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“Oh, it’s still running. Is it one of your search teams, sir?”

I shake my head, also noticing the other chopper still has spinning blades. “No, I spoke with them all before I left, none of them could get here for another week, they were held up. That’s why I’m here alone.”

It was annoying that the moment I found them, both my search teams seemed to have technical malfunctions with their equipment, grounding them from getting here before I could.

I scan the beach but don’t see any movement.

“Land beside the other one,” I instruct him, my eyes continually scanning for signs of life. It takes a few minutes, but finally, we set down on the beach as he switches off the engine.

“I’ll wait here in case you need a quick getaway. But let me know if you need me out there with you,” he tells me and I nod before jumping down to the beach, my black leather loafers instantly filling with sand.

I probably should have dressed more casually than dress pants and a dress shirt, but it’s how I always dress and I didn’t even consider anything else.

There’s a large pile of wood burning on the beach, or what’s left of it. It looks like it’s been going for a while and is starting to die down. I scan the line of the jungle for any movement, but it’s eerily quiet.

I pass the other chopper, seeing nobody in it.Why would anyone leave this running?

There’s no name on the side. I can’t even tell what country it belongs to. My stomach starts to tighten with worry.

Who the hell is here? And where the fuck is everyone?

As I take a few more steps forward, movement catches my eye. I suck in a sharp breath, getting my first glimpse of Bower and King. Seeing them after all this time is shocking. Not only that, but West, our pilot, is with them.

I open my mouth to call out to them, but that’s when I realize they’re being led by gun point. Two men, who look like mercenaries, have rifles aimed at their backs as they march them out onto the beach and force them to their knees.

I freeze, not wanting to alert them of my presence, but unsure what to do. I don’t have a gun. I didn’t consider any scenario like this in my rescue plans. The enemies' backs are to me and I decide I have no choice but to try to sneak up on them. Weapon or not, I didn’t come this far to watch my friends get executed right in front of me.

Slowly, I move forward, trying to be as quiet as possible as I approach them. When I’m close enough to make out their faces, Bower’s eyes flick to mine and they widen in shock. He tries to hide his expression, but it’s too late, one of the mercenaries swings around and starts firing. Idive towards the jungle, managing to make it behind a few trees without getting hit.

I take a few deep breaths as I try to decide what to do. I turn around and look out from behind the tree trunk. I can see one man still pointing his gun at my friends on the sand, the other man is walking along the edge of the beach, looking for me in the jungle.

“If you don’t get out here in the next two minutes, I’ll shoot your friends!” he yells, making my blood turn cold.

Fuck, what do I do now?What are they even after?

Watching him scan the jungle, something on the beach captures my attention, and I realize it’s my pilot. He must have gotten out of the chopper and got shot when they were shooting at me. Fuck, he’s dead because of me.

The first gunman joins the other as he yells towards me, “Thirty seconds!”

Deciding I can deal with the grief of the pilot's death later, I take a deep breath, knowing I don’t really have a choice.

I take several steps towards them, and as I get to the edge of the trees, I freeze as something comes swinging out of the jungle, right beside them, crashing into the man who was just yelling.

He goes flying onto his back, and the distraction is enough for West, who grabs the end of the second man’s gun and points it away from them, trying to pull it from his grasp.

I run towards them, my eyes pulled toward the first man. He’s on back with a tiny wild woman on top of him. She’s trying to take the gun from him, but he smacks her in the head and she falls sideways.

“Zee!” Bower yells, as he and King try to get to her.

But before they reach her, the man has her on her feet in front of him, a small pistol suddenly in his grasp, aiming under her chin as he holds her tight against his front.

She struggles in his hold as the others yell at him to let her go. Weston yanks the gun from the other man’s grasp and steps back, aiming it at him. “You shoot, then I shoot.”

I can’t see the woman from this angle where I stand at the edge of the tree line, but I can hear the laughter in the man’s voice who’s holding her. “Nice threat. But I don’t care about his life. Besides, our mission was to get rid of you men. They said nothing about a woman. So I guess after we kill you, we can have a little fun with her. What do you say, wild thing? Wanna know what it’s like to be with a real man?”

His free hand slowly moves up from her waist towards her chest as all three guys scream at him.

“Keep your fucking hands off of her!”