Page 23 of Protecting Kelli
Which pissed off their kidnapper.
“What’s so funny?” he demanded.
“This. My mom is barely scraping by. And I have no siblings.” He was lying, of course, but there was no way he was going to have Nova involved in this shit if he could help it.
“Neither do I,” Kelli said in a soft voice from next to him. Flash was proud of her for hanging in there,especially with that head injury, but he couldn’t risk looking away from the man with the gun. He needed an opening. Just one. And he could get him and Kelli out of this.
“Then I guess you’ll die down there,” the man said, not seeming concerned in the least. “There’ll besomeonewilling to pay to get you back. There always is. The company you work for, friends…someone.”
The man wasn’t wrong. As a Navy SEAL, he actually made a pretty good kidnapping victim. It infuriated Flash that that’s what he was. A victim. He wasn’t ashamed, but more pissed off.
Without warning, the man aimed at the ground and squeezed the trigger on the gun, shooting the ground near their feet, and Kelli’s little scream of fright ate at Flash’s soul.
“The next bullet goes into her leg. How long will it take for her to bleed out, I wonder? Get down that hole. Right fucking now.”
Turning, Flash stared at the hole in the ground. Every muscle in his body was screaming at him to make a move. To fight the asshole holding the gun. As he prepared himself to do just that, movement in front of him made him look up.
The driver was now holding a gun on them too.
Fuck!He might be able to stop the first gunman from shooting Kelli, but the driver would easily be able to get a round off before he could take him out.
Feeling naked without his KA-BAR knife, or any other kind of weapon, Flash did the only thing he could think of to keep them both alive at that moment—he turned to Kelli and said, “Come on, I’ll help you down first.”
Her eyes were huge in her face, and he was afraid he’dsee some sort of blame in their depths. But other than her obvious fear, she seemed calm. And the trust she showed him when she put her now bloody hand in his made Flash mentally promise to do whatever it took to live up to that trust. He’d figure a way out of this. Somehow.
He led Kelli to the hole, and she sat down with her feet dangling over the edge. Looking down, Flash couldn’t tell how deep the hole was. Glancing at the gunman, he asked, “How far down is it?”
“Guess you’ll find out. Hurry up, we don’t have all day.”
Turning back to Kelli, his gut clenching, Flash said, “Turn around and brace yourself at the edge. I’ll take your hands and lower you down.”
“Okay,” she said, her voice only quivering a little.
They maneuvered, and Flash felt like throwing up. He had no idea how far Kelli would drop when he released her. The only thing that gave him the ability to let go of her hands when he’d lowered her as far as he could was the fact that there was no way these assholes could dig a hole in the jungle so deep, it would kill her when she fell.
He hoped.
“Ready?” he asked.
Kelli’s head was tilted back to stare up at him. “Do it,” she whispered.
It felt like a betrayal when he loosened his grip, and he heard her frightened inhalation as she fell.
“Kelli?” he called out, crouched on his hands and knees beside the hole, desperately looking down. He couldn’t see a damn thing.
“I’m okay!” she said a moment later. “It’s about ten feet or so from the top, I think.”
Flash sighed in relief. “Stand back. I’m coming down.”He sat on the edge and, before dropping into the hole, turned to the men still pointing their guns. “This isn’t the end of this. When I get out of here, I’m going to hunt you down and make you regret fucking with me.”
“Whatever, lover boy. If I was you, I’d enjoy the little time you have left with your girlfriend. Fuck her good and hard, because it could be the last time you get the chance if your people don’t come through with the money.”
“You have no idea who you’re messing with.”
“Fuck you!”
Flash moved a split second before another gunshot echoed in the woods around them. He hit the surface below hard, rolling as his knees buckled, taking the bulk of the landing off his joints.
As the kidnappers maneuvered the cast-iron cover, he took a quick look, trying to get the lay of the land. As soon as that manhole cover was in place, he knew it would be pitch black in there, and he needed to see what he was working with.
