On Thin Ice (Special Ops) (12 page)

“Thank you,” she said softly as she walked beside him. “Thank you for coming for me, Jet. I know those men would have killed me.” From the look he gave her she was certain he knew they would have too. She didn’t know what they had wanted, but she knew they would have killed her once they got it. The big guy, the one who seemed to love hitting her and pushing her around, had the look of sheer evil in his eyes. There was no soul inside that man; nothing to move him to compassion even if she did plead for her life. He would have killed her—and he would have relished doing it too.

“Like I told you, Akira, I will always come for you. You don’t need to thank me. No matter where you are, no matter what hell you find yourself locked in, I will come for you—always.” He walked onward, not stopping to look at her. How could he possibly say it wasn’t necessary to thank him? If it weren’t for him she would still be in that place. She felt the need to thank him. She felt the need to buy him some grand gift too. Now she knew how her father felt. Her father had thrown a party at his home—which he rarely did unless it was something special for either her or her mother—and he had thrown that party just to celebrate and honor the man who had saved him. The party wasn’t enough and never would be, and now she knew what her dad had meant by that.

She let out a laugh of relief and he looked at her with one of those weird expressions that never told her what he was thinking, just that he was thinking it and she might not like whatever it was he was thinking. Maybe that was just her spin on the facial expression. The man was so hard to read. She had figured her mother and father out early on. She knew what each facial expression meant, or at least could come close to the emotion behind it, but with Jet—he was different.

“I thought I was in Russia, but this doesn’t look like Russia.”

“You’re still in Alaska.”

“I wasn’t sure how long I was unconscious. I figured either they had rented a boat or plane and took me there or that I might still be here in Alaska. I was definitely hoping I was still in the U.S.” She laughed again. “I don’t even know what day it is, or how long I was hostage.”

“Akira, I promise I’ll get you a calendar when we get back.”

“You want me to stop talking. Sorry.”

“I love to hear your voice, but I don’t know if anybody is behind us so we need to keep the conversation low and to a minimum if possible.”

She nodded. “It’s just that after everything…and then they killed Demetri and the others…”

“I know. You need to talk to somebody to make sure this is real—that you’re really out of there and you’re not dreaming. It’s real. You’re not dreaming. I promise you. I was watching your interview,” he said.

“You were?”

She saw the upward curve of his lips. “I was watching your interview when they took you. I got on the first flight out and made it here same day, late afternoon. When I realized the cops didn’t have much I went to see my friend—”

“Henri?”

“Yes, Henri.” He looked at her in a way that told her he wanted to finish his story and she should stop interrupting. “I headed up here right after that. I got a couple hours sleep that night and set out on foot before the sun came up. I wanted to get to you and I still had a long hike. I got a little rest yesterday, but I wanted the cover of darkness to get inside so I didn’t stop once the sun went down. I kept going until I got to you. Today would have been day three of your abduction. It’s Wednesday, Akira.”

“Thanks,” she smiled. There was some comfort in knowing that, in feeling the connection to sanity, stability even. It seemed crazy because this was not stability, but the entire time she was in that room, not knowing where she really was or how long she had been there, she felt completely lost. She would imagine that’s why they did it, sticking her in a room with no windows and very little light. They wanted her to feel disconnected and afraid, and hopeless. She wasn’t hopeless, but she was afraid and disconnected. Maybe hopeless would have soon followed.

“Did they drug you or anything like that?”

“I don’t think so. Once I was awake I’m absolutely certain they didn’t give me anything, but before that I don’t know. I mean I didn’t think it was possible to hit somebody hard enough to knock them out for that long. Did they have to carry me up here? We’re walking, so…I don’t know. Maybe he just hit me hard enough to keep me out for a while, but I can’t imagine any of them would have wanted to carry me that far.”

“I can’t be certain, but I think I saw a camouflaged off-road vehicle in the wooded area. The tarp over it, plus the darkness meant I would have needed to get closer to see for sure and that really wasn’t my concern at the moment.”

“Understood,” she said. “Then I would say no; they didn’t drug me.”

“Okay. I just suddenly felt the need to ask.”

“Jet,” she was already on his left so she just reached out and took his hand in hers. “Just for a little while; please?”

He smiled warmly at her and conceded to letting her hold his hand just for a little while. He still had his right hand free if he so needed it for shooting without warning. She just needed the connection to him, to someone good, to someone she loved. When he had turned up in her holding cell she felt relief, gratitude and ironically—safe. She knew she would be safe with him. When he pressed his hand against her cheek she felt that sense of safety increase. Being near him, next to him, even touching him, made her feel as if this nightmare was okay now because she had somebody to help her through it. He wouldn’t leave her. He wouldn’t let anything bad happen to her. She knew he wasn’t superhuman, but she also knew if he could prevent something bad from happening he would do it. He also had a gun, and since the bad guys had guns too she felt a lot better knowing Jet had one with him.

“I…”

“What is it, Akira?” His voice was so soft and comforting that she wanted to tell him, but what would he think? Everybody thought she was super strong and a fighter and in a lot of ways she was but in some ways she wasn’t.

“This makes me want to never leave the house again. I have always been nervous in crowds or with reporters. The only places I felt completely safe were at home and on the ice. This just made me more afraid to leave either.”

“Don’t let them do this to you. Don’t let them make you a prisoner in your own mind.”

She nodded. “I know. It just makes me afraid to leave my safe zones. That’s crazy; I know. Just because it happened once doesn’t mean it will happen again, but I don’t think I’ll ever come back to Alaska just in case.”

“Oh it won’t happen again. They won’t be around by the time I finish with them to ever do it again.”

“Jet?”

“I’m getting you to safety, back to your home, and then I’m coming back after them.”

His voice was so rough and savage that she knew he meant every word. She caressed the back of his hand with her thumb, rubbing it gently against his warmed skin. He had removed his gloves when he stopped to give her something to eat and drink. She had seen him tuck them into his backpack. She guessed he didn’t need them.

She shivered a little.

“Are you okay?”

“It’s a little chilly, but I’m fine. I’m used to being on the ice so I guess I’m not in complete shock when the temperatures are low. Besides, I slept all night in that room with no heat…well, I mostly slept…or kind of slept…barely slept.” She modified her words until they represented an accurate description of her sleeping situation.

He did another one of those angry growls. “You could have died while you were sleeping. Bastards could have at least made sure you had some heat. Do you need the blanket? I brought it for you.”

She smiled just thinking of how much he had thought about her when preparing to come rescue her. “I’ll be fine since we’re still moving. Don’t worry.” She was a little chilly but she would survive. The sun would probably be high in the sky soon. The way the sky was getting lighter she was sure the sun would be up soon and that would add an extra layer of warmth, at least she thought so anyway. She hoped so otherwise she was going to have to take Jet up on the blanket offer. For now she was going to try to be as little trouble as humanly possible.

Chapter Eight

“S
o you’re ready to listen to my demands I take it.”

Aaron felt rage consuming him just listening to the smug bastard. He knew he had him where he wanted him because Aaron would do anything and give anything to get his daughter back safely. He tried to hold his anger, to control it so that he could ask the questions and read the script the way Alex had worked it out. There were things he needed to know, things he needed to say to help Alex get a read on these guys. If it would help Jet get Akira out of there he would ask anything. “I need proof that she’s there with you.” Proof of life is what Alex had called it. The man on the other end of the line laughed. Aaron wasn’t sure he would oblige until he said okay.

“Since you’ve made me walk down here how about if I prove to you she’s alive by putting a bullet in her knee? You know what she sounds like when she screams in pain I hope.”

Aaron felt his heart lurch in his chest. This wasn’t what he wanted. He heard the keys jingling and he knew the door would soon be open. “If you want something from me you won’t get it if you hurt her.”

“Oh, I’ll get it all right. You think this is going to hurt her you should see what I can do to her, the pain I can cause. In fact I’ll even send you a video to let you know…where is she?” He yelled. “Find her now!”

Those were the last words Aaron heard before the line went dead. He looked to Alex. “Jet?”

Alex smiled and nodded. “Jet.”

“Thank God,” Sakura cried.

“He still has to get her off that mountain and home, but he has her and I can assure you he won’t stop until she’s safe here at home.”

Aaron could tell there was something Alex wasn’t saying to them and he wanted to know what it was. If it involved Akira he needed to know. “But? I hear a “but” in your words, Alex.”

“But,” he smiled, “I was thinking after he gets her home to you he probably still won’t stop. I’ve never seen Jet as angry as he was when he saw that abduction. It’s a calm rage; one that scares me because it’s so controlled and still lethal. I can guarantee you he’ll plan to head back to Alaska, track them down and kill them. He probably wanted to do it this morning, but his priority was getting Akira out of there and he won’t risk her life on vengeance.”

Aaron nodded. “I see. Well if he wants to borrow my plane for the trip I’ll gladly give it to him.” He was so angry he would probably want to go with him. Of course he wasn’t the fighting type. He didn’t even know how. He got pushed around so much as a kid, until he hit sixteen and he had the ultimate growth spurt, pushing him from the scrawny five foot one inch kid at one hundred twenty pounds to six feet, with a reasonable weight and some muscle—not much, but some. God gifted him; he just gifted him late. But once he grew nobody pushed him around any longer. He wished he had learned how to fight, maybe even how to shoot, but he had always been the book nerd. He loved math and business and finances. He was the only ten year old he knew that sat around reading the Wall Street Journal and any other financial magazine or paper he could get his hands on. With his father’s help he had invested in real estate before he turned thirteen and thanks to his savvy business skills he had money for college saved before his senior year of high school.