Desert Secrets Read online

  “Looks like there’s one other smaller building to the left, built into an embankment of sand. This one probably is, as well. Beyond that, it’s just desert.”

  “So where do you think we are?”

  Colton stepped down from his perch. “I’ve heard about deserted villages sprinkled across the desert. There are supposed to be a vast expanse of secret trails and hiding places drug smugglers, human smugglers and other outlaws use to avoid being detected. This might be one of those places.”

  “It would make sense. Sounds as if we’re definitely outside the city.”

  Colton nodded. “I agree, but we need to find a way out. We can’t just sit here and wait the forty-eight hours.”

  “Do you have any idea what time it is?”

  “The sun is sitting low above the horizon, so it must still be early.” Colton glanced back at his brother-in-law. “Why don’t you try and sleep some more?”

  “I feel like all I’ve done the past few days is sleep. I want to do something to put a stop to this nightmare and get back with my family. We need to find a means of escape.”

  Colton nodded, but even if they did manage to get out of this building, chances were they were miles from help. He shifted his gaze to Lexi, who lay sleeping across the room. He knew she was exhausted. And knew the shock that was going to take hold when she woke up and realized that all of this hadn’t just been a dream.

  He watched her steady breathing. Her hair brushed against her face. She looked so peaceful and relaxed. All he wanted to do right now was to get her away from here. Not being able to do so made him feel helpless. But he was thankful that she was able to sleep. She needed to rest. There was no telling what was going to be ahead of them in the coming hours.

  “You have feelings for her, don’t you?” Bret said.

  Colton’s gaze shifted. He was too tired to deny how he felt. “It’s that obvious?”

  “Oh, yeah.” Bret chuckled softly. “It’s like watching a rerun of when Becca and I first met. I was completely smitten with her. I couldn’t stop looking at her. I found every excuse in the book to talk with her and just be around her.”

  He wanted to deny the truth behind Bret’s observation, but he knew he couldn’t. “This isn’t exactly the best scenario for getting to know someone, but Lexi…she’s different.”

  “Different from Maggie?”

  Colton sat down on the edge of the tires before answering. “I’ve tried not to compare them, but yes. She knew the risks coming here and yet she came anyway. Maggie would never move halfway around the world to help people she didn’t know. I don’t know how I missed just how different we really were.”

  Bret caught his gaze. “Why do I get the feeling there’s a ‘but’ coming?”

  “Because I can’t forget Maggie. I keep thinking about how things ended between us. I don’t want to go there again, and to be honest, how well do I really know Lexi?”

  “You know she’s beautiful, loyal, brave…”

  “Is that enough?” Colton asked.

  “It’s enough for a start.”

  “Maybe. I just can’t let it become a distraction. Not now. We need to find a way out of this, but how many times can we escape these people before our time runs out. I’ve checked this place over and it’s locked up as tight as Fort Knox.”

  “And if we don’t figure our way out of this?” Bret asked.

  “Let’s face it. They don’t need us. Unless they decide to try for ransom money again, and we already know Becca can’t come up with what they want.”

  No matter how he looked at things, it seemed like a no-win situation. And while he wasn’t used to being a pessimist, he didn’t know how to save them. Not this time.

  “All I know is that when this is over, I think you need to pursue Lexi,” Bret said. “Go out on a date like normal people do when they like each other, and then go from there. The two of you have a lot in common. A lot more than you and Maggie did anyway. All you just need is time to figure out how to make something work.”

  “Maybe.”

  “Because it’s worth it, Colton. Finding the right person and falling in love.” Bret clasped his hands in front of him. “I’m worried about Becca.”

  Colton turned away and studied a large crack in the wall that snaked across the bottom where the plaster had split. It was a subject he didn’t want to talk about. He hadn’t told Bret about the threats Becca and Noah had received. Or the fact that she’d gone into hiding, believing they were in danger. He hadn’t wanted his brother-in-law to worry any more than he already was. Especially when there was nothing he could do.

  “Colton…what is it?”

  He debated for another few seconds what he should say, but trying to hide the truth at this point wasn’t going to help. “I spoke to Becca back at Issa’s place on his sat phone. You were pretty out of it that night with the pain from the scorpion bite, as well as from the medicine Sara gave you.”

  Bret leaned forward. “What did she say?”

  “She got a phone call.” He paused again, but there was no way of downplaying the significance of what she’d said. “They threatened to come after her and Noah—”

  “Wait a minute.” Bret stood up and began pacing in front of them. “Why didn’t you tell me this before?”

  “Because there was nothing we could do, and adding to your stress—”

  “I deserved to know, Colton.”

  Colton glanced at Lexi, who stirred on her mat, unable to ignore the surge of guilt. Bret was right. He shouldn’t have kept things from him.

  “Please tell me there’s no way they can reach Becca,” Bret asked. “Is there?”

  “I don’t know for sure, but your kidnapping was Salif’s idea. Not Adam’s. And from what we know Salif’s hold is just here in North Africa. And not even into Morocco. So he’d have to way of reaching Becca in the US.”

  Colton caught the anguish on Bret’s face. He prayed he was right, but knew there was no way to be certain.

  “If you’re wrong, and Adam is involved in my kidnapping…” Bret shook his head, looking unconvinced. “He owns an international business whose reach definitely stretches to the US.”

  “All Adam wants is the money Lexi’s brother stole,” Colton said, trying to convince himself that Becca was safe as much as Bret.

  “If that were true, then why am I still here? Why are you still here? They can’t use us as leverage when it comes to Trent.”

  “I can’t answer any of that.”

  Bret combed his fingers through his thinning hair. “So you have no idea where she is or how to get a hold of her?”

  Colton caught the panic in Bret’s voice. “She’s smart, Bret. She gave me the number of a burn phone where she can be contacted. I’ve got it scribbled on a piece of paper in my pocket.”

  “So she’s gone off the grid.” He let out a huff of pent-up air.

  “No credit cards. No cell phone tracking. She’s also been in contact with the agent from the FBI who’s been handling your case from the beginning.”

  “So that means she’s safe.”

  Colton nodded. Even if it meant their own lives were disposable.

  Lexi stirred again, then sat up. He turned and read the confusion on her face as she looked around the room.

  “Lexi…you’re okay.” He knelt down next to her. “We’re all okay.”

  For now.

  “I remember the guns, the ride in the vehicle…” She rubbed the back of her neck. “Where are the men who brought us here?”

  “We don’t know. They locked the door and left.”

  “And they haven’t come back?”

  “No.”

  She looked up at him. “I’m so sorry.”

  “For what?”

  This…” She waved her hand. “This is all my fault. All my brother’s fault. And now the two of you are involved. You should be home with your wife right now, Bret.”

  “Forget it,” Bret said. “I’ve tried the whole guilt thing wi
th Colton. It doesn’t work on him. And besides that, he’s got this thing for rescuing damsels in distress.”

  Lexi looked up at him. “Okay, then how do we get out of this mess? I don’t think Trent’s going to come forward. He’s probably taken the money he stole and is already living it up in some nonextradition country.”

  If she was right, he didn’t like where that left them. They had no way of escape and no leverage. Or maybe Adam was going to go ahead with a ransom demand as plan B. What did he have to lose? Three foreigners. Two who held American passports. Maybe he thought they were a guarantee that he’d get at least a big chunk of his investment back.

  Colton frowned. That had to be his plan. Because if not, he and Bret would already be dead. But either way, they needed to find a way out of this place before their captures returned and decided their fate for them.

  FIFTEEN

  Despite Bret’s reassurance that she wasn’t at fault, Lexi didn’t know how to shake the guilt. But she also knew that homing in on that guilt wasn’t going to help either. What was done was done, and while she couldn’t change the past, Trent’s actions, or even Adam Tazi’s actions, she could help come up with a plan that would get them out of here. Frustration was fueling her anger, and she already knew she was going to need every ounce of courage she could muster.

  Because she wanted to be more than just a damsel in distress. Though there was something terribly romantic about the days of chivalry, maidens and knights in shining armor coming to the rescue. If she was going to survive this, she couldn’t imagine anyone she’d rather have at her side than Colton. And it was more than just the way he made her heart stir and her longing for the possibility of something more with him. She’d also come to trust him completely. His instincts were spot-on and his resourcefulness had saved her life more than once.

  She stared at a dark spot on the floor where something had stained the cement. Even he couldn’t completely erase her fear. But none of that changed the reality of what they were facing. For now, she just needed to focus on getting out of here. Nothing more.

  “So what do we do?” she asked finally.

  “The room’s solid and built for the heat, which is why the walls are at least a foot thick,” Colton said. “The two weakest points are obviously the door and the window, but even they come with their own challenges. The door is solid, but with some work it might be possible to take off the hinges. As for the window, the bars are old and rusty, which means we might be able to break them off.”

  Lexi frowned. Even with the room’s weaknesses, it seemed that Adam had found the perfect place to keep them out of the way.”

  “So assuming we get out, then what?” she asked.

  “We’re far enough outside the city that all I could see from the window was desert.”

  Which meant they could be anywhere. She was certain they’d driven on the unpaved road for at least forty-five minutes, possibly an hour. They could easily be fifty or sixty miles from the outskirts of the city.

  “I say we worry about what to do when the time comes that we get out,” Bret said. “But I also think we need to stay ready for when they do show up. Because that’s something that will definitely happen.”

  “Agreed.” Colton stood as if he were preparing for a battle. “They’ll be armed, but if we could take them off guard, we might be able to secure the advantage we need to subdue them.”

  “And get one or more of us shot.” Lexi’s frown deepened. She agreed that they should stay proactive, but that didn’t make her feel any more comfortable with the idea of trying to take down armed captors. What were the odds of all three of them walking out alive?

  What were the odds of all three of them walking out alive if they did nothing?

  The thought sent a chill down her spine. Even if Trent did show up, Adam had no motivation for keeping any of them alive. They were now witnesses. They’d been to his home and seen his face. They knew too much for him to let them simply walk away.

  “Lexi?”

  She nodded at Colton. “I know you’re both right. I’ve just never been in a situation where I had to fight for my life.”

  “I’ll start working on the door hinges,” Bret said. “Why don’t the two of you try to break those bars off the window?”

  She moved beside Colton next to the pile of tires under the window. “What do you need me to do?”

  “We’re going to have to come up with a sturdier ladder,” he said.

  “There’s a couple boards in the back corner that might help stabilize it.”

  They spent the next few minutes in silence, working together to ensure their access to the window wasn’t going to come crashing down on them. Once the makeshift ladder was finished, she volunteered to stand next to it to guarantee it didn’t shift while Colton climbed on top of the pile to further examine the rusty bars.

  “It’s funny how all the things I used to think were so important suddenly don’t seem to matter quite as much as they used to.” She leaned slightly against the tires, watching for any movement as Colton balanced above her, and needing to verbalize some of what she was feeling. “Even some of the things I was looking forward to…somehow they seem so insignificant.”

  “Like your trip to Ireland?”

  “Yeah.” She couldn’t help but wonder what Micah was doing right now. With only a few days left till the wedding, she knew there would be a flurry of activity. Which was why she had planned to arrive a few days early. Not only to see some of the sights of a country she’d always wanted to visit, but to help Micah with some of the last-minute details they’d discussed over the past few weeks.

  “Will you hand me one of those pieces of cardboard?” Colton interrupted her thoughts, bringing her back to her present situation—to a place somewhere in the Sahara. “I need to pull out these glass panes, hopefully without breaking them, in order to get to the bars.”

  He carefully pulled out the first pane, then set it onto the cardboard piece she was holding. “I don’t think any of what is going on now should diminish what you were looking forward to. It simply puts things in a different perspective for the time being.”

  “It’s hard to believe she’s getting married in a castle in Ireland.” Lexi let out a low laugh. “Can’t really think of a place any more different than this.”

  “Where did they meet?” Colton asked, handing her the last pane.

  “At a conference back in the States. It was pretty much love at first sight. At least for Micah. They got engaged right before I came to Africa. She’s spent the past few months sending me everything from ideas to bridesmaid dresses to the font on the place cards.”

  It was going to be Micah’s fairy-tale wedding.

  “I’m still counting on getting out of here so we can get you there on time,” Colton said.

  She looked up at Colton and caught his gaze, wishing he was right. But at the moment, Ireland and Micah’s fairy-tale wedding seemed a million miles away.

  “What about the bars?” Bret said, walking across the room to where they were working.

  “I’ve just got the glass off. Looks like there are a couple weak points, though without the proper tools this isn’t going to easy.”

  “I found a long nail in the corner I’ve been using to try and loosen the hinges, but yeah, neither project is going to be easy.”

  Lexi heard the roar of a vehicle outside. Her fingers gripped the edges of the cardboard holding the glass.

  Colton jumped down from the top of the tires. “So much for our forty-eight hours to prepare.”

  Any plan they’d had to escape vanished. She could hear the car doors slam shut, then a lock being turned. The door Bret had been working on opened.

  Someone shouted for them not to move. A second later, she felt her eyes burn as the room filled with smoke. As the haze cleared, she saw two African men rush into the room, but it was the third man that caught her attention.

  Lexi felt the blood drain from her face as the glass panels
she’d been holding crashed to the floor. “Trent?”

  *

  Colton’s eyes burned as he covered his mouth and nose with the palm of his hand. The room was full with a thick smoke, and he’d heard at least one shot. Using grenades or flash bangs were a common practice for the military in an ambush situation. It allowed them to return fire on the enemy while staying concealed so they could execute offensive maneuvers.

  His mind raced through their limited options. Because while he and Bret both had military experience, in this scenario they were at a severe disadvantage. Not only did they not have the element of surprise, from what he could see through the smoke they were up against three men, and at least one was armed.

  And there was an unexpected variable he wasn’t sure how to calculate into the scenario.

  Lexi had called out to Trent.

  His jaw clenched, knowing he couldn’t think about that right now. Now that the door was open, this was their chance to get out. He needed to level the playing field, and the only way to do that was for them to quickly change positions and attempt to regain the element of surprise.

  Unless she’d already moved, Lexi was now behind him and to his left. Bret had been near the door to his right. He shifted left where he could see the subtle outline of one of the men. Even taking down one would be a start at tipping the odds in their favor. He needed to not only disarm the man, but disable him, as well. At least the smoke put both sides at a disadvantage.

  Colton heard a shuffle to his right, then Bret cried out. But Colton couldn’t give his position away by calling out to his brother-in-law to see if he was okay. The smoke began to clear just enough for him to see a man coming at him with a small handgun. His choices in defense had to be adjusted when there were weapons involved. Disarming him could prove to be too risky, but at this point, his options were few. He reacted immediately, shoving the man’s hand away from below in order to deflect his aim. Half a second later, Colton pushed back his arm to ensure his attacker was unable to use his weapon. Wincing in pain, the man dropped the gun onto the ground. Colton aimed for the windpipe, then used the momentum of his own body to drop the man onto the ground.