SEALs of Honor: Markus (5 page)

The big man went inside and closed the door.

Markus narrowed his eyes. What was he up to now? He glanced down at Barry. “Does he have a place up here?”

The man shook his head. “No. They don’t know the area at all.”

“I’ll be back.” Jake slid around tree and was gone before Markus could say a word. Not sure he could be trusted at this point either, but not having much choice, Markus grabbed a rope from his pack and quickly tied up Barry on the ground.

“You don’t have to worry about me,” Barry protested. “I’m not going to go anywhere. I didn’t kidnap the women.”

“No,” Markus said. “But you’ve been gone too long and have no excuse for your absence. This gives you one.”

Barry’s eyebrows rose. And he gave a curt nod. “Better put me back in the pump house then. At least that’s where I’d be expected to be if they bothered to look.”

There was a note of bitterness in his voice. Good, maybe he was waking up to the trouble he was in.

“Is there a back door to the pump house?” Markus studied the back wall of the building. It was a shack barely held together by a few nails. He reached out and pulled off a few boards. This would work. He pulled a few more off and helped Barry inside. “A word of warning. Don’t play both sides here. I already know you’re involved. Stay here and keep out of trouble. I’ll be back. If you’re not here when I return, I will find you. And you won’t like my greeting.”

Barry nodded. Markus cut a strip of his t-shirt and gagged him. Then he replaced the boards, pounding the nails back into place easily. With a final look, he melted into the woods and worked his way around to the front of the cabin.

B
ree lifted her
head. For the last ten minutes she’d been going back and forth mentally. Keep going. No, turn around and find her way to the road. Then…or stay still and hope someone found her. Although hidden as she was that was most unlikely. She wanted to be found, but she wanted to be found by the good guys. Whoever they were.

And what about the other women? Should she have stayed? Not likely. This way she had the chance to get them help. She had to wonder if she’d only imagined seeing Mary’s father. What if no one knew? What if they were stuck here at the whim of these men?

She’d had to run. The opportunity had presented itself and she’d taken it.

And maybe she was a hell of a lot worse off now.

No, she was free. Alone maybe but she was free of the machinations of men. That worked for her.

She slid out from under the bough and looked back the way she’d come. Maybe if she returned to where she’d lost her sweater she could reassess the danger level at that point. Undecided, she stood unmoving. Since waking up from her nap, she didn’t seem to be able to make a decision. Or rather she was pulling back from the edge of panic, and reason was slowly making itself known. She’d gotten away. Miles away. And apparently no one followed her.

Carefully, she walked a few feet ahead. She hadn’t heard anything in a long time and nothing was moving out here. She could see the direction she’d traveled. Taking a deep breath she slowly walked back. A chill had settled on her soul. She rubbed her arms. The sweater would be nice. Only she couldn’t remember how long ago she’d lost it. How far away she’d been. Her journey had gone crazy at that point. She’d panicked more than ever. What was the chance she’d be able to return to that place?

She had to try.

Ten minutes later she still wasn’t sure. She was no woodsman. And it was damn hard to see her paths. A few of the stumps and trees she recognized. And other than that…nothing. She had one thing going for her. She was stubborn as all hell. She kept walking.

And walking.

Her footsteps slowed finally.

“Please let me find my way to safety,” she whispered.

She kept up a quiet litany as she forced herself to keep moving. She knew the theory about staying put in one place if you got lost so that a search party could find you, but they didn’t say what to do in the case of no one looking for you.

A fallen tree lay up ahead. She stopped then grinned. She knew that tree. She’d crossed it. She remembered trying to clamber over it. Up close she could see the scuffed ground on the other side of the tree from her attempts. Rejuvenated now, she made her way over the tree once again and could see the path that she’d found through the woods. She picked up the pace and kept walking. How close should she go? She needed to stay the hell away from the cabin but still find her way around to the other side where the driveway was. Why couldn’t she have run down the road?

Idiot.

What the hell was she thinking? Still, she was free. As long as she remembered that she’d do fine. And keep her brain engaged. No letting emotions rule.

Tired and feeling the ever-increasing sense of danger, she retraced her steps. Dear God, she didn’t want to be caught. So what the hell was she doing?

Finally her common sense took over, and she leaned against a tree and tried to talk herself out of the encroaching panic. Nothing had changed. Except for a dark angry looking sky. It was late afternoon and anywhere else in the US, dark would be setting in soon. But she was in Alaska, land of the short nights at this time of year. Still, with the storm and late hour, it was creepy out here alone in the encroaching darkness. But neither did she want to be close to the damn cabin. She turned her face up to the sky only she couldn’t see much for the canopy of trees overhead.

Glancing around, she frowned. What was that? She studied the slight flare of color in the brush. Slowly she approached it.

And did a little dance. It was her sweater. Woot!

She shook it out and brushed the leaves off. She quickly slipped it on over her shoulders. She huddled into the warmth and smiled. Now that was so much better. As much as she loved the sweater, she was just happy to find she’d made it back here. She wasn’t lost. If she made it this far she could make her way back to the cabin. Or rather give the cabin a wide berth and come out on the road. Maybe even steal the truck they had parked way back.

She liked the sound of that.

Warmth and safety appealed. She also needed food in a big way.

Now if only she’d thought to pocket a few of the apples before she left.

She slowly picked her way back through the woods, wondering how far she dare go. Damn it.

In the dark her sweater was going to glow neon bright.

Shit. She stopped to consider that, then had a simple but odd solution. She quickly stripped off her thin sweater and her shirt. Then she put the sweater on first and her t-shirt over it. The t-shirt was big enough to go over the sweater easily. And she was warm this way. The dark navy hid the sweater except for the sleeves. She quickly folded the cuffs back, and pushed them up her arm. At least there’d only be a small band this way.

She started moving again. And hit that odd light of dusk and her energy sagged yet again. She needed to stop and rest and she needed to eat.

But neither was going to happen. She kept going, forcing herself to put one foot in front of the other regardless of where she was going.

By the time night settled she was shivering against the wind. When she wavered in place, she knew she was done. She collapsed against a huge tree trunk.

She’d avoided voicing the truth.

Only now she couldn’t avoid it any longer. She didn’t recognize anything about where she was.

Somehow she’d gotten twisted around.

She should have been back at the cabin by now. And there was no sign that she was still on the correct path. The truth was she was well and truly lost.

She huddled in a tight ball and closed her eyes.

Please let there be someone out looking for her.

*

“She has to
be out there somewhere,” Markus said to Jake. “Are you sure you didn’t see any sign of her?”

Jake shook his head. “Nope. I found the men. Took them out but didn’t see any sign of her.”

“Damn it.”

“I’m more worried about my daughter. We’ll worry about the young one later.”

Markus understood. But with three men down and just the one man left inside they’d already wasted several hours, and she could be anywhere by now. He had finally gotten through to the rest of his team. Good thing as they’d been searching for him.

Like he needed that.

They were on their way and Markus studied the two men bound on the ground. They were a good hundred yards from the cabin and just off the driveway. Out of sight but not so far out that he couldn’t see anyone leaving the cabin.

He had no way to confirm at this point that there were only two women and one male left inside, and he was kicking himself for not asking the guy in the pump house. As soon as the men were picked up he could go after the young woman. The two men at his feet were unconscious so they couldn’t give him answers.

With a warning to Jake to stand guard he slipped up to the truck and peered into the front. No keys left in the ignition. That was fine, it was easy enough to disable it. He just needed a moment under the dash. Easing the door open he quickly disabled the truck, then closing the passenger door, he slipped to the front of the truck.

After a quick look around, he raced up the road along the tree line. They’d had to walk in as the road was more bog than gravel here.

Up close, he could see no sign of anyone in the front. He made his way around to the back of the house studying the rooms from each angle. At a kitchen window he could see the boss sitting at the table. A table loaded with guns and ammunition. He was making more.

This guy was well-armed for bear. Markus didn’t know what he was up to, but it wasn’t going to be good for anyone around here.

He needed to get in and surprise him. Take him out before the man dug in for a siege.

From the corner of his eye he caught sight of Hawk and Shadow.

The men slipped up beside him, took one look at the interior of the house and their faces closed down.

“Where are the women?”

He motioned to the corner of the kitchen that was hidden. “And then there is the one who ran into the woods.” He hated he hadn’t gone after her.

Hawk studied him, reading his face correctly. “Go after her. I’ll follow as soon as we get this set up. We can handle the one guy. You go after her.”

Markus frowned. Hawk was the better tracker with Shadow being the next, but he was no slouch in that department either. On the other hand, he’d been chafing at the bit to go after her from the first moment he’d seen her run for her freedom. Gutsy. He liked that.

Shadow gave him a push. “Go. We’ll follow soon. She might need you now.”

With one last look, Markus took off in the direction he’d seen her disappear.

N
ow where the
hell was she?

Damn it. She swore she was going to stay in one spot. And somehow that good intention was shot to shit when a loud bird had cried out overhead sending her running. It didn’t matter what direction or where she’d gone because she was already lost.

And thirsty. She could barely swallow. She remembered too late that she’d thought she’d heard water close by while she’d been in the house. She should have run in that direction. But she’d been so damn glad to be free she’d bolted without considering what direction to go.