Page 23 of Rescuing Nathaniel

“What's your call sign?” she asked Nathaniel as he passed her his canteen and she took a few tentative sips of water, not entirely sure they would stay down. She was a little surprised he’d told her his real name instead of his nickname when he’d introduced himself. Then again, he probably assumed she was just a random victim when he found her, and she’d think it was weird if he gave her some odd name, he had no way of knowing she worked for Prey and was constantly surrounded by special forces operators.

“It’s Than,” he replied as he took a drink when she pushed the canteen back into his hands.

“Than? Like short for Nathaniel?”

“When we were in BUD/s I had a habit of constantly saying that I’d rather be swimming than whatever we were doing. I guess since than is in my name, someone thought it would be a funny nickname,” he explained.

“You really love the water, huh?” Not surprising since he had opted to join the SEALs but it seemed he loved swimming more than most.

“Nothing I love more than being in the water.”

Something about the way he said it had her wanting to ask a million more questions, but if one of her mother’s lessons had stuck it was that you don’t go prying into someone’s personal life. Sure, Ava was attracted to Nathaniel, and she even thought he was attracted to her, too. But this was not the time to be doing anything about it.

As he leaned back against the tree trunk opposite where she was sitting, Nathaniel fixed her with a look that told her she wasn't going to like what he was about to say.

Still, she forced herself to maintain eye contact even when she wanted to look away.

“We need to talk,” Nathaniel said, a gentleness to his tone that tapered the firmness just enough to make it impossible for her to be mad at him.

“Talk about?”

“You know what, Aves. I need to know everything you know.” There was an apology in his gaze, but he didn't take the words back.

She’d thought she would have more time before she needed to relive every aspect of her ordeal. Of course, she knew she was going to be interviewed when she got back. She would be asked a million questions, and she’d have to answer all of them. This trafficking ring was dangerous and they had to be stopped. She was the only victim to escape so she was the best lead anyone would ever have.

But she wasn't ready.

Not yet.

She needed more time.

“We can start slow. Can you tell me about how you were abducted?”

It seemed she wasn't going to be given the luxury of time. As much as Ava would love to focus on surviving until they got home, she was going to have to talk about it sooner or later anyway, so maybe having a run-through with Nathaniel first would make it a little easier when she got back home and the real debriefings began.

Being as detailed as she could, Ava ran through the evening she’d been taken outside the bakery. Nathaniel interrupted only occasionally to clarify something specific. His presence was reassuring, he watched her carefully, but didn't make her feel like he was just waiting for her to fall apart.

“Can you tell me about when you first woke up? Were you on the ship?”

“I didn't even know I was on a ship until I escaped,” she replied. “When I woke up, I was on a hospital bed in a small hospital room. Well, it looked like a hospital room. At first, I thought maybe I'd been in an accident or something. There was a nurse taking blood and when I started begging her for answers, a doctor walked into my room along with a guard carrying a gun. That’s when I knew something was wrong and I remembered being abducted and drugged.”

Her voice hitched as those memories flashed through her mind in vivid color like she was reliving them even as she knew she was safe with Nathaniel. Free from their clutches.

“The doctor told me why I was there. He didn't try to hide it from me. Just told me I was going to be cut open and sold off piece by piece.”

She must have shuddered at the memory because Nathaniel moved closer, hesitated for a moment, and then reached out to take her hand.

“Was it always the same doctor you saw? The same nurses? Guards?”

“Sometimes it was different ones. I think over the course of … however long I was there … wait. What is today’s date?”

“March second.”

“That means I was gone … for almost two weeks. It was a few days after Valentine’s Day when I was taken.”

Weeks.

She’d only been gone a couple of weeks.

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