Page 20 of Saved By the Marines (Soldiers Of Misfortune)

My heart dropped down into the dirt when I saw a pair of boots in the shadows. My eyes trailed up legs covered in tan material and for a moment hope surged. Had Wolfe, Kip, and Jasper found me?

The man bent down and dashed all positive thoughts from my mind. It was the same man who’d taken me from my room. I didn’t have time to react before he yanked me up by my hair.

Scalp screaming, I scrambled to my feet. “Please. Just let me go,” I begged. My ego was hidden deep somewhere in my chest and I’d say anything I had to in order to gain my freedom.

The man sneered at me, white teeth flashing in the dark. He didn’t bother to respond verbally. His hold on my hair meant I couldn’t duck out of the way when he brought his hand around and slapped me across the face.

Gasping, I clutched my cheek as tears welled up in my eyes. That new little piece of me that I was cultivating rose up when the rest of me wanted to cower before him.

“You slap like a bitch.”

Okay. It wasn’t the smartest idea to antagonize him, but if I didn’t do something I was going to shrink down into a ball-sized form of goo and just allow this to happen. I had to resist and all I could do right now was talk.

He snarled in anger and jerked me closer toward him. He whispered awful things in Spanish. What they would do to me. What he planned to do to me once I was dead.

Bile rose in the back of my throat and panic welled in my chest. They were going to kill me. If I was lucky they would rape me only after they killed me. I didn’t even know why they’d chosen me, but it didn’t matter enough for me to ask. I didn’t outwardly respond to him even though I could see him watching me closely.

His rancid breath washed over my face. He had me tugged up against his chest, holding me immobile…except for my legs. “¡Jorge! ¡Vamos!” he called out.

I heard his companion making his way toward me. It was now or never. Taking a shuddering breath and holding, I grabbed his biceps and brought my knee upward as hard as I could.

In the dark, my aim was a little off and it plowed into his inner thigh, but high enough up I grazed his balls.

“Mierda,” he grunted, letting go of me and cupping his privates as he collapsed down to his knees.

Giddiness gave me wings as I started to run again. That was stamped out as another yank on my hair made me cry out. He’d stumbled to his feet and grabbed my hair again. Fresh tears poured down my cheeks at the pain. I swore to myself that I’d cut my damn hair as soon as I got out of here… If I ever did.

He reeled me back in, spinning me in his arms. My gasp was the only sound I made as his fist connected squarely with my face and sent me back to sleep.

CHAPTER9

Wolfe

The door splintered beneath my boot and sent my leg sliding through to the other side. These fucking doors were built sturdy so the rest remained intact. Swearing, I yanked my foot out and reached in through the hole to unlock the door.

I’d been the one who’d been up patrolling, which is why I was fully dressed. Jas had at least pulled his pants on, but Kip was only in his boxer briefs. They’d immediately come to help when I’d called.

“Bailey!” My and Kip’s rooms were on either side of hers and Jas’s was across the hall and I’d been checking everything out upstairs when I heard a scuffle coming from her room. My heart was in my fucking throat. We’d done everything necessary to keep her safe, yet somehow I knew in my gut something was wrong.

The others were quiet behind me, all laser-sharp focus and anger. We rushed into the room, guns drawn and my mouth pulled into a grim line when I saw the open balcony doors.

Striding over to them, I looked down just in time to see a Jeep disappearing out of the embassy compound.

“Goddamn it!” I roared, slamming my fist into the glass door. Glass tinkled down around me as the window exploded.

Kip raked a hand through his hair and gave me a worried look. “What do we do now? We don’t have any tactical vehicles here. How do we chase after them?”

“What’s all the commotion?”

As one unit we turned and found Senator Michaels standing in the doorway. He was in pajamas and had a frantic look on his face. He’d received a few more death threats since we’d gotten here so I couldn’t blame him for being a bit jumpy.

My eyes narrowed as I studied him. “Someone kidnapped Bailey.”

His eyes widened, his mouth dropping open in horror as he rushed past us. “Out the window? Where is she?”

“Gone,” Jas growled at him, his tone implying that he thought the senator was stupid.

Senator Michaels whirled around and drilled a finger into my chest. “You’re to blame for this! I brought you here to keep us safe and you’ve let my daughter get taken right out from under your nose.”

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