Page 79 of Protecting Bree
“I love you too,” she said, tilting her head into his fingers.
“I’ll be back,” he said again.
Between one blink and the next, he was gone. Disappeared into thin air.
She almost yelled for him to come back immediately, but refrained.
Wrapping her arms around herself, Bree carefully lowered to her side. She closed her good eye, giving herself permission to shut down for a moment. It had taken all her strength to stay upright for Smiley. But now that he was gone, she could be weak. For just a little while. Whenhe returned, she’d sit up and put on a brave face once more.
All she wanted was to be back in Smiley’s apartment. In his bed. Looking up at him as he made love to her. As she drifted, that was the image she took with her. One of love and comfort and without the threat of kidnappings, starving to death, or broken bones.
As Smiley made his way through the rough neighborhood, he realized it wasn’t going to be as easy as he hoped to get Bree out of there and back to the motel. For one, he had no idea where he was. All the buildings looked the same. And two, the desperation and distrust on the faces of many people he passed made it clear that he and Bree stuck out like sore thumbs.
And to make matters worse, he saw a crude “Missing Person” poster tacked up on a pole…with Bree’s picture.
It was homemade, and the picture was grainy and looked as if it was taken with a first-generation digital camera, but there was no mistaking that it was Bree. He could understand a few words on the flier…American, Guayaquil Port, and Mateo Castillo’s name.
And the amount of money listed under the image was enough to change the life of anyone in the area who found her.
For a moment, Smiley wished theywerein the jungle. At least then he could easily find Bree water, get her some food, and they would know who their enemies were. Here, the woman on the corner could be calling the number on the flier as he walked by, or the kids kicking a ball backand forth could blow their cover by recognizing Bree and pointing her out to their parents. Or the men prowling the streets with their rifles could all be Castillo’s henchmen.
The situation was dire, and all Smiley wanted to do was get to his team and get the hell out of there. Rex had promised that he’d call in some favors and end Castillo’s operation once and for all, so leaving without killing the man who’d made his and Bree’s life a living hell wouldn’t be an issue. The outrage and fury coming from the Mountain Mercenaries leader was loud and clear when they’d spoken on the phone. Smiley trusted him to be true to his word.
Determination rose hard and fast. Bree had been through enough.No onewas going to take her from him. No damn way. He hadn’t learned all he had as a SEAL to fail the most important person in his life. And while he would’ve preferred having his team at his back, he could protect Bree on his own. Especially the way he was feeling right this moment. Pissed way the hell off.
Thankfully, Smiley had some local currency on him; Kevlar insisted on everyone carrying a few bills on every single mission. They’d learned through their job that sometimes having a buck or two could mean the difference between living and dying.
He used the money to purchase some bottled water and food, but Smiley had no qualms about stealing the other things he needed. He found some tattered shoes that would be better than nothing. He also pulled a shirt and a pair of pants right off a clothesline hanging behind a three-story building. Then he nabbed a bag to hold all of the things he’d accumulated.
He was on his way back to Bree when he turned a corner and came to an immediate halt. There were about adozen people standing around a shop window, watching something on a television. Cautious, Smiley walked closer…and saw images of tanks in the streets and masked men standing in a TV studio, holding the news anchors hostage.
He didn’t understand what they were saying, but he didn’t need words to know that getting himself and Bree out of the country just became a hell of a lot harder. Not to mention his entire team.
Ecuador had been politically unstable before they’d arrived, but it seemed as if it was on the verge of a full-out conflict now.
Just as he had the thought, a loud explosion sounded a few streets over. The people around him panicked and ran away from the noise.
Smiley ran toward it—because it came from the direction of the abandoned building where he’d stashed Bree.
His heart in his throat, Smiley ignored the civilians running in the streets, his only concern for his woman. Shots began to ring out as the coup expanded to the streets. This was no longer a capital city issue. At the moment, Smiley wasn’t sure who was on the side of “right,” if there even was such a thing.
Regretting leaving Bree, even if it had been necessary to get what she needed quickly, Smiley made his way back to the alley.
To his alarm, when he turned the final corner, there were two armed militants no more than a couple yards away, standing between him and Bree’s hiding place.
They saw him immediately, of course. But it didn’t matter, because Smiley wasn’t leaving. Not without Bree.
They said something to him in Spanish, and guessingwhat they wanted, Smiley lifted both his hands, trying to show that he was unarmed. The pistol in the holster at his back felt heavy and way too obvious, but he did his best not to act rashly. He didn’t know what the men were looking for, but maybe, just maybe, he could get out of this without any violence.
Almost as soon as he had the thought, one of the men walked toward him and swung the rifle right at Smiley’s face.
So much for no violence.
The last few days had been some of the most stressful of Smiley’s life, and he was done. D.O.N.E.
Easily grabbing the rifle, he tore it out of the man’s grip and backhanded him with his own weapon, making him drop like a stone.
Smiley was aiming the rifle at the other man’s head before his friend had even hit the ground, ignoring the fact that he had a weapon pointed athimtoo.
