Page 9 of Hayes (Voodoo Guardians #37)

The entire time Victoria was making her way toward Hayes’ location, she never once had the thought that she should have found someone, anyone to help her.

Not once. If she had taken the time to find someone, explain it all, it might have been too late.

Then her genius kicked in. They would have used their aircraft, which were twice as fast and loaded with deadly artillery.

“Damn,” she muttered to herself.

She’d stolen the SUV, parked it at the airport, boarded a flight for London, then another for Dubai, and from there a small plane into Kuwait.

Having the ability to speak multiple languages with little effort, she easily communicated her needs to the local taxi drivers, who believed she was a local woman.

When she arrived in the small village, she purchased as much water as she could carry and rented two horses. From her tablet, she could see that Hayes was only a few miles away. She never once thought those few miles would feel endless.

When she could see the mountain range his comms device was pinging from, she moved carefully up the trail, the second horse following closely. Fortunately, the horses were used to the terrain. Victoria was not.

“Please. Please, please, just get me to Hayes,” she whispered to the horse. When the signal rapidly pinged on her device, she realized she was right on top of him. But where?

“Hayes?” she whispered. Getting off the horse, she called for him again. “Hayes?”

Staring at the device, Victoria thought perhaps it had been damaged in some way. Then she heard soft groans and moans.

“Hayes?” she called louder.

Seeing the dark crevice in the rock, she moved slowly toward it, then stopped, realizing she had no weapon other than the knife that Trak had given her. She’d turned her own comms device off, worried that somehow the enemies of Hayes could track it.

“Hayes, are you in there?” she said again.

“Dreaming,” she heard.

“Hayes!” she called, running into the darkness. She immediately hit his legs, tripping and falling forward. “Ouch. Hayes? Hayes, is that you?”

“Vic…” Victoria shone her flashlight on the form lying on the floor of the cave and crawled toward him.

“God. Oh, God,” she muttered. “Hayes, I’m here. Hayes. Here, take some water.” She held the water to his lips, and he drank and drank, coughing because he was drinking too quickly.

“Victoria,” he whispered.

“Hayes, I came for you. It’s alright now. I got your message, and I came for you. You’re going to be alright.”

“Dreaming,” he said, shaking his head.

“No, you’re not dreaming. I would never leave you alone. Never,” she cried, touching his face. She looked at his hand and realized his fingers were turning a bluish purple. “Damn. Hayes, you’re hurt bad.”

“Shoulder. Shoulder is out of place,” he mumbled. “Th-think I broke my wrist. Brave. You’re so fucking brave. You came, you came.” He repeated it over and over, tears in his eyes.

“I can fix the shoulder,” she said.

Remembering everything she’d ever read in medical books, she immediately lined up his underarm to her body. She’d have to pull with all her strength, but she should be able to pop the shoulder back in place.

“Count to three,” she said to him. As he began to count, she pulled, hearing the loud crack of the shoulder. Hayes bellowed in pain, and Victoria started to cry.

“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry,” she said, touching his face again.

“Okay. It’s okay,” he said, shaking his head. “It’s in place. God, you’re so fucking brave, Vic. I was wrong. I was wrong to push you.”

“Here. Take some more water,” she said, holding up another bottle of water. He drank the water more slowly this time, staring at Victoria as she looked at his wrist.

“Hayes, we need help.”

“You didn’t come with anyone?” he asked. “There’s no one with you?”

“N-no. I-I got your message. I didn’t stop. I-I don’t know why I did it. I should have. I know that now, but I just left.”

He laughed, pulling her toward him and moaning in agony from the movement. He covered her mouth with his own, kissing her over and over again.

“You did it, babe. You went out on your own. But you damn sure picked a shitty time to get brave on me.” She just smirked at him, shrugging.

“Maybe this was what I needed,” she said. “Let me try to call for help.” She stood and started to walk toward the opening of the cave.

“Oh, shit. What am I going to say?”

“There’s no way that’s her location,” said Mo. “She wouldn’t leave the fucking property, let alone the country. Something is wrong. Someone has taken her!”

“Shit, she was worried for good cause,” said Ham, staring at the others in the room.

They’d been scrambling for seven hours, ever since realizing she was no longer on the property.

At first, they thought she just needed time alone, so they didn’t pay much attention to it.

But when she couldn’t be found anywhere, they started tracking her comms and tracking devices, and initially, those weren’t showing up.

When it finally began pinging, they couldn’t believe her location.

“Hey, guys!” yelled AJ. “I have her!”

“Where? Where is she?” asked Mo.

“No, I have her on the line. You’re not going to fucking believe this.” He flipped the switch and spoke to Victoria. “Go ahead, Victoria. We’re all here.”

“Oh. Okay. Um, hi. I don’t have time to explain everything.

Hayes and his team were attacked. They’re all dead, but he’s alive.

We’re in a cave on a mountainside. Hayes says to tell you it’s near the old Camp 93 base location.

” There was dead silence in the room, wondering if it was some sort of hoax.

“Hello? Dad? Is anyone there?” she called.

“We’re here, Victoria,” said Eric. “Honey, how the fuck did you get there?”

“Well, a few flights, a taxi, a horse. What does it matter? I need help. He’s hurt bad, and I can’t carry him. I’ve fixed the dislocated shoulder, but his wrist is broken, and I don’t think his fingers are getting blood flow, they’re all purple, some turning darker.”

“Gather the gear and get the fucking Osprey ready,” said Luke. “Get medical here to see if they can help her with his wrist. Victoria? I’m so damn proud of you, honey, but I fucking wish you would have found someone to help.”

“Yeah. I’m thinking that would have been better,” she giggled nervously. Then she started to softly cry. “But I did it. I’m off the property. I’m okay, but we won’t be for long. They’re looking for him.”

“How do you know that?” asked Luke.

“Because I can see them off in the distance. There’s nothing else here. I just know they’re looking for him.”

“Don’t fucking move,” said Cam. “Don’t leave that damn cave. Does he still have his weapon?”

“Yes. He does, and I have the knife Trak gave me and a rifle that belonged to one of his teammates. It must have slid down the mountain. I have enough water for a day or so and some energy bars.”

“Good girl,” smiled Cam. “You’re doing great. The team is on the way, Victoria. Stay right there.” She laughed nervously, holding back the tears.

“I’ve got nowhere to be.”