Chapter 7 "What the fuck?" Kevlar bit out, after he and his team were abruptly pulled out of an important meeting about a possible upcoming mission...to talk to the commander about something entirely different. They'd all thought they were summoned about an emergency mission. And they were-but nothing at all like what they'd expected. "I told that asshole Jamaica was a bad idea," Kevlar bitched under his breath. "Are the guys he went with okay?" Safe asked the commander. "Yes. They don't even know he's missing yet. And apparently there's a woman missing too." "This just keeps getting better and better," MacGyver said dryly. "There was a group of women there on vacation, and they all went tubing together. Flash and a woman named Kelli Colbert didn't return. I've got a call into the hotel to talk to the men Flash was with now." Kevlar's gaze went to the phone in the middle of the table. He noticed the light flashing for the first time, indicating the connection was on hold. "That him?" he asked, nodding at the phone. "Yes." The team wasn't yet up to speed on what the hell was happening, but obviously it was imperative they talk to the people who were with Flash before he disappeared. He leaned forward and reached for the button that would reconnect the call, looking at the commander for permission. The other man nodded. As soon as Kevlar pressed the button, the commander said, "Hello?" "Um...hello?" The man who responded sounded confused and worried. Probably wondering why he'd been summoned to whatever office he was currently sitting in by resort security. "Is this Charles Hepworth?" "Yes. Who is this?" "This is Wade Gordon's naval commander back in the States. I need to know what the hell happened today." Kevlar leaned forward, as if that could make the man on the other end of the phone give them the information they were after faster. He noticed his teammates all did the same thing. "Um...I'm not sure what you mean?" "When did you last see Mr. Gordon and Ms. Colbert?" "Uh...when we were tubing. We got separated on the water, and we waited around for a while but they weren't appearing. Flash is a Navy SEAL, so I wasn't worried about him, but Kelli...she's not built for the water, if you know what I mean." "No, I don't know what you mean," the commander said in a low tone. "Explain it to me." "Just that she's not the best swimmer, apparently. Doesn't have the body for it. That's what her cousin says. I don't remember who suggested it, but we all piled into one of the two vans to go back to the resort, leaving the other one for Flash and Kelli whenever they finally appeared. Wait-why are you asking about them? They're okay, right?" Kevlar wanted to roll his eyes. This Charles person wasn't very quick on the uptake. "No. They've been kidnapped." To everyone's surprise, Charles laughed. "That's funny?" the commander barked. "This is a joke, right? Flash is pissed at me for hanging out with the girls last night, so he's getting back at me. He set up this elaborate prank and convinced Kelli to go along with it." "This is not a joke," Kevlar said, not able to keep his mouth shut anymore. "My teammate is missing, along with Kelli Colbert, and you're fucking laughing." There was silence on the other end of the line before Charles said a little uncertainly, "You're not kidding?" "No, we aren't kidding. We need to know everything that was said when you and the rest of the group decided to leave the river to go back to the resort," the commander ordered. "Holy shit. Okay, I'll tell you everything I can remember. Jesus...Nova's gonna be so upset about her brother." As Kevlar and the rest of the team listened to Charles tell them how Flash and Kelli came to be left behind-because everyone was eager to get back to the resort to resume their drinking and flirting, apparently-it became clear that the entire group had been very lucky. It was quite possible everyone had been targeted...but because they were inconsiderate and horny, they'd actually lucked out. For some reason, their driver brought them back to the resort, instead of to wherever Kelli and Flash were being held. It was also obvious Charles was now extremely upset about the fact his brother-in-law-to-be was missing. He wasn't faking his agitation over the situation and was now almost tripping over his words, eager to tell the commander and Flash's team anything and everything they wanted to know about the tubing trip. Including descriptions of the men who'd driven them there, and then the ones who'd been waiting to take them back to the resort. "Are they going to be okay?" Charles asked. "If we have anything to say about it, yes," the commander said. "What do we do now?" "You keep your asses at the resort. Do not leave the grounds again. The police are being called as we speak. Talk to them. Tell them everything you told me. Then get a flight back to the States as soon as the officers there say you're cleared to leave." "Are we in danger too?" Charles asked, sounding as if he was in shock. "We don't know. But it's better to get you back to the US as soon as possible." "Yeah. I need to get to Nova," Charles said quietly, as if talking to himself. The commander ended the call after briefly speaking with the security chief at the resort to make sure the police had been called, and that the groups Flash and Kelli had been with would be safe until they could get out of the country. "I can't believe Flash got kidnapped," Smiley said, clearly pissed. "Wait-if Hepworth didn't even know, how did you find out about Flash?" MacGyver asked the commander. "Because the kidnapper called my office to demand a ransom." Kevlar stared at his commander in disbelief. "He called you? How did he know who you were?" "No clue. But if Flash had his Navy ID on him-which we all know he probably did, because he's a stickler for that kind of thing-it was probably taken. The kidnapper obviously has some knowhow with computers, because he knew Flash was stationed here, and he called my office line. Not the general base number." "Has anyone called Tex? Can't he just track him and we can go and pick him up?" Safe asked. "He doesn't have his tracker on him," the commander said grimly. "Fuck!" "Damn it!" "Didn't he learn anything from the rest of us?" Kevlar's mind was spinning. He itched to get on a plane to Jamaica. To find his friend. It was one thing to be sent on a rescue mission for a stranger, or several strangers, but this was one of their own. Their brother. "Is he alive?" The question seemed to hang heavy in the air. The commander pressed his lips together. "I don't know. I asked for proof of life, but the kidnapper said the only proof of life I'd get was when he got his money and Flash was released." "How much did he ask for?" Blink asked. "Fifty thousand." Kevlar blinked in surprise. "That's it?" "Yes. But as you know, many Jamaicans live in extreme poverty. Fifty thousand dollars is more money than a lot of them can imagine making in a lifetime," the commander said. "And it's an amount he probably thought he could get," MacGyver added. "If he asked for ten million, he had to know he'd never get it." "So? What now? Are we paying it? Are we going to Jamaica? What?" Kevlar asked impatiently. "We're not paying it, but we're going to string this guy along. Give you six time to get to Jamaica. But if any of you get kidnapped, I'm going to be pissed," their commander said. "Their government has been made aware of the situation and we've all agreed to keep this hush-hush. The last thing they want is word getting out that tourists are still being kidnapped. The tourism industry has already taken a hit over there with the increase in violence." "When do we leave?" Blink asked. The commander looked at his watch. "Wheels up in three hours. Go home, kiss your women and kids, and meet back here at eighteen hundred." "I'll stay here and call Tex," Smiley volunteered. "Since I'm the only single one. I'll also research the area where Flash disappeared. Get the lay of the land. He and this Kelli woman are being held somewhere, I'll see if I can come up with possibilities. And if they aren't alive..." His voice trailed off. "He's alive," Kevlar said, his voice thick with emotion. "I don't know what happened, but if a woman was taken with him, my guess is that he would've done everything they asked of him, just to keep her safe. To bide his time. I'm guessing they've been stashed somewhere, and it'll be up to us to find them. No Tex. No trackers. Just some good old-fashioned detective work. Which is fine-we're more than hired muscle. We're smart. We can do this. We get our brother back." "Hooyah!" all six of the other men yelled...their commander included. "That's it. Right there, don't move," Flash told Kelli. They were kneeling on the metal floor of the bus and he was attempting to light the candle. Kelli was still terrified, but now that they had some sort of goal, something to do, she felt a little better. Flash had taken apart the nonfunctioning radio and, while she couldn't see him, she could hear him grunting, muttering under his breath, and swearing when something didn't go the way he'd hoped. He also gave her a running commentary of what he was doing while he was doing it, which she liked...since she couldn't see him. Currently he had the wires of the radio exposed, the batteries out, and was going to attempt to make some sparks that maybe, just maybe, they could use to light the candle. They were using the padding from the Band-Aid to hopefully catch the sparks, which would in turn light the padding on fire, and they could use that to then light the wick. It was her job to hold the Band-Aid close enough to the battery for the sparks to take hold, which was made more difficult by the complete darkness. She could only hold the Band-Aid still where Flash directed and hope his plan for light worked. Her hands shook, with both fear and nervousness, but she was very glad that Flash was letting her help. If he'd had her sit off to the side and do nothing, it would've hurt her feelings. Which was stupid, because she was definitely out of her element here and this was what Flash did for a living. Well, not really, but he had more experience at being held captive than she did. The fact that he saw her as an asset and not a liability meant a lot. No, it meant everything. He didn't treat her as if she was stupid or "less than." They were a team. Partners. And that made her feel so much better about the situation. "All right, here we go. Ready?" "Ready," Kelli confirmed, trying to control the shaking of her hands. The spark that was created when Flash touched the wire to the battery almost hurt her eyes. Going from pitch blackness to that quick flash of light was startling. "Holy shit, it worked!" Flash said a moment later, giddiness in his tone. "Scoot closer, Kelli, hold that bandage as close as you can." Doing as he asked, keeping her gaze where she thought she'd seen the spark, Kelli pressed her lips together in determination. This had to work. It had to. "Here we go," he warned. Kelli was a split-second too late trying to catch the spark on the tiny piece of gauze. They did it again and again, and Kelli missed the spark every time. After what seemed like the hundredth time, she let out a defeated breath and sat back. "It's no use. I can't do it." She wanted to cry. She'd been so hopeful that they'd be able to have some sort of light, but it was just too hard to try to catch that tiny spark, get it to land exactly where she needed it, on the miniscule piece of gauze from the Band-Aid. Tears sprang to her eyes, but it didn't make her vision go watery because she couldn't see a damn thing. "I can't do it," she repeated. "I'm sorry. How much air is down here, anyway?" she asked out of the blue. "We're going to die, aren't we?" She heard Flash shuffle, and then his hands were on her. He'd been facing her moments ago, both of them huddled around the radio and the candle, but now he was sitting next to her. Before she knew what he was doing, he'd lifted her, and she was sitting on his lap. In any other situation, she'd be pissed that a man touched her without her permission. That he'd touched her so intimately. But this was Flash. And this wasn't any kind of normal situation. Without a second thought, Kelli turned into him. She was sitting sideways across his lap, much like she'd been while in that tube on the river, which seemed like such a long time ago now. She leaned into him, put her arms around his shoulders and buried her face against his neck. "I'm sorry." That had Kelli frowning. "For what?" she mumbled into his skin, grateful for his warmth. Surprisingly, even though they were in the rainforest and she'd been hot earlier, being buried in the ground, without the sun shining on them, had chilled her to her bones. "For forgetting that you aren't used to this. That you aren't one of my teammates. That you have to be terrified. I think I forgot because you've been doing so well. You haven't lost your cool even once." "Inside, I'm a mess," Kelli admitted. "And that's why you impress me so much," Flash reassured her. He began rocking back and forth a little, and Kelli almost moaned with how good it felt to be held. The tears she'd desperately held back rolled down her face and dripped onto his shoulder. "Let it out, Kelli. I've got you." That was all it took for the dam to break. Kelli cried because she was scared. Because she was sick of the dark. Because she was hungry. Because, despite Flash's reassurances, she had no idea how anyone would be able to find them. Their kidnappers had obviously planned this meticulously. They'd stripped a bus and buried it in the jungle, for goodness sake. Then to further torture them, they'd purposely left a box full of ridiculous crap. This sucked! As she cried, Flash kept rocking. He stayed silent and let her express everything she was feeling through her tears. When she was all cried out, her head hurt, and she felt dehydrated and kind of sick. Flash shifted under her. Thinking he was getting uncomfortable, Kelli sat up and prepared to get off his lap, until she felt something on her face. Freezing, she realized Flash was using part of his shirt to dry her face. "Blow," he ordered, putting the material over her nose. In response, Kelli gently pushed his arm away from her. "I'm not blowing my nose into your shirt," she told him with as much force as she could muster. He chuckled, and she could feel the rumble all along her body. "I'd give you the cloth we found earlier, but it's got blood on it now. I wish I had a real tissue for you." "Yeah," Kelli responded, because she wished that too. If he did, they probably wouldn't be where they were right now. Leaning away from him slightly, she brought the hem of her coverup to her face and blew her nose. In any other situation, she'd be disgusted. But she felt better afterward, and it wasn't as if she was as clean and fresh as a daisy anymore. What was a little snot to add to this already fucked-up situation? "Better?" Flash asked as she leaned back against him. "Not really," she said honestly. "I know this situation seems hopeless, but it's not," he said. Kelli rolled her eyes. "Uh-huh," she told him without much conviction. "It's not. Let's go over the positives. I'll go first, then you. We have water." Kelli wanted to counter that with a snarky comment about how, yay, having water would only prolong their deaths, but she took a deep breath and tried not to be a negative Nelly. "We aren't alone." "Good one. This would really suck if you weren't here," Flash agreed. "It's not as if I'm doing anything," she felt obligated to say. "The hell you aren't. You being here is forcing me to keep my shit together. I probably would've gotten shot if you weren't. I would've attacked Jeckle and gotten shot by Heckle." To her amazement, Kelli found herself giggling. "Heckle and Jeckle. Those names are so stupid, and they sound so funny coming from you." "You got better names?" "No." She sobered. "They were careful not to say their real names in front of us." "I noticed that too. Doesn't matter. My team'll figure out who they are." "How?" "No clue. My forte is not computers and ferreting out information. I'm more of a muscle man. A man of action. Of getting physical shit done." "I think I'd rather be in this bus right now with someone like you than a computer geek," Kelli said. "You haven't met Tex. From what the ladies say, even with one leg and a couple decades on us, he's hot." Kelli laughed again. Hearing Flash say another man was hot was funny. "One leg?" she asked, when she had herself under control. "Yup. Okay, what else? Your head isn't bleeding anymore." Oh, they were back to listing positive things about their situation. "Um...we have cans of food? Maybe?" She wasn't so sure that was a positive, because even though Flash said he could open the cans with the spoon their kidnappers had left, they had no idea what was inside. "Yup. How about this, we have plenty of space to walk around. We aren't confined to a tiny room or space." Kelli hadn't thought about that. "Have you ever been confined in a small space?" She felt him shudder under her, and she tightened her arms around him. "Sorry, forget I asked." "No, it's okay. And yes. Trust me, this is much better." Kelli didn't ask him for details. The last thing she wanted to do was bring up bad memories at a time like this. "Um...you can make a weapon out of that shell they left us?" "I can," Flash agreed. "See? We have plenty of things to be positive about. After we get some rest, drink some water, and maybe see what's in those cans they left for us, we'll check out that manhole cover. See if we can open it." Kelli wasn't sure how they were going to do that, but she nodded anyway. "Think we can try again to light the candle? Do you still have the Band-Aid?" To her amazement, Kelli realized she was still clutching the stupid bandage in her hand. "Yeah." "Good. And I'm not just saying this to make you feel better-although I hope it does make you feel better. I once saw MacGyver do exactly what we're trying to do, use a battery and wires to make sparks to light a fire, and it took him five hundred and twelve attempts making sparks to get a flame. And he was using a piece of his shirt that had been soaked in a flammable liquid...something he'd found in the room we were locked in. No clue what it was, I didn't ask. But my point is that it took him forever, and he's MacGyver. We can do this, Kelli. Besides, what else do we have to do right now?" She wasn't so sure, but he had a good point. Although, she could probably sit on his lap all night and feel content. It wasn't a hardship to be surrounded by his heat and larger-than-life presence. "Okay, let's do this." "That'a girl." Before she could scoot off his lap, Flash gently grasped her shoulders. To Kelli's surprise, his lips brushed hers. He froze under her, and his muscles tensed. "Fuck. Sorry. Didn't mean...I was...shit. Sorry." "You're sorry for kissing me?" Kelli asked. "No. But I was aiming for your forehead. Which is stupid, because I can't see a damn thing. I just didn't mean to overstep." "Flash, I think we're past having to apologize for touching each other," Kelli told him. "Besides...it was nice." "Nice." Humor was back in his tone. "I guess I need to do better next time. Can't have you thinking my kisses are nice." Kelli chortled. "Love your laugh. It's much better than your tears. Come on, let's get this damn candle lit so we can see what kind of food Heckle and Jeckle left, then explore this damn bus and see if we can find anything else to help us." He sounded so positive. Truthfully, Kelli was glad for it. The last thing she'd want was to be stuck in this situation with someone who moaned and groaned and bitched nonstop. They moved back into position, kneeling with their heads nearly touching. Kelli touched Flash's hands to figure out where exactly to hold the gauze to hopefully catch a spark. "Here we go," Flash said. Kelli had no idea how many times he'd touched the wires to the battery, how many times sparks flew from the current, but she was seeing spots and her arms shook with the effort it took to keep them still and try to catch the falling sparks. It might've taken his friend MacGyver five hundred and twelve times to make fire, but it felt as if they'd tried at least double that. Just when Kelli was about to give up again, tell Flash that it was impossible...one of the sparks fell directly on the gauze. Automatically, she leaned forward and blew very gently on the Band-Aid. "That's it!" Flash crowed. "Move back a little, let me get the wick in there. Easy...one more little blow... We did it!" The wick of the candle flared to life-and the sense of relief hit Kelli hard. She sat back on her butt and stared at the little flame. The candle was fairly large, both thick and tall, and while she had no idea how long it would stay lit, having any light, even for a little while, felt like the most amazing accomplishment ever. "We did it!" Flash said again, his features lit by the candle he was holding. He had a huge grin on his face, and Kelli couldn't help but smile back at him. Then he leaned forward and kissed her again. Not on the forehead either. But purposely on the lips. "We did it," he whispered a third time, against her lips. Kelli wanted to throw her arms around him again. Wanted to feel him under her, around her. But he was already moving back, getting to his feet and looking around. Moving more slowly, Kelli stood as well. As naturally as if they'd done it a million times, Flash held his arm up and Kelli slid in next to him, wrapping an arm around his waist as his came down around her shoulders. They fit together perfectly. "It's not exactly the Taj Mahal, but we can work with this," Flash said. Kelli let out a snort of laughter. "Yeah, right." Flash shrugged. "I just...now that we have light, everything seems brighter...literally and figuratively." The crazy thing was, Kelli realized he was right. Being able to see had changed her entire perspective as well. Now all they needed was for his friends to come and get them the hell out of there. Title: A Mother's Rewind Tomorrow In "A Mother's Rewind Tomorrow" by CrushReel, Flora Hayes's life takes a tragic turn after a fatal car accident. However, her final moments reveal a chilling glimpse of a future fraught with peril for her children two decades ahead. Exploring themes of resilience and sacrifice, this CEO drama intricately weaves elements of modernity and time travel into a compelling narrative set within the grandeur of a mansion and the intensity of an office environment. As Flora grapples with the aftermath of her premonition, the story delves deep into familial bonds and the weight of destiny. What sets "A Mother's Rewind Tomorrow" apart is its masterful blend of suspense and emotional depth, captivating readers with its intricate plot twists and nuanced character development. Discover the gripping saga at CrushReel, where this ongoing tale awaits those eager to embark on a journey through time and motherly love.