That scum of a father. I hope I never meet him. I swear to God I will crush his head like a grape.

I know it's not cool of me to be thinking that way about the father of a woman I one day hope to marry. But honestly, how could he put Olivia in that kind of danger? He had to know how these guys work. It's all about family for them. That's where they strike. Even if her father didn't happen to be a family guy, they still thought that way.

I bet he's got excuses. Weaselly, piss-ant criminals always do. I bet if I cornered him in an alley he’d tell me he never meant any harm to come to Olivia. He'd probably protest that he never figured they would target her. Given enough time, he’d probably tell me how smart he was and how foolproof whatever scheme he'd had was. How there'd been no way—correction almost no way—for him to get caught. In fact, would I be interested in investing in a new and exciting opportunity?

I curse under my breath. I don't want to talk too loud. Olivia is still asleep, collapsed against the door, warm under my jacket. I want to take her in my arms, hold her close and let her feel how safe she is. How I will never let her go again.

But Goddammit, I said all that before and look what I let happen. How had I been so careless? I could blame her dad, but she'd been kidnapped on my watch. I was a trained SEAL for God’s sake. I should've been more aware, more alert.

Fact is, I'd let my guard down. I’d gone soft. All it had taken was a few days in bed with Olivia and I’d gone from a battle-weary black ops veteran, to a wet-behind-the-ears teenager who walked straight into an ambush with a smile on his face.

Of course they’d been able to track down the property transaction. There are too many strings attached to that kind of thing. Taxes, utilities, I hadn’t truly gone off the grid when I’d bought the place because I hadn't thought I'd need to. When I'd set everything up for my cabin, I'd seen it as a refuge, not a safe house.

We never should've stayed there. After the first night, I should've kept us on the move. Then they never would've found us. But I'd been seduced, not just by Olivia and her ample charms, but by the thought of having her all to myself in the wilderness. The longer I pawed around her in that cabin, the more I needed to pounce and devour her whole. That state of mind did not lead to clear thinking.

I need to get my head on straight, and I mean the one on top, not the one at my groin. I've been doing too much thinking with my blood, letting hunger and desire govern my actions. Now I need to think clear and focused, coming up with a plan for the long haul.

She stirs at my side. She's shifted in her sleep over the past 12 hours, crying out a few times, but so far she hasn't opened her eyes. It's the crash after an adrenaline rush, but it's also the lingering effects of the sedative they gave her. She'd snapped out of it and shaken it off while she was in the midst of a crisis. Once it was over, the drug kicked back in.

“Hey.” I place a reassuring hand on her leg as she straightens herself up and stretches. “How are you feeling?”

“Like hell.” Her voice sounds scratchy and I bet she has a pounding headache. She needs food and water to help her recover.

I pull over at the next McDonald's and we order at the drive-thru. Then we park and duck inside to use the bathrooms, baseball caps down, making eye contact with no one. Chances are slim that Rudy could ever trace us here, but it can't hurt to be careful.

She devours her meal, sucks down her drink, then leans back with her hand to her forehead. “Where are we?”

"Colorado."

She takes it in stride. "Where we headed?"

"Remember you said you liked the beach?"

"The beach?”

“I asked you where you'd like to be and you said warm sun, sand, surf.” She nods, her eyes not really focusing on the world around us. "If you need to rest some more, you should go right ahead.”

“Should help you drive," she murmurs as her head rests back against the seat. “Feel bad. Don't know what's wrong with me.”

“It's the aftereffects of whatever they gave you. Maybe something stronger than last time. But you're going to be all right. It's better if you rest now anyway.”

She closes her eyes. I continue to drive. It's been a while since I’ve slept, but that's another skill I’ve picked up along the way. I'm caffeinating, keeping the temperature cool in the car, playing mental games to keep myself sharp. I've learned all sorts of tricks, like counting down in 10-minute intervals to make an hour seem quick, or setting short-term goals: 50 miles until I open the next Red Bull. After having done it enough times, you learn your own limits of sleep deprivation. I'll be fine until nightfall. That should get us well into Utah, maybe even close to the Nevada border.

I buy us more takeout at a drive-thru. We check into a nondescript motel, the kind we’ll forget even before we even leave it. She doesn't say much. She takes a long, hot shower. She eats her meal without much interest.

I put on the TV and we lie together and watch whatever is on. I don’t know what it is. I’m focused on the sound of her breathing, the feel of her body against mine. I know there’s a lot to discuss, but I want her to have time to recover. She might be feeling shock, exhaustion, residual fear, a whole lot of a bad cocktail. So I don’t bring anything up. I just let her be.

“Do you think they’re coming after us?" she asks, just when I assume she's drifting off.

I want to give her an honest answer. “Rudy obviously cares enough about whatever your father did to try to track you down. So, yes, they’re probably going to try to come after us.”

She tenses by my side, her fist balling in the sheet.

“But I want you to know two things,” I continue. “First, this time, I’ll erase our tracks. I’ll get us hidden. And then, we’ll get this solved. This isn’t personal with Rudy. He has no issue with you. It’s a debt he wants your father to pay. I’ll make sure it gets paid, without involving you.”

“How—?”

“Let’s not talk about all that right now.” I hug her to me close, rubbing her shoulder. “All you need to worry about is putting all of this behind you.”

The stupid TV shows finally do their work and Olivia’s lids shut once again. After another check outside, and a second look at the just-in-case trap I’ve laid to wake me should anyone try to open the door, I settle in next to her.

Gun on the bedside table, I regret so much. I regret that a woman as kind and good as Olivia has been dragged into the seedy criminal underbelly. I regret that I ever played a role in that world, as short-term and tangential as it was. I regret knowing too much about the dark side of people, about the dark side of myself.

But most of all, I’m a soldier. I know how to turn off my mind and refuel the tank. Because, ultimately, that’s what Olivia most needs from me right now. She needs the security I can provide. The rest of it—the ruminating and regrets, and, who knows, maybe the good stuff we had between us returning once again—that’ll have to wait.

The next morning we’re up and out early. Olivia’s done with sleeping, but she’s not up for talking either. She’s lost in thought, and not the happy kind.

I want to get us to our goal, then we can debrief and make plans. I drive, fast but not too fast, assertive yet not aggressive, powering us through.

San Diego. I’ve never been there before. A buddy of mine from the SEALs lives there and told me about it. Truth is, he couldn’t shut up about it. San Diego this, San Diego that. The sun, the babes, the waves.

Sometimes we’d tell him to shut his trap. Other times, when we were passing long hours waiting for action, we’d let him keep running on. It filled the silence that our minds might have filled with worse.

“San Diego.” Olivia gazes out the window, still subdued. I knew it was too much to hope that she’d feel happy and excited as we crossed into the city. We’d been driving pretty much non-stop for the past two days, following her kidnapping and the violent assaults that set her free. Things like that tended to cast a grim pall over future events for some time. But still I’d hoped.

“Ever been here before?”

“Nope.”

“Well, welcome to San Diego.”

She nods, as if accepting her new fate. It’ll have to be enough for now.

I’ve got to give her time. What we have between us is real. I still feel it, as strong and sure as ever.

But also I’m used to shit going down. The night before last I critically injured four men at the house in Chicago. It’s not even bothering me. I purposely didn’t kill them. I have enough of a body count on my soul from my tours of duty. But I’m being honest when I say that it wouldn’t have bothered me even if I had taken their lives. They were bad men trying to hurt my woman.

What’s bothering me is the damage done to Olivia. I don’t know where her head’s at, or what she needs to make it right again.

I’ll just do what I’ve always done and trust my instincts. She said she wanted a sunny beach. I’ve brought her to one. She’d felt safe days before, sitting before a fire and snuggled into my chest. I’ll do whatever it takes to make her feel that way again, for good.