SEALs of Honor: Shadow (2 page)

A
rianna Stephenson huddled
by the fire in the corner of the large cabin. Her baby brother had crawled half into her lap, his head nestled against her shoulder. At eight, he had just enough understanding of the world around them to know they were in big trouble. She’d always been fun and lighthearted with him, but there was no making light of this.

Her father, his head brightly colored after being battered by the kidnappers at the outset, sat on the couch, silent, his face pinched. But she didn’t know if that was from the pain or the situation. Her beautiful stepmother sat beside her father, fingers and lips trembling and tears constantly pouring into the Kleenex crumpled in her hand.

Arianna might have more sympathy if her stepmother didn’t look this way after most upsets, particularly when Arianna or Kevin refused to do her bidding. At his young age, Kevin had already taken more after his big sister’s temperament than his mother wanted.

Yet if there was ever going to be a situation where her stepmother’s reaction was appropriate – it was this one. And how stupid really. She’d been pulling that play for a decade now, and Arianna had come to the point of smiling sweetly and bringing her another box of Kleenex. Only this time it was for real, and Arianna didn’t know how to deal with her.

Her father had been a senator for eighteen years. They’d had some security issues in the middle of that reign, but things had settled down in these last few years, at least she thought so. She hadn’t lived at home for many years now so didn’t live under the constant pressure she had when living there.

When they’d boarded a small plane to come to her grandfather’s cabin in the Canadian wilderness, they’d had a very unpleasant reception waiting for them upon landing. They’d been marched from the dock to the cabin at gunpoint. As it was summer, and she wasn’t due back at her teaching job until September, Arianna and Kevin had big plans to enjoy the unusual holiday. If she hadn’t come, Kevin would be alone. Eight and having to listen to his mother bug their father every minute of the day. She was nothing if not contrary. Their father had done his best with Kevin when he’d been younger, but they’d grown apart years ago and now her father was always busy. She understood. The relationship followed the same pattern she’d gone through. She didn’t want that for Kevin. She had lots of great memories of the land around the cabin she wanted to show him.

But who knew they’d be taken hostage? She stared out at the trees blowing wildly across the windows. A hell of a storm raged outside. Even considering they were under armed guard she was glad to be inside. She loved the outdoors as much as anyone but in a storm like this, it would turn nasty very quickly.

Except a storm raged inside, too.

She hoped her message had gotten through. Her phone had been ripped from her hands as soon as she’d hit send and crushed on the floor in front of her. All phones had been confiscated. So they had no way to call for the plane to pick them up early. It was prearranged for the same pilot to return on Monday.

But that was a lifetime away.

Her cheek still stung from the blow she’d received for sending the image. But it was nothing compared to what it could be. The leader had seemed to think her attempts more hilarious than anything. The terrorists wanted something from her father. His vote on something to do with oil. She remembered vaguely that there was an even split on the decisions that had been announced so far. Her father had yet to announce his decision. She wasn’t even sure which side of the issue he was coming down on. Given his past views though, it was likely on the no side. He had no interest in oil pipelines anywhere across the country. Figured they weren’t worth the environmental damage should something happen. But it was an unpopular decision for many as it would create thousands of jobs and of course that was a hot issue.

That’s why she avoided politics like the plague. Her father had been approached with bribes, no…gifts, they called it, ever since his appointment had been announced. If he had been offered bribes for a vote in one direction or another then it made sense that someone would think he could be coerced one way or another as well. The old “if I can’t give you a kiss then I’ll give you a kick” sentiment. If she wasn’t being watched so closely, she’d have laughed at her twist on the old attention getting action.

Still, she hadn’t planned to spend her holiday facing guns. And what the hell kind were they anyway? Something like an assault rifle. They were mean looking firearms. And that was a whole different story. These guys were pros.

And she was stuck here waiting for a rescue.

Only she didn’t do the whole damsel in distress thing very well. In fact, she wasn’t sure she rocked the damsel thing at all. She was tall and lean and more athletically built than her women friends. As in missing the coveted junk in front and in the back. She was greyhound sleek, but her B cups didn’t look as bountiful as her friends’ chests. They’d been trying to convince her to get a boob job, but she’d laughed and said hell no. The men needed to take her the way she was or forget it. She didn’t need a guy to want her for the silicone in her chest. And the concept of a butt implant grossed her out. She was what she was. And damn it, apparently that wasn’t good enough.

Staring into the flames, stuck under guard, she realized how stupid it was to worry about her past lovers or physical failings – at least according to the men she’d dated – given her current situation. But it helped keep her mind off her worries. Another had wanted her to have curvy hips to shake on a dance floor, but he was out of luck there too. Why couldn’t she attract marathon runners? After all that’s what she was. She had no desire to return after an exhilarating run to someone still sitting on the couch.

“Love you, honey, be back in couple of hours.” Then go run your heart out and feel the blood pumping through your veins like there wasn’t going to be any tomorrow and come home to find the honey still sitting and playing video games? So not her style. Then, she didn’t do video games either.

Kevin shifted in her arms. She smiled. She hadn’t played them growing up. Her mother hadn’t been a believer in any entertainment that required electronics. She’d learned to play video games for her kid brother. It was a great day when he could kick her butt on a game. He led a lonely life. And Arianna had done her best, but she couldn’t be there all the time for him. Her stepmother was overprotective. Always afraid Kevin would get hurt. Of course, he had a hearing problem and speech impediment, but he was neither deaf nor dumb. But it made him a target by other kids. It helped to develop a tough skin early on.

Then kids were cruel and nothing protected anyone all the time.

Arianna was of the opinion that small hurts weren’t a bad thing in the long run. Kevin’s small hand snuck into hers. She wrapped an arm around him and tugged him so he was sitting between her legs and leaning back against her. He nestled in close. She studied the guard on the left. Bored to hell and stuck on his cell phone like so many people today. Did he have cell reception? Would his phone work to send out a message or just to play the correct flavor of the month game that everyone glommed onto?

She nudged Kevin, a budding techie, toward the guard’s activities. She could see he didn’t understand what he was looking at until his gaze landed on the phone and the information processing behind his thick Coke bottle glasses made his eyes glisten. Now he was thinking.

She squeezed him reassuringly. With a casual glance around she studied her father’s grim demeanor and her stepmother’s distress. They didn’t look like they were going to be of any help. She worried about her father’s condition. He didn’t look well. He wasn’t a well man to begin with. He had his first heart attack seven years ago, another small one a couple of years ago. Another man stood at the back behind them all. He caught her looking at him and raised the gun barrel to point at her. She flipped back around. She had yet to see the terrorist she’d managed to photograph again.

Her heart pounded inside her chest and it took minutes for her panic to ease back. They’d been here close to ten hours now. How much longer until something happened? There was a four by four parked outside, but she knew the keys were in the pocket of the guy with the cell phone. Was there a second set to be found? She assessed the men. There’d been four at the cabin when they’d arrived. But there were more than that here now only she didn’t know how many more. She’d thought it was only fly in and fly out access but old roads crisscrossed the area so it made sense that they’d have driven more men in if they could.

And that was encouraging. Road access also meant an escape route.

Kevin whispered, “I have to go to the bathroom again.”

She sighed and stood up. She held out her hand. “Come on then.”

He walked beside her until they got to the third gunman. “He needs to go again.”

“What’s his problem, he got a bladder infection or something?”

“Likely just nerves,” she said quietly. The gunman moved to the side and let them pass. As the bathroom was right there, she motioned to Kevin to go in.

“No shutting the door,” the gunman warned the same as he had every other time they’d been forced to come this way.

“We won’t.” She gave Kevin a little shove toward the bathroom. “Go on. It will be fine.”

Kevin gave the gunman a worried look before racing inside. He shut the door just enough for privacy while she stood outside. She deliberately kept her gaze on the door straight ahead. She had an excellent memory, she was a hobbyist photographer after all, and she’d recognize this
type
of man anywhere. They even looked similar. They all wore khakis. They all had black hair and long beards. Each had dark eyes and larger slightly hooked noses. They all had mustaches. Their builds were similar. She didn’t get it. All brothers of the same family? They were all roughly the same age. Or within ten years. And that made it possible. But…as she stole a sideways glance at the one guarding the bathroom, she realized their faces would have something unique to them. She struggled to find a way to identify the men from each other.

The man beside her smirked when he caught her looking at him.

Damn.

She didn’t want him to notice her. But it was already too late. They’d been eyeing her since they’d arrived. She was casually dressed in jeans and a t–shirt with a heavy sweater over top. Decently covered but still showing too much for her peace of mind. Her stepmother was much prettier and more attractively dressed and barely a decade older. Why weren’t they looking at her the same way?

Because she was the senator’s daughter? She had to find a way out of this damn cabin before one of the men decided she’d make a great way to pass the time or to pressure her father into doing what they wanted. They probably didn’t know that nothing would make her father change his mind.

The bathroom door opened and Kevin stumbled out. She reached for him. “My turn. Stand right here and wait for me.” He nodded but his lower lip trembled. She gave him a quick hug and walked into the bathroom. She knew the guard had watched her last time, his position allowing him to see her in the mirror. She deliberately bent so as to keep out of his view as much as possible. When done, and wow had she become fast, she quickly washed her hands and walked out to her brother. He looked horrible. Fear had turned his eyes to huge orbs. He gave a tiny shake of his head to the right. She glanced over and saw the heated gaze in the guard’s eyes as it locked on her. Shit.

With her throat too seized to speak she led her brother back to the fireplace. She had to escape. These men might have done this to force her father to help them on some stupid ruling, but they had no trouble seeing her as spoils of war. She had to get through the night and was very much afraid that it wouldn’t be alone.

*

The team had
been silent as they trekked through the wilderness. They’d checked the coordinates several times, but no sign of the cabin yet. The wet weather wasn’t helping. With nightfall coming, they had no idea if the senator and his family were going to make it until morning. There were four family members here. The senator’s third and much younger wife, their eight-year-old son, plus his twenty–five year-old-daughter from marriage number two. The senator himself was in his mid–seventies.

He had a reputation as being a square man. A bit old fashioned and stuck in his ways and if his cohort’s reports came in a two hundred-page style, his tomes were usually five times that. Much to the consternation of anyone forced to read it. Long-winded maybe, but often with solidly made points.

And he had a reputation for being a good man. Unswayed by popular opinion. A bit stodgy in his views maybe but he was thorough and pragmatic. Not someone who bent to pressure or could be bribed – apparently. But when a man’s family was threatened, Shadow wasn’t sure any man would hold out. If you wanted to maximize pressure on a person, take his family hostage. In this case, they’d taken the whole family. And that was the part that really confused Shadow.

Why? If they’d done this while the senator was home to do their bidding, they could have whisked the family anywhere in the world.