Page 24 of Saved By the Marines (Soldiers Of Misfortune)

The phone ringing cut into my thoughts, and I focused on Brando’s words as he spoke.

“Weaver, tell them what you found,” he ordered.

“Truck belongs to a Pedro Salazar. He has a place there in town, but I highly doubt he’d bring Bailey there,” Weaver said, sounding like he was reading the information. “Nothing else showed up on the search we did for him. Usually this means the truck is stolen.”

We all cursed and shifted in our seats. My mind was already racing as I tried to figure out the next course of action.

“Usually, but not this time. Luckily for you we happen to know one of the best when it comes to finding people who don’t want to be found,” Brando told us.

Relief was white hot as I heard that. “Quit fucking around Brando.”

“Fine, fine. We contacted Zinnia Hart. You’re going to owe her a really nice fucking present by the way. Her men weren’t happy about her getting out of bed this late, especially while she’s eight months pregnant.”

I didn’t know who he was talking about, but Wolfe was nodding as though he did. I’d ask later. Wolfe was the one with all the contacts, he and Kip were good with people. They pretty much only introduced me and then did most of the talking with our different contacts. Brando and his team were among the few that I actually got along with. Though, the way Brando had said Zinnia’s ‘men’ made me wonder if they were the same as us.

Our lifestyle wasn’t typical. None of it was, but especially not our relationships. We just found it easier to share a woman between us rather than try to have three women living in the same space. Maybe one day we wouldn’t live together out of necessity and therefore the sharing would end. Glancing over at the men I considered my brothers, I conceded that it was likely we’d continue our way of life even after we left the military.

Years of routine and habit were going to be hard to break by that point. We just needed to find a woman that could handle all three of us long-term. We were brash, possessive—with anyone who wasn’t one of us—and a lot to deal with on a day to day basis. Most of the women we’d found lasted a year at the most before they called it quits.

“Zinnia managed to track down an abandoned farm deep in the rainforest attached to Salazar. She suspects he’s a low level drug lord and that the farm is actually a headquarters for his operation,” Weaver continued.

“Sounds like a good place to take the kidnapped daughter of a U.S. Senator,” Kip said.

“That’s what we were thinking, too. I just shot you the coordinates over text. Let us know if you end up needing us on this,” Brando told us. “We’re in between assignments right now and are in Peru.”

“If you don’t give us something to do, Suave is going to run out of women to fuck,” Weaver said with a chuckle.

“Fuck off!” Suave roared from a different part of the room. “Wait, is that possible?”

I laughed at Suave’s question. Worry rang out in every syllable. If anyone could convince all the women in an entire country to sleep with him it’d be Suave. He had his nickname for a reason.

“Thanks Brando. We’ll keep you updated,” Wolfe replied.

“Make sure you grabbed the SAT phone,” Brando added. “You’re going to be out of cell range almost immediately. I have one here. Number’s saved under ‘giant penis’. It’ll auto dial by voice, too.”

Kip snickered in the back seat and I just shook my head, then nodded at Wolfe, letting him know I’d grabbed it.

“We got it. Thanks again. Give Zinnia my best wishes when you talk to her again,” Wolfe said before cutting the connection.

“Kip. Plug that address into the GPS and get us going.” Wolfe tossed his cell into the backseat, then pulled out onto the road.

My eyes scanned the area. It would be my job to handle the security. Anyone who came looking for a fight would be on the receiving end of my AK.

I listened as Kip started giving Wolfe directions. Soon we were bouncing along on a dirt road heading into the rainforest. It felt good to finally be on the move. I just hoped we weren’t going to be too late.

CHAPTER11

Bailey

Groaning, I slowly peeked my eyes open. Well one of them at least, the other hurt to try. Sunlight filtered through the slatted boards of the building I was in. Looking around, it looked like some kind of tool shed.

The sunlight made my head throb harder, though I wouldn’t have guessed that was possible. It’d taken a beating last night, thanks to my captors. Anxiety clawed at my stomach, you’d think that the darkness of the night would be scarier, but the sun just promised a new round of horrors, the kind I could see.

Wiggling my hands, I realized they were tied behind me. My arms and shoulders protested the movement. Being tied up here—likely for hours—had made them start aching.

I shoved up into a seated position and studied the room around me, trying to shove down the fear that was starting to rise. Giving in to it would only ensure that it paralyzed me. My mouth was so dry, I could hardly swallow.

All in all, I was feeling pretty lousy. Closing my good eye, I focused on my breathing.

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