Page 105 of Protecting Addison
Seeing the concrete slowly getting farther away as the container rose, she decided now was the time.
Moving quickly, praying the container wouldn’t suddenly get lowered back to the ground—because she’d be squished like a pancake if it was—she lay down and stuck her arms out first, then her head. It was a tight fit, the rough edges of the metal bit into her shoulders, but Ellory barely felt them. Her adrenaline was sky-high and all she could think of was getting out.
The container was getting higher and higher and if she didn’t hurry, there was no way Yana would be able to get out without getting hurt.
The second she had the thought that she wasn’t going to make it, that she wouldn’t fit through the hole after all, that they hadn’t made it wide enough, her body popped out.
Ellory was glad her arms were already over her head to keep her from cracking her skull when she landed. Freedom had never felt so good! But she had no time to appreciate it. Springing to her feet, she turned and looked up. The container was five feet above the ground. Then six. Whoever was moving it wasn’t messing around.
“Yana! Jump!” she ordered urgently as she held up her hands.
She saw Yana’s terrified face for a moment before her legs appeared through the hole. The little girl had no trouble slipping out. One second Ellory thought it would be too late, that the container was too high, and the next, Yana was in her arms.
They both crashed to the ground in a heap of arms and legs. Ellory hit her tailbone when she landed on her butt, but she wrapped her arms tighter around her sister, trying to protect her from injury.
It took a second for the realization to hit that they were both free. That they were out of the box. But as soon as it did, the man operating the crane yelled something, and Ellory realized that theyweren’tfree. Not yet.
“We have to get out of here, Yana!” she said urgently, getting to her feet and helping her sister stand.
Looking toward the man who was yelling, Ellory followed his line of sight—and saw her worst nightmare. The guy her father had sold them to was climbing out of the cab of a truck parked nearby, and the look on his face was one of pure fury and disbelief.
“Run!” Ellory yelled, pushing her sister toward the countless containers stacked up around them. They’d have to hide within the maze of huge metal boxes. They’d wait until it was dark, then try to sneak out and find help.
With the man’s threats echoing in their ears, the girls ran.
* * *
MacGyver drove like a bat out of hell. He couldn’t believe what Vogel had done. He’dsoldEllory. Knowing full well that she’d suffer while being shipped overseas in a fucking Conex container. And he’d left Yana there too, even though she hadn’t been a part of the deal. She was collateral damage—Vogel’s words, not his.
Fuck him. Fuck his contact. They’d figure out who that was and take him down too. Right now, the most important thing was finding which of the hundreds of containers Ellory and Yana had been stashed in.
Refusing to let doubt creep in, MacGyver did his best to stay positive. Failure wasn’t an option. They’d shut down the entire shipyard and search every single damn Conex. They’d find the girls. They’d be scared out of their minds and freaking out, but they’d find them.
The line of cars following him gave MacGyver the confidence to make those claims in his head. He had some of the best SEALs the Navy had ever trained at his back. No one was going to give up until they’d found his daughters.
“I can’t fucking believe this! What an asshole! A fuckingdouchebag. I wish Blink had cut his dick off. Is Wolf gonna kill him?”
MacGyver glanced at his wife. By all rights, she should be a mess right now. But anger had taken over and when he looked in her eyes, he saw the same determination he felt. “No,” he said. “But the man’s gonna wish he’d never messed with us.”
“I can’t believe he set all this up! That he pretended to be worried about her. His own flesh and blood!” Addison said, with only a little less heat than before.
MacGyver couldn’t afford for her to slide into hysteria or worry. “He’s not the man you knew twelve years ago.”
“Actually, he is. He’s exactly the same. Selfish and only out for himself. What’s the plan? Where are we going to start looking when we get there?”
“At the containers closest to the ships. Any blue ones. I have no idea if enough time has passed for the Conex to be loaded onto a ship already or not, but I have no doubt Tex is already on this. He’ll block any ships from leaving until we find the girls.”
Taking a deep breath, Addison nodded. Her hands were clenched in her lap, but beyond that, she suddenly looked amazingly calm.
“Are you…are you all right, sweetheart?”
“Yes,” she said with another nod.
“Because it’s okay if you aren’t.”
At that, she turned to him. “Ellory is smart. And you’ve been spending all your free time with her out in your garage, teaching her exactly how you got your nickname. If there’s any way to escape, she’ll find it. Because she learned from the best.You, MacGyver.”
It was one of the very few times his wife had used his SEAL nickname, and the timing, the reason she was using it now, meant more to him than he could put into words.
