Part 1 (2/2)

That was just about enough time. Mason hoped.

A hawk cried, the large bird presumably circling overhead. Mason made as if to look up but kept an eye on Daniel. Sure enough Daniel looked up to search for the bird. He'd gotten slack. c.o.c.ky.

That was all the time Mason needed. He dove forward, grabbed Daniel's leg. The gun went off, but he'd lost his aim as he went down. Mason didn't waste any time, he took Daniel out in seconds. The unconscious man lolled beside him as Mason quickly gave a responding hawk call in return. Hawk, one of the men on his team, had taught them all how to imitate the powerful birdcall. Now they used it to signal between the six team members.

His men separated from the trees around them. Daniel never had a chance but he hadn't known it. Typical.

”We need to find her. We've got thirty minutes before she's to be picked up.”

As silently as they moved out of the trees, they slid back into the forest. They knew Tesla Landers was here somewhere close by. And her time was running out.

Mason secured Daniel, resisting the urge to kill the b.a.s.t.a.r.d for hurting the woman, but he was too valuable to kill. They needed the intel he had.

Someone would swing by and pick him up in a few minutes.

Now for Tesla. She came first.

Chapter 2.

TESLA LANDERS HER friends had loved it when the car company started up, saying the two of them were well matched, both with innovative ideas, drive and a sleek look glared at the dark plank wall in front of her. Tears threatened but she refused to let them drop. She had to stay strong. She had to believe she'd be rescued. That she had value to both sides in this war and not just the wrong one.

She had to trust.

Or else she was lost.

And staying strong wasn't an option it was everything. Everyone had a breaking point. She refused to consider this was hers.

She would survive.

She closed her eyes and for the hundredth time in the last hour she let the litany of bolstering sayings ripple through her mind.

She could do this.

She would do this.

Every disaster had a silver lining.

The military looked after their own.

She was a valuable member of the team. Or would be if she could close the d.a.m.n deal.

She couldn't help but worry that even for all those things, they might not find her in time. The SEALs were good, but they weren't perfect. She clenched her jaw, willing the cry to stay hidden within. Her arms had been yanked and secured behind her, the pain so bad she'd bitten the inside of her cheek to hold back her sobs. She'd be d.a.m.ned if she'd let the a.s.sholes know they were hurting her. They looked like the kind of guys to get an extra jolly out of that.

Now, every breath she took, her ribs expanded and pulled on her shoulders. She knew she would move past the pain into a numb state eventually, but she wasn't there yet. She closed her eyes, wondering how the h.e.l.l she'd gotten to this place in life. Right because she wanted to save lives. Or rather, she didn't want more unnecessary lives lost like her brother's. He'd been stationed in Iraq when the truck he was riding in had driven over a land mine. No one had survived.

A techie since diapers, she'd been determined to find a way to track the weapons used against her countrymen and save more of the brave soldiers like Harry. To find the land mines before they were triggered. And that technology was what the enemy wanted. Why had she never really considered that if her software could save her people then other countries would want it to save theirs?

And how the h.e.l.l had they known what she was working on? That bugged her. She'd been working as quietly as possible. The only answer was someone had sold her out. And d.a.m.n it, that hurt. She knew her team. Loved them all. To think of someone doing such a thing broke her heart. Maybe they were desperate for money, but it could have been they were desperate to save someone instead. It was obvious the enemy wasn't planning on holding back and didn't care who they killed to get what they wanted. The only reason she was alive still was they wanted more from her. The software hadn't been completed. There were bugs still. A few things to pull together. But it was so d.a.m.n close. They'd kill her once it was operational.

Therefore, they might as well kill her now.

Her team could finish the job for the Pentagon.

Maybe.

A tree branch rustled against the wall in front of her sending a heavy wave of pine scent into her nostrils. The shack was so old and rickety she figured a good shove and it would collapse. The sound came again.

She froze. Please don't let it be him again. The leader of this pack had terrified her. That he was as American as she was, made it all that much worse. She hated him. What he was doing. Why he was doing it. He'd been very voluble in what was happening and why. His explanations made her hurt that people like him existed. Poor humanity. It was doomed.

According to him, she was to be collected in an hour and taken to her new owner. Just putting collected and owner together in the same sentence with her name made her cringe. And that hour was well gone. She had no idea where the men were, but as she had nowhere to go, and couldn't move to begin with, she lay frozen on the bed. And waited for someone to help her.

And hoped she hadn't been forgotten or deemed not important.

A tiny drilling sound started right in front of her face. A minuscule hole opened up. She tried to s.h.i.+ft back so her face wasn't in the firing line, but a tiny white light flashed in her eyes regardless. A startled exclamation sound followed with the light being immediately shut off.

She had nowhere to go. No place to hide.

The door opened quickly. She tried to sit up so she could see but could only lift her head and twist. The doorway was empty. Groaning, she flopped back down.

”d.a.m.n wind.”

”Yeah, wind, that's me.” A deep husky whisper floated over her head then suddenly hot breath rippled against her neck. She closed her eyes, shaking, waiting. Friend or foe?

A hand slapped over her mouth. Her eyes opened in shock, and she tried to pull back. Only the restraint holding her arms back released. Her mouth opened, a soundless cry escaped.

”Shh. Not a sound.”

Her body shuddered in agony as her arms flopped forward.

”I'm here to rescue you,” he whispered in low tones. ”Do you understand?”

She shot him a fulminating look but gave a short clipped nod.

He slowly removed his hand. ”Good. I'm going to sit you up and straighten your shoulders, so they will ease up faster. Ready?”

She nodded again. Like h.e.l.l she was ready. Was anyone ever? But he gently helped her into a sitting position, her arms falling uselessly at her side.

He grabbed her shoulders and forcibly moved them back and forth, rotating them one at a time. Then he grabbed one arm and gave it a shake. He squeezed her hand. ”Squeeze back.”

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