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“Thank you, Liam,” I say out loud. “I hope you’re with me tomorrow.”
Oh God. I’m losing my mind, talking to my dead brother in the bathroom of a bus station. I quickly swipe some mascara on, hoist my bag onto my shoulder, and push the door to the restroom open.
It all happens so fast. One minute, I’m walking out of the restroom, intent on finding Noah and hoping he’ll finger me under a blanket on the bus until I come, and the next, a hood is being pulled over my head as my arms are pinned roughly behind my back. I start to scream, but a hand quickly clamps over my mouth. I bite it.
“Motherfucker!” The swear word is spoken in a distinctive American accent.
He lets go of me, and I take the opportunity to kick blindly, hoping I get lucky and catch him in the balls. My heel hits his shin instead and he grunts, but he doesn’t let go of me. Instead, he ties a gag over my mouth through the hood, then quickly binds my wrists and ankles with cable ties.
“What the fuck are you doing?” a muffled voice demands angrily. “I told you not to hurt her.”
“You told me she’d be easy,” the first one retorts. “If I didn’t tie her up, she was going to make a scene and we’d risk him seeing us.”
“Fine. Let’s go.” The other one’s voice is brisk and businesslike, and it reminds me of someone. “We’ve got to get her out of here before he comes looking for her.”
He? Oh God. They’re talking about Noah. Of course! Noah will find me. He’ll save me.
I’m half carried and half dragged for several yards, where I’m deposited into what I’m guessing is a car trunk, judging by the thud of a door closing above me, followed by the sound of an engine starting. I remember seeing some TV show that showed how to escape a car trunk by poking your hand through the tail lights or something, but they never said what you’re supposed to do when your arms and legs are tied. My heart is pounding, and I feel that familiar wave of nausea as panic threatens to overwhelm me. What would Noah do? Not panic, for one thing. I try to slow my breathing. I just have to stay alive until Noah finds me. I can try to get away when they take me out of the trunk.
The car stops, the trunk opens, and then I’m being lifted out and carried again, but this time by both of them, leaving me little opportunity to escape, although I buck and thrash around as much as possible. I hear a series of doors open and close, and then I’m being set on my feet as the gag is untied from my mouth and the ties are cut from my hands and feet. Seeing my opportunity, I elbow the man closest to me in the stomach as hard as I can.
“Jesus, Kenzie. When did you get so fucking feisty?” The hood is ripped off, and I find myself staring into the gorgeous face of Walker Kincaid, Gemma’s best friend and Liam’s SEAL brother.
“Walker?” My mind is trying hard to process what Walker is doing in Malaysia, and why the hell he kidnapped me. “What’s going on?”
“Sorry for kidnapping you like that. I couldn’t figure out any other way to get you out of there without Payne seeing us.” He shoots a disapproving look at the short but beefy-looking, dark-haired guy across from him. “I didn’t mean to hurt you. Or scare you.”
“Well, you did both,” I say, rubbing my wrists where the zip ties cut into my skin. “Why didn’t you want Noah to see you? I need to tell him where I am. He’s probably going crazy with worry.”
“I’m sure he is,” Walker says derisively. “He’s not who you think he is, Kenzie. He’s not one of the good guys. I kidnapped you to save you from him.”
“What? Why? He’s been helping me finish Liam’s bucket list. I don’t need to be saved from Noah. He’s the one who’s saved me.” My voice catches on the last words, as I realize the truth behind them. Yes, Liam’s list opened my eyes to being more daring, but it’s Noah who made me unafraid, who showed me how to be fearless and uninhibited and finally free.
Walker and the other man exchange a glance. “It’s called Stockholm syndrome,” Walker explains. “It’s not unheard of for hostages to develop feelings for their captors.”
“I wasn’t a hostage! Didn’t you send him to watch out for me?”
Walker shakes his head.
“But he’s a Navy SEAL.”
“No, Kenzie, he’s not.”
His words hit me like a blow. Surely there’s some explanation.
“Look, I’ll explain everything, but first I’m going to get you a bottle of water, and you’re going to drink it and sit your cute little ass in a chair. You look like you’re about to faint.”
I roll my eyes. Not him, too! Now that I’ve had some experience with Noah, I can spot a dominant guy from a mile away. He pales in comparison to Noah, though. Still, I always wondered why Walker and Gemma never hooked up. He’s undeniably attractive, with his dark, close-cropped hair, perpetual scruff, chiseled jaw, and even more chiseled abs.
I obediently sit down and take the water bottle, surprised at how thirsty I am. Walker and the other man exchange a few words, but I can’t make out what they’re saying, and then the man leaves and Walker and I are alone. Walker comes back over and sits down across from me at the small table. We’re in a hotel room, it seems, and I look expectantly, and probably a little belligerently, at Walker. I know Noah, and he would never hurt me. Walker must be wrong.
As if reading my mind, Walker says, “Try to keep an open mind, okay? You know you’re like a little sister to me. I have no ulterior motives. I care about you, Kenzie. Liam always told me to take care of you if anything happened to him, and I don’t take that promise lightly.”
I sigh, knowing it’s true. Liam and Walker have been friends since they were in BUD/S training together. In fact, it was Walker who introduced me to his best friend, Gemma, when Charlotte and I were looking for a third roommate at Wake Forest. Since then, he’s become a friend and a second brother to me, and I know that, other than Liam, there’s no one I can trust more.
“Okay. Tell me.”
“Noah Payne used to be a Navy SEAL,” Walker explains. “An outstanding one from all accounts. After a year or two in Afghanistan, his team was sent to the west coast of Mexico as part of America’s war on drugs. The official line was they were training Mexican troops to fight the drug cartels, but rumor is Payne had been ordered to take out Francisco Dominguez, who headed up the leading drug cartel at the time.
