She could feel Jess’s muscles trembling next to her. Knowing platitudes would be useless at this point, Avery chose to keep quiet and bowed her head to pray.
A door slammed shut and then another. She held her breath as they remained silent and still. Maybe whoever it was couldn’t see them, after all. Maybe the grass had hidden them better than she—
“Avery!”
Her eyes flew open, and her heart sang with praise. “Garrett?” she whispered, unable to believe what she’d heard was even possible.
“Avery! Jessica! Where are you?”
Ohmygod!
Avery shot to her feet. Tears filled her eyes the second she found him.
“Garrett!”
His eyes grew round when he spotted her, his entire body lighting up with relief. “Avery!”
Garrett ran to her. She awkwardly made her way to him. And when they met near the side of the road, he damn near knocked her over with his strong embrace.
“Oh, God!” He squeezed her tightly. “Oh, thank God!”
“H-how did you…wh-where did you…”
She couldn’t seem to formulate a sentence to save her soul. But it didn’t matter. Nothing else mattered but the fact that Garrett was here.
“Let’s get these off of you.” Spinning her around, Garrett used a knife he’d gotten from who knows where to cut through the plastic ties with ease. “How did you manage to get away?”
“The truck’s back door popped open, so we jumped.”
“Youwhat?” Garrett spun her back around, the look of shock on his face almost comical.
“It was our only shot at escaping.” She offered him a tiny smile. “So, we took it.”
With several mumbled curses, he handed the sharp weapon to a man she’d never seen before. Dressed in brown camouflage like the military wore, he looked to be about Garrett’s age.
While he freed Jess from her restraints, she asked, “Where’s my dad?”
The man cutting the ties at her wrists answered with, “He’s still back at the warehouse with the others.”
“Those men still have him?”
“No, honey,” the stranger assured her. “We took care of them.”
“You tookcareof them?” Avery looked up at Garrett. “What does that mean?”
Once again, the other man answered for him. “It means, they’re no longer a problem.”
“Look at me.” Garrett’s soft order had her following his command instantly. His eyes were filled with emotion she couldn’t quite place as he leaned in and took her mouth in his. Keeping the kiss short, he pulled away just enough to rest his forehead against hers. “I thought I’d lost you.”
“Me, too.”
He lifted his head and brushed some hair from her face. “Are you hurt?”
“I-I’m okay.”
Despite her answer, he began to gently run his hands along her body to check for possible injuries. “Did those bastards touch you?”
“It’s just some scrapes and bruises,” she promised. “Really, I-I’m okay.”