Page 6 of Rescuing Tobias

“You’re who?” the man demanded, his grip on her tightening to the point it was almost painful. Probably only because of the fresh bruises she’d received tonight.

When she looked up at him, distrust marked every one of his handsome features, but there was a hint of uncertainty, too. Almost as though he’d sensed something wasn't quite right before she’d made her announcement.

If these men were smart, they would have noticed something was wrong even without her having to tell them.

Like just look at them.

All of the nurses, including her, were wearing the same set of scrubs they’d been given when they first arrived. All of them had been there for months so those scrubs were filthy and stained with blood. Some their own and some from the people they were forced to tend to. They were kept locked inside a room. They had bruises and marks littering their bodies, and they were wearing shock collars. It did not take a genius to figure out they weren't there by choice.

“I’m Isabella Baker. My best friend is Becca Marsden. We ran an aid charity together and were working in Cambodia when her ex tracked us down. His name is Connor Charleston, and he works for Prey Security,” she repeated her story even though she was sure they in fact remembered every word of it.

“Could be lying,” a man with dark eyes said as he came to stare down at her.

That was so stupid, Isabella actually rolled her eyes at him despite the exhaustion weighing heavily upon her. For months she’d held it together, tried to escape time and time again, determined not to give up, but now that she knew it was safe, her walls were weakening and sooner rather than later, her boxed-up emotions were going to spring free.

“Yeah, sure, I made up a ridiculously specific story that is extremely easily verifiable, after you already got me away from the men holding us hostage,” she said, throwing in another eye roll because … really?

“Holding you hostage?” the man who had been speaking about Prey asked. She didn't know who any of these men were, but since they weren't bad guys, she had to assume that if they weren't Prey employees they were a SEAL team, or maybe a Delta Force team.

“Of course.” Considering they knew enough to find this place, they didn't seem to be particularly well informed. A sliver of doubt crept in. “You guys really do know Prey, right? You're not more human traffickers?”

When she shrank away from the man holding her, summoning up her reserves of strength, the man gentled his hold. Easing her down so she was sitting on the floor, he knelt in front of her, studied her for a moment, and then pulled out a knife.

“Whoa, not going to hurt you,” he soothed when he noticed her panic. “Just going to cut the zip ties.”

“You sure?” one of the men standing behind him asked, and this man nodded.

“Isabella Baker. I know the name. We’ve been looking for her. She is Becca’s friend, and Becca is dating Connor. She was working with Becca in Cambodia, and when the people after the Charleston Holloway family raided the village, she was seen being abducted. We’ve been trying to find her ever since, butwe haven’t been able to pick up a trail. No way she could have made that story up or known those details. Plus, she fits the description. Blonde curls, blue eyes, tiny little firecracker.”

His words made her chuckle as she knew he had intended, and Isabella breathed a sigh of relief when he reached behind her and cut through the plastic zip ties. Immediately, pain zinged through her arms as normal blood flow returned, and she winced as she brought her arms around in front of her.

The man kneeling before her picked up one of her hands and began to rub her arm with firm but gentle strokes, and she shot him a grateful smile. He’d saved her life, and now he was tending to her with more care than she’d been shown these last … however many months it had been.

“How long?” she asked softly.

“Since you were taken?” When she nodded, he replied, “Seven months. It’s March 13thtoday.”

“Seven months,” she echoed. “Seems like a lifetime.”

“It is a long time,” one of the other men spoke up, and she looked up at him to find him staring suspiciously down at her. “Long enough for you to have changed sides. You were kissing the guard when we came in.”

“No,” she corrected the man. “Hewas kissingme. I can assure you it wasn't mutual. Just like it wasn't mutual any of the other times he did that or more. I don’t know what part of we’re all being held prisoner here you aren't getting. Do you think we wear these things for fun?” Isabella ran a finger along the shock collar locked around her neck.

“Is that a shock collar?” the man, rubbing her arm, asked.

“Well, is that what it looks like?” she sassed back. These people couldn’t actually be from Prey. The impression Becca had given her about the company was that they only hired the best of the best. Actually, that was her impression of specialforces operators as well. Yet these people didn't appear to be the brightest bulbs.

“Yes, little firecracker, that’s what it looks like,” the man in front of her said, a smile breaking out on his handsome face. Then his expression grew serious again. “Why weren't you in the room with the other nurses?”

“Because I tried to escape. Again. It’s kind of my thing. Of course, I only made it to the door before they got me. The man you killed loves hurting us. Me in particular. I kind of have a reputation here as, well, as being a firecracker I guess. Anyway, he threw me, kicked me, dragged me up, hit me, shocked me with the collar, then kissed me right as you guys came barreling in. Thank you, by the way, your timing was impeccable, you saved me from … well, I don’t think I need to go into details, we all have vivid imaginations, I'm sure. So while I don’t think you're all quite as smart as I would have expected, you do have the timing thing down.”

Laughter broke out around her, and she felt the tension ease out of the room.

Good. She wanted out of there. Now. Wanted all her friends out, too. And the people unfortunate enough to have been kidnapped by the ring.

“You have transport coming for them? The victims?” she asked.

“Yeah, firecracker. It’s on its way,” the man before her answered. “Do we need to tell them we have more victims needing transport?”

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