“We will. I swear to God, I’m going to get you home safe and sound.”
“Of course, getting home doesn’t mean that whoever orchestrated this little camping trip won’t try to get rid of us again,” she murmured.
Bubba tensed.
Fuck. He hadn’t even thought about that. Of course they would. Because someone didn’t go to the lengths they had to make both him and Zoey disappear if they weren’t serious about it. He had no idea if both of them were the primary targets, but at the moment, it didn’t matter.
“I’m going to find out who did this and make sure you’re safe to live your life the way you want to,” Bubba vowed.
But Zoey hadn’t heard him. She was breathing deeply, indicating that she’d dropped off to sleep.
Tightening his hold, pulling her into him until he didn’t know where she ended and he began, Bubba thought about his friends.
Rocco, you better have called in the troops when I didn’t call you like I said I would.
“Something’s wrong,” Rocco muttered under his breath. He’d been half-joking when he’d told Bubba to call after he’d landed. But when the time came and went, and then several hours passed, Rocco got more and more uneasy.
His uneasiness increased when he’d called Bubba’s phone and it had immediately gone to voice mail. He’d checked the news reports and found no mention of a plane crash in the Anchorage area. He’d even pulled some strings and tried to find out the details of the chartered flight he’d been on, with no luck.
No one in the Anchorage airport could, or would, tell him anything about a flight that was supposed to have left around the time he’d last heard from Bubba.
His “oh shit” meter had been pinged, and enough was enough.
Rocco picked up the phone and dialed the number of the one person he knew would be able to help him immediately. Tex.
He hoped like hell he was overreacting. That Bubba had landed safe and sound in Juneau and was simply too busy dealing with his dad’s estate to remember to call.
Even as he had the thought, Rocco dismissed it. Bubba was a professional. He’d no sooner “forget” to call Rocco than he’d head out on a mission without ammunition for his weapons.
No, something had happened. Something bad. And Rocco wouldn’t rest until he’d found out what that something was and brought his friend home.
Hoping like hell he wouldn’t bring Bubba home in a pine box, he held his breath as he waited for Tex to pick up the phone.
Chapter Six
“Tell me more about your team,” Zoey asked the next day as they trudged south.
The morning had gone as well as it could. Mark had caught a small rabbit and Zoey had felt terrible for the little thing. She wasn’t thrilled about watching Mark skin and gut it, but had refused to turn away. If she was going to be his partner out here, she had to learn how to do more. To pull her weight.
She hadn’t thought she was going to like rabbit. Especially when she thought about how cute and furry the little thing had been. But the smell of the meat cooking had made her mouth water, and by the time it was done, she no longer felt any reluctance to try it.
Her stomach had been growling nonstop the entire time Mark had cooked. She wasn’t used to not eating anything but berries and a piece of candy for dinner, and while she’d been a little reticent to take the first bite, after that, she was hooked.
Manners that she’d learned from a young age went out the window after one bite of food. It tasted so good. A little bland and tough, but so damn delicious. They’d both eaten all the meat they could get off the bones then set off feeling stronger and more determined to find some sign of people and civilization.
Three hours later, her enthusiasm for the adventure had dimmed. Even though her boots and socks kept the moisture from getting in, her feet were still cold. Mark marched on as if he could go another hundred miles, and that annoyed her a little…because she knew he actually could. She’d fall over in an exhausted heap way before that.
To keep her mind off her aches and pains, and from remembering how she’d woken up in Mark’s arms that morning—a dream come true—she practically begged Mark to talk. She was curious about the men he referred to as if they were his brothers. She’d never had that kind of bond with anyone, friends or family, and was curious as hell about them.
“What do you want to know?” he asked.
“Everything,” she told him.
He chuckled, and the sound wrapped its way around her heart and made her feel a little better about the entire situation she’d found herself in. She didn’t remember Mark being especially jovial, but since they’d been stranded, she’d heard him laugh often.
“Well, we’re a team of six. We’ve been together since we graduated from SEAL training. Rocco’s the oldest at thirty-five, and our unofficial leader. I’m actually the youngest of our crew at thirty-one.”
“Wow, really?”
“Really. And we’ve been on the team a long time, so we practically know what each other is thinking. Most of the time we act before anyone gives us a command.”
“That’s kind of cool,” Zoey told him.
“Yeah. I love those guys. Would do anything for them, just as they’d do for me.”
“Is that how you know they’ll be looking for you?”
“It is. And I know down to the marrow of my bones that even if we somehow manage to die out here, they still won’t stop until they not only find our bodies, but figure out who got us into this situation and how we died.”
“Um…that’s a little morbid.”
Mark chuckled again. “Yeah, I guess it is. But my point is that they’re the best friends ever, and I don’t know where I’d be without them.”
“Must be nice,” Zoey said without thinking.
“You don’t have friends like that?” Mark asked.
Kicking herself for bringing it up, Zoey tried to blow off his question. “No, I mean…it’s nice you have people you can count on like that.”
“And you don’t?” he pressed.
Shit. He wasn’t going to let it drop. “Honestly? No. You know how it is, if you aren’t born and raised in Juneau then you’re an outsider. I have some people I get together with now and then, but nothing like what you’re talking about.”
“You’d love Caite, Sidney, and Piper,” Mark said.
She was glad he didn’t further question her lack of close friends. It was something she hated, and no matter how hard she tried to cultivate friendships, they never seemed to get any deeper than the occasional drink or meal out. “Who?”
“Rocco, Gumby, and Ace’s women.”
Zoey shook her head. “I swear you guys have the weirdest nicknames. There’s no way I could ever call you Bubba. You are so far from a Bubba it’s not even funny. And I’m sure your friends are probably the same way. Gumby? Seriously? Is he big and green?”
Mark laughed. “No. Phantom’s the tall one at six-five.”
“He’s the one you said is intense, right?” Zoey asked.
“Yeah. He had a horrible childhood, although he doesn’t ever talk about it with us. Just enough to know the topic is off limits and if he never sees his aunt or mother again, it’ll be too soon for him.”