Submerged(Bound Together Book 1)(86)
A few minutes later, three black vans pull up. We assemble ourselves in full tactical gear, which I find in the back of Luke’s truck. Thank God for well-prepared little brothers. I’m wearing Luke’s backup bulletproof vest, helmet, and headset as I listen to the orders that come down straight from the Deputy Director. I follow Luke towards the tree line that separates the union Pacific property from the property owned by Styx. With my badge on display and a Glock in my hands, I take position and prepare for the order. Breathing becomes difficult as I get ready to engage with the enemy and retrieve the people I love most in this world.
The first thing I’m going to do after I make sure Carly and Natalia are all right is tell them exactly what’s in my heart. I started to tell her that day in my car. My timing sucked, I’ll admit, but there’s no stopping it now. I will tell her everything I feel for her and everything I want to share with her and our daughter.
They’re my life.
And living without them at this point isn’t a fucking option.
Chapter Twenty-Nine – Go Down
Swinging
Carly
It only took me a few minutes to recognize the man who had a hold of me. I remember him as one of the two men sitting in my father’s office that day I barged in. One of the men was the man I was linked to for the rest of my life, Blake, and the other was this guy. He has a face you never forget, even if it took me a few minutes to connect the dots. There’s just something disturbing about the way he stares; like he’s plotting something sinister, something you don’t want to know anything about.
I went willingly into the white van parked behind the café, but only because he had threatened my daughter. Not knowing what this man was capable of, I wouldn’t risk her life by doing something stupid like screaming for Blake or trying to make a run for it. The man never brandished a weapon, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t carrying something. And I’m not in the mood to find out the hard way.
Natalia has been fussy ever since we got into the van. It is well past her afternoon naptime, and it has been a long day for her. Top it off with hours of fresh air, and I’m dealing with a cranky baby girl on top of a kidnapping psycho. Awesome.
“Shh,” I whisper as I bounce my daughter on my hip again. We’ve been inside a small garage for a little bit now. Since I left my cell phone in the diaper bag under the stroller, I have no way of knowing what time it is or how to summon Blake to come rescue us. There’s rusty car parts and dirt as far as the eye can see, and no way in hell I’ll let Nat down to explore. She’ll wind up slicing her hand on a piece of sheet metal and needing a tetanus shot.
“Shut her up,” he says harshly while glancing out the side window one more time. I have no clue who or what he’s looking for, but I have an idea. A very pissed off six foot four ex-football player turned FBI agent. I can’t imagine this is going to end well for the man in front of me when Blake finally catches up with him. Throw in his brother, who is an agent as well, and I imagine two raging Thomas brothers are hunting us like a pack of rabid dogs as we speak.
“I’m doing the best I can. She’s tired and hungry,” I tell the man, every bit of his exposed arms covered in dark intricate ink. I turn Natalia around and try to walk between the pieces of car parts. It’s not only past her naptime, but also has to be dinnertime. To make matters worse, when I took her inside the café to change her, I only grabbed a diaper and wipes. Her snacks and juice were left in the diaper bag with the stroller as well. With Blake.
It’s getting late and the sun is going to set soon. The longer we’re here, the less likely it’ll be that Blake finds us before something bad happens. The thought of not making it out of this situation turns my stomach. Not just for Natalia, but also for Blake. Knowing him as well as I think I do, this is something that he’ll forever blame himself for. There are so many things I never got a chance to tell him. My plan was to invite him over for dinner tonight so we could talk. Natalia has missed him like crazy and she would have loved to spend the night playing and snuggling with him. Every time the door would open, she would get all excited and take off for the kitchen, but for the last few days, she was only met with her grandma at the door.
And Natalia wasn’t the only one who has missed him. I have missed him, too.
I have missed him a lot.
I realized these past three days that I truly couldn’t blame Blake for not telling me about who he really was. It was a necessary safety net when it came to his job. If I’ve learned anything about him in the past month, it’s that he’s loyal and honest to a fault. He would never willingly deceive me without good reason. And I have to admit that his life is a good enough reason for me.