Page 45 of Protecting Kelli
Errol swallowed hard and nodded.
“If you lie to us…I’ll let Blink have his fun with you.”
Errol’s gaze whipped up to his teammate, still holding one of his arms, then back to Kevlar’s. He nodded again.
“Good. We’re on the same page. Let him go,” Kevlar said, nodding at Blink and Preacher.
They did, stepping back but staying close to Errol. The terrified man rubbed his upper arms where he’d been held down, then brought a hand up to his neck. He wiped away the blood, stared at his hand for a moment, released a shuddering sigh…then began to talk.
Twenty minutes later, Kevlar and the rest of the team knew everything about the plan to kidnap clueless Americans through the tubing company. Flash and Kelli had been their first attempt, and even though Errol was anasshole, he wasn’t dumb. When his accomplice began talking about getting the Navy to pay the ransom, Errol had allegedly tried to convince him the plan wouldn’t work.
Errol admitted that he’d been the one to figure out where Flash was stationed, and he’d found Kelli Colbert’s Facebook account and deduced that she wouldn’t make a good target. With her job at a small travel agency—and a somewhat recent hire, at that—he figured Flash was the one who made more money, the one they should concentrate on.
He also swore that he’d walked away from the entire fucked-up plan. That he’d left Brant on his own.
When he’d reluctantly admitted that this Brant character had buried a stripped-out bus in the middle of the jungle, one that he’d had altered by fitting a cast-iron manhole cover into the roof—and that they’d left Kelli and Flash inside—Kevlar saw red.
His Remi had been buried alive, and she still sometimes had nightmares about it. And she’d only been in that box for minutes. Flash and Kelli had been there for nearly a full day now. Yes, a bus was way more roomy than the box Remi had been forced into, but still…buried was buried.
He took a step toward Errol, and surprisingly, it was Smiley who took hold of his arm and held him back. Safe stepped in front of his team leader and took over the interrogation as smoothly as if they’d done it many times in the past.
It took Kevlar several moments to regain control. He heard Errol trying to give the others directions as to where he and Brant had buried the bus. All he could think of wasgetting there as soon as possible. There was a possibility that Flash had found a way out of that bus, but given how Errol was describing the area, and what they’d done to try to make sure no one could escape from the buried vehicle, Kevlar wasn’t so sure.
When Errol was done talking, he asked, “What now? What are you going to do with me?”
“You’re coming with us. You’re going to tell the police everything you just told us. Without leaving anything out,” Safe said.
Errol winced.
It was a crapshoot if the local authorities would do anything to the man. Unlikely that he’d be prosecuted. But since the team’s goal in coming to Jamaica was to find Flash, Errol’s future wasn’t their concern.
Now, Brant?Thatman had to be found and needed to pay for what he’d done. What he’d planned on doing to as many tourists as he could. According to Errol, he had plans to use the buried bus many times over. Apparently, once he’d received money from a family, or a group of families, his plan was to wait until his captives had passed away, remove their bodies, then play his sick game all over again.
Errol Brown was a patsy. A small-time punk who’d gotten mixed up with the wrong person.
Kevlar was itching to head to the jungle. It was obvious they’d put the bus in a place known to locals but difficult to access. The easiest option would be to take Errol with them, make him show them exactly where they’d stashed Flash and Kelli. But they had enough info to find the bus without him, of that Kevlar was certain.
No. He’d prefer Errol be taken into custody right away by the Jamaican authorities, and he didn’t want to have toworry about the man trying to get away when theydidfind this damn buried bus, and their attention was focused on their missing teammate.
Everyone would give Flash a ton of shit for getting kidnapped. Personally, Kevlar couldn’t wait to tell him “I told you so.” He was the one who’d warned against coming to Jamaica in the first place.
Once they made sure Flash was all right, of course. Wasn’t hurt, or was getting any medical attention he needed.
Thenthey’d make fun of him for getting hurt in the first place. It was just how the team was. It was a coping mechanism. A way to release tension.
Suddenly needing some air, Kevlar turned and headed for the door. The second he stepped outside, all conversation from the neighbors stopped. Their visit was obviously being gossiped about. Kevlar had a feeling everyone on the island would know about it in the next day or so. Which meant they needed to move fast.
If Brant Williams got word that they’d been here, and Errol had been taken away, he’d get spooked. But Kevlar wasn’t willing to split up his team. Flash was the most important thing right now. If Brant disappeared, they’d find him. Eventually. There was nowhere the man could hide.
It took longer than Kevlar wanted to bring Errol to the police station and force him to give a full confession to the authorities. He wasn’t feeling confident that the policewould do much to him, other than make him pay a fine and send him on his way with a slap on the wrist.
Eventually, they had no choice but to leave Errol in the custody of the local authorities. They’d done all they could to see that he was punished for the kidnapping. One of the officers had demanded to come with them when they went into the jungle to try to find Flash and the woman who’d been kidnapped.
It made sense; Errol couldn’t be charged without proof. But Kevlar was still annoyed. He didn’t want anyone tagging along. He simply wanted to find his friend without having to worry about being politically correct. He could almost hear his commander in his head, telling him to do things by the book, to not ruffle any feathers, to not turn this into an international incident.
But to Kevlar’s way of thinking, itwasan international incident. Keeping a Navy SEAL’s kidnapping a secret wasn’t a smart plan. It wouldn’t be good for Jamaica, since they relied on tourist dollars. He couldn’t stop thinking about Remi, and how she’d been kidnapped and buried alive. There were too many similarities to what happened to her and what was going on with Flash for him to remain rational.
The trip to the jungle was long…and more difficult than Kevlar anticipated. They got lost once or twice as they tried to follow Errol’s verbal directions to where the bus had been buried. Many of the dirt roads looked the same and, of course, the terrain didn’t help. The minivan they’d rented was taking a beating, but Kevlar didn’t care.
