she was alive. Or did it? She hadn’t mentioned a date or how long she’d been in captivity. They could see it and assume it was months old.
Tears smarting her eyes, she let Crooked Nose shove her back into the cave. He hovered near the front, talking to one of the men. Kim sank down onto her blanket, frustrated. She hated being trapped here. She hated being at their complete and utter mercy. And she hated the feeling of helplessness that she carried with her daily, knowing this was her life now.
Chapter 2
Ethan “Everglades” Flannigan frowned as he shoved some of his clothing into his oversized duffle bag. There was still a little sand at the bottom from his last op to the African desert, but he’d only be trekking through more when they landed in Afghanistan.
His gaze flicked around his sparse, masculine bedroom. He wasn’t exactly sad to leave since it wasn’t like he had a girlfriend waiting at home for him. Half his buddies were now in relationships. Hell, his SEAL team leader was engaged. Ethan dated occasionally and had fun going out with his buddies to the bars, but damn. He felt restless lately. Like he was missing out on something. His friends seemed content, so he didn’t know what had crawled up his ass. The other single guys on his team were happy.
He scrubbed a hand across the stubble on his jaw and looked at the remaining clothes stacked in neat piles on his bed. Socks. Boxers. Extra tee-shirts. He grabbed his sunscreen and toothbrush, shoving them into a Ziploc bag with a couple of other toiletries.
Hell.
How many missions had he deployed on over the years? He and his SEAL team had rescued countless civilians, but this mission was personal. He was itching to go and wished they could get on the damn C-17 tonight. To rescue the two American women who’d been kidnapped. Ethan’s teammate Grayson “Ghost” Douglass had met his girlfriend Hailey when the team was on an op at Bagram Airfield. She’d nearly been killed when an explosion had rocked her building, and her friend had vanished. It was only after a few days and complete search of the damaged building that the U.S. military realized with certainty that she’d been kidnapped. Along with another innocent woman.
Had they been raped or tortured? Starved? Beaten?
His gut churned. He didn’t even know the women, but his protective side made him want to rush in, guns blazing, and get them the hell out of harm’s way. The same terrorist cell had killed multiple U.S. servicemembers in Afghanistan. They’d blown up a damn building. He wanted to make sure they paid for the lives they’d taken and hurt they’d caused.
His phone buzzed on his nightstand, and he saw Ghost’s name flash on the screen.
“What’s up?” Ethan asked, moving around his bedroom as he spoke.
“Just making sure you’re okay. You tore out of Jackson and Taryn’s place like it was on fire.” Ethan frowned. They’d all been at a barbecue earlier that night when word from the CO had come in that they were going wheel’s up tomorrow morning. It had dampened the mood, because every man there was ready to tear the hearts out of the bastards who’d kidnapped two American women. Hailey had been beside herself—both knowing that her friend might be found and knowing that her boyfriend was going into harm’s way. Although no one deserved to be kidnapped, it was rough seeing the effect it had on the victim’s friends or family.
“I’m surprised you aren’t busy comforting Hailey right now. She was pretty upset earlier.”
“She cried herself to sleep,” Grayson admitted in a low voice. “I got her calmed down, and she’s out cold on the sofa. I would move her to bed, but I’m trying to pack.”
“Hell. I hope this intel is solid,” Ethan muttered.
“It is. The CO has been on this for weeks. You know that as well as I do. We were just waiting on the final word to move in. They pinpointed her location after the first video came out.”
“We have no idea what condition she’s in or when that video was taken,” Ethan said.
“Shit,” Grayson said. “Turn on your TV.”
Frowning, Ethan crossed his bedroom and walked to the living room in the small house he rented in a few long strides. “Why? Are they showing Kimberly again?”
Kimberly Turner was one of the Americans who’d been kidnapped. Hailey’s friend. Although he’d never met her, Hailey had told Ethan about her