Crossing the cabin, she nearly stumbled as her ankle throbbed. Damn it. She’d been doing better with her cast off, but sitting bound for hours hadn’t helped. She gingerly took another step, stopping to rotate her ankle. She’d be okay to run. She had to be.
She paused at the cabin door but didn’t hear anything and slowly opened it. There was another cabin further down with the door open, and she stilled as she heard low voices inside. No one came out, and she gingerly edged into the hallway. Turning away from the open door, she took a careful step.
Should she run as fast as she could? Creep slowly down the hall and hope no one came? She wanted to get back on the deck. To hide until she could figure out what to do next.
She was walking slowly down the hall, afraid to so much as breathe too loudly, when the hair on the back of her neck suddenly stood up. Someone was right behind her. She didn’t even get a chance to scream before one hand covered her mouth and an arm wrapped around her, pulling her back against a solid, muscular body.
Her entire body froze in panic, and she was so scared, she couldn’t even try to fight or scream. Her pulse pounded in her ears, and her eyes darted around the hallway, wondering what she could do to escape.
“Caitlyn—Butterfly. It’s me,” a deep voice said. “Troy.”
Her body relaxed infinitesimally as the icy cold fear snaking down her spine dissipated. Troy? As in her Navy SEAL Troy? No one else in the world had ever called her Butterfly.
But what in the world was he doing here on a hijacked yacht?
She had to be hallucinating or something. None of this could be real.
Caitlyn tried to pull away, and his grip tightened. His arm was like steel around her, and she couldn’t fight this man off if she wanted to. She felt him duck so that his mouth was closer to her ear.
“Butterfly,” he said again. “It’s Troy from the beach. I’ll let go of you, but don’t scream. My team and I are here. We just rescued Evelyn, the admiral’s wife. Can you be quiet for me if I release you?”
Shakily, she nodded. Someone lying to her wouldn’t know Evelyn’s name. They wouldn’t know her name either. And absolutely no one, save for the man behind her, had ever called her Butterfly.
Slowly the hand lifted away from her mouth, and the arm around her loosened. She twisted around before he released her entirely, and she was shocked to see Troy standing there in a wetsuit. He was looking down at her with concern, but there was something aggressive and fierce about him as well. His body was tense, like he was prepared to fight, but his focus was solely on her.
“Troy,” she said, immediately bursting into tears. She’d held it together for so long—for hours. She’d been tied up and terrified. But knowing she wasn’t alone anymore? And that Troy and his teammates were risking their lives to save her and the others? It was suddenly too much.
“Hey,” he said, pulling her close. “You’re okay now. Did they hurt you?” She choked back a sob as his strong arms wrapped around her, holding her to his chest.
“No,” she managed to choke out.
She was exhausted and emotionally drained. Terrified. They had to get out of here though. They needed to run. Fight. Anything. She was too petrified to even move at the moment. The relief that washed over her was palpable. She was barely holding herself together, and now Troy was holding her in his capable arms instead.
Troy’s large hand stroked down her hair while she tried to stop shaking. “Shhh, you’re safe now,” he said huskily. “We’ll get you out of here.”
Gunfire erupted from another part of the yacht, and she jumped in his arms. “Shit,” he muttered.
A male voice called out from the cabin, but she was in too much shock to even understand what he said. She felt silly standing here crying on this man. He had work to do, and she was acting like a scared little girl or something. She looked up into his concerned blue gaze. Troy’s hand went to his ear, and she realized he was listening to someone. “Affirmative. Roger that. We’ll be out there in a minute.”
He gently took hold of her arm. “Are you sure you’re not hurt?” he asked.
She shook her head no, not missing that even in the middle of chaos, he was gentle with her.
“We’re moving you and Evelyn to the deck,” he said hurriedly. “They’ve found explosives on the other side of the yacht. We’ve got a boat in the water and will evacuate you and some of the passengers immediately. The others will go on a second vessel after we free them.”
“Explosives?” she asked in alarm.
He nodded, rushing her down the hallway. She saw another man emerge from the cabin with Evelyn. They were hurrying onto the deck before she could even say anything.
The man with Evelyn glanced back from the doorway. “One of the gunmen just jumped overboard.” He rushed to the side, looking out into the dark waters, while Evelyn was met by yet another Navy SEAL on the deck of the yacht.
“God damn it,” Troy muttered.
“This is Hurricane,” the new guy said into their comms units. “I’m bringing the first hostage over.”
Caitlyn jolted at the rush of cold air as they
