Page 14 of Rescuing Micah (Prey Security: Cyber Team #3)

There was no way he wouldn't have taken every precaution necessary to make sure she stayed safe so they couldn’t have been caught.

Could they?

What else could explain the feeling that he’d been drugged?

Only, how would anyone have gotten close enough to drug him?

If anyone got that close to him, then they were too close to Teresa. And if anyone who was a threat to her got that close to her, he would have killed them, or at the very least, incapacitated them, since he did know they needed intel.

But it did feel as though he’d been drugged, even though he knew he wouldn't have let anyone inject him with anything.

A hazy memory forced its way through the cotton wool inside his skull.

A mask.

A mist.

Why are you pretending to care now, one way or the other if I'm taking care of myself, when you didn't care enough back then to stay? If you had even called or checked in just once I …

Teresa’s words echoed through his mind. That’s what she’d been saying right as he caught sight of movement out of the corner of his eye. She’d seen it too because she’d trailed off and then screamed his name.

The terror in her voice as she did so sent a rush of burning panic through his veins, and just like that, everything snapped back into focus.

They had been abducted. Whatever the man in the mask had used had knocked him out before he could get his weapon free and fire it. He’d been unconscious, hadn't protected Teresa when she needed him, and now …

As Micah opened eyes that still felt a little too heavy, he saw that he was lying in what looked like a hospital room.

He might have believed it really was a hospital room and the man with the mask and the mist were nothing more than an injury-induced hallucination if it weren't for the leather straps binding his wrists and ankles to the bed.

The reason he couldn’t move his body wasn't just because he’d been drugged, it was also because he was tied up.

Fury scorched through him just like the panic had, pushing more of the drug out of his system.

He’d failed.

Failed Teresa in the worst possible way.

Because if he’d been taken, there wasn't a doubt in his mind that she had been too.

After all, she was the one the trafficking ring wanted.

Although, why they thought going after another Prey employee was a good idea he couldn’t figure out.

That was only going to make Eagle Oswald and the entire Prey family angrier and more determined than ever to destroy the trafficking ring and make sure everybody involved was punished to the fullest extent of the law.

Whoever was left alive anyway.

If Micah had his way, that would be none of them. Sitting in a prison cell for the rest of their lives was too good for the people who had decided to go after his Teresa.

It didn't matter what had happened in the past, what she’d done, how he’d reacted, because deep down inside him, Micah had known from the time he was sixteen years old and first laid eyes on the pretty girl with the thick mane of dark hair and big chocolate brown eyes, that she was his.

His, and he’d failed her.

Let her get taken by people who weren't just going to kill her, but do it in a torturously slow manner while they took her body apart piece by piece. It would be a horrific death, one that he would suffer as well, but he would rather suffer it a million times over than let it happen to the girl he had never stopped loving, no matter how hard he’d tried to convince himself he had.

A soft moan close by had his head lifting as far as it could with his body restrained, and he saw her. There was another bed in the room, a hospital bed like the one he’d been strapped to, and it was a mere two feet away.

So close yet so far.

In it lay his girl, and she must be waking up as well.

Another moan, this time a little stronger, there was an edge to it as well, like she knew something was wrong.

Wanting her to know that she wasn't alone, Micah called out her name. “Teresa, hey, pretty girl,” he crooned. She’d always blushed the most adorable shade of pink when they were teens, and he used to call her pretty, which of course made him want to do it all the time.

Only she wasn't just pretty. Teresa was beautiful, inside and out. Whatever had happened to make her decide to cheat on him, he didn't even care anymore, not when they were faced with this kind of horrific death.

If he found a way to get them both out of this alive, he was going to forgive her, truly and really forgive, and move on. With her if she’d have him.

“Can you hear me, Teresa? I’m right here, you're not alone.”

“Mmm … Micah …?” she mumbled.

“It’s me and I'm right beside you, pretty girl,” he assured her.

She moaned again, only this time it turned into a groan. “I don’t feel so good.”

“I'm sorry, honey, I'm so sorry.” This was all his fault. Everything from them being kidnapped to Teresa feeling sick because of the drugs they’d been given. He’d wanted to be her bodyguard because he hadn't been able to resist the pull he felt toward her, but what he should have done was insist that she remained locked up behind Prey’s doors.

She might have been angry with him for it, but at least she’d be safe right now.

Not bound to a bed feeling ill.

“The man … in the mask … he … drugged us.” She said the words like she couldn’t quite believe them, and he was right there with her.

It was hard to accept they'd been on the cusp of having the conversation he’d intended to have once the ring was dismantled, and then the next moment they were drugged and waking up there.

He had no idea where they were, or how long it had been since they’d been taken. However, he did know that Prey would be looking for them. The cocky kidnappers had taken them right in the middle of the road, so he had no doubt Prey would be scouring CCTV footage to learn where they’d been taken.

“He did,” Micah agreed.

“And they … took us?”

“They did.” It killed him to say the words, but not saying them wouldn't make them any less true.

“We’re … we’re trapped.” Beside him, Teresa began to pull on the straps binding her to the bed.

“For now.”

Her head lifted, tilted in his direction, and her terrified eyes found his. “For now?”

“I will do everything within my power to get you out of here.” Including sacrificing himself if it bought her enough time to escape. He didn't know how he’d get her out, he didn't have enough intel to formulate a plan, but he would. He’d find a way to save her. He had to.

“I want to believe you, but …” Teresa trailed off, not finishing her sentence, but then she didn't need to. Her words from earlier once again echoed in his mind.

You didn't care enough back then to stay.

Whatever had happened in the past, it seemed they had different recollections of it, but it was clear that she no longer trusted him.

He’d let her down by ghosting her the way he had, and while he didn't quite see it the same way, he wanted her trust back.

He wanted to prove that this time he could be what she needed.

The problem was, he had no idea how to do any of that.