were doing what they’d been ordered to do. Okay…some of themwereprobably bad. Just as some US soldiers were bad. She knew that from experience. Roman Robertson was the worst example of what an assumed “honorable and brave” military member could be.
Fatigue ate at Maggie. All she wanted was a warm, dry bed, an extra-large supreme pizza, and a gallon of water. And Shawn.
She couldn’t have three of the four, but she could have the one she wanted most. She just had to keep moving.
More cautious now, hoping there weren’t more soldiers lurking around, Maggie stepped back out into the pouring rain, toward where she hoped she’d find Artem, Borysko, Yana, and MacGyver, and most importantly Shawn, waiting for her.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
“Where is she? Something’s wrong,” Preacher said for what seemed like the hundredth time. MacGyver had physically restrained him when he’d tried to leave earlier, saying it was stupid for him to go and get lost alongwithMaggie. Everything within Preacher had rebelled. Wanting—no,needing—to find Maggie and make sure she was safe.
But the more practical part of him knew his friend was right. He had to trust that she was not only okay, but that she would make her way to the meeting point when it was safe for her to do so. The rain was coming down almost sideways now, which sucked, but hopefully it would also make it easier for her to get through the city unseen.
It was eerie that there were no other people lurking around. The city had been mostly abandoned after the missiles destroyed it…and no one had even thought about making sure Artem, Borysko, and Yana were safe. That ate atPreacher, but he could tell it absolutely pissed off MacGyver more. He wanted to warn his friend against getting too attached to the children, but he knew it was too late. Hell, the man was thinking about a marriage of convenience just so he could keep them. It wasdefinitelytoo late.
“She’ll be here,” MacGyver said, answering Preacher’s earlier question about where Maggie could be.
The five of them were huddled under a makeshift shelter made out of a piece of corrugated tin and a bunch of the tall grass that grew in the farmlands around the city. Artem had set up a system to gather the rainwater, and every time the empty tin can he’d found filled up, he made sure his brother and sister had their fill before taking any for himself.
But Preacher couldn’t concentrate on anything but Maggie. He vaguely heard MacGyver talking to the children, getting to know them better, entertaining them, but he kept his own focus trained on the city, hoping and praying Maggie would appear.
He knew some strong women. Remi, Josie, Wren…they were all tough as nails. Not to mention Caroline, Fiona, Cheyenne, and all the others. But seeing Maggie’s strength firsthand was incredible. Never had he met anyone who was able to keep going when the odds were stacked so high against her. Two years was a hell of a long time to be punished for something that wasn’t her fault. Technically, yes, she was transporting drugs, but since she didn’t know they were there and had no intention of selling them, she’d been punished unjustly. She’d been set up.
And then there was the harassment she’d put up with since her release. She was terrified of Robertson, and with good reason. She knew firsthand the power he wielded…and Preacher had finally learned for himself how absolute that power seemed to be.
And now she’d been kidnapped and dumped in a foreign country in the midst of a violent conflict, and despite being frightened, exhausted, hungry, and out of her depth, and without any experience whatsoever, she’d acted asbaitto give the kids an opportunity to save him and MacGyver.
Preacher was overwhelmed. Humbled. All he wanted to do was hold Maggie close and never let go again. Tell her how impressed he was. What a great job she’d done. That he’d do better at keeping her safe from now on. Because the truth was, he’d done a shit job so far.
He hadn’t believed that Roman Robertson was her ex—and look where that had gotten them. Yes, he’d gotten to her side as soon as he saw her tumble from that crate he’d pushed out of a fucking chopper. But then he’d gone and gotten himself captured.
It was definitely time to step up. To show her that he would go to whatever lengths were required to keep her safe. But first, he needed to find her.
He was done sitting around waiting for her to show up. Fuck the soldiers. Fuck the rain. Fuck it all. With hisrenewed vow echoing in his head, Preacher turned to MacGyver. “I’m going to go find her.”
In response, MacGyver pointed over his shoulder.
Turning, Preacher squinted into the pouring rain and saw a figure standing not too far from where they were holed up, looking around as if searching for something.
Maggie.
Preacher was up and moving before he’d even thought about what he was doing. The rain soaked through his clothes in an instant but he barely felt it. All his attention was on the woman standing in the rain, looking lost and scared to death.
“Maggie!”
She turned, and the absolute relief and joy on her face nearly brought Preacher to his knees.
“Shawn!” she exclaimed, running toward him.
Preacher met her halfway. She slammed into him, but he didn’t fall. He wrapped his arms around her, holding her tight. The bruises he’d received at the hands of the soldiers throbbed and his eye was still mostly swollen shut. But the aches and pains were forgotten now that Maggie was back in his arms.
He buried his nose in her hair and lifted her off her feet. Maggie’s legs came up and she hooked her ankles together behind him, clinging to him as a child might.
“Maggie,” Preacher whispered against her skin.
