Page 15 of Freeing Camila

The truth hit him like a ton of bricks, and he regarded his friend with a completely different perspective, his eyes scanning his friend’s face for answers. “Tell me you aren’t doing what I think you are,” he implored.

Liam’s eyes dropped to the ground. “What? I’m just getting some air, like I said,” he insisted.

“Why don’t I believe you?”

“Dunno.”

“What’s going on between you two? Things haven’t been right for a while. And now you’re here to what? Hook up with some random?”

A sigh escaped Liam’s lips as he shoved a hand through his sweat-dampened hair, then squeezed the back of his neck, clearly agitated. “I don’t know, man. She’s changed.”

“How so?”

“She wants to go back to the states. Says she’s tired of the constant travel. Even talked about wanting to start a family.” It was abundantly clear from the expression of utter disgust and revulsion on Liam’s face that he found the idea to be utterly repugnant. For the first time since their friendship started, he felt profoundly disappointed by his friend, a feeling that settled upon him with a heavy weight.

“So you thought you’d fuck someone else instead of talking to yourfiancée?” He stressed the last word, hoping to jar some sense into the man.

“I’m just not ready for all that family shit, brother. I still want action.”

“And you thought you’d get it by fucking some random woman?”

“Well, yeah,” he replied, the words hanging in the air with the casual indifference of someone who thought his actions were perfectly justifiable. “Besides, Valeria ishot.”

Valeria. The feeling of dread returned, icy and sharp, like a knife twisting in his gut. Had she lured them both out into the jungle? But why?

He was still trying to make sense of it when the first shots rang out. Having been trained to react swiftly, they both immediately sprung into action, their reflexes honed to perfection. They pulled their weapons and raced toward the gunfire. Upon noticing the men advancing through the village, armed and clearly on a mission, they immediately halted their movement and took cover behind the thick, concealing foliage. The carnage was unimaginable. Nobody stood a chance against such firepower. The two of them, though well trained, knew they were no match against the sheer number of men attacking the village.

“We gotta get out of here,” Liam said.

“Agreed. Get Sutton. I’ll get the Humvee.”

Liam nodded his agreement and held out his fist. He bumped his own fist against his friend’s. Despite his annoyance with his buddy, he knew without a doubt they’d always have each other’s backs. “See you soon, brother,” Liam said, a grin splitting his face, his white teeth flashing in the dim light of the moon before he vanished into the shadowy undergrowth.

In the quiet left behind by Liam’s departure, a solitary gunshot echoed.

The shrill ringing of a phone jolted Jeeves awake. With a groan, he rolled over and grabbed the phone from the nightstand trying to shake off the last vestiges of the dream that had once again disturbed his sleep. The nightmare had come more often since he’d helped Tin Man save Sutton a few weeks ago. It was as though the man possessed a sixth sense, because inexplicably, Tin Man’s image popped up on his phone’s caller ID display.

“Hey man,” he croaked before clearing his throat. “What’s up?”

“Did I catch you at a bad time?” Tin Man asked.

As he sat up straighter in bed, Jeeves shoved a hand through his already disheveled hair. “Nah. Just overslept.”

Tin Man’s laugh echoed across the line. “Must be nice. That’s not happening here. Sutton’s always up with the birds, making sure Bethany gets off to school.”

That made Jeeves smile. Following an arduous legal battle, the Tin Man was appointed guardian to his younger sister. Upon meeting Sutton, Bethany and she became the closest of friends, and they have been inseparable ever since. Considering all that they had both endured, it was especially poignant.

Nearly three years had passed since that awful night deep within the Colombian jungles, a night which continued to plague his thoughts and haunt his dreams. Sutton had made it out, just barely and had moved to a small town in Michigan where she met up with Wyatt “Tin Man” Tinsley, a former Ranger buddy of his and Liam’s. Tin Man had always had a thing for Sutton, but had stepped aside when Liam had expressed an interest. Now, he was getting a second chance with the woman who’d always held his heart.

“How are your girls doing?” Jeeves asked.

“Great,” he replied, the word itself conveying a warmth and a smile that Jeeves could detect even over the distance of the phone. “Sutton’s been asking about you.”

A wince contorted his features as he still felt unworthy of and, quite frankly, undeserving of the care she showed him. The sting of her kindness was a sharp contrast to the guilt that gnawed at him. Jeeves had held an irrational resentment toward Sutton for so long that he’d even said some pretty harsh things to his old friend about her. His irrational anger had intensified considerably after learning that she had sat on the photographs she had taken the night Liam was killed. He’d regretted the words the moment they left his mouth. And when Tin Man had shared her motivations, her fear, that drove her to hiding the evidence against the guerilla group, he knew he owed her some serious groveling.

He’d intended to do just that when he’d gone to Michigan to pick up the SD card the pictures were stored on. He’d arrived to find that Sutton was missing. It turned out that Sutton had been kidnapped after a brave attempt to rescue Tin Man’s sister from her own abduction. With the urgent need to rescue her, Tin Man and the rest of his Nighthawk Search and Rescue team worked together seamlessly. And without a moment’s hesitation, Jeeves immediately joined the mission, eager to contribute his skills and expertise to the effort.

Thankfully, Sutton and Bethany had returned home safely and were now under the excellent care and protection of Tin Man, whose love for them was obvious.

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