“No!” Thomas yelled. “No!”
Phillip ignored the boy and smiled. His gaze traveled over her possessively. Her palms were clammy and she was going to spew. She couldn’t believe she’d just agreed to subject herself to a life of purgatory, but for Thomas she would force her legs to walk across this sand and somehow survive the horror now in store for her.
“But you will not cut Thomas’s tongue out,” she continued in as level a voice as she could manage. “He is a staunch Catholic and will keep his word. He will swear to us by heaven above that he will not breathe one word of what happened to me or what he overheard, and you can trust that he will not.”
Thomas stared at her as if she were insane. The look on the men’s faces echoed it. Not even Thomas believed his promise to a devil like General Phillip was going to stick. As brave as this kid was, he might even tell the general to cut his tongue out. He could still write what had happened, but she didn’t want to point that out.
Despair coursed through her. She was going to become this despicable man’s property and Thomas would lose his tongue. It was all too gruesome to imagine. She’d been in many a bad or awkward spot, but nothing as desperate as this.
She could swear she heard low voices on the water and almost turned to look. Listening harder, despair filled her. There was nothing. No help. If anyone was out there, they were probably too far away to help or were smart enough to save themselves. Who could possibly save her or Thomas from the very devil himself.
Nothing but the soft waves offered support. General Phillip looked her over as if he already owned her, a disgusting smile on his lips. “I’m sorry, love, but you are in no position to make demands.”
Melene knew he was right. She prayed desperately as she tried to think of some solution or answer. Slow, horrifying seconds ticked by. General Phillip’s creepy smile grew, and her stomach tried to claw its way out of her throat. Her body shook. She tried not to picture what was coming, but the icy fear trailing across her skin felt like his foul hands were already binding her to him.
A soft splash sounded nearby, and she turned to look.
Melene was certain she was hallucinating. A shape rose out of the water only a few feet behind her. No one said anything as they all stared in shock. It was a man. A man dressed in a black scuba diving suit complete with a tank on his back, a face mask, a diving belt with weights, a knife, and a gun on it, and a ventilator in his mouth.
He pulled the ventilator out and grinned at her, water sparkling off his handsome face and hair. “Hi, Melene.”
Melene couldn’t for the life of her fathom how Aiden Delta, her high school swimming buddy and now an accomplished Navy SEAL, had just materialized out of the ocean like Aquaman at the exact moment she needed a knight in shining … scuba gear.
“Aiden?” she whispered.
His blue eyes twinkled from behind the mask. “In a bit of trouble, are we?”
Her own eyes widened. She’d temporarily forgotten about the men ready to kidnap her and cut out Thomas’s tongue. She whirled around and General Phillip and his buddy were now edging across the sand toward them.
“I’d suggest you stop and put down the guns,” Aiden said to them, lifting his goggles up onto his forehead so she could see his handsome face better. How in the world had he come up out of the water like he was Aquaman?
General Phillip chuckled. “You’ve lost the plot. Who is going to stop me … you? A barmy git and all by yourself?”
Aiden gestured casually behind him. “Mymates,” he said, mimicking Phillip’s accent. “You don’t want to mess with any of us, you mangy twit.”
Melene was terrified that Aiden had lost his mind and just signed his own death sentence trying to bluff his way into rescuing her and throwing British slang in to tick General Phillip off even more. Aiden had always been an overconfident tease and she wouldn’t put it past him to bluff his way through a situation like this.
Suddenly dark shapes started rising out of the ocean, four—no, five—men, and they all had guns in their hands. A sleek boat cruised around the side of the cliff. Two men manned it. One was in the driver’s seat, and the other one stood at the bow lofting a huge automatic-looking gun right at the general.
“Is it your hour to die, General Phillip?” Aiden asked. “Or would you like to head back up that trail and continue your evil deeds for a few more days?”
General Phillip glowered at them. “You Americans have no rights and no presence that is accepted here. You try anything and it will be the spark that annihilates millions of Americans … in an instant.”
He paused on his threat and Melene’s horror of what might be coming grew. There’d been rumors King Frederick had amassed nuclear weapons, but she’d prayed they were just rumors. Aiden would have to swim away from her if him rescuing her or shooting General Phillip could cause the end of America.
Aiden and his men didn’t so much as blink.
General Phillip’s mouth tightened. “I have eyes and ears everywhere on this earth. I will hunt all of you down, slit your barmy throats, and take the woman as my prize.”
“That was a lovely and inspiring speech. You’re finished. Correct?” Aiden’s gaze turned steely. “Right now, I’d suggest you set your guns down and slither back up the mountain like the snakes you are. I’d happily cause an international incident to rid the world of a slime-ball like you.”
The man didn’t move, and Melene had the awful feeling that Aiden couldn’t actually kill or apprehend him without starting World War III and unleashing nuclear weapons on America.
If she and Thomas edged back to Aiden in the water, could he at least take them away? Fear clawed at her even with her rescuer this close, looking so brave and tough, but somehow unable to rescue her.
A gun fired and the sand next to General Phillip exploded, showering crystals of sand on him and his man.
Melene jumped and cried out, Thomas cheered, and the German man cursed. None of the men in the water made so much as a squeak. Melene had no idea who had fired. She prayed desperately the general would listen to Aiden and leave. Her heart beat so high and fast she couldn’t swallow and hoped she wouldn’t be called upon to talk.