“Oh, yeah.” Evie nodded. “I’m ready.”
With a quick lift of his lips, Beckett began to move. Almost as if on reflex, she reached up with one hand and held onto the belt loop at the small of his back.
When he looked back at her again, Evie asked quietly, “Is this okay?”
He smiled down at her with a wink and said, “It’s perfect.”
She followed him just like that the entire way. Where he stepped, she stepped. When he turned, she turned. But Evie’s steps faltered when she spotted a man’s body lying motionless on the ground up ahead.
“Don’t look,” Beckett ordered. “Just focus on my back and follow me.”
Evie tried to obey his command. She really did. But at the last second, she glanced down as they passed the obviously dead terrorist.
“That’s definitely one of them,” she told the man serving as her guide out of hell. “He brought us food and water sometimes. But he always taunted me with lewd comments and threats.”
The asshole was constantly reminding her how he could—and eventually would—"have his way with her” anytime he wanted. Thank God he never made good on the horrifying promise.
Without missing a beat, Beckett responded with, “In that case, I wish he was still alive just so I could shoot his ass again.”
She didn’t say anything to that because…whatwasthe appropriate response to a comment like that? Deciding there really wasn’t one, Evie remained quiet as she inched toward the room where she and the girls had been forced to stay.
“Evelynn?” he uttered her name softly. “You okay?”
She stared into what had been her and the girls’ prison and shook her head. “That’s where they kept us,” she told him unnecessarily. “We were only allowed to leave to use the bathroom or when…” Her delicate throat worked with a wince-driven swallow. “Or when they took me away to question me.”
Of course, he already knew that was the room they’d been held in. He and his team had already rescued the girls from there, after all.
“Look at me, darlin’,” he whispered softly. When she did, Beckett solemnly vowed, “You’ll never be in a place like that ever again.”
Her heart gave a hard thump as it filled with the realization that he was right. She was being rescued—they wereallbeing rescued. And right now, that was the only thing that mattered.
CHAPTER THREE
Beckett stole another glance at the woman walking behind him as he led her toward the cave’s carved entrance. He was in awe at how well she’d handled herself so far. Sure, she’d fought him like mad when he’d pulled her into that room, but who could blame her?
At the time, there was no way Evie could’ve known who he was or be aware of his intentions. If anything, her reaction to being manhandled after days of captivity had impressed the hell out of him.
Rather than crumble into a weeping, hysterical mess, the woman had fought with everything she possessed. Granted, her blows were nowhere near strong enough to overpower him, but even in her weakened and bruised state, the pretty schoolteacher had made it clear she’d been prepared to break free…
Or die trying.
Fury he fought to contain raged within him as he thought about the bruises and dried blood marring the skin on her beautiful face. He’d seen those same types of markings countless times in the past.
On hostages. His teammates. Hell, he’d personally suffered enough black eyes and busted lips to know exactly how painfulthey could be. Not to mention whatever damage had been done to her ribs.
The grip on his M27 IAR tightened as he tried like hell not to envision the type of abuse the poor woman must have endured. God, he’d love the chance to blow a few more rounds into each and every one of the terrorist assholes.
At this point, however, it would just be a waste of perfectly good ammo. And guys like the ones they’d taken down…they damn sure weren’t worth the bullets.
“Are they all dead?”
The soft question ripped Beckett back into the present. Belatedly, he realized Evie was referring to the men he and his team had taken out before breaching the cave.
“Yes.”
He didn’t insult her intelligence by trying to sugarcoat the situation as they stepped out into the night through the hellhole’s arched entrance. Nor did he attempt to shield her from the carnage, as she’d already proven earlier the strength she possessed when coming face-to-face with death.
“Your team did this?”