She nodded. “Absolutely. Yes. On the floor. Got it.”
A hand brushed against her arm, and Elodie flinched before she could stop herself.
“Sorry. I should’ve warned you,” Scott said.
“No, it’s fine,” she told him.
“Give me your hand,” Scott told her.
Elodie blindly held it out, and she swallowed hard when Scott took it in his own. He wore gloves, but he was still so warm. She hadn’t realized how chilly she was until right this moment.
Without a word, Scott tugged her behind him as he headed for the officers’ pantry. “Stay here for a second,” he ordered.
Elodie nodded and stood stock-still. She heard rustling, then he was back in front of her. “Have you ever shot a gun?”
“A few times. At the firing range. I got scope eye when I tried out a rifle for the first time.”
She heard chuckling from behind her, and didn’t blame Midas for laughing. It was pretty funny. She hadn’t realized she shouldn’t shove her eye right up to the scope while she was firing the damn thing. The kickback had pushed the scope right into her eye socket. She’d had a black eye for a week.
“Right. There’s no safety on this thing, so do not point it at anyone you don’t want to die…especially me or my team, okay?”
“Okay,” Elodie agreed, possibly a little more energetically than the situation warranted. She wasn’t planning on shooting anyone, but she’d carry the weapon if that meant she could stay with the SEALs.
“Describe to me the layout of this floor,” Scott demanded after she’d put the strap of the rifle around her chest. “We studied the schematic of the ship, but tell me whatever you can about the immediate layout. Where do these doors lead?”
Elodie had a feeling he didn’t need her to tell him a damn thing, and was just trying to keep her mind occupied with something other than the fact they were sneaking around looking for people who would kill them without a second thought. Reminding herself that she’d asked to go with them, begged, she swore not to be a bigger pain in the ass than she already was.
It was a good thing she knew the galley and all the rooms on this floor like the back of her hand, because Midas had switched off the flashlight the pirate had dropped shortly after they’d killed him. It really was pitch black. No matter how many times she blinked, all Elodie saw was darkness.
“We’ll walk while you’re talking,” Scott told her. She felt him pick up her hand and guide it to the back of his pants. He turned away from her and Elodie latched on tightly. She wasn’t going to let go of him under any circumstances.
“Walk carefully,” Midas warned.
Knowing she probably looked stupid, but not caring since there wasn’t anyone other than the SEALS to see her, Elodie exaggerated her steps as she followed behind Scott and Midas, and they slowly and carefully made their way through the officers’ pantry and into the galley. She told them everything she could think of about the layout and did her best to walk as quietly as possible. She might regret begging to stay with them later, but for now, she was relieved she didn’t have to wander around the dark ship on her own.
Chapter Four
Mustang couldn’t get the picture out of his mind of Rachel biting her lip and tipping her chin up bravely. When they’d arrived on the deck with the galley, he’d hoped they would be able to find the cook alive and well, and she’d shocked the shit out of him when she’d spoken up. Even with the night-vision goggles, both he and Midas had walked right past her. She’d come up with literally the only place to hide in that dining room, and it had been absolutely perfect.
And Rachel Walters looked nothing like he’d expected.
He admitted that what he’d pictured in his mind was unfairly stereotypical, but seeing her in person, even through the night-vision goggles, had given him a jolt.
Her hair was long, hanging messily around her shoulders. He guessed she probably had to wear it up when she was cooking, but since they’d been woken up in the middle of the night when the pirates attacked, she obviously hadn’t had time to worry about it. He couldn’t tell what color her hair was through the goggles, or her eyes. She was petite, at least half a foot shorter than his own six-foot frame.
But it was her face that drew his attention. Even in the dark room and with the goggles, he could read every thought that flitted across her expressive face. She’d been scared when she’d first stood up, but determined to try to be brave. She’d been relieved, happy to not be alone, then terrified when he’d told her to go up to the bridge. Her brows had furrowed in determination when she’d proposed staying with them, even as she’d bit her lip.
He was so used to being around his teammates and other soldiers and sailors who kept a straight face no matter what was happening. Being able to read her expressions so easily was refreshing…and appealing.
He could feel her fingers clutching the loop of his pants at the small of his back, and unexpected goose bumps broke out on his arms as she adjusted her hold, brushing against him in the process.
He couldn’t believe how quickly she was getting under his skin. Had that ever happened to him before? No, he didn’t think so.
Mustang had let Midas take point and he was currently scanning the hallway connected to the galley for movement. He gestured for them to follow when all seemed well.
“The door at the far end, to our left, goes to a set of stairs,” Rachel whispered. “If you go up, you end up on a floor with living quarters, if you go down, there’s a hallway with storage rooms. Toilet paper, that sort of thing, and the laundry facilities. Below that is another floor with bedrooms, it’s where my room is, and then the engine room. At least the top deck of it. It’s huge, and there are actually four levels in there. It’s usually really loud, and hot, but with the electricity being off, I have no idea if it still will be.”
Mustang nodded. He and the others had studied the blueprints of the engine room carefully. That was where they figured most of the pirates would be, hunting for the missing employees.
He was having second—and third—thoughts about Rachel being with them. When they got into that engine room, things were going to get exponentially more dangerous. He’d much rather stash Rachel somewhere safe, but he knew as well as they all did that, technically, nowhere was safe with the pirates running around. He had to assume they knew something was wrong because their friends weren’t responding to their radio calls, so they’d be even more trigger happy as a result.
They quickly cleared the level under the kitchen and headed down one more to the floor where more crew quarters were located. So far, Rachel had done everything he’d asked. She’d been silent, and was doing a good job of moving quietly. She wasn’t quite as light-footed as he and Midas, but for a civilian it was pretty impressive.
“There are five rooms on this floor. My assistant and I stay down here, and the head engineer and two other guys. They like being close to the engine room,” she whispered.
The pirates hadn’t spared this floor from their ransacking. Peering into the first room, Mustang saw clothing strewn around on the floor and the furniture had been upturned.
When they got to the last room in the hallway, Mustang was glad Rachel couldn’t see what he was seeing through his night-vision lenses.