Page 25 of Protecting Kelli
Kelli felt Flash’s large hand cup the back of her head. It hurt for a moment, but then she leaned into his touch. Intellectually, she knew he was putting pressure on the gash, but feeling him cradle her head so intimately was incredibly soothing. He pulled her forward until her forehead was resting against her chest, as he did his best to stop the bleeding of her wound.
Her arms went back around him, and she inhaled deeply. He smelled…sweaty. With a slight tang of river water. He definitely wasn’t fresh and clean, but neither was she. And it wasn’t as if they had any way of getting any cleaner. Their situation was beginning to sink in. They were in big trouble. Buried alive in a swath of jungle in the wilds of Jamaica. No one was going to notice a random manhole cover that was completely out of place in the middle of the woods.
She was going to die here, which sucked.
But all Kelli could think was that at least she wasn’t alone.
“We aren’t dying here,” Flash said, startling Kelli.
“Stop reading my mind,” she complained, mumbling against his chest.
“Not hard to know what you’re thinking,” he told her. “There’s no chance in hell my friends won’t come to Jamaica to look for me when they get that fucking ransom request. Our kidnappers will find out who I am soon enough, when they open my wallet and find my Navy ID card. They’ll think they hit the jackpot, that they might be able to get the government to pay for my return, but that’s not going to happen. Everyone knows the US doesn’t negotiate with terrorists, and while Heckle and Jeckle might think they’ve covered their tracks and no one will find us—they’re wrong.”
He sounded so sure of himself. So positive that someone would find them. But Kelli wasn’t nearly so confident.
“We might need to be here a few days, but trust me when I tell you that we’ll be out of here as soon as my friends can arrange it.”
Kelli nodded. Even if she didn’t believe it, she wasn’t going to disagree with him. “Heckle and Jeckle?” She asked the first thing that popped into her head.
Flash chuckled, and Kelli could feel the laugh rumble through his body.
“Yeah, they’re cartoon magpies who cause problems for others and for themselves by their crazy actions. They’re supposed to be funny, but I found the cartoon to be fairly violent. Then again, I guess that’s kind of the nature of some of those older cartoons.”
He kept talking about his favorite episodes of the cartoon, and to her amazement, Kelli found his chatter about something so inane helped her relax.
“I think the bleeding has slowed down. How do you feel? Are you dizzy? Nauseous? Have a headache?”
It took Kelli a moment to realize that Flash had stopped talking about Heckle and Jeckle and was asking her questions. “I’m okay,” she told him. She wasn’t, but what was she supposed to say? It wasn’t as if he had some painkillers in his pocket or he could get her to a doctor.
“Right.”
Then he shocked the hell out of her by putting both hands on either side of her head and tilting it back. She felt his lips against her forehead, then he simply held her for a moment. She imagined he was staring at her, and if they had light, he’d be searching her eyes and facial expression to try to ferret out her true thoughts.
“Thank you.”
“For what?” Kelli asked, confused.
“For not making that fucked-up situation worse.”
She couldn’t help it. She laughed. “I don’t think it could’ve gotten any worse.”
“Of course it could’ve been worse,” Flash said calmly. “You could’ve screamed, freaked out Heckle and Jeckle, and they might’ve shot one or both of us. They could’ve beaten the hell out of us, or killed one of us in the jungle, leaving the other in here alone. You did exactly what you should’ve done. Kept quiet and followed directions.”
“I thought it was always better to fight,” Kelli said softly. “I’ve watched a few of those crime shows that are super popular on TV these days, and they always say that if you let someone take you somewhere in a car, that’s the worst thing you can do. That you should fight.”
She felt Flash shrug. It was almost weird how, without sight, her other senses became so much sharper. “That’s not always true. Every situation is different. Fighting an attacker or kidnapper could result in them killing youwhile trying to subdue you. Other times, fighting is your only chance of survival.”
“How do you know which is more appropriate?” Kelli asked.
“Intuition.”
“Is that why you didn’t do anything to take that gun away from the guy? I have a feeling you could’ve done it without too much issue.”
“Yeah, pretty much. The main thing was, while I could’ve taken that gun away from Jeckle, I didn’t know what Heckle would do. I had no idea if he had a weapon as well, and concentrating on Jeckle would have left you vulnerable. And my fears were right. Heckledidhave a gun. He could’ve shot us both while I was subduing his partner.”
Kelli shivered.
“Besides, I have confidence in my team. They’ll find us, Kelli. We just have to stay alive until they can get here.”
