Page 49 of Protecting Kelli
Then he leaned in and kissed her forehead. Right there in front of his friend. Kelli couldn’t believe it.
“Come on. Let’s get out of here. We’ve got food, water, and a shower waiting for us back at the resort.”
Nowthosewere three things she couldn’t resist. Flash took her hand and turned. Kelli looked down as she started to follow. Then she stopped.
“What? What’s wrong?” Flash asked, concern heavy in his voice.
Kelli knelt and picked up the spoon that had been inthe box. The one they’d used to get into the cans. It was just a stupid spoon. A cheap one at that, as it was now bent from the pressure she’d used to try to open the can of peas. But for some reason, she didn’t want to leave it behind. It was a reminder of what she’d survived.
Some people might think it morbid that she wanted a reminder of this horrible experience at all, but it hadn’t beenentirelybad.
The kiss she’d shared with Flash popped into her head. That had been…not horrible in the least.
Flash squeezed her hand and led her over to where Kevlar was standing.
“Hi. I’m Kevlar,” he said with a smile as she got close.
“I’m Kelli.”
“It’s very good to meet you, Kelli. How about we get you out of here?”
“Yes, please,” she said.
Kevlar grinned at Flash. “She’s a polite little thing.”
“Yup. How we doing this?”
Kevlar glanced up at the hole above their heads, then back to Flash. “How about you have her stand on your shoulders. The guys can take it from there.”
Flash nodded and turned to Kelli. “We’ll do this just like we did before, except this time you’ll be standing. Don’t worry about falling. My team won’t let that happen, and neither will I.”
Kelli was still nervous about her weight and standing on top of Flash, but she wanted out of this damn bus more than she wanted to brainstorm other ways to climb out of that hole above their heads.
Before she knew what was happening, Flash hadturned and was crouching in front of her. Kevlar moved behind her, to help her climb onto his shoulders.
“Damn! You didn’t say she was hurt!” Kevlar exclaimed. “Preacher! She’s bleeding! Run back and see if the officer has a first-aid kit.”
“Don’t,” Flash called out. “She’s okay! It’s from when we were taken. Jeckle hit her with the butt of his pistol. It’s old blood.”
“Ma’am, are you sure you’re okay?” Kevlar asked.
The concern from these men was overwhelming. “Flash is right. It’s old. I mean, I do have a headache, but I think it’s from the bright light after so long in the dark.”
“We’ll get that cleaned up and checked out as soon as we get you topside,” Kevlar reassured her.
“Step up, Kelli. Let’s get you out of here.”
It didn’t take long at all. Kelli stepped onto his shoulders, and once she was secure—with Kevlar’s help—Flash stood. Then her head was actually above the level of the ground. It didn’t take more than a second for two of the men waiting outside to grab her biceps and pull her up and out of the hole.
One of Flash’s friends kept hold of her and gently backed her away from the hole, and before she could blink, Flash was out and striding toward her. She watched as two of the men lay on the ground and reached into the hole, obviously to help Kevlar out, before her line of sight was blocked by Flash.
He took her into his arms almost roughly, and just held her as they both breathed in the fresh air.
After taking a moment to appreciate that she was free, Kelli looked around. All she saw was trees. It was hard tobelieve these men had actually found them. It seemed like a miracle.
“Come on, we need to get you two back to the resort and cleaned up. I’m sure the police will have questions.”
Kelli blocked out the rest of what Kevlar was saying as Flash turned her, keeping an arm around her shoulders and walking her away from the tomb she’d thought she was going to die in. The fact that she was still here was a direct result of the man at her side. And she had no idea how she was going to function when they parted ways.
