Kincade's Rose (Megalodon Team) (11 page)

He kept them moving for another two hours. 
It was early evening when they stopped.  Tyson looked around and nodded. 
“We’ll camp here.  Get something to eat and some sleep.”

Jayde remained silent.  As Tyson looked at
her he noticed the dried blood on her face; it was from her lip when she bit
it.  He walked up to her and took her chin in his hand, tightening his grip
when she tried to pull away. His other hand was extremely gentle as it cleaned
off the dried blood.  Her dark eyes were full of betrayal and pain, but she
still didn’t say a word.

Tyson met and held her gaze.  The second he
relaxed his grip on her she moved away from him.  Her body was still pale and
shaky; he didn’t like that.  He opened the bag and took out an MRE, handing it
to her.

She took the silver pack in silence and ate
slowly.  Her back slumped with exhaustion.  He realized how much it took out of
her to get through that and couldn’t be more proud of her.  At that moment, he
would have sold his soul just to hear her say anything to him—even hurtful
words.

She didn’t, however, finishing her food in
silence. She stood to put the wrapper back in the bag before reclaiming her
seat far away from him.  She accepted the blanket he handed her with quiet
dignity, but her eyes were just empty now, not even supporting her earlier
anger anymore.

Tyson knew he’d have to ask her a direct
question to get her talking.  Swallowing his pride, he walked over and settled
himself next to her rigid body braced against a tree.

“I’m so sorry I made you go through that,”
he tried.  She only became more rigid.  “Jayde, please talk to me.”

“I have nothing to say to you,” she
mumbled.  She actually turned away from him.

The knife twisted in deep.  Tyson
swallowed.  “I have something to say to you.”  He lifted her up and placed her
against his chest before wrapping his blanket around her as well, cocooning
them together.  “Just listen.”

He sighed.  “I know you’re pissed I made
you go through that, but it was the fastest way to get more distance between us
and the men following.  I did it because it was the best decision I could make
at the time.  I am so sorry you are scared of spiders.” He felt her shiver at
that one word. “I wish I’d never brought you into this.  But for what it’s
worth, I am so damn proud of you.  So proud.”  Tyson kissed the top of her head
and wrapped his arms tighter around him.

Jayde shook her head.  “I’m not mad at you;
I was, but I’m not now.  I’m mad at myself more than anything, embarrassed you
saw me like that, but I understand you were just doing what you do best. 
Weakness is not something allowed in my family, and that has been drilled into
me from the very beginning,” she admitted in a shamed voice.

“My whole family knows just how scared I am
of spiders.  They thought it was amusing, so they always tried to ‘help me’
overcome my fear by putting them in my path—real or fake, it didn’t matter.” 
She shuddered and took a deep breath.  “The theme in my room at my parents’
house was spiders; they wouldn’t let me have anything else.  If I wanted a pet,
all they were willing to give into was an arachnid.” Her body shook with
unsavory memories.

“The fact that you had to see my weakness
is beyond reproach.  I apologize and hope you can forgive my less than adult
attitude.  I don’t know how you could be proud of me; because of my childish
behavior, we could have been in even more danger,” Jayde said scornfully.

Tyson couldn’t believe what he was
hearing.  Knowing her family put her fear in her face every chance they could
pissed him off to no end.  She was special; she deserved to be pampered and
loved.

“Oh, my little rose,” he whispered in her
ear.  “Don’t ever apologize for being afraid.  You were scared, but you still
went; that is so admirable.  And I
am
proud of you.”

“But you saw me throwing up.  I’m so
embarrassed!”

“Little rose,” he said as his hands began
to rub across her stomach.  “Don’t be embarrassed.  You humble me.”  He felt
her body begin to relax, and the next words out of his mouth were so natural
for him to say. “I love you, Jayde.”

“I love you, too, Tyson,” Jayde said with
her last bit of strength as she leaned into him and nodded off. Clearly the
emotional toil was too much for her to ignore any longer.

Those five words made Tyson feel like he
was an Olympian god.  “I can never let you go, you know that, don’t you, my
little rose?  Never.”  He loved her more than he had ever believed possible for
a man to love a woman.  He didn’t expect or receive an answer because she was
already asleep, finally safe in her dreams.

Tyson allowed them to doze for a few hours
before he woke up Jayde.

“We need to get moving,” he said quietly
against her forehead.

“Okay.” She immediately rose from his lap
and began folding the blankets.  She didn’t make one mention about what they’d
said to one another before she fell asleep.  That worried Tyson.  What if she
hadn’t meant to say that and it had just been a reaction for her since he’d
said it first?  Why was he even worrying about this now?  He had to find a way
to get her back to safety, and
then
he could concentrate on proving his
love.

She went into the bushes to take care of
her personal needs. When she reappeared, he handed her a piece of fruit. 
“Ready?”

“I guess so.  Am I allowed to ask why we
are traveling at night?”  She bit into the tender flesh of the guava.

“Little rose, you are allowed to ask me
anything; don’t ever think you can’t ask me a question,” he told her.

“Okay, now will you answer it for me?”
Jayde finished the rest of her fruit.

“Of course.  We need to get through this
meadow that is coming up.  Night is the best time to do that, especially since
the moon hasn’t risen yet, so we will still be under some cloak of darkness.”
Tyson couldn’t help but grin at the woman he married; she never failed to make
him smile.

“I see.”

“Any more questions?”  He shouldered the
pack.

“No.  Ready to follow and stick to your
six,” she snapped sharply.

He smiled in the dark.  “Good.  Let’s go.”

“What is your rank?” she asked as they
started.

“I’m a lieutenant.  Why do you ask?”

“Just wanted to know a bit more about you,
I guess.  I mean, you know about my family, my ex, and my huge fear.  I don’t
really know anything about you,” Jayde admitted.

She told the truth; he hadn’t spoken much
about his life since their dinner.  “Okay, my little rose.  Ask your
questions,” Tyson encouraged.

“All right.  Why do you call me, ‘little
rose’?”

“’Cause I want to.”  He hesitated and chose
another direction.  “Next question.”  They’d zigzag through the meadow; it
should delay those following them a bit more.

“How long have you been a SEAL?” Jayde
asked.

“Going on ten years now.  I transferred
from Texas to go to OCS at Annapolis.  When I graduated from there I began
BUD/S.  The rest, you can say, is history,” Tyson said as he continued to scope
out the terrain keeping them moving in a zigzag pattern.

“Oh.” Jayde fell silent as they finished
maneuvering across the open field and disappeared back into the jungle.

“What else my, little rose?  I know you
have many more things roaming around in that pretty little head of yours,” he
teased.

“Tell me what your life is like in
Washington,” she said.

“Anything in particular you want to know?”
Tyson asked.

“Whatever you want to share
with
me,” Jayde said easily.

“Well, I don’t spend too much time at my
place; I like being out in nature more than in town.  I have a studio apartment
in Georgetown—” He stopped abruptly.

Jayde remained silent as well; he was glad
she was learning to read his body language, and right now, he needed to
concentrate on something that was coming up.  The moon had risen, bathing them
in a muted glow as it found its way into the thick jungle.

He hit the ground and she followed suit
immediately.  “Someone’s coming,” he hissed.

On the path two men strolled into view. 
They weren’t dressed in anything that would make Tyson think they were
military-trained men, but he wasn’t about to risk Jayde’s life over it.

They were talking to themselves in hushed
English and Spanish as they walked along, no weapons visible on their person. 
“Did you hear about the plane that went down on the other side of the
mountain?  I don’t know if everyone survived or not.”

The other said something in Spanish and
Tyson started to intercept them, but stopped when he Jayde touched his arm.  He
looked at her and frowned as he saw her shaking her head no.  Tyson moved to
pull away, but she shook her head harder and tightened her grip on his arm. 
Her meaning was clear; she didn’t want him approaching them in any way, shape,
or form. She brought the knife out of its sheath and slithered up beside Tyson.

Her grip stayed tight on his arm until the
men went out of sight.  Even so, Tyson and Jayde remained silent for a while
afterwards.

“What did you do that for?” Tyson hissed. 
“I was going to see if they would help us; they were locals.  Damn it, woman,
we could have had a way out of here sooner!”

“You don’t speak Spanish do you?” she
questioned him.

“No.  Why?”

“Because when they were talking in Spanish,
they mentioned how much money they would get from Señor Alvarez if they were
the ones to bring in the
gringos
.  I am guessing he is the same man we
know as Captain Alvarez.”  She removed her hand from his strong arm and began
to stand, but Tyson jerked her body down atop his muscled one.

“I’m sorry,” he ground out, his mouth
millimeters away from her full one.  “You didn’t tell me you spoke Spanish.”

“You never asked,” she breathed into his
mouth.

Tyson moved his hands up to capture her
face.  “Thank you for saving us.”

“Well, I figured I should keep my husband
around for
at least
another week.”

“What other secrets are you keeping me in
the dark about, Mrs. Kincade?” he asked as his lips brushed lightly against
hers.

“I didn’t know I was keeping secrets from
you, Mr. Kincade,” she murmured against his mouth. He was fighting the
temptation to slip his tongue inside her mouth to mate with hers.

He loved how it sounded, she calling him
Mr. Kincade, for it was the first time she’d done so. It was almost as if she’d
admitted they were married.  “Oh, but you are.  I will have loads of fun
getting them out of you, too, but later.  Right now, we need to find the town
or base where those two came from and maybe we can get our hands on a radio.”

Reluctantly, she slid off his body and
regained her feet.  He followed suit.  “Are we going the way they were coming
from or where they were going?” she asked.

“Where they came from.  But not a sound,
just in case they come back,” Tyson responded in a hushed voice.  He touched
her arm and when she met his gaze in the subdued light, he gestured with his
hands.  Jayde nodded her understanding:  he was going first; she was to stay
behind him and alert.

Once again they began the trek forward
through the jungle.  Eventually he stopped and fell on his stomach, Jayde
following suit.  He silently reached into the bag and pulled out his
binoculars.

“Shit,” he swore and put them down, moving
back so he could whisper into her ear without trouble.

“What’s wrong?”

“It’s a goddamn rebel camp.  About ten
clicks away!”

“What the hell’s a click?” Jayde asked.

“It’s about a kilometer.”  Tyson fell
silent as he decided what he was going to do.

“So ten kilometers…that would be about…well
a little more than six miles away.  About six and a quarter.”

Tyson was impressed; most Americans didn’t
see the importance of converting metric and US customary measurements.  “Right
you are. Listen to me, I am going to leave you here and go ahead on my own—”

“No,” she said quickly.  “I don’t want to
be left alone.”

“Look, Jayde, it’s easier and faster if I
move alone.  I will get what I need and come back for you, but I need to know
you are safe; otherwise I will not be able to concentrate properly.”  Tyson
turned to the woman stretched out next to him on the ground.  He searched for
her face in the hushed light.

“You are just going to leave me here!” she
accused.

“I will find you again.  I promise.  Now,
come on, I have to find a safe place to put you.”  Tyson wanted to comfort her,
but time was of the essence.  There were only a few hours of darkness left, and
he wanted to get in and out and put down some extra distance between them and
the rebels before it was light.

Jayde nodded silently and followed on
Tyson’s heels as they weaved in and out of the trees. Tyson found a small area
behind a single waterfall and checked it for animals. Finding none, he led his
quiet charge inside the dark area.  “I want you to stay here.  Don’t come out
for anything.  Okay?”

Tears began to fall from her expressive
eyes as she nodded, the drops hitting his hand.  His callused thumbs wiped them
away, “Don’t cry, little rose.  I
will
be back for you.  I will find you
again, no matter what.  The pack stays with you.  You have your gun.”

Tyson did an automatic check of his weapons
and took a deep breath.  It was time to go.  He felt Jayde withdraw even farther
into the cave and he pursued her.  It was as black as pitch in the cave and yet
Tyson knew exactly where she was.

He cupped her face gently, tracing her
beauty in the dark, as if committing it to memory.  Then before either of them
could say anything, he smashed his lips against hers.  The kiss was hard, fast,
and short.  “Never forget I will come back for you.  I love you.”  Then he was
gone.

Tyson moved with the stealth and speed that
made him one of the best at his job.  He focused on his target, trying not to
think about his wife sitting alone in the dark, wet cave beneath a waterfall. 
As his strong legs ate up the ground, he found himself more and more focused on
the task at hand.

It took him about an hour to reach the
outskirts of the camp.  It was makeshift and shoddy, but hopefully equipped
with a phone or radio.

He sneaked into the first hut. In a fast
assessment of what he faced, he saw there was a young woman sleeping tied to
the bed.  Well, he knew what she was here for; and although he wanted to help
her, he couldn’t risk her screaming and alerting the rest of the camp. Jayde’s
safety came first. Reluctantly, he left her there after determining there was
no phone anywhere.

The next three huts were the same.  They
all had a woman tied to a bed and not much else.  Unsure of how he was going to
get into the center of the camp unnoticed, Tyson spotted a hut way off to the
side that was bigger than the others.

Fading back into the shadows, he inched his
way around to it.  There were grunts and other muffled noises coming from
there.  Peeking in the open window, Tyson took stock of what was inside.

A wiry dark-skinned man was on the bed
raping a sobbing woman on a small army cot.  Tyson also spied a table with a
radio in the center of it.

A dog’s bark dropped him down and he
withdrew the survival knife he had on his leg.  A camp member yelled sharply at
the dog, which immediately fell silent. Tyson headed for the hut’s entrance.
The man’s increasing grunts told Tyson he was just about done.  The woman had
fallen into hushed whimpers as the man above her found his own pleasure at the
cost of her pain.

Slipping into the darkened shelter, Tyson
edged closer to the man on the bed.  The girl barely had time to acknowledge
Tyson standing over them before the man on her was dead.  The scream seemed to
stop in her throat as she looked into hazel eyes of her savior.

The metallic scent of blood rent the air,
courtesy of the rapist’s slit throat.  Tyson dragged him off the girl who just
looked at him with wide eyes.  He put his finger to his lips, signaling her
continued silence; and as she nodded, he moved to the table that held the
radio.

Two seconds after he picked it up the woman
screamed.  He turned to see another man standing in the doorway, frozen with surprise. 
Before that man could do anything, Tyson threw his knife to land deep within
the man’s neck.

As the second man crumpled to the ground
Tyson grabbed a machete and the map along with the radio, nodded to the girl,
and ran, knowing her scream would bring others.  He was right.  Four men were
running towards the hut and opened fire as they saw him fleeing.

Grateful this hut was along the edge, Tyson
quickly disappeared into the woods after returning fire on the men, emptying
the Spectre he carried and leaving him with only the Glock and the stolen
machete.  Three men dropped from his bullets but more were coming.

The searing pain of a bullet lodging into
his shoulder nearly took him to his knees, but he kept running.  He covered the
distance as he was trained to do.  Soon those men were left behind.  He knew
they would be on his trail soon and with the dogs, so his small lead didn’t
make him feel that relieved.

Tyson took many twists and turns before he
headed back to the waterfall.  He didn’t want to return there but he didn’t
have a choice; he needed Jayde’s help again, this time to remove a bullet.

Four and a half hours after he’d left Jayde
alone, he found himself cautiously approaching, hand over the wound on his
shoulder to help stop the flow of blood and hoping no one was right on his
heels witnessing his entrance in the pre-morning glow.

Maneuvering around the cascading water, he
slipped into the damp cave.  “Jayde,” he croaked out.  Nothing.  He tried
again, keeping his voice at a whisper since sound traveled well in the cave.

“Tyson, you’re back!”  He heard her say. 
“I’m over here; the cave goes back quite a ways.”

“Turn on the light.”  His words were
slurred.

The muted light from the flashlight shone
way off to his left and he followed it.  Bathed by the soft glow, Jayde stood
looking at him with a mixture of worry, relief, and love.  His body totally
exhausted from the combined blood loss and running, he stumbled over to her and
smiled gently.  “I got it.”