Diggs reached out and wrapped an arm around Audra’s shoulder, sliding his thumb across her soft skin, pulling her deeper in the crook of his arm to try and comfort her. She looked like she was on the verge of puking or passing out. Or both.

Those men had been military trained, and while a couple of them had been sloppy, the rest had not. They were professionals, and professionals didn’t work for any Joe Blow. But it made him hesitate to tell her that hard fact.

“I don’t know why, but I’ll find out. After we get you safely out of these woods.”

“What now?” Her voice shook as hard as her body; if she didn’t get the trembles under control he was scared she’d fracture her own rib.

“Now, we contact my team, and find their extraction point.” Diggs snatched his phone, which had remained dry next to Trigger, and sent out a message to the compound. He got a set of coordinates, and a meeting time one hour from now.

“Okay, let’s get moving. I’ll get Trigger’s feet; you get his head. Keep your head down, and try to watch where you’re stepping.” Because snakes liked to move at night. He was definitely smart enough to keep that one to himself, though. He wasn’t sure how they’d made it out of the water without bumping into one of the two gators he’d seen floating nearby during their escape, but he didn’t question that blessing.

Audra squared her shoulders and marched around to Trigger, robbing Diggs of her touch. He fought off the small ache from the loss and shook his head, following her lead.

The moon slithered back behind the clouds, the frogs and insects buzzed and chirped around them. They would have to angle back in the direction of the house to meet with his team’s selected rendezvous point, but they’d stay deep enough in the trees that they could go undetected.

Audra and he were both soaked head to foot, and he could see the fatigue lining her features. He prayed that she had the will to keep going just a little longer. Because if he had to choose between extracting Audra or Trigger he knew without a doubt he’d choose her. And Audra would never forgive him.

* * *

They walked slowly through the woods, moving carefully so as not to make too much noise. Her wet shoes rubbed blisters on her waterlogged feet. More limbs than she could count scratched her arms and legs and the mud dried to an itchy thick coat of plaster on her skin.

Trigger had started to whimper every few minutes, a barely there sound that broke her heart. He had to be in such pain. And here all she could do was focus on her own pounding head and wobbly legs. At least the need to throw up had receded enough where she could breathe in and out of her mouth without worry about embarrassing herself in front of Diggs.

They continued to make their way through the darkness for what seemed like hours, Audra following Diggs nearly blind in the dark. She wasn’t sure she could keep her eyes open much longer.

When she stumbled and he caught both herself and Trigger before they hit the ground, Diggs seemed to sense her weariness and stopped. “Let’s take a break for a second. We’ll be at the extraction point soon.”

Audra went to the nearest tree and slid down its trunk, landing hard on the ground. She drew her knees up to her chest and dropped her chin between them, propping her head up the only way she could.

Diggs checked Trigger and then moved to sit beside her, drawing her close to his side.

“How much farther?” Now that she had taken the weight off of her feet, she became aware of how badly they were throbbing in her shoes, almost with the same ferocity as her head. Images of the dead men on the floor bombarded her thoughts. Snapshots of Rex coming after her. She shuddered and reached up to touch her face but Diggs kept her hand down and away.

“Maybe ten more minutes.”

Ten more minutes and she’d be safe with Diggs—right back in the predicament she’d started out in. Diggs wasn’t safe—she had to remember that. If he was associated with the military in any way, he would never be safe. Even so, she couldn’t help but lay her head on his shoulder and seek the warmth of his touch.

Suddenly, Audra had a wild thought. “Leave me here,” she said, lifting her head from his shoulder.

* * *

Leave her here?

“What are you talking about?” Maybe she had suffered a concussion. The whole right side of her face was swollen and she’d been unconscious when he first entered the house. Even now the rage and desire to commit violence against those who had harmed her continued to flood his veins. Part of him hoped the other team would find them, just so he would have the excuse to kill them.

Diggs hooked a finger under her chin and forced her to look at him, searching her pupils for any signs of concussion. But her pupils were fine, even if the razor-like emotion blasting from her eyes wasn’t.

“I can’t go back with you, Diggs. It’s not safe.”

She tried to pull her chin from his fingers, but he wouldn’t let her. “Audra, I am the only place that is safe for you now. Can’t you see that?”

She shook her head, as if he wasn’t making any sense. “But you’re with them.”

“My team?”

“The military. You used to be part of them.”

Diggs fought the urge to blow out a frustrated sigh, instead keeping his gaze laser-focused on her. “And you blame the military for your brother’s death?”

She reacted as if he’d slapped her, jerking away from him, her lips parted in shock. He knew it surprised her. It was a battle within himself on whether or not to ask that question, but now he knew he’d been right to. He had hit the nail directly on the proverbial head.

“You know about his death?” She spat the words out in an accusatory tone, shooting daggers at him with her glare. “I knew it. What did you do to him?” she whispered and once more tried to tear from his grip.

Diggs held firm, unwilling and unable to let her go. “Audra, I didn’t do anything to your brother.”

“Liar! How do you know about him?”

“When you ran, you left Trigger’s collar at the compound. We were able to pull up his information from the microchip embedded in the back of his neck.”

“I don’t believe you. You work for them!”

Diggs fought to keep his voice under control, knowing she was nearing a breaking point but sensing she was also on the verge of telling the truth. “I don’t work for anyone. But I can help you, if you tell me what’s going on.”

She let out a bitter laugh full of hurt and pain and Diggs’ insides clenched in reaction. He didn’t like hearing that broken sound coming from her.

“And I suppose those men who wanted to kill me didn’t work for anyone either?”

Was she trying to put him in the same category as those murderers? “Oh no, they work for someone who wants you dead. And if it wasn’t for me, you would be dead,” he reminded her, feeling a little bit of his cool control slipping. “I saved you, and I saved your dog. Twice. Does that not tell you that maybe I’m with the good guys?”

She paused and he forged ahead, hoping he was breaking through her thick skull and making some sense here. “I found out about your brother, because he was registered as Trigger’s handler. And that’s when I saw that he passed away.”

“He was murdered,” she spat out.

Jeremy’s report had read “killed in action,” but he didn’t doubt for a second that Audra didn’t believe that. “Okay, he was murdered. You have his dog. It still doesn’t tell me why someone beat you and tried to kill you. Or why you have a warrant out for your arrest.”

“What? A warrant? I haven’t done anything.”

She turned from him but he couldn’t stand that. He grabbed her mud-caked chin and forced her face back in his direction. “I know, which is why you need to tell me everything.”

* * *

Audra looked up at the sky. Darkness loomed overhead. It seemed as if darkness was all around her now. In all parts of her life. She felt like she was getting lost in it. Jeremy was never coming back, and losing Trigger was becoming a very real possibility.

She was completely alone, fighting against an enemy that now had a face. She had no idea what she was going to do. She’d fallen into a trap like a fool, nearly getting her and Trigger both killed in the process. She didn’t know where to go other than her apartment, and if these men had found her in the middle of nowhere, they’d surely be waiting for her to walk through her front door. She had no cash and no means of getting around undetected.

“I feel so alone.” Her voice broke and she stopped talking, afraid she might embarrass herself with crying. She was worn out and so vulnerable she could barely restrain her emotions and reactions, the grief inside her so overwhelming she could hardly breathe.

“You’re not alone, Audra. I’m right here, and I’m not leaving you, even if that’s what you want. I’m not going to let them hurt you or Trigger.”

Everything about Diggs was lethal and controlled violence except his eyes. His eyes were shelter in the storm, promising safety and comfort.

Her heartbeat picked up, Diggs’ words touching something profound inside her. The smooth cadence of his voice caressing her pain and his open willingness to help someone he barely knew affecting her more than she wanted to admit. “You don’t even know me.”

His hands tightened around hers and he gently drew her closer, until his face hovered inches away. “I know you’re hurting. And I know you’re in trouble.” Diggs reached up and thumbed a piece of dry mud on her face. She tilted her head into his touch, feeling the draw, wanting to get lost in his strong arms.

* * *

Diggs leaned in, and the distance between them melted away. Both his hands were on her cheeks, cupping her face. “Will you come home with me and let me help you?”

“How do I know you’re telling the truth?” she asked quietly.

He’d known talking about her brother was a risk, but he didn’t want to force her to come with him. “You don’t, you just have to trust me.”

Audra tore her gaze from his and drew in a long shuddering breath, staring off at the empty abyss of trees and vines growing in the woods. For the life of him he wished he could read her mind, see the thoughts filtering behind her shuttered eyes. What if she said no? Would he lock her up for her own protection until he could figure out who was trying to kill her?

The caveman inside of him shouted, “Yes.” He’d keep her behind locked doors until he conquered the threat to her life. But could he live with himself afterwards?

“Diggs, you’re asking me to do something that goes against my very nature. But,” she turned back to him, her expression filled with open resolve, “I do. I trust you.”

“So, you’ll come back with me?” He wanted to hear her say the words, just for his own selfish reasons.

“Yes, I’ll stay with you.”

Diggs resisted the insane urge to draw her into his arms and instead gave her a nod, letting her know without words how proud he was of her courage and bravery. “You okay to walk a little farther?”

“If it means getting out of the woods and taking a hot shower to wash all this mud off, I will walk a hundred miles.”

Diggs grinned at her. “I’ll have my shower ready and waiting.”

* * *

Audra was glad when he moved to pick up Trigger and went back into military mode; she was fast losing herself in his soft caring and light teasing.

As she had earlier, she followed his lead, listening to the steady fall of his footsteps on the ground, focusing on the immovable strength in his shoulders. He was so steady. When gunshots hit so close to their heads, he hadn’t flinched. Not once. And even now when they weren’t under any threat, she couldn’t help but notice the way he moved. Like stalking through the woods in the middle of the night, running from terrorists, was as natural as breathing. Nothing seemed to knock him off his rock. The only time she’d seen a change in his expression had been when he was comforting her.

He hadn’t tried to hide any part of himself from her, as if he could sense the raw pain and vulnerability that nearly broke her in two. Thinking about the intensity in his gaze sent heat scorching through her belly. She coughed reflexively, surprised at the intense spike.

Diggs shot a quick look over his shoulder, his questioning gaze landing on her. “You okay? Am I going too fast?”

Thankful for the cover of darkness and thick layer of mud on her cheeks covering up the blood she felt heating them, Audra shook her head. “I’m fine. So, tell me about your team.” She’d do anything to distract herself from his incredibly muscular back and predatory rolling muscles.

“We’re family. We used to be special forces. Now we’re more like an independent security force.”

Audra wrinkled her nose; mud cracked and fell to her feet. “Like mercenaries or something?” She didn’t know anything about that stuff. She hadn’t even known anything about the military until Jeremy had completely ignored her pleading and joined up. Then she made it her life’s mission to research every single angle of training and deployments that her brother could possibly undergo. She’d admittedly gone a little overboard with the research then, but she still didn’t know much.

Diggs grunted and kept walking. “I think mercenary sounds a bit harsh.”

She heard the shade of hurt in his voice and realized she might have offended him. Feeling ashamed, Audra treaded more carefully. “Maybe you could explain it to me? In case you haven’t noticed, I’m not very familiar with this kind of stuff.”

Diggs laughed this time, and some of the tension in her shoulders eased. The man seemed to let everything roll off his shoulders. “I prefer to think of it as hostage rescue, things like that. We’ve been toying around with the idea of making it formal, you know, becoming a true independent security team. There are so many people in need of help around the world, and we have special skills that most people don’t.”

Oh, she’d seen his skills all right. The man moved like a lethal weapon honed to precision. She couldn’t think of any other man she’d want on her side. “I think that sounds like a great idea.”

He wanted to help others. It was the same reason Jeremy had joined the Marines. No matter how much she’d tried to convince him he could help plenty of people at home, he’d been hardheaded and stubborn to a point that nearly drove her insane. But after the events tonight, after she’d been put in such an awful, terrifyingly helpless position, Audra came to the stark realization that sometimes people needed saving.

Maybe the world did need men like Diggs and his team.