A baby’s wail added yet another nightmarish element to the explosions and gunfire, which mixed with the replay of crashing her helicopter in Maddie’s head. A baby appeared in her arms this time, right before the helicopter slammed into the ground. Fear stopped her heart as she gripped the baby to her chest tight, trying to protect it as the aircraft slid and excruciating pain ripped through her.

A wail of her own exploded from her lips as the aircraft slammed into something solid and her body jerked forward. The impact catapulted her toward the windshield as it shattered. In slow motion, she lunged left to avoid the thick limb that rammed into the cockpit, but saw ragged metal coming toward her instead. She stomped her left foot down to stop her forward momentum but couldn’t, before the metal sliced her face and shattered her goggles. The tree limb dug into the right side of her face and her body went numb as she smelled oil and jet fuel.

“Wake up, Maddie,” someone said frantically, shaking her shoulders.

The baby’s squall got louder and anxiety to get to the child, to comfort her, dragged Maddie toward consciousness. Would she relive waking up bleeding to death, too? Of being in so much pain as they bumped over rutted roads, she begged the dark-skinned men who threw her into the back of a truck to kill her?

Her brain and body shifted forward and Maddie felt like she was falling, so she grabbed onto the arms beside her and dug her nails in. Her eyes drifted open and the nightmare disappeared, but was replaced by confusion when the men leaning over her weren’t Latin—they were American. Panic seized her and a shiver racked her when the baby’s crying suddenly stopped.

“Oh, God—did she die?” Maddie croaked, her eyes filling as she wanted to die herself if that was the case.

“No, she’s alive and fine,” the man on her left replied, stroking her cheek. “Thanks to your brother.”

Her brother—Max—he said his name was. That meant the man on her left was her friend Hawk.

God, why couldn’t she remember these men who seemed to care so much about her? Enough to risk their lives to rescue her.

Max huffed a breath and squeezed her shoulder. “We all are, thanks to the team. The helo isn’t in great shape, though, so we need to find somewhere to land fast to keep it that way.”

“If we can make it to Belize, we can get repairs and refuel. I don’t think there’s any major damage, just a bullet hole in a hydraulic line. The other holes are cosmetic.” Hawk said with a shuddering sigh as he turned his gaze from her. “Thank goodness you thought to bring that woman with us to help with the baby.”

“Yeah, well I didn’t want to, but there was no way I’d get out and through the jungle with a crying baby. That decision gives us two babies to take care of now, because gun to her head or not, Maria wasn’t moving without the other kid.”

“You brought Maria with us?” Maddie asked, as fear sliced through her.

“Yeah, I had to,” Max replied, his eyes intent on hers.

“She is El Jefe’s daughter—that baby is his grandson.” And he would definitely not take their abduction sitting down. He or her husband Raul would kill them all, if they found them.

“Well, as soon as we’re safe, I will buy her a one-way ticket back to that hellhole, if she wants to go. For now, we need her,” Hawk growled.

“Why didn’t you just leave her in the jungle?” Maddie moaned, as sickness boiled in her gut and a wave of heat washed through her body. The wet, hot clothes that were stuck to her skin needed to come off.

“Because you are too sick to take care of your baby right now,” Max snarled, holding her steady when she sat up.

“I am not too sick,” Maddie argued holding out her arms as relief made her even weaker. She felt like death, but needed to see for herself that her daughter was truly okay, before she died. “Give me my baby now.”

Hawk squeezed around her and reappeared with Sarah in his arms. The look on his handsome face—adoration and awe—made her eyes fill for some reason. He swallowed hard before he gently eased her into Maddie’s arms.

“How old is she? Does she have a name?” he asked gruffly, sitting beside her to smooth his hand over the baby’s red fluff.

“Almost a month now, and her name is Sarah,” Maddie replied, gently rocking her, even though the movement caused her leg to ache so badly she wanted to gnaw it off.

“You named her after Mom?!?” Max shouted, and Maddie’s eyes flew to his.

“I did?” she asked, her stomach clenching because she had no idea. She just knew that had to be her name when she first saw her. “Is that a bad thing?” Maddie had no idea because she didn’t remember her mother or anything else.

“Well considering she selfishly killed herself when you were eight and I was eleven, but not without reason, I don’t know,” he replied, his voice choked.

From the angry, hurt look on her brother’s face, Maddie thought maybe she didn’t want to remember her life before the crash. Perhaps she was better off not knowing what it was like back then. But it was odd her subconscious chose that name for her daughter, even though she didn’t remember the woman who gave birth to her. Her mother must’ve meant a lot to her.

With a growl, Hawk suddenly pulled her onto his lap and hugged her and the baby to him. Max moved around them and disappeared into the front of the helicopter. Maddie laid her head on Hawk’s chest and his arms felt entirely too safe, his scent too comforting, as she closed her eyes and let sleep claim her.

If this man had been in her life before the accident, maybe remembering wouldn’t be so bad. But she had a feeling his description of being her friend wasn’t very accurate. The way he was acting toward her, the way she felt inside right now, said there was much more to their relationship than that.