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She paused and I checked the screen to see if that was the end. It wasn’t.
I jammed the phone to my ear, desperate to hear her voice.
“Shit. Please, Hunter! Help!”
Layla’s scream pierced my fucking heart.
Stomping feet thundered down the line like cannonballs. A screech burst from the phone. A man yelled at her in another language.
“Please,” Layla begged. “Don’t.”
Her scream was cut off and the call went dead.
“Fuck!”
My hands trembled as I listened to the call again, jotting down notes and the coordinates. After a third time through, I ended the call and my mind was like a tornado, swirling out of control. “What the hell is she into?”
I slammed my fist onto the counter, and Luna yelped.
Layla’s phone number hadn’t shown up on my screen. I couldn’t call her back.
As I jabbed my speed dial number for Booker, the coordinates I’d written on my notepad stared back at me like a death sentence. “What the fuck is she doing in the Amazon jungle?”Maybe she’s on a satellite phone.
He answered on the second ring. “Booker here.”
“Booker, it's Hunter.” I rattled off the scarce details I had from Layla’s message. “I need to lead a team to rescue Layla and Cody from the Amazon Jungle.”
“Jesus, Hunter.” Booker’s tone matched mine in intensity. “What’s she doing down there?”
“I don’t know. But we have to move.” I paced the room with Luna watching me with fear in her eye.
“I'll round up Wyatt and the others,” Booker said, proving he understood my determination. “Be at Team Eagle HQ in an hour.”
“Make it thirty minutes.” My mind raced faster than my pulse as I hung up.
Layla didn't want me when she disappeared without a goodbye. But we had something. Her call proved she felt it too.
No matter how much she pissed me off, I had to save her.
CHAPTER 5
HUNTER
I sprintedto my bedroom and as I grabbed the bag that I always had packed, I rang my neighbor, Judy, asking her to look after Luna and feed the other dogs. She agreed without hesitation, and she didn’t ask questions. My clipped tone probably told her I didn’t have time to explain anyway.
Scooping Luna into my arms, I kissed the top of her head as I strode back through my home. “I’m going away for a while. Judy will look after you.” I put Luna on her rug in front of the sofa with a treat. “I’ll give you more of those when I get back.”
I grabbed my truck keys and raced out the front door without bothering to lock it behind me.
Normally, the rumble of my RAM 1500 truck drowned out my thoughts. Not today. Not when Layla’s life was in danger. Driving to Team Eagle's headquarters in Yellowstone was a reckless hurricane of rubber screeching on asphalt and questions racing through my mind that were impossible to answer.
I had no way to let Layla know I was coming.
Every second was a ticking bomb, driving me insane.
At HQ, I skidded to a stop, and stormed through the doors and into the command center. Captain Booker Hayes and Wyatt Bixby had beaten me there. Wyatt, a former Navy SEAL like me, was calm and collected, his eyes laser-focused as usual. Captain Booker Hayes, the leader of Team Eagle and another man who I trusted with my life, strode forward with his hand out.
“Don’t worry, Hunter. We’ll get her.”
