lost a lot of friends there, too. This group was either hiding in a remote area for years, or they were escapees who weren’t smart enough to stay gone. Marshall has been there fairly recently, and he swore there wasn’t even a hint of violence there. Hell, people are starting to fight over land in that country to build their big resorts. But Lania is a large island country, and some areas are pretty desolate. I don’t doubt that this group could have escaped detection for years.”
“What’s the crown prince’s stance on all of this?” Jax questioned.
“According to Marshall, he’s put out every force he has to search for the rebels and their hostages.”
Jax’s mouth shaped into a halfhearted smile. “So Marshall knows where they are, but the prince doesn’t?”
“Does that surprise you?” I asked, amused.
Jax shook his head. “Nope. Sometimes I think Marshall likes it that way. He has more faith in Last Hope than he does in some foreign governments.”
At the moment, I was glad Marshall had kept the information to himself. “So do I,” I informed my brother. “This one is personal for me, and I’d rather not have someone else fuck it up.”
“We’ll get her out of there, Hudson,” Jax said solemnly in a voice that sounded like a vow. “Even if she’s not alive, we’re bringing her out.”
I didn’t even want to think about the life in Taylor’s beautiful green eyes being completely snuffed out. “She’s alive. Until I know for certain that I’m wrong, she’s alive. Let’s try to get some shuteye so we’re as alert as we can be. My plane, my bed.”
I rose to head to the only bedroom on my aircraft.
“I have no problem crashing here. It’s comfortable,” Jax said. “Was there anything in those reports on Taylor that I should know about?”
My gut twisted.
The files hadn’t just been employee files. Marshall had included as much history as he could get on short notice.
Taylor Delaney hadn’t really had an easy life, and it had felt almost intrusive to read the information about her early years because it didn’t make a damn bit of difference in regard to her rescue.
The report had felt personal to me, which was something I’d never experienced before, and for some damn reason, I didn’t feel like sharing everything I’d read about a hostage with anyone. Even Jax.
“Nothing significant,” I said shortly. “Sounds like she busted her ass to get through Stanford, and I’m not about to let her miss the good parts now that she’s finally done with the hard stuff.”
“I’m with you on that,” Jax said with a huge yawn. “Night.”
“Get some rest,” I advised as I made my way to the bedroom.
I hit the bed immediately, but didn’t sleep as well as I would have liked.
My dreams were haunted by that picture of Taylor during her happier times, and a pair of big green eyes and a mischievous smile that seemed to be begging me not to let her die in Lania.
As I tossed and turned, I just hoped to hell she could hold on just a little bit longer…
Taylor
The only good thing about being half dead was knowing I looked so bad that the rebel leader wasn’t going to come and get me anymore.
He hadn’t since the day I’d tried to make my escape, and had been beaten so badly that nobody would want to see my face or my body right now.
That had been what…a day ago? Two days ago? Shit! I’d totally lost track of the time, but I knew for certain I hadn’t had a drop of water since I’d tried to execute my escape plan.
I’d had a momentary flash of fear when I’d regained consciousness a few moments ago, and it had been completely dark.
It had taken me a minute to remember that nobody was coming to get me anymore.
“What the hell day is it?” I mumbled, the words coming out in a scratchy whisper because my mouth was so dry.
It had been morning when I’d passed out last time.
Was it the same day? The next day? Or a week later?
I had no idea.
I was conscious at the moment, but I knew damn well that death was stalking me.
My heart was racing, and even though I was awake, I was so damn…confused.
Severely dehydrated, I’d been drifting in and out of consciousness, disoriented when I was awake, and too weak to even move a muscle anymore.
I wasn’t going to bullshit myself about how close I was to death.