Page 4 of The Hero's Bride
“The girl who rescued you in Colima was named Thalia?” Even if Jude was skeptical, his voice gave nothing away.
Red gripped the back of his neck. His pulse ticked up as he stared down at the image, the urge to jump into action coursing through him. “Yeah. And this is her. Sure of it.”
His friends didn’t ask any more questions or remind him how much time had passed since he’d last seen her. Their trust went much deeper than that after serving on the same SEAL team for several years. Even when he was injured on a mission and their team was split, the three of them remained close. For the next hour, they planned with a renewed sense of urgency. He wasn’t sure who Thalia had grown up to be, but he couldn’t imagine her courageous and kind nature had changed. If anyone deserved rescuing, it was Thalia.
Chapter Three
If Thalia wantedto get out of her current predicament, she was going to have to rescue herself. The only person who would’ve noticed or cared that she was missing was Vivienne, and her friend was in the center of her own harrowing predicament. It had been roughly two weeks since she’d been taken. The only reason she wasn’t sure of the exact time frame was because she’d either suffered a concussion from the blow to her head or had been drugged. She’d been so weak and sick when she woke up, time didn’t seem to matter. The dirty cop had taken her to his home, much to the disapproval of his wife, who glowered at her each time she slipped a meager slice of bread through the door. They’d argued the previous night, and she’d heard words that made her blood run cold.Money. Buyer. Disappear.
She’d woken this morning in a different place, sure she’d been drugged by the sick sensation in her gut and the searing pain behind her eyes. She blinked several times, slowly takinf stock of her surroundings. Light filtering through the slats of a poorly built shed carried dust particles from the dirt floor. She’d been tossed in amongst some old tools and broken equipment, and she didn’t plan on sticking around to find out who came back for her. She had no doubt that she was about to move from one trafficking scenario to the next. Bile burned up her throat. Even though her life hadn’t been her own with the Day family, if she did her work and kept her head down, she’d be fed, have a place to sleep, and wasn’t hurt. There were many nightmarish situations that she didn’t want to begin to think of.
Her hands were still tied, but the officer who had left her had underestimated her or gotten lazy. With her legs free and her hands tied in front of her with rope, this was probably the best chance she had of escaping. Her mind reeled with possible scenarios and routes. The door was secured by something heavy, and she wasn’t about to make a racket trying to push her way through whatever barrier lay there. They would be watching the front of the shed—whoever they were. She glanced at the tools, then at the dirt floor. Her size made it possible for her to get in and out of small places without much effort. Using the streams of light to guide her, she got onto her knees and looked for something sharp. Her vision blurred with pain, but waiting until the pounding in her head subsided could mean her death. The sound of creaking metal and the click of a latch had her cowering back. She jerked back when the light hit her eyes and a man stalked forward, firmly shutting the door behind him.
“Don’t try to escape. You’ll regret it. Please me, and you’ll be delivered to your destination in one piece.”
It took a moment for her to register that the man was speaking in Spanish. Her breath was coming faster as the man stepped closer, pushing her roughly down to the floor and kneeling on the ground beside her. Before she could react, his hands were on her pants attempting to drag them over her hips. She screamed and drew her knees up, kicking out. Her feet caught his jaw, pushing him back. Thalia scrambled up, but the man grabbed her from behind and flipped her. He fisted the neck of her T-shirt, tearing it in half straight down the front. She grabbed his wrists, trying to force his hands away. A blur caught the corner of her eye, right before the back of his hand slammed into the side of her face. She fell backward, and he ripped her pants down to her thighs before reaching for the zipper of his pants.
One minute he was hovered over her, and she was sure she was about to be violated. The next, he was jerked back. A massive man hunched over her attacker, fists pummeling him over and over. She jumped up, quickly pulling up her pants and drawing the tattered remains of her shirt together under her tightly crossed arms. Her heart was racing and her legs felt as though they were going to give out beneath her. She should run. Get away before the man beating up her attacker turned his focus on her. She didn’t know the man’s intentions, but seeing as she wasn’t expecting a rescue, she couldn’t discount the idea that the man was simply trying to steal the other’s prize. She blinked as the large man in the doorway caught her watching him, freezing with his palms up. He dropped to a crouch, hands still in the air.
“I’m here to help.” His voice was low and steady.
Her mind was still reeling, her body numb with shock, but with those few words wrapped around her, providing the most security she’d felt in years.
“We need to go. I’m going to lift my hands over my head and give you my shirt. Okay? I promise I’m here to help you.” He shrugged off the pack he wore on his back, letting it drop to the ground.
The words were stuck in her throat, so she simply nodded. He gripped the back of his shirt with one hand and pulled it over his head, extending it to her. She quickly discarded her torn shirt and took the one he was offering. Her hands shook, but she managed to get the garment on. The material was still warm from the heat of his body and hung loosely around her frame, providing her with an additional sense of safety.
“Good, Thalia. Now, are you able to walk?”
Hearing her name jarred her words loose. “How do you know…?”
“We’re friends of the man who rescued Vivienne. You were brave to help alert her sister, and now she’s safe. We’ve been looking for you. I’m so fucking sorry we were too late. Sorry that piece of shit was able to put his filthy hands on you.” His voice was guttural, and she was surprised to hear pain in his words, as though they were torn from his throat like shards of glass.
“He didn’t. I haven’t been here for long. He tried, but then you were here. I don’t know how to thank you.”
Even in the shadowy structure, she could make out the dip of his broad shoulders, as if her words had released some of the tension in his heavily muscled frame. “I don’t want your gratitude, just your safety.” He knelt to grab his backpack, slipped both arms through the tan straps. The man extended his hand and waited patiently. Finally, she tucked her palm into his and he stood up. “My friend Sully is securing the other men in the house and is going to meet us by the tree line. We have a Jeep waiting for us.”
As they walked toward the door of the shed, he stood to the side, blocking her view of the attacker, now silent.
“Is he dead?” She hadn’t meant the words to be so blunt, but she needed to know.
“Yes.” There was no hesitation in his voice as they stepped out into the sunlight. No emotion stirred inside her except for relief. Maybe that was wrong, but she knew with absolute certainty her attacker would’ve had no problem using violence against her. “Stay crouched down.” His words were a mere whisper from her ear as he wrapped one arm around her, tucking her into his side. She followed his gaze to the left, then right. When he finally dipped his chin, they dashed toward the trees.
“I don’t even know where I am,” she panted as they broke through the thick vegetation. He turned toward her, his deep blue eyes locking on her face.
“Colima.” He spoke the words as though he knew the place held meaning, but how could he?
Her world seemed to slow as she looked up at him. He was nearly a foot taller than her, the hair on his face and head a russet red that made his eyes pop against fair skin. His arms, chest, and torso were on display, seeing she wore his shirt. She tried not to gawk at him but failed, eyes sliding down his freckle-dusted skin. Intricate tattoos wound up and down his arms, but the one that caught her eyes was the realistic iguana shaded by palm leaves. The reptile was so detailed it looked like it might crawl right off his skin. Her fingers ached to touch it, and she lifted her hand before lowering it again.
Images of a boy whirled in her mind. One with bright hair and soft, warm hands. The same place but another time, walking through the jungle with the boy. Leading him back to his hotel. The baby iguana with three legs.
Thank you for what you did today, Thalia. I won’t forget you. And I’ll take good care of the lizard for as long as I can.
She looked back up at him, warmth flooding her face, and she narrowed her eyes. It was outrageous to think that the man in front of her and the boy from her past were one and the same, and yet, she knew. “Mason?”
His brows winged up and his face softened with warmth. “I didn’t know if you’d remember.”
“You knew?” Her voice was breathless with the wild realization that she’d met this man before.
