Chapter One
Caleb hated packing. Why couldn’t he simply toss a few pairs of underwear into a bag with a pair of jeans and go?
“Here.” Kason “Benny” Sawyer handed Caleb a small box.
“What’s this?” Caleb turned it over in his palm then laughed. “Condoms? Seriously? What do I need these for?”
Benny quirked a brow, inhaled then tilted his head. “You see, Sonny. When a man meets a woman he’s attracted to…”
“Yeah, yeah.” Caleb shook his head but tossed the condoms in with his clothes anyway. “Very funny.”
Benny laughed. “I certainly thought so.”
“You’re a dick.” Caleb shook his head while smiling before hunching down to peer under his bed. “I’m going on vacation—not to hook up with some stranger.”
“Never say never.”
“I’m not ready for that level of intimacy with anyone.”
Benny frowned. “You’re going to have to make a decision on this whole Barbie thing sooner or later.”
“Nope.” Crash rubbed the back of his neck and continued packing. “No need. There isn’t really anything to decide. Can we talk about something else? I already feel like ass about that whole situation.”
“Okay.” Benny sighed. “Of all the places to choose for a vacation, why Rotterdam?”
Caleb “Crash” Pope stopped the search he’d been on for his black pair of sneakers and lifted his eyes to his friend. “I hadn’t really given it much thought. But, if I had to, I’d say, at this time of the year everywhere else is overbooked. I wanted something different with little to no tourist. I’m really not a fan of people-ing right now.”
“At least you’ll be close to friends.”
“I’m not a baby.” Caleb hunched back down to reach into the darkness. His hands hit shoes and when he pulled back, Caleb was happy they were the ones he’d been searching for. He rose. “Besides, anything that happens will require—what? My two fists? Nothing that will need brute force.”
“You don’t know that.”
“Of course I know. I may not be G.I Joe like you boys but I can handle myself if anything—and that’s a big if.”
Benny smiled. “I get that. But we know the world is what it is right now and we look out for family.”
“Tex put you up to this?”
“I admit nothing.”
Caleb laughed and after smacking the shoes together a couple of times out of habit, he added them to his duffle and zipped it up. “Your silence says it all, my friend.”
“Before I forget.” Benny walked to his own bag and pulled something out. “My, baby wanted me to give you this.”
Caleb looked down to see it was a book on Rotterdam. He accepted it with a cheeky grin. “Jess wants me to read on my vacation?”
“No, smart ass. She wants you to read on your way to your vacation.”
“Give her a kiss for me. I would do it myself but…”
Benny growled.
Caleb laughed. “Get your mind out of the gutter, would you?”
“How can I not go into the gutter? Have you seen Jess?”
“I have but…”
“She’s no Barbie. I get it.” Benny sighed. “You’re still in love with her after all this time?”
“Don’t say the L word.” Caleb cringed.
“Crash, listen….”
“I know.” Caleb sighed. “I need to get over that. She’s made her choice and there’s nothing I can do about it. So, I move on and hope to find someone who will love me like I love her.”
“That’s the spirit.” Benny patted his shoulder. “And it’ll happen. If an old dog like Cookie can find a good one, trust me, there’s hope.”
That was where they left their talk. With hugs and promises of being careful, Caleb climbed into the backseat of the airport cab and closed the door. Benny waved at him one last time and Caleb offered a smile.
Honestly, Rotterdam hadn’t been his first choice of vacation spots. But Paris had been done. The Caribbean was crawling with tourists and cruise ships. Mexico—ugh.
The plan was to go across Amsterdam on a motorcycle—eating all the foods he could and meeting new people. He wanted to go skydiving, boat cruising, all the outdoor things he could possibly jam into this vacation.
For the first time since he started working as a Smoke Jumper, he wanted to merely let go and relax. Honestly, after he left Germany and the GSG 9 guys behind the last time, he’d spent the next year and a half just working. From one fire to the next, it was rush, rush, rush.
When his job was slow because of the winter months, he would take on work as a stuntman for blockbuster movies. When those were few, he volunteered in Canada with one of their elite fire teams. Caleb knew if he slowed down, his mind would drift to Sabine “Barbie” Henson and the way her smile made his world okay.
No, on this vacation, Caleb was going to unwind and move on.
Life is just too damn short.
The first few days in Rotterdam were a breeze. He spent the time walking, checking out tourist attractions and drinking beers in little holes-in-the-wall pubs. Most of them smelled like day old beer and body odor but the live music gave him life.
Food was as many Dutch delicacies he could get in his mouth. Caleb was pretty sure, he’d pay for that later but everything was so delicious! From stamppot topped with half smoked rookwurst to kroket made with stewed beef mixed with pureed potatoes—all of it made his mouth water.
At nights, he’d find something to do, from music festivals, to watching lightshows, but he barely got any sleep. From time to time, he checked in with Benny. He didn’t want his friend to worry. Other than that, he kept his cell on silent, jammed to the furthest corner of his ever-present backpack with his passport and an emergency stash of Euros.
Using parkour, he got around most of the city. Cabs were expensive and often times slow due to traffic and besides—he had to work off all the food he was shoveling in. If he returned home out of shape, he wouldn’t be able to survive being a Jumper.
Caleb braced his palm against a wall, hoisted himself up then jumped to the ground on the other side. He took off running along the concrete path, only to duck under a low hanging rail then flipping over another. He made it down to the waterfront in time to buy his ticket and take a seat on the tour boat.
For some reason, he couldn’t seem to focus on what was happening on the craft. Something drew his attention to the pier. He wasn’t quite sure what it was so he kept searching the slight crowd.
Something definitely isn’t right.
The tour guide was going over safety instructions for the boat, but Crash wasn’t paying much attention. One, he’d been on boats before and two, he still had that nagging feeling in his gut.
Absentmindedly, he dragged a hand down his full beard, catching the end only to repeat the action. He tilted his head to keep his eyes on two men all but dragging a little girl toward a boat sitting at the end of the pier.
Whenever the child paused, or tripped, one of the men would chuck her in the back of the head, propelling her forward. A couple of times she stumbled but the one on her right merely tugged her harder.
Really, people? No one else is seeing this?
“You’re all gonna ignore that.” He muttered beneath his breath. “Because this shit is fucking normal, right?” Caleb glanced around quickly but everyone just seemed caught up in their own worlds to realize a child was being taken right under their noses.
Fucking tourists.
Grunting, Caleb brought his attention back to the three.
The men weren’t a couple with their daughter. No, a loving couple wouldn’t handle their child like that. And to add to the strangeness of the situation, the little girl looked terrified.
From where he sat, he could tell she had been crying. From time to time, she’d wipe the back of a hand across her eyes and then her nose.
Something was definitely out of place.
For fuck’s sakes.
Caleb rose from his seat, already calculating a way to get the little girl out of their clutches without hurting her and drawing too much attention. He had to plan it carefully. The men were burly, angry looking suckers with bulges in the side of their waists.
Shit. I’d missed that. Pitbull would definitely fail me on that one.
“Sir, please return to your—sir, I don’t think you should—sir!”
Caleb ran faster, pumping his arms hard to give himself enough momentum to leap from the moving boat to the dock just as it neared the end. Tourists were gasping and he could hear the flash of cameras.
Now, they notice what’s happening.
The men had glanced back but they didn’t stop. Caleb used that to make his way through the small crowd behind them until he was close enough. He tapped the one on the girl’s left on his shoulder and when he turned to look, Caleb slammed a fist in into the other guy’s head. Luckily, his fingers released the child’s top before he tumbled into the water. The other man, realizing what was happening, swung at Caleb who merely ducked while firing two punches in rapid succession to the man’s midsection. When he doubled over, Caleb went up in a roundhouse, slamming the sole of his foot into the side of the man’s face. He too landed with a loud splash in the water but not before taking his face off the side of the pier.
Caleb caught the girl’s arm. “Come on! Let’s get you to safety!” He said.
“You!” Someone hollered. “Stop!”
That was the only warning Caleb received before a bullet grazed a rail next to him. There wasn’t a bang so he was going to assume they were using silencers. Law enforcement wouldn’t have done that so Caleb had stepped into something that could quite possibly lead to an international incident.
Take a vacation—they say.
It’ll be fun—they say.
Frowning, he picked up the little girl and turned down some steps before shoving his way through a small crowd of tourists. They shouted in shock at him but he didn’t have time to apologize. Men were using guns with silencers to fire at him—Caleb was sure they wouldn’t stop to address these people’s delicate sensibilities.
Another bullet ricochet off a nearby building as he dipped around it and the little girl who had been silent up to that point, screamed.
“It’s okay,” Caleb said. “I’ll get you somewhere safe.”
He wasn’t even sure if she understood and he didn’t have time that moment to figure out if she spoke English, Dutch, German, French or Spanish. After all, those were the languages of the majority of the people in The Netherlands.
Somehow, he managed to rush through a long, outdoor corridor, and emerged on the other side. He flagged down a taxi and climbed into the back with the child.
“Go!” Caleb shouted.
As the car sped away from the curb, he glanced back to see the men staring after them. His adrenaline still pumped through him furiously, but he managed to wonder what he’d gotten himself into.
“Where are we going?” The driver asked. “Can’t just keep driving aimlessly.”
“Actually, pull over up there,” Caleb said, as he saw one of the RET buses.
The driver frowned but when Caleb paid him more than the short ride cost, the man smiled. Caleb ushered the little girl from the back of the cab and they jogged across the street. He missed that bus so the taxi driver could be long gone before he boarded one. If they went after the taxi driver, the man would have no information but that he got out of the car soon after.
Yup—definitely been hanging out with Benny and CIRO too much.
Once he was sure they were fairly safe, he bought the little girl a chocolate bar then the two of them climbed on a bus.
“Do you speak English?” Caleb asked her.
She chewed on the chocolate but said nothing. Bruises were beginning to form on her caramel skin and the flesh around her brown eyes was puffy as if she’d been crying for a while.
“I won’t hurt you,” Caleb said. “I promise. “I just need to know where to take you so those men will never find you. Do you speak English?”
She nodded.
“Good.” Caleb said. “I’m Caleb. What’s your name?”
“Anya.
“Anya, where is your mommy and daddy?”
She swallowed and met his gaze. He saw the tears welling in her eyes and sighed.
“It’s okay, sweetie.”
“They weren’t breathing.”
“Oh hon, what do you mean?” Caleb had to be sure.
“The bad men came into our house. And everything was so loud. Like, bang! Bang! And mommy told me to hide.”
“Okay—those men I took you from—.”
“They were the bad men.”
“Right.” Caleb sighed, and settled back into the seat as the bus made its way toward the center of Rotterdam. He probably foiled a kidnapping and ransom deal or the child who was about to be sold into trafficking. Then again, if they wanted money, they wouldn’t have killed the only two people who were likely to pay the ransom. He glanced at Anya—she was old enough to know if someone wasn’t breathing.
“They came for my sister.” Anya admitted after a while of silence.
“You have a sister?” Caleb asked.
She nodded. “Eden. They took her.”
Caleb rubbed his eyes.
Well—shit.
The little girl seemed to be about eight or nine. This meant the parents were dead and she was about to wind up in some hovel servicing perverted old men who were old enough to know better but too old to care.
No matter what their intentions were, Caleb would be damned if he let them get their hands on Anya again.
It was time for some backup.
Some vacation.