“I have no idea,” Woody said with a shake of his head. “That’s the weirdest part. They didn’t demand anything.”
“We found drugs in Angelo’s room,” Spike said quietly. “A lot. It’s how we found you guys. There was an address with the drugs.”
Woody’s eyes widened. “What? No. Angelo isn’t into that. Isabella’s warned him for years about staying away from the cartel recruiters.”
“I’m just telling you what we found,” Spike told him.
“Fuck!” Woody said, a dark scowl on his face.
“Woody?”
They all turned and saw Isabella standing near them, looking extremely nervous. Their plan to keep her out of the conversation had obviously failed.
“It’s okay,” Woody assured her without hesitation, grabbing her hand.
“I talked to Angelo at the airport in Bogotá. About what happened. He…he said he was recruited by the cartel,” she confirmed, her voice shaking. “He swears he told them that he was not interested—until they threatened me. He was forced to courier drugs, but he did not do so, was trying to figure out a way to stop. He said he hid the drugs in our apartment instead of delivering them to the person he was supposed to…and that is why the cartel came to the apartment and took us.”
Everyone frowned. Spike resisted glaring over at the young man sitting against the wall. He understood being between a rock and a hard place…but his actions had ultimately gotten his sister and Woody kidnapped. And the outcome could’ve been so much worse.
“What happened when you got to that house?” Tiny asked Woody.
Woody sighed. “Not much. The only time we saw anyone was when they opened the door to bring us food and water…which wasn’t very often. I was still trying to figure out what I should do when you two showed up,” he finished, gesturing to Spike and Tiny.
“That doesn’t make much sense,” Owl said. “When Stone and I were taken captive, we were immediately interrogated and tortured. I mean, it wasn’t as if they really wanted any information, they just wanted to make us suffer. Get it on film so they could brag that they’d captured two American helicopter pilots.”
Spike hating hearing about Owl and Stone’s captivity. They’d gone through hell after their chopper was shot down while on a mission. They’d been extremely lucky to be rescued, and they both knew it. Their story had been plastered all over the news channels. The entire nation had seen clips of them being tortured by their enemy.
“That’s what I thought,” Woody said. “I kept waiting for them to come in, separate Bella and I…and frankly, kill me. I would’ve been just another casualty of the war on drugs. But instead, they did nothing. Just left us alone.”
“Maybe they were using you guys to threaten Angelo some more. Using you as leverage.”
Woody sighed. “That does seem likely.”
“Does anyone else think our escape seemed a little too easy?” Tiny asked.
Spike had a feeling if Reese heard that question, she’d strongly disagree, but he’d been thinking the same thing. Why was the house empty? And they’d been able to get all three captives out of that bunker without anyone noticing. They’d been as quiet as possible, but had they been so quiet that none of the men around the corner had heard them? He didn’t think so. If it hadn’t been for that truck full of men, they would’ve gotten off without anyone noticing…which seemed impossible.
“It’s like they let us go,” Woody agreed.
“Why would they do that when they made the effort to pick you up and lock you away in the first place?” Tonka asked.
“I don’t know that either,” Woody said with a frown.
“I’ve been thinking the same thing as Tiny,” Spike said. “Which was another reason I invited you all to stay here for a while. If the cartel had some nefarious reason to let you go without too much trouble, they won’t be able to track you here.”
“Do we think having Angelo here is going to be an issue?” Tiny asked.
“No!” It was Isabella who answered. “He knows what he did was wrong. And he was relieved to be rescued. He’s glad to be away from all of those people. There is no way he would do anything that might cause me harm yet again.”
“I don’t like the idea of bringing trouble to your doorstep,” Woody said.
Spike stared at his friend. “If you thought I was just going to drop you off back in Kansas City without a second thought, you don’t know me as well as I thought you did.”
“It’s just that, this place…hell, Spike, it’s called The Refuge. How much of a fucking refuge is it gonna be if drug cartel members come looking for us?” Woody asked.
“If something happens, it won’t be the first time trouble has found us here, and it probably won’t be the last,” Brick said firmly. He proceeded to give Woody a brief rundown of Alaska’s recent troubles, then about what happened to Jasna. He continued by saying, “And while the people who come here are looking for tranquility, none of them are naïve. They know bad things happen to good people no matter where they might be. They know that better than the average person, in fact. We’re seeing more and more guests who have been victims of random violence. Or an incident at their workplace where someone went off the deep end.
“While this is a refuge, it’s also a place where almost everyone who comes here is ready and willing to do what’s necessary to keep others safe. We’ve seen it firsthand. Besides, this place is much more defendable than an apartment in…Kansas City, was it?”
Woody nodded.
“Right. We’re in the middle of nowhere, we’ve put up more cameras, and we know this land like the back of our hands. If someone does manage to sneak up on us, they’ll find out we aren’t a bunch of hicks hiding out in the backwoods. But all that is a moot point, because like Spike said, the people who kidnapped you don’t know about this place. You can stay here as long as you want, for free.”
“Oh, hell no, I’m paying,” Woody said.
“No, you aren’t,” Pipe argued. “You’re a member of Spike’s team, and teammates stay for free. As do the people they’re here with. Meaning Isabella, Angelo, and Reese.”
“I can’t…that’s…shit, Spike. Tell them that’s just not right.”
But Spike simply smiled. “Welcome to The Refuge, brother.”
Everyone slapped Woody on the back as they wandered back to what they were doing before the group had arrived. Tiny said he was going to make sure his cabin was ready for Woody, Isabella, and Angelo, and to pack to stay with Pipe. Brick headed over to Alaska, still sitting with the other women. Isabella went over to tell Angelo what was going on, Tonka left to go to the barn, and Pipe went to check on Robert and help bring food into the room. Lastly, Owl and Stone left to round up the guests who were going on a hike in half an hour.
That left Spike and Woody.
“How are you really feeling? That arm has to hurt like hell,” Spike said.
“It’s fine. We need to talk about something else right now,” Woody said, sounding serious.