Page 31 of Protecting Kelli
“I told that asshole Jamaica was a bad idea,” Kevlar bitched under his breath.
“Are the guys he went with okay?” Safe asked the commander.
“Yes. They don’t even know he’s missing yet. And apparently there’s a woman missing too.”
“This just keeps getting better and better,” MacGyver said dryly.
“There was a group of women there on vacation, and they all went tubing together. Flash and a woman named Kelli Colbert didn’t return. I’ve got a call into the hotel to talk to the men Flash was with now.”
Kevlar’s gaze went to the phone in the middle of the table. He noticed the light flashing for the first time, indicating the connection was on hold. “That him?” he asked, nodding at the phone.
“Yes.”
The team wasn’t yet up to speed on what the hell was happening, but obviously it was imperative they talk to the people who were with Flash before he disappeared. He leaned forward and reached for the button that would reconnect the call, looking at the commander for permission.
The other man nodded.
As soon as Kevlar pressed the button, the commander said, “Hello?”
“Um…hello?” The man who responded sounded confused and worried. Probably wondering why he’d been summoned to whatever office he was currently sitting in by resort security.
“Is this Charles Hepworth?”
“Yes. Who is this?”
“This is Wade Gordon’s naval commander back in the States. I need to know what the hell happened today.”
Kevlar leaned forward, as if that could make the man on the other end of the phone give them the information they were after faster. He noticed his teammates all did the same thing.
“Um…I’m not sure what you mean?”
“When did you last see Mr. Gordon and Ms. Colbert?”
“Uh…when we were tubing. We got separated on the water, and we waited around for a while but they weren’t appearing. Flash is a Navy SEAL, so I wasn’t worried about him, but Kelli…she’s not built for the water, if you know what I mean.”
“No, I don’t know what you mean,” the commander said in a low tone. “Explain it to me.”
“Just that she’s not the best swimmer, apparently. Doesn’t have the body for it. That’s what her cousin says. I don’t remember who suggested it, but we all piled into one of the two vans to go back to the resort, leaving the other one for Flash and Kelli whenever they finally appeared. Wait—why are you asking about them? They’re okay, right?”
Kevlar wanted to roll his eyes. This Charles person wasn’t very quick on the uptake.
“No. They’ve been kidnapped.”
To everyone’s surprise, Charles laughed.
“That’s funny?” the commander barked.
“This is a joke, right? Flash is pissed at me for hanging out with the girls last night, so he’s getting back at me. He set up this elaborate prank and convinced Kelli to go along with it.”
“This is not a joke,” Kevlar said, not able to keep his mouth shut anymore. “My teammate is missing, along with Kelli Colbert, and you’re fuckinglaughing.”
There was silence on the other end of the line before Charles said a little uncertainly, “You’re not kidding?”
“No, we aren’t kidding. We need to knoweverythingthat was said when you and the rest of the group decided to leave the river to go back to the resort,” the commander ordered.
“Holy shit. Okay, I’ll tell you everything I can remember. Jesus…Nova’s gonna be so upset about her brother.”
As Kevlar and the rest of the team listened to Charlestell them how Flash and Kelli came to be left behind—because everyone was eager to get back to the resort to resume their drinking and flirting, apparently—it became clear that the entire group had been very lucky. It was quite possibleeveryonehad been targeted…but because they were inconsiderate and horny, they’d actually lucked out. For some reason, their driver brought them back to the resort, instead of to wherever Kelli and Flash were being held.
