“Ace, I know you are upset. We all are, but you know we can’t just lock up people we suspect without hard evidence. This is America after all. We do things fairly here,” Hawk kindly admonished Ace.
“I know. Hawk, but I’m just so worried about what they may have done to her,” Ace sighed. His heart was in control at the moment and his mind was a complete mess. He couldn’t think past Daisy being held hostage. Life would not be right without her in it. They had to find her and get her out in one piece.
The men gathered around to formulate a plan of action. Tank, Mercury, and Wallace volunteered to do some additional recon around the cabin. They could see the men in the cabin, but no sign of the women. They know they had to proceed with caution as the men could kill the women before the Marines could get to them. While they were waiting for more information, Ace turned on Luke.
“Luke, how the hell did this happen?” Ace demanded. He needed someone to blame. Someone he could yell at for Daisy being in this position in the first place. “You were supposed to keep her safe, not out tracking fucking terrorists!” Ace continued to pace in the small enclosed command center. Hawk came to his side and placed a hand on his shoulder in support and to calm him down.
“Ace, you need to calm down before you say something you will regret,” Hawk said, gently.
“No, Hawk. Ace is right. It’s all my fault. I was so worried about Marley and finding out who was trying to hurt her, I wasn’t keeping a close enough eye on Daisy. She was supposed to check out some addresses, get pictures, and write down any license plate numbers if any cars were around. She promised not to get out of her car or enter any property.” Luke paused to sigh heavily. The look of shame and distress on his face was apparent to everyone. “My phone was on silence and I didn’t realize it until several hours had passed. As soon as I got her message, I knew she and Marley were in deep shit, but by then it was too late,” Luke dropped his head in humiliation. Ace looked at Luke. He wanted to be angry with him for allowing Daisy to be in danger, but he could see how deeply affected the man was by all that was going on around them. Ace knew that Luke would never knowingly send Daisy into danger.
“What was in her message?” Ace asked quietly. He had a bad feeling about that message. He could tell by the look in Luke’s eye he wasn’t going to like what the man had to say.
“She told me what was going on. She…also apologized again for the past. I know I’m going to sound like a pussy, but I’m really worried, Ace. There was resignation in her voice like she didn’t expect to get out of this alive,” Luke ended as his voice cracked. He couldn’t lose Daisy and Marley. They just had to be okay. Luke couldn’t except any other outcome.
“This isn’t your fault, Luke. Daisy is going to make it out alive and well. I will burn this place down and those bastards will wish they had never been born if one hair on her head has been touched,” Ace fiercely informed all the large alpha men in their command center. “Gentlemen, it’s time we go get mine and Luke’s women. Failure is not an option. Always Faithful, Always Forward!” Ace turned and stalked out of the command post and headed toward the cabin to find and rescue his woman.
Chapter 23
Daisy woke with the worst headache she had ever had. The stone floor beneath her was hard and cold. Where was she? Fortunately, her memories returned quickly despite being momentarily confused. Someone had hit her in the head. She opened her eyes and looked around. Marley was immediately at her side.
“Oh my God Daisy! Are you alright? I thought you were dead,” Marley’s voice was trembling, and she had tears in her eyes. Daisy tried to raise up, but nausea and dizziness hit her. She immediately laid back onto the cold stone floor.
“I think I’m okay,” Daisy wanted to comfort Marley. Daisy could clearly see how frightened Marley was and she needed her to remain calm. It was going to take both of them keeping their wits about them to make it out of this alive. After a few moments of resting, she tried again to get up. This time she managed to sit up without trying to throw up her lunch. The room seemed to have stopped spinning as well.
“Where are we?” Daisy asked. She slowly scanned the room, looking for some way they could get out. She reached down to check her boot and realized her Ka-bar knife was still in its sheath inside her boot. Thank God they weren’t very good at checking her for weapons and hadn’t found it. This might the lucky break they needed.
“I think we are in a basement or some underground place,” Marley explained as she wiped the blood off Daisy’s forehead with her shirt sleeve. Daisy winced in pain, but didn’t try to pull away. “I was blindfolded when they brought us here, but they didn’t do a very good job so I could see a little. We are a few hundred feet into the woods behind the cabin.”
“How many men are there? I only saw the one guy that brought you here, but clearly there was at least one other one,” Daisy said with a huff. She was frustrated with herself for letting someone get the drop on her. She had been trained better than that, but she had been worried about Marley’s safety. She had been too focused on saving Marley and not on doing good reconnaissance before entering the cabin.
“I have only seen the two men. I’m not sure if there are others or not,” Marley seemed to be upset that she didn’t have any more information. She looked down at her hands.
“It’s going to be okay. How did you end up here, Marley?” Daisy looked to the woman her brother was fascinated with.
“I was leaving work, when he grabbed me from behind. He pressed a gun into my side and told me he knew all about Luke…and how defenseless he is, being in a wheelchair,” Marley looked ashamed, but also angry at what the man had said. “He told me his friend was watching Luke and if I didn’t cooperate, he would have him kill Luke. I couldn’t let them hurt him. He doesn’t deserve to be hurt because of me.” Marley was barely whispering by the time she finished. She looked up at Daisy.
“I know he isn’t defenseless. He is the strongest man I know, but I didn’t want him to be hurt…I…I care about him. He’s been so good to me,” Marley looked down at her trembling hands. Daisy took Marley’s hands in her own. Marley looked up at her.
“Marley, thank you for wanting to keep Luke from being hurt. You are right, he is strong. Stronger than I give him credit for,” Daisy paused in reflection. “When he was injured, I blamed myself for a long time. I tried to do everything for him, but he let me know that he didn’t need my help. He wanted to be independent,” Daisy smiled at Marley. “Okay, enough of the pity party. We need to try and find a way out of here, so he doesn’t try to come in here and be a hero. I left him a voice message. He has surely gotten it by now and will be frantic with worry.”
“Alright,” Marley smiled back at Daisy. “I’m not like you, Daisy. I know you are a badass Navy woman, but I will try my best to help you.” The women got up and began to survey the room, looking for anything that might help them escape. The room seemed to be secure. There were no windows and only one door. After checking every corner of the room, they sat back down and strategized the best way to escape.
“Here’s my idea,” Daisy related to Marley. “You pretend to be sick and call for the guards. I will hide beside the door. When they come into the room, I will take them out with my knife.” Daisy gave Marley a hard look. “It won’t be pretty, but it’s the only plan I have.” Daisy had some trepidation about their plan. What if both men came in at the same time and Daisy couldn’t protect Marley? Luke would never forgive her if Marley was killed. Daisy continued to think about all the options.
“It’s a good plan, Daisy. So why do you seem reluctant to carry it out?” Marley asked when Daisy had finished relaying her plan.
“What if both men come at the same time?” Daisy stared at Marley. “I might not be able to protect you from harm.” Marley surprised Daisy with her next words.
“Listen Daisy, it’s the chance we have to take. Those menwillkill us sooner or later if we can’t get out of here. It’s only a matter of time,” Marley sighed. “I would rather go out trying than cowering in here like fish in a barrel.” Daisy nodded in agreement. Time to put their plan into action.
* * *
Ace was so ready to get to Daisy. He knew that he must bide his time and wait for the perfect opportunity, but it was torture. The need to see her, hold her, and know she was safe was overwhelming. There appeared to be two men in the cabin sitting at a table. They looked to be arguing over something. Ace moved closer to try and hear what was being said.
“We need to get on with this. Just kill the bitches before someone comes looking for them. We know they are working for the government. It doesn’t matter if its FBI or CIA or Homeland Security. They know about us. We need to cut our losses and get the fuck out of here. I’m not going to prison,” The first man said. He was tall with black hair. He had a small mustache and his eyes were dark and dangerous looking. He had evil emanating off him. Ace wanted like to kill them now, but they had no idea where Daisy and Marley were located. They needed to take at least one of them alive so they could interrogate him.
“I have a better idea,” The second man replied. He was not quite as tall as his friend. He hair was jet black. A thick beard covered his face. “We will use the women to carry out our plan. We have to act quickly before the feds can stop us, right? So, we move up the time line. We will strap the bombs on the women. We force them to carry them to the targets. We tell them we have that Luke guy. They will do whatever we say. Once they are in position, we detonate the bombs. We carry out our task and we get to live to plan more attacks.” The man leaned back in his chair with a smug grin on his face. The first man nodded in agreement.
