Page 43 of Protecting Kelli
Turning to Kelli, he said, “I think you’ll be able to just sit on my shoulders.” He squatted down and held out his hands.
She looked skeptical, but bravely went behind him and took hold of his hands. She awkwardly climbed onto his shoulders, and Flash held her thighs tightly as he stood.
Kelli was at the perfect height. She was practically nose to nose with the cover.
She did her best to push the lid, with no luck. Then Flash crouched, Kelli straightened her arms, locked her elbows, and he used his leg strength to try to push the cover up and off, but again, it didn’t even budge.
Frustrated, he put Kelli back on her feet and began to pace. He’d been counting on being able to break out. But Heckle and Jeckle must have put something on top of the manhole cover to hold it down.
“We’re never getting out of here, are we?” Kelli asked, sounding despondent.
That wouldn’t do. Not at all.
“We are. Think about it, if those assholes parked a car or something on top of us, that’s like a huge beacon for my team. I mean, a car in the middle of the jungle? That’ll stand out like a sore thumb. And anything else they might’ve done to make the cover heavy enough not to be moved will also stand out. We might not be able to break out, but my team will break in. I give you my word.”
Kelli took a deep breath, then nodded.
Flash was overwhelmed with his feelings for this woman. She had every right to be freaking out, and yet she was putting her trust in him. In his team. It was humbling.
“How about we check out that conch shell. See if we can break it? Make us some shanks in case Heckle and Jeckle come back.” He needed to keep her busy.
“Okay.”
“Great. Come on, let’s have some more water beforewe start.” It was Flash’s responsibility to take care of her physical needs. He knew what could happen to the human body in survival situations. He’d make sure she conserved her strength and got what she needed to keep going.
It wouldn’t be long before Kevlar or one of the others stuck their head down that hole and asked what the hell he was doing down there. He hoped.
CHAPTER NINE
The second the door opened, Smiley pushed his way inside and grabbed the man on the other side around the throat, pushing him backward into the hut.
“Easy, Smiley,” Kevlar warned. He’d been concerned about his friend for a while now. The whole thing with the missing Bree Haynes, and Smiley not being able to find her, was pushing the man to the edge. It was frustrating for all of them, knowing the woman was close yet not being able to locate her. But Smiley was taking it personally.
They’d found Errol Brown, however. It wasn’t hard. They simply went to the address the tubing company manager had provided and knocked on the door. The man lived in a very poor neighborhood. People were cooking over open fires outside their front doors. The neighbors had watched without much expression as the minivan the SEAL team was using pulled up. Kevlar couldn’t decide if they were used to strangers approaching Errol’s house, or if they just didn’t care.
Kevlar shut the door behind them and watched as Smiley pushed the man into a chair.
“Errol Brown?” Kevlar asked.
“Yes? Who are you? What do you want?”
“We want our friend back,” MacGyver said in a low, pissed-off voice.
At his words, Errol tensed. The man knew something. He was the key to finding Flash. Kevlar had no doubt.
He grabbed the only other chair in the room. It was made out of wood, and when he turned it around and plopped it down in front of Errol, Kevlar wondered if it would even hold his weight. Mentally holding his breath, he straddled it and crossed his arms on the back, staring at their “host.”
Several tense moments went by, and Kevlar purposely didn’t speak. He and his team had discussed strategy on the way here, and they’d all agreed to let Kevlar take the lead.
Safe, Blink, Preacher, MacGyver, and Smiley all stood around Kevlar with their arms crossed and scowls on their faces. They were an intimidating bunch, which was their intention.
“So…Errol. Here’s the thing,” Kevlar said. “There we were, minding our own business back home, when we find out someone had kidnapped our friend while he was on vacation here in Jamaica. They had the balls to call our commanding officer and demand fifty thousand bucks to get him back. That wasn’t cool. Not at all. So you know what we did?”
Errol glanced away from Kevlar, up at the other men standing around him, and thenthe door, then he met Kevlar’s gaze once more. He visibly swallowed and shook his head.
“We got on the first plane to the island and our investigation immediately led us here. To you. What do you think of that?”
“I don’t know nothin’,” Errol said.
