Kincade's Rose (Megalodon Team) (8 page)

“We’ve been hit.  The plane is going down;
we have to bail.”  He was strapping on a pack while telling her this.

Jayde shook her head in fervent denial. 
Bail? 
Hell no. 
She wasn’t jumping out of a plane!  “What about the pilot, can’t
he just make an emergency landing or something?”  Hysterical tears had begun
forming in her eyes.

“The pilot’s dead.”  Tyson staggered back
out of her line of sight for a moment until he heard her scream.  He knelt down
in front of her, holding onto the arms of her chair.  “Listen to me.  I need
you to stand up and put this on.” He gestured to a pack that was beside him.

“I can’t jump from a plane!  I can’t do
it!” She shook her head to emphasize her words.

He stroked her cheek as the plane dropped
again, sending her stomach up into her throat, “Yes, you can.  I will be
holding onto you the whole way.  We don’t have much time.  Let’s get you
ready.”  Tyson unbuckled her seatbelt and made her stand.

Even though Jayde began putting on the pack
on, she stopped as Tyson kicked out the door. 
She was going to die and he
was so damn calm.
  He struggled against the turbulence back over to her and
helped her secure the pack.  “I want you to keep as still as you can.  Wrap
your arms and legs around me and don’t let go,” he yelled over the noise.

You are going to have to pry me off with
a crowbar!
  She nodded her understanding.  There were flames from the
cockpit making their way back to the main cabin.  Thick smoke choked her,
especially with her breaths coming so short anyway.  Tyson anchored her body to
his so they were chest to chest and snapped a few belts around them.  It was
awkward for her to walk with him like that; but soon, too soon for Jayde, they
were at the door.

The cold air sucked at her clothes, making
her shiver even more.  “Hold onto me.  Don’t let go,” Tyson repeated as he backed
up to the open door.

Jayde gripped his neck and his waist like a
leech.  Tyson made doubly sure she wouldn’t be in the way of the chute when it
opened and looked in her dark eyes one more time.  “Ready?”

Jayde looked away and nodded into his neck
even as she croaked out the word, “No.”

Tyson fell out of the plane.  Jayde’s arms
tightened around his neck as they hurtled to the earth.  “Hold on! we are going
to jerk!” he yelled so she could hear.  Then he pulled the chute.

Jayde barely moved, her grip was so tight. 
Both heard the whistle of a missile before it hit the plane.  They could feel
the heat from the blast as the night sky was momentarily lit up as bright as
day.  Jayde was beyond shocked.  She trembled even more, but her grip never wavered.

The rest of the trip down was silent except
for Jayde’s quiet sobs.  “We are about to land, get ready.”  Tyson told her.
They landed in a tree, the branches smacking them both; Jayde hid her face in
his chest to keep it safe until they lurched to a stop.

For a moment they hung from the tree.  They
were both breathing hard.  The branch cracked and then broke. They plummeted
down into the dark jungle terrain.

Jayde slowly opened her eyes.  Every bone
in her body felt broken.  With careful motions, she moved each of her limbs at
a snail's pace to see if anything was broken.  She knew how to do that; she’d
been taught when she learned how to rock climb.  By her assessment nothing was,
she was just badly bruised.  She sat up and looked around in the dark; it smelled
of rain, humidity and death.

“Tyson,” she croaked out in a whisper. 
“Tyson, can you hear me?”  Nothing but the chirping of the night creatures
answered her.  She waited as her eyes became a bit more adjusted; it looked
like she had fallen down into a ravine. Her head was killing her and her gaze
was fuzzy, so she could be totally off on that observation.

A small distance away from her she saw a
dark shape.  Immediate panic set in before she recalled that she’d worn a pack
when she jumped.  That foreign object was the right size and shape.  She got it
and then backed herself back up to a tree… snakes and spiders lived in trees.

Spiders! Oh, dear God!
  She was
beginning to hyperventilate.  Jayde opened the pack and found a small
flashlight, which she didn’t want to use for fear of actually seeing a spider,
blankets, knives, and what felt like two guns at the bottom.

Jayde took one of the blankets, wrapped
herself up tightly in a cocoon, and leaned against the tree.  The bag was in
front of her and a knife was in her hand.  Rocking herself as she did when she
grew scared, Jayde settled down for the night, her blanketed body terrified
under the canopy of the jungle and her mouth muttering a litany that was on a
never-ending loop: “He’ll come for me, he’ll find me….”

“

Tyson struggled to surface, not believing
he would die in the water.  Then he realized it was just the cool nylon
material of the parachute that buried him.  Ripping it off, he sat up. 
Jayde!
 
Where was she?

“Jayde?” he whispered.  “Jayde?!” h yelled
to the jungle, only getting squawks from the birds and screeches from the
monkeys as a response.  Tyson swore; this was all his fault.  After making sure
he didn’t suffer any broken bones he stood, automatically checking his weapon
and gathering the chute.

Touching his head, he felt warm stickiness
and knew he was bleeding…or Jayde had bled onto him.  He had to find her.  For
a moment he began to panic until he realized he would find her faster if he
were calm.  “She’s smart, Cade; she’ll stay where she is until you find her,”
he told himself.

Wincing, he slowly began walking, glancing
his watch and seeing he’d been unconscious for a few hours.  Tyson stopped,
hearing something.  Water, rushing water.  It was below him, sounding like
there was a ravine or gulley to his right.  It was too dangerous for him to go
off right now.  He was still a bit disoriented and it would start to get light
in less than an hour.

“Hang on, baby.  I’m coming,” he said as he
cleaned up his few cuts and scrapes with the small med kit he had in one of his
pants pockets.

The second he could see past his fingertips
he was ready to go.  He remembered the branch breaking, and she’d been in his
arms then.  So if he landed here than that meant…his gaze took him to the edge
of the ravine.  That meant Jayde had probably gone over.

With a prayer to a god he didn’t worship
anymore, Tyson scanned the ground for signs of travel.  A broken branch caught
his attention and he began going down cautiously.  He found one of the belts
he’d used around her waist to tie them together.

“Jayde!” he shouted.  “Honey, answer me if
you can hear me!”  Nothing.  He muttered as he climbed down further, “Come on,
little rose, give me a hint of where you are.” He didn’t wish to yell anymore
in case he would be overheard by one of the men searching for them.

His sharp ears caught the faint sound of a
noise that didn’t belong in the jungle.  He followed it.  Moving silently, he
couldn’t understand what it was.  Tyson came to an area that had three large
trees blocking a sharp drop-off to the water; against one of them, he saw a
huddled figure totally covered by a blanket.

It was Jayde.  He knew it.  He almost
fainted from the relief he felt, not realizing he’d been that tense.  The pack
was in front of her, and she was rocking back and forth, mumbling to herself. 
This time he made out what she was saying.  “He’ll come for me, he’ll find
me….”

“You’re damn right I’ll come for you. 
Jayde, honey, it’s me,” Tyson said as he jumped down the rest of the way.

Jayde felt the tears come in waves as she
heard and saw Tyson appear in front of her.  He had some blood on him; but it
didn’t matter, none of it mattered.  He’d found her. She believed she’d heard
him, but she hadn’t been sure enough to yell back.

She dropped the knife and blanket and
launched herself straight into his arms.  He was so strong and safe.  There’d
been no doubt in her mind that he would catch her. “Tyson,” she cried.  “I
didn’t think I would see you again!  I was so scared!”  Her breaths came sharp
as she attempted to get them under control.  Her entire body shook as she tried
to crawl into his skin.

“Oh, little rose, I was so scared I lost
you.”  When he tried to pull back and look at her, she wouldn’t let him,
clutching him tighter.  “Are you hurt anywhere?”

“No,” she said. At least not physically. 
Jayde began to sob uncontrollably.  She buried face into his chest, soaking his
shirt with wave after wave of salty tears.

She felt his head lower next to hers and
heard him whisper, “It’s all right now.  I’m here.” He rubbed her back.  As
they stood there, Jayde realized his heart had been beating outrageously fast. 
He’d been worried for her. Tyson pulled away from her and forced her chin up so
she could meet his gaze.  “We have to move.  They will be coming to search for
us.”

“How?”

“The fireball the plane made when it
exploded would have illuminated the chute, so they could have an idea of where
to begin their search.”

Jayde didn’t want to hear that from him. 
She moved back from the sanctuary of his arms and picked up the blanket that
had protected her all night. She wrapped it around her body before sitting back
down beside the tree.  In the early daylight, the jungle was beautiful.  The
man across from her, on the other hand, looked deadly.  He had a gun on him
that she hadn’t noticed before.

Tyson moved to the pack to give her a
minute to compose herself. He pulled out two guns.  The first was a Glock 21
that he checked before putting in a magazine and slipping it in the waistband
of his pants.  The second one was a Browning High Power Mk2 that he also
checked and loaded, and then he cast his hazel gaze on Jayde.

“Can you shoot?” he asked, his eyes never
wavering.

She hesitated with her answer.  “Yes. 
Father made sure I could.”

“Good, take this one.”  He handed her the
lighter gun, the Glock.  “Be careful with that.”

Oblivious to his watchful gaze, she made
sure the safety was on before she copied Tyson’s movement and shoved it in the
waistband of her pants so it rested against the small of her back.  “What is
that?”  She nodded at the one he had around his chest.

“This is a Specte H4 sub-machine gun, fully
automatic,” Tyson said even as he tossed her another magazine clip for her
gun.  “That’s all the ammo we have so don’t waste it.”

Jayde slipped the extra clip into one of
the pockets on her pants.  “Right.”  Her hands were shaking and she wrapped the
blanket back around her tightly.  “Where are we, Tyson?”

He answered quickly and somberly. “I don’t
know.”

“Those people, the ones who blew up the
plane…what do they want?”  Her guileless dark eyes were on him, peering into
his soul as she questioned him.  Asking for a way out.

“To kill us.”  Tyson cursed himself. Why
was he saying this to her?  Why was he being so blunt?  As he watched his wife
nod, he realized why he was…she expected nothing less than the whole
unrestrained truth from him.

“Are we going to make it?”

Tyson met her eyes and walked over to her,
crouching down on his haunches so they were eye level.  He took her hands in
his strong lean ones. “Jayde, I am going to do my damnedest to get you home.  I
swear it.”

Jayde nodded.  “Okay, I believe you.” A
very shaky smile appeared on her face as she stood and looked down at him with
a half teasing look in her eyes.  “But if this is your idea of a honeymoon, we
are going to have to have a serious talk.  Or, I want a divorce.”

The tension flowed away from his body as he
chuckled and shook his head.  This woman—his woman—was amazing. “You can pick
the place for the honeymoon.  No divorce.”  He rose to his feet and gave her a
quick, encouraging kiss.

Jayde glanced at the man beside her.  She
noticed how he calculatingly scoped the terrain.  He looked just short of
comfortable with the situation.  There was a spark in his eyes and an arrogant
tilt to his head that seemed like a challenge—a challenge to those who followed
them.

“You seem mighty comfortable out here…for a
man who works in D.C., you know…for a counterterrorism unit,” she observed.

“I am.  I’m a SEAL, Jayde.  That was…is…my
first job.”  Tyson knelt down beside his wife’s leg and tied on a sheath for
the knife, then mimicked the motion on his own leg.

Of course you are.
“Right.  My ass
is dropped in the damn jungle with a city boy who turns out to be part of one
of the most elite military groups in our country.  Well, lucky me,” she
snapped. Then she moved away from him and began to reroll the blanket before
shoving it back into the pack.  Jayde knew she should be happy—hell, she should
be relieved!—but for some strange reason, she was hurt he hadn’t told her who
he really was.

“Believe me, I wanted to tell you.  I just
never found the right time,” he tried as he took the pack she shoved at him.

“And why would you, I mean…we meet and by
one the next morning we are ‘renewing’ our flippin’ vows in front of a priest! 
Then we have to leave unexpectedly and you drag me with you.  I completely
understand that you didn’t have time in all that to say, ‘well, I’m a Navy
SEAL’!”  Jayde’s voice had risen as she paced back and forth.  “It’s not like I
didn’t ask you at
dinner
that first night what you did.  But maybe that
was a bit of information you were saving for the
fifth
day that we knew
each other.”

“You’re right.”  His calm response filled
the air.  Jayde stopped pacing and stared warily at him as he put the pack on
his back, making sure the gun was not hindered.  “I should have told you.  I
just wanted to know if someone would like me for me and not because I am a Navy
SEAL.  I didn’t want you to be another groupie.  I’m sorry.” Tyson stood in
front of her.  “Forgive me?” he coaxed as his eyes leisurely moved over her
body.

Denying him was impossible.  She was about
to melt into a puddle with his heated gaze on her.  She noticed the stubble
growing on his face made him look even more dangerous.  “Whatever,” Jayde said
trying to sound upset. 
SEALs have groupies?

“Good,” Tyson said as his lips met hers
again, just briefly.  “We have to get going.”

Jayde put her hand on his arm, halting
him.  “Do you really not know where we are?”

“I have some idea, but no, I don’t know
where we are exactly.”  As he met her gaze he added, “I believe we are in
Guatemala.  If we are still in Belize, then I think we’re in the Maya
Mountains.  But I am not quite sure where the border is.  Come on, let’s get going.”

Scared shitless, and not knowing what else
to do, Jayde Porter, now Jayde Kincade, followed her new husband down the steep
ravine closer to the river, taking care to step where he stepped.

It had taken them over two hours to make it
safely down to the river.  They decided to stop.  The water moved fast and
didn’t look all that safe to Jayde, but she kept her mouth shut since he seemed
to be concentrating on where to go.  A flash of color caught her gaze and she
turned to focus on what it was.  A bird sat on a branch looking at her.

It was beautiful.  The head and wings were
a brilliant emerald green while its breast and belly were a vibrant red.  It
stared at her with big dark eyes.

“Oh, Tyson, look,” she breathed dreamily. 
Only in a zoo had she seen one of these.  It was beyond her wildest dream to
encounter one in their natural habitat.  Her amazement briefly overrode her
fear.

Tyson glanced at Jayde and followed her
line of vision.  His spunky wife found the bird beautiful, but he found his
wife so much more so.  Jayde was covered in a light sheen of sweat that made
her toasted-brown skin shine.

She had her hair back in a ponytail save
the few wisps that curved about her face, sticking to the sweaty skin.  The
black shirt she wore was tucked into the olive pants that never looked better
on anyone as they cupped her ass in a way that shouldn’t be allowed by law. 
Even the image of the pistol stuck in the waist of her pants and the knife
strapped to her leg couldn’t take away from her femininity.  Tyson was having
thoughts that belonged in a place where men weren’t trying to kill them…but he
wanted his wife, and he didn’t believe there would ever come a time he didn’t
react this way just from looking at her.
  Jesus, man, focus on what needs to
be done, not what you want to do!

“Do you see it?” her whisper reached him.

“Yes.  Nice bird,” he said, although his
eyes barely left her olive-colored ass.

“It’s not just a bird,” she corrected. 
“That’s the national bird of Guatemala, the Quetzal.  Part of the
Trogon
family.  They are rare to see in their natural habitat.”

Tyson was amazed.  “You know this for
sure?”

“Absolutely!” Her tone told him just how
sure she was.  “I love to study things like this.  Besides, when I do have time
to paint, I use wildlife subjects, so I try to be able to recognize the real
thing if I see it.”  As she spoke, the bird took to the sky, leaving them to
their discussion as if they weren’t interesting anymore.  “He was a real
beauty.”

He gestured to the river.  “Let’s go.”

“What do you mean let’s go?”

He heard the panic in her voice, but he had
to insist.  “I mean we need to cross and get away from here; they will assume
we would follow the river to find a town.” He paused.  “We will follow it, just
not right along the banks.”

Jayde started shaking her head.  “I think I
will just wait here.”

“Move!”

“What about things in there that could hurt
me?” she protested.

“What about the people back there who want
to kill you?”

“They wouldn’t want to kill me if it
weren’t for you!” she hissed.  Jayde wasn’t looking at him and so missed the
look of shame that crossed his face.

“Let’s go,” he said gruffly once again.

“Is it safe?”

He did even bother answering that.  “I’ll
go first; stick close to my six.”  That said, he moved out.

His “six”?  Who did he think she was, 
one of his men? I have something for his “six” all right!  Did they even have
piranha’s here?
  She didn’t believe so but for some reason her mind
wouldn’t move off of it.  It was as if she could see them lined up just waiting
for her to enter the water so they could feast on her well-built body with
their rows of shredding teeth. The water was cold, very cold, but Jayde kept
her eyes and attention on the man in front of her.  It was the same way she’d
made it through the night, by ignoring what could possibly be around her, just
focusing on one thing.  After what seemed like hours, they slogged out of the
water to stand on the banks at the other side.  Jayde was wet up to her crotch
but she was alive. Tyson didn’t even check to see if she were okay, just
continued onward. This time, though, they were going up the other side of the
ravine.

The motion wasn’t exactly the same as rock
climbing, but it had some similarities, so Jayde passed the time by watching
the arm muscles under his tight shirt move.  They flowed with strength, a
strength that didn’t seem to diminish even while carrying that pack.  And then
there was his ass—lord-a-mercy that man had an fine one on him. “I could climb
all day with a view like that in front of me,” she whispered to herself.

Tyson stopped halfway up the side of the
ravine maneuvering to sit on a smooth surface.  “You doing okay back there?” he
asked, clearly pleased she hadn’t faded yet.

“Fine.” She smiled at the impressed look on
his face.  “It’s not all that different than rock climbing.  You find a good
hold and pull yourself up.”  Her body ached, though; it had been three hours of
hard climbing, and she’d slipped a number of times, but hadn’t called out for
help.  She loved this kind of burn.

“Rock climbing?”  He smiled and laughed a
little.  “You’re just full of surprises, aren’t you?  Take off your boots and
wring out the excess water from your socks.”

“Okay.” She immediately began unlacing her
boots.

“Rock climbing?” he asked again,
encouraging an answer.

“Yes, another one of my quirks, or so
Father says.”  She frowned with the memory. “‘No decent brother is going to
want a woman who prefers to climb rocks than cook him a good meal,’” she said
in a deep tone.

“I find it awesome,” Tyson said.

“Thanks, but you aren’t exactly ‘the
brother’ that I should be out attracting.”  She wrinkled her nose.  “Hell, you
ain’t even a brotha!”  She wrung out her socks until no moisture fell from them
and laid them over a boulder.  Her hands began to rub her feet until they were
almost dry as well, examining them for blisters.

“No, I’m your husband, so you don’t need to
be attracting any brothers.”

She laughed softly.  “I hardly think our
farce in the hotel matters anymore.”

“What farce are you talking about?”

His voice had grown dangerous, but it
thrilled, not scared her. “We both know it wasn’t real.  I only did it to help
you out.  Once—notice my optimism here—you get us back to the States, it will
be nothing more than a memory.”  Jayde gave him a smile to hide her pain.  As
much as she loved him, Jayde wasn’t about to keep a man who wanted to be with
someone else; he obviously still had feelings for this Carrie woman.