Intimate Strangers (11 page)

Twelve

The same group who worked together to rescue Christiaan nearly twelve months ago was assembling again. Mike Evans, whose nickname in the SEALs was ‘Wordy’ – the moniker coming from the lack of conversation he held, unless it was about something important – spread a map out on the table in the center of the room. Using a black marker, he began ma
rking with an
x
all the places they knew Chelsea wasn’t being held. Blitz, otherwise known as Will Stanley, aptly named for his love of flash-and-fire scenarios, conferred with Roger – another nickname, his real name was Steve Mason – went over the communications intel that he had gathered over the past twenty-four hours.

Just as Wordy was halfway through drawing a circle around the docking area across the harbour, Tiaan shot out his arm to stop him, offering only a shake of his head as an explanation. Everyone turned to Mac; they used to call him Commander. He wasn’t actually their commanding officer, but their equal. They looked to him for guidance, sought his advice and approval often. Now was just another one of those times.

“She wouldn’t be there,” Mac spoke for Tiaan. “They’d never keep her where they were planning on doing the drop.”

“If you weren’t from Vancouver,” Wordy spoke, “where would you plan your base of operations for a stunt like this?”

Mac had to hand it to the man. Wordy knew how to get one’s mind on the right track. “If you weren’t from here, you’d plan to have it as close to your enemy as possible. That way, they’d never see you coming, and they’d assume you’d be too stupid to stay close.”

Tiaan’s head whipped back to the map and he hunched over it, mumbling to himself in Afrikaans.

“So we’re currently on Mallory Court?”

Mack nodded to Roger. Then it hit him. “Baden Powell Trail,” he announced gruffly. Wordy brought a finger north as he located the long hiking trail. “I remember Hannah telling me about a few bunkers that were built in the nineteen-forties. Most of them are still hidden in the trees.”

“Then that’s where he’d be.” Wordy nodded to Roger who did his thing with the rest of the team.

The only one of the five men present who was silent then, aside from himself, was Tiaan. Mac had a fairly clear idea of where the other man’s head was at the moment. He had experienced something similar during the two weeks he spent in a cabin in Washington State when he met Hannah and returned to perform an act he didn’t want to, simply to ensure her continued survival. He had planned to live out his days, alone and unhappy – with Kayla, of course – at his home in Southern Oregon, but his daughter had other ideas. Thankfully, he listened, and acted, otherwise he’d never be married to such a fabulous woman nor would he know about his son.

“So we’re clear then?”

Mac snapped his attention in Wordy’s direction.

“Here.” Wordy pointed to a small section of forest with two entrances to a known bunker with underground tunnels. “Our best bet.”

“Where are you going with all that?”

Hanna’s voice stunned the group into silence. Mac glanced at Tiaan, knowing full well he was mirroring the pain in his friend’s eyes. “We’re going to get Chelsea,” he told his wife, voice wavering despite his best efforts. “Detective Fowler can only do so much on his end so we’re going to do what needs to be done on ours.”

“I’m coming with you.”

Mac growled, turned on his heels, and grabbed Hannah’s shoulders. “Like hell you are! Erik needs his mother, and if something should happen–”

“Oh God, Mac!” She threw her arms around his shoulders with her fierce, vise-like grip. “You promised,” she sobbed into his chest. “You swore you’d never leave!”

“Baby…” Sliding his hands through her hair at the roots, he gripped the back of her head and brought her even closer. “I’m not leaving, I’m going to get Chelsea back and then we’re coming home.”

“And wh-what if you don’t…c-come h-home?” Her words were weaved with sadness and despair, and her body quivered against his. “I can’t live without you, Mac.”

It might very well have been a lie, plain as the sun rose in the east and set in the west, but he still said the words she so desperately needed to hear him say. “I’ll be back, Hannah. Count on it.”

Releasing her, he moved back into soldier mode and gathered the necessary items – this time, however, his mission wasn’t solely to take a life. It was to save one. A very important life at that. His ‘team’ wouldn’t – and couldn’t – fail here. Ruan needed his mother, and Tiaan needed the woman who helped him begin to heal. He knew what it felt like to yearn for someone so badly that nothing else in the whole world made sense except for being with them, and Tiaan would never be the same again if anything was to happen to Chelsea.

The other men in the room, all long-time friends of his who went off in different directions during their professional relationship, were busy readying themselves for this mission. They all knew the implications of what they were about to do, going off half-cocked to save someone they had never met, and yet they didn’t care about any repercussions. Every one of them knew the rest would do the same for someone they loved if the tables were reversed.

“Mac,” Hannah’s voice pleaded once more.

He swivelled on thick booted heels to find her standing by the door now, his teenaged daughter clinging tightly to Hannah’s waist and face pressed to her shoulder. Kayla wore a resigned and knowing expression, those icy blue eyes steeling as she observed his preparations.

Mac recalled a conversation they’d had shortly after Erik was born where they discussed the possibility of his having to jump back into an operation at some point in the future, be it for the safety of his family, or for a friend. He promised his daughter that he’d never take on anything where the risks outweighed his chances of survival. However, he did mention the one time he
would
do whatever it took and this was one of those times.

“
I’ll never allow a person to remain in the hands of a sadistic psychopath, Kayla. I just can’t do it. Especially if it’s someone I know and care about,
” he had said to her.

Kayla had nodded before gripping him tightly. “
I know. I just…I don’t like to think of you not coming back, even though I’ll have Hannah and Erik.
”

“
I’ll always be with you though, Kayla.
” He touched her forehead. “
In here–
” Next Mac had brought his hand to her chest and pressed his palm to her heart. “
–and in here. I know I haven’t been around your whole life, and I’ll never replace those ideas you had about me, but just know that I love you and I always will.
”

Standing before her now, Mac gazed wistfully at his daughter who had grown up too damned quickly for her own good. Kayla released Hannah and strode purposefully towards him and when she reached his side she didn’t hesitate to grant him the same death-grip hold she’d had on her step-mother just seconds ago.

In the past year and a half, many things about Kayla had changed. She’d gained quite a bit of height, which didn’t surprise him since Vivian – her mother who succumbed to her illness just weeks after Kayla came to live with him – was five foot eleven and he stood at just over six foot four. She’d also grown her hair out and it now almost reached the middle of her back.

However, what hadn’t changed at all was her determination and strength. Kayla had to be the strongest almost-sixteen year old he knew – not that he
did
know many, other than the few friends she brought home – and over time, she only grew stronger, more confident. A better daughter he’d never be able to conjure up in his mind.

“Bring her home, Dad,” was all she said before stepping back and motioning to the ammunitions locker.

A quick glance at Tiaan and Mac replied, “We will.”

He waited until Hannah and Kayla left before spoke again. They did so hesitantly – more Hannah than his daughter – but eventually the pair went up the basement stairs, shutting the door behind them. One look at Tiaan told him the man would do just about anything to get Chelsea back and he didn’t want to wait around here any longer.

Mac placed a hand on his friend’s shoulder. “Let’s get out there and get our girl back.”

~~~

Tense didn’t even come close to describing the strain in his body as Tiaan followed Mac down the concrete corridor. Chelsea was here, he felt her presence while the team descended the crumbling steps. He even swore that her milk and honey scent tinted the air, and he inhaled deeply, catching a minute trace of it. If he lost her…

Tiaan grew rigid, something he often did in the past when his anger was about to surpass all rational thought. This time, he wasn’t on his own. Mac must have sensed the change in him. He spun on his booted heels and gripped Tiaan by the shoulders, bunching the fabric in his glove-encased hands and giving him a little shake.

“Hold yourself together, Carstens. Losing the plot now will get you nowhere. Keep your fuckin’ head in the game – for Chelsea.” He finished by patting Tiaan on the jaw in an almost-slap that garnered his attentions once more.

Ahead of them in the tunnel, Roger flashed his penlight a few times, letting them know it was safe to proceed, but to use caution.

Nostrils flared, Mac used that same expression he always did when seeking nothing but absolute compliance from his men.

Tiaan nodded once, falling into line. “Let’s get the
foking
bastards,” he growled, adjusting the weapon in his grip.

The closer they got to the others, the darker the corridor became. Tiaan and Mac simultaneously pulled on their night vision goggles from around their necks and modified them accordingly.

A small mouse scurried past him but Tiaan didn’t flinch. He had shifted into that man who simply obeyed his orders and performed each task given to him with surgical precision. Body tensed, buzzing with awareness of his surroundings. Vision focused, sharp, eyes scanning and taking everything in as he advanced down the underground passageway.

Gunfire sounded up ahead, sending the pair into a dead run with their weapons held up in the ready position. Tiaan reached the corner first and didn’t hesitate to take out the man reloading his clip with a direct shot to the skull. No mercy. They didn’t deserve any, not after abducting an innocent woman. He watched, emotionless, as the body crumpled to the floor

“You alright, Blitz?” Mac offered his hand and hoisted Blitz to his feet.

“Yeah.” He rubbed his head, wincing. “Asshole caught me off guard, that’s all.”

Things were under control here so Tiaan moved back into play, ignoring the strain on his body from disuse. His abdomen was aching. Knees burned with each new step he took.

Most of all, his heart ached for Chelsea. He needed to feel her in his arms again. Needed to see her safe and sound, away from this nightmare. Christ, he needed that woman, no doubt in his mind about that now. Chelsea and Ruan were everything to him. The three of them, together. That’s all he wanted, what he craved.

At the sound of a woman’s voice, screaming out in distress, his chest constricted painfully, throat tightened until breathing became a near impossibility. His body turned to stone, feet cemented to the floor. If anything happened to her, he’d never forgive himself.

A hand connected with his shoulder, breaking the stony-trance. Mac leveled a stern look in Tiaan’s direction and threw out a few stealth hand signs. He and Tiaan were to go first. Roger and Blitz would take up the rear and cover them. Wordy was to remain in position and keep them appraised of any movement or radio chatter.

Every fibre of his being told him to run, to throw open each door he came across and search every room until he found her. Tiaan remained a SEAL though, following his superior. Mac always knew what to do. Not once had he ever let a man on his team down.

The agonised shriek turned his blood to ice. Tiaan swung his gaze to Mac’s, ready to do whatever necessary to get to Chelsea as soon as humanly possible – but his fears were unfounded. Mac was already running for a steel door near the other end of this short hallway and Tiaan followed close at his heels. The door was open when they got there and the sight inside filled his body with ire.

Held on her knees, her wrists secured behind her back with cable ties, Chelsea sobbed while Sewell stood before her. In one hand, he grabbed her hair at the back of her head and his free hand was reaching for the zipper on his combats.

For a spilt second, everything around him froze. Dust particles floating in the room, visible only where light seeped into the room, remained still in the air. This moment was almost magical in the way it helped to clear his mind and allowed him to perform the next task. Tiaan raised his weapon, aimed for the bastard’s head, and fired off three shots in succession.

He then dropped the gun and ran to Chelsea, eager to take her from this place. Rage wasn’t fueling him like he thought it might, but something else, something much more substantial. Powerful even.

“You got her?” Mac yelled out between gunshots as he covered the door.

“
Ja
,” Tiaan bellowed back, framing his sweet Chelsea’s face in his hands. Her eyes were red-rimmed and glistening.

“I’m here, my darling,” he ground out, brushing her cheekbones with his thumbs.