Page 123 of Stains of Desire

Axel kisses my lips. "Yes. I'm going to find her, and you will see your daughter again. I promise."

When it's time to get off the oil tanker and into the fishing boat, I barely worry about how scary the inflatable raft is. I'm flying high with the image of Millie singing with Zoe on Julieta's lap.

We transfer to the fishing boat. When he drops us off in the Bahamas, we get in a taxi and go directly to the airport.

Two flights are leaving for Bermuda. The first one is full, but we get tickets for the one departing after it. We get through security, and Axel stops. "Hey."

I spin into him. "Yeah?"

He holds my face. "I'm really proud of you."

"Why?"

"I thought I lost you in Nicaragua. You've pulled yourself out. You're stronger than you think."

"You pulled me out."

He shakes his head. "No, green eyes. You did it." He kisses me. "Don't ever forget how strong you are." He pecks my forehead and leads me down the terminal.

When we get to our gate, I do a double-take. Julieta is sitting on Ryker's lap, wearing a blonde wig, and they are making out.

Axel clears his throat, and they look up.

I smirk at Julieta, thinking about our conversation behind the tent the first night the guys rescued us.

"Sorry to interrupt," Axel says.

Julieta jumps up and hugs me. "What are you doing here?"

"Long story. Are you on the ten-forty flight?"

"No, the eight."

Axel nods. "Good. We're almost there. When we get to Bermuda, we will have to swap stories before I leave."

"Leave?" she asks.

"We need to keep looking for my daughter, Millie."

"Do you know where she is?"

"Not yet. But once we have a base, we can look into a few things," Axel says confidently.

"Can we do anything to help?" Julieta asks.

I take a deep breath. "I don't know, but if there is, I'll let you know."

She gives me a sympathetic smile. "Okay. Anything I can do to find your daughter and help her get to safety, I will. Promise."

Tears well in my eyes. "Thank you. I'll take any help I can get. She's been gone for so long."

She hugs me. "Let's get to Bermuda, and we'll all figure it out together."

I wipe my eyes. "What have you two been up to?"

"Boarding for Wade International Airport, Bermuda will start in five minutes," a lady informs us over the loudspeaker.

"We came over from Honduras with a deep-sea fisherman and swam with piggies," Ryker says.