Alexis nods, more or less just happy to be alive.
“Good. I’ll get some water and let everyone knew that you’re awake.”
Her terror spiked and she instinctively squeezed his hand. “Don’t. Leave. Me.” The words come out scratchy and nothing more than a whisper.
“Okay. I’ll stay.” Cliff never removed his hand from hers, but he used the rolling seat he’d taken residence on and leaned out toward the hallway. That’s when she realized that she was in his tattoo shop.
“Guys. Can I get a cup of water? She’s waking up.”
A thundering of feet stomped across the floor as the men made their way toward her. She tried not to flinch as the group approached, but Cliff caught her motion and rested his other hand back on her head.
“Small sips,” Logan told her as he handed her a cup of water with a straw, his usually slicked back hair in disarray. Of course, Alexis was confident that she had better looking days as well. That was the moment when she remembered the men having to cut her clothing free from her body. Alexis glanced down to find herself draped in a heavy blanket, thankful for the covering.
“Better?” Logan asked as he pulled the straw free from her mouth.
“Thanks,” she replied, her voice no louder than before, but the dryness tolerable.
They gazed at her in silence and Alexis wondered if they were preparing for her to fight or take flight. Fortunately for them, with her hand securely wrapped in Cliff’s, she had no desire to go anywhere.
It only took Dylan and Heath a few short minutes before they begin probing her for more information and she relayed to them everything she remembered during the time that she was inside the bunker.
“What had you startled toward the end?” Heath queried. “When you went to get the chair from the first room, I heard your gasp. What did you see?”
Licking her lips, Alexis could feel Cliff’s body tremble in her hold. It was something that she’d have to delve into later. “A group of men brought in a woman. Most likely one that they planned to break and use for trafficking. But then a last man entered.”
“Did you recognize him?” Cliff asked from beside her.
“Yes, he was. . .well, he was my father.”
The silence was deafening. Alexis never understood that expression until that moment. She wanted someone to say something, to say anything before the quiet threatened to suffocate her.
“This makes so much sense,” Dylan replied as he examined something on his phone, Heath leaning over his shoulder to get a better look.
“What does?” Cliff and Logan ask at the same time.
“She’s been pulled from the FBI records. They know she’s now a target for the cartel,” Heath pointed out. “We didn’t understand why until just now.”
Dylan quickly added, “And it means if they can get information, they’ll offer her up on a platter to these men.”
A growl filled the room and Alexis cocked her head toward the noise and found that Cliff’s face turned a deep shade of red.
“I won’t let that happen,” he snarled and the men in the room nodded in agreement.
“Absolutely not. We’re going to get this all figured out. But first, Alexis needs to rest in a safe place.”
“She’ll stay with me,” her savior commanded, but Heath shook his head. “I’m not sure living above a tattoo shop is very conspicuous. I’m certain that they’ll trace her to this location at some point.”
“You’re right. I’m taking her to my cabin.”
While Logan busied himself tugging the IV free from her arm, his head jerked up at Cliff’s announcement. “I didn’t know that you had a cabin.”
“Exactly. And there should be no doubt that I have the skills to protect her as well.”
Not a single one disagreed.
Alexis breathed a sigh of relief at the arrangement and while Logan finished dressing her wounds, they scheduled a time for everyone to meet at the banquet room at Angie’s Diner the next day. Collectively they would need to come up with a plan, not only to protect Alexis but to keep the cartel from infiltrating their town in their haste to find her.
“I need to run upstairs real quick to grab a few things. I’ll be right back,” Cliff explained before he pressed a kiss to her forehead. “Watch her,” he added to the men before releasing her hand. She immediately felt his absence.