Page 8 of Protected By the SEAL

“But… but you’re going to kill me,” she whimpers, I guess still not getting it. “You want money from my dad, then you want me dead. I know enough about this to understand that once you show me your face, I’m going to end up dead.”

“Cassie, I haven’t been sent here by any gang. I’m here to rescue you, and we need to get out of here immediately. I don’t know who else is in this jungle, so if you don’t start listening to me and getting a move on, we’re in trouble.”

Finally, she’s free. She rubs the painful parts and darts her eyes toward me, but there’s far too much shock there. I know she isn’t seeing me. Not really. But that is completely irrelevant right now. She just needs to move.

“Come on.” I grab her hand and tug on her a little bit. “I’m dead serious here. We need to get a move on or the people with this Alex character, or whatever the hell you want to call him, will be here. I’ll do my best to protect you, but I’m just one man.”

“And Alex is dead?” she asks me with a quietness to her tone. I don’t know if she likes the fact that he’s gone, but I’m beyond worrying about it. “So, we will just leave him here? We can’t do anything about it? We can’t… take him out? Get him home?”

I resist the urge to roll my eyes. “That’s something we can send someone back for later once this is done. For the time being, I want to keep you alive, Cassie, so Ireallyneed you to forget about Alex and focus on me, okay? Forget about everything else.”

She nods slowly. “I suppose I shouldn’t worry about him. He didn’t care whether I lived or died. It’s just a lot, you know?” Tears fill her eyes, but she doesn’t let them fall. I honestly don’t know if she has the strength to do so. “Seeing someone die like that…”

I don’t respond. I don’t know what she wants me to say to that one, so I simply start myself moving with her not far behind me. I don’t know how willing she is to come with me, but she’s moving and that’s better than nothing. In this heat, in the intensity of this fucking jungle, I would prefer not to have to carry her if I can help it. Especially since we need to move fast. Icould, she’s very petite, and I’m sure it would be easy for meunder normal circumstances, but there’s nothing normal about this.

I take Cassie back the way that I came, using my memory the best that I can. I don’t know how much time we have at the moment, so I can’t mess about checking maps and compasses. My memory usually serves me well, so I don’t imagine this will be an issue, but I also don’t think Cassie will take a wrong turning well. She seems exhausted, absolutely drained to the core. I don’t know if she will be able to handle anything else going wrong. I need to get this right to keep her going.

She struggles. I don’t know how she was brought into the jungle, but Cassie finds it very hard to get herself through the horrible, unforgiving terrain with any kind of ease. Getting worn out doesn’t help. She wants a break, I can tell without her even needing to ask me, and I would love nothing more than to grant it to her, but not until we’re safe.

“Why thefuckis Alex not answering my call?” The sharp voice bolts like lightning through me and Cassie. We both freeze exactly where we are and attempt not to get ourselves caught with our loud, panting breaths. “That fucking no-good piece of shit. I told the boss that we should get someone more capable on the job. That fucking lowlife has no idea…”

“You know why he was chosen,” a weary reply floods through the jungle, seemingly coming from a different direction than the other person. That’s the fucked up thing about this kind of place. It’s almost impossible to tell where anything is happening. Cassie feels it too and sidles a little closer to me. I guess she trusts me more than she even knew herself. “Because he doesn’t want anyone known to just go missing. But you can’t have someone kidnap the kid of a famous dude and then be out there in the world for the cops to capture and question. Someone withno loyalty to anyone but themselves will always squeal. A dead witness will not be able to say anything. Even if you pay a fortune for their silence, a live one still has a mouth.”

“Plus, you still get to keep all the cash you promised them.” Is that a third voice? Holy shit. “Which is always better.”

I guess it’s a little better on me to know that Alex was going to die anyway. I might have even done him a favor by making it fast, so his fate was already sealed, but that doesn’t help me right now. I don’t know which way to run because I don’t know exactly where they are. Cassie and I need to get ourselves out of sight until we can no longer hear them. That’s the only way I can guarantee that I won’t do anything dumb like accidently running smack into one. And Cassie does want a break…

“This way,” I whisper as I pull her toward some rocks. I feel like they will assist us more than any trees right now. “Come on.”

Thankfully, there’s a small space which we can just about squeeze ourselves into. Even better, it’s shaded as well. We can get out of the scorching heat and allow our bodies to recuperate before we have to move on again, with the most important thing that I’m sure the pair of us need. Water. I grab my bottle and hand it to Cassie first. She must be so thirsty because she doesn’t even hesitate to see what I’m giving her. She gulps it back like she’s never had a drink before.

I alternate between watching Cassie, trying to ensure that she’s okay, and listening out for the voices some more. I can still hear the men around, but I can’t make out what they’re saying anymore. Not that it matters, I suppose. We know what we need to. They are here for the meeting, they are the men here for Cassie, and I got her just in time.

It doesn’t matter how strong or good I am. There’s only one of me. I could be against any weaklings and if they outnumber me, it makes life difficult. Since this is supposed to be a stealthy mission, I’m glad that I handled it as I have. So far, anyway.

“That’s them, isn’t it?” Cassie asks me as soon as she’s done drinking. “The men who want to kill me.”

I part my lips, about to tell her that they might not want her dead, it’s more that they want to extort money from her father, but I stop myself at the last moment. These situations don’t often end up happy, do they? You don’t very often find out that people get their lives back and the kidnapping hasn’t affected them badly. Brutal deaths are more the norm…

Thank God Cassie isn’t going to be one of those people. I’m more convinced than ever that the world needs Cassie. She isn’t in her right frame of mind right now, but there’s still an essence about her which needs to exist.

“I think it’s safe to say that they are the Cartel guys, yes,” I offer her instead. “But don’t worry. Like I said, I’ll get you out.”

Cassie examines me for a second with her head tilted to the side. I can see that she’s trying to work me out, even now, even after I’ve pulled her away from a nightmare, but eventually, she chooses to give in and trust me. So much so that she actually leans into me. I guess the exhaustion is finally taking control of her and there isn’t anything left that she can do.

I let her weight rest against me. I even wrap my arm around her to hold her in place. While we’re in the middle of this little rock bubble, the rest of the world blocking out around us, it seems like the most natural thing to do in the world. I rest my headagainst hers and inhale her deeply, breathing her in. Since I feel like I know her as much as I do, it’s okay. This is right.

In fact, I really like it. It’s been longer than I realized since I’ve had a human connection like this. Too long, really. It might only be to comfort her, to keep her safe, but I feel emotions darting and dancing through me. There’s a change, one that I don’t have a name for yet, but it’s swallowing me up whole.

8

CASSIE

Igrab onto my savior and cling to him like there’s no tomorrow. I lost Alex, I lost the one anchor whom I knew in this jungle. He was shot by this man, but I got someone better, someone who really does seem to want to save me. It’s a little unbelievable that I’m in this position. I might actually be dreaming and inventing it because it’s better than reality, but I would rather be here.

“I don’t even know your name,” I whisper to him, knowing that having a name makes a whole bunch of difference.

“Oh, sorry,” he replies just as quietly. “I don’t know if I told you before. My name is Benji. I’m here on behalf of your father.”

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