Zoey shivered, and only partly because the air was chilly. She wasn’t so sure about meeting his team. She knew Mark loved them like brothers, but she couldn’t imagine being around so much testosterone all in one place. She had enough trouble dealing with Mark by himself. “Tell me about the women?”
Zoey listened intently as Mark shared the stories about how each of his friends had met their women. They all sounded awesome, and a pang of jealousy went through Zoey.
“Caite actually saved your friends’ lives when they were in Bahrain?” she asked. “Or are you exaggerating for the sake of the story?”
“I’m serious,” Mark told her. “Rocco said they’d made their peace with it, and were trying to figure out how to take out the most smugglers before they were shot, when Caite moved the table off the hatch that was keeping it shut tight. If she hadn’t shown up when she did, the smugglers could’ve just stood above the cellar they were trapped in and shot Rocco, Gumby, and Ace one by one.”
Zoey shivered. She didn’t like to think about how that could’ve been Mark. Hell, he hadn’t told her any other stories from his missions, but she had a feeling that it probably had been Mark at one point. Thank God he was still around today.
“I’m so glad Sidney rescued Hannah,” she said.
“Yeah, me too. That pit bull had been so abused, but you’d never know it as she’s the most loving creature I’ve ever met…except if someone threatens her humans.”
“And I can’t believe Piper and Ace were allowed to adopt those girls so fast! That’s totally not normal, right?”
“Right. But that’s Tex. He’s amazing. I swear to God he can find a needle in a haystack without breaking a sweat.”
Zoey knew she sounded a bit more unsure than she wanted when she said, “I never thought I’d compare myself to a needle, but I hope to God you’re right and he can find us in this haystack of a forest.”
Mark stopped then and faced her. Zoey almost wished he’d just keep walking. Then she wouldn’t have to try to look braver than she felt. Their situation was sinking in more with every hour spent in these woods. This wasn’t some tough camping trip. Someone had actually tried to make sure they’d disappear forever. Probably hoping they’d get eaten by a bear or something.
“He’s going to find us,” Mark said without one shred of doubt.
“You can’t know that.”
“I do. And you want to know why?”
“Why?”
“Because he’s the best at what he does. Because he’s a former SEAL. Because he knows how pissed off I’d be that someone dared try to kill me off for something as stupid as money.”
“You really think that’s why?” Zoey asked.
Mark nodded. “There’s really no other explanation. The question is, who? Kenneth? He was the one who’d arranged the charter for us. Sean? Pop’s business partner? He could be pissed if Pop left me part of the business, especially when I haven’t been involved in it at all.”
“Maybe it was Ashley,” Zoey said, getting into the spirit of the discussion.
“Who?”
“Ashley Gilstrap. She was a nurse your brother hired to keep an eye on your dad. She came to see him on the days I didn’t.”
“I didn’t know about her. Is she older? Younger? Married?”
“I’d say probably around our age. Single. I think your brother and her had a thing for a while, but I’m not positive.”
“Speaking of which…we can’t take Malcom off the list either.”
“Do you really think your own brother would try to get rid of you?” Zoey asked.
Mark shrugged. “No. At least, I’d like to think not, but at this point, we have to suspect everyone.”
“Sean’s wife is a bitch,” Zoey volunteered. “Your dad told me that Vivian Kassamali hated the business and was always telling Sean to sell out his half.”
Mark looked down at her for a long moment.
“What?” Zoey asked with a tilt of her head.
“You’re amazing,” Mark told her quietly.
Zoey had no idea what he was talking about. She frowned up at him.
“I know you don’t think so, but just being able to talk things through with you helps. This is what my team does. We brainstorm and throw out every possible outcome of every action. It helps us put a plan in place and make sure we come home in one piece.”
“Inside, I’m freaking out. I hate this, Mark. No one has tried to kill me before and it doesn’t make any sense,” Zoey said honestly.
“And that makes the way you’re handling things even more remarkable. To get back to our original subject, Tex and my team will find us…if we don’t rescue ourselves first. I half expect them to show up, laughing and joking about how long it took me to find them.”
“I wouldn’t be opposed to them showing up, but let’s say they swoop in with a helicopter so we don’t have to walk another hundred miles, yeah?”
Mark threw his head back and laughed, and Zoey was fascinated by the way his throat moved. Then he recovered and stepped toward her. He engulfed her in a huge bear hug, and it felt wonderful.
She’d loved waking up in his arms. The ground was cold, the fire almost out, and she couldn’t really feel her feet, but sometime in the night she’d turned so she was facing him, and he’d turned on his back. Her nose had been buried in his neck and his arm was around her waist, holding her tight. She could feel his body heat even through both their layers. For just a moment, she’d closed her eyes and tried to pretend they were sleeping together back in her bed in Juneau. That he’d come to visit his dad and promptly fell head over heels for her. He’d made love to her all night, and they’d both fallen asleep from exhaustion.
It was stupid, but she couldn’t stop her wayward imagination.
“A helicopter it is, Zo,” Mark said, then he kissed her temple and stood back. “You good to keep going for a while longer?”
Zoey nodded. She was tired, but she’d be damned if she let Iron Man in front of her know.
But it seemed he knew anyway. “Just a while. We’ll stop soon and I’ll find us a snack. Okay?”
“Okay,” she agreed.
He looked at her for a long moment, and Zoey would give anything at that second to be able to read minds and know what he was thinking. But eventually he simply nodded his head once, then turned and they were on their way again.
Finding their way through the forest wasn’t a walk in the park. There weren’t any trails to follow so they had to bushwhack their way as they went. Mark was constantly on alert for the sounds of bears or other animals, and more than once, he’d held up his hand for her to stop then stood listening for a long few minutes. Every time it happened, Zoey couldn’t hear anything but her own heart, which sounded way too loud and beat way too fast. But each time, after a moment, they’d continued their trek. So far they hadn’t come across any massive bears or moose, but Zoey knew that was just luck.
True to his word, after about an hour, Mark found a large rock for her to sit on and rest while he wandered off to find them something to eat.