Page 14 of Hayes
“No. No, this can’t be,” she whispered. Grabbing the tablet and her phone, she ran from the building and found the small skiff. She’d race to Trak or Angel’s and ask them to come with her.
Then she remembered that they were in Chicago. Shit!
It didn’t matter. None of it mattered any longer. She docked the skiff, ran to her cottage, and gathered her things in a backpack. Rushing back to the cafeteria, she realized that everyone was already gone. It was late, and they’d returned to their own homes.
If she asked them to help, they would force her to stay on the property in spite of her overwhelming desire to help Hayes.
Frantic, unsure of what to do, she saw the SUV and decided to take her chance. She’d never driven so fast in all her life. When she arrived at the airport, she approached the international counter, slid the location across the counter, and simply said.
“I need to get here as fast as I can.”
CHAPTER NINE
The entire time Victoria was making her way toward Hayes’ location, she never once had the thought that she should have found someone, anyone to help her. Not once. If she had taken the time to find someone, explain it all, it might have been too late. Then her genius kicked in. They would have used their aircraft, which were twice as fast and loaded with deadly artillery.
“Damn,” she muttered to herself.
She’d stolen the SUV, parked it at the airport, boarded a flight for London, then another for Dubai, and from there a small plane into Kuwait. Having the ability to speak multiple languages with little effort, she easily communicated her needs to the local taxi drivers, who believed she was a local woman.
When she arrived in the small village, she purchased as much water as she could carry and rented two horses. From her tablet, she could see that Hayes was only a few miles away. She never once thought those few miles would feel endless.
When she could see the mountain range his comms device was pinging from, she moved carefully up the trail, the second horse following closely. Fortunately, the horses were used to the terrain. Victoria was not.
“Please. Please, please, just get me to Hayes,” she whispered to the horse. When the signal rapidly pinged on her device, she realized she was right on top of him. But where?
“Hayes?” she whispered. Getting off the horse, she called for him again. “Hayes?”
Staring at the device, Victoria thought perhaps it had been damaged in some way. Then she heard soft groans and moans.
“Hayes?” she called louder.
Seeing the dark crevice in the rock, she moved slowly toward it, then stopped, realizing she had no weapon other than the knife that Trak had given her. She’d turned her own comms device off, worried that somehow the enemies of Hayes could track it.
“Hayes, are you in there?” she said again.
“Dreaming,” she heard.
“Hayes!” she called, running into the darkness. She immediately hit his legs, tripping and falling forward. “Ouch. Hayes? Hayes, is that you?”
“Vic…” Victoria shone her flashlight on the form lying on the floor of the cave and crawled toward him.
“God. Oh, God,” she muttered. “Hayes, I’m here. Hayes. Here, take some water.” She held the water to his lips, and he drank and drank, coughing because he was drinking too quickly.
“Victoria,” he whispered.
“Hayes, I came for you. It’s alright now. I got your message, and I came for you. You’re going to be alright.”
“Dreaming,” he said, shaking his head.
“No, you’re not dreaming. I would never leave you alone. Never,” she cried, touching his face. She looked at his hand and realized his fingers were turning a bluish purple. “Damn. Hayes, you’re hurt bad.”
“Shoulder. Shoulder is out of place,” he mumbled. “Th-think I broke my wrist. Brave. You’re so fucking brave. You came, you came.” He repeated it over and over, tears in his eyes.
“I can fix the shoulder,” she said.
Remembering everything she’d ever read in medical books, she immediately lined up his underarm to her body.She’d have to pull with all her strength, but she should be able to pop the shoulder back in place.
“Count to three,” she said to him. As he began to count, she pulled, hearing the loud crack of the shoulder. Hayes bellowed in pain, and Victoria started to cry.
