“I’m lucky to have her,” Jackson said with a smirk.
“Touché.”
Logan “Hurricane” Hudson and Troy “T-Rex” Harrison walked in together, talking in low voices. “The gang’s all here,” Troy quipped.
“We’re meeting with the CO first,” Blake told them. “Drop your gear, and we’ll head down to the bullpen. It sounds like he’s got some updates.”
“He’s pissed,” Ethan said.
“Everyone’s pissed,” Grayson said. “One of the hostages is dead.”
The mood in the locker room sobered. The mission had already gone wrong before it had even begun. For months they’d planned on moving in and rescuing two women, not one. If anything, the op was even more urgent now. Rather than waiting for a ransom to be paid, the terrorists had killed a hostage. If they didn’t move in quickly enough, the same thing could happen to Kimberly.
Ethan moved away from the wall, punching his hand with his fist. Adrenaline surged through him, overtaking the exhaustion he’d felt when walking in. “Enough shooting the shit. Let’s roll.”
Chapter 3
Kimberly looked up from her spot on the ground as the man who usually guarded her walked in the cave entrance. “Come! We’re moving. Take the blanket.”
Her heart pounding, she rose from the ground and grabbed the dirty blanket she’d been sitting on. After they’d taken the video, they’d done nothing for the entire morning. No one had brought her food or water. No one had spoken to her. She’d barely even heard the sound of their low voices outside the cave.
Crossing toward him, she squinted as she moved into the bright sunlight. It had to be afternoon by now. “Water?” she asked.
“We go to river.”
The men she’d seen eating this morning were grabbing the gear they’d packed up, but she didn’t see Crooked Nose or the two men who’d been there filming the video. Had they moved ahead to the new location? Taken the blonde woman with them?
She followed behind her captor, listening to the other men murmuring behind her. Something had happened. They were all too quiet. Too secretive. Normally they spoke freely in front of her when moving to a new location, knowing she couldn’t understand most of what they said in Farsi. And even if she could, who would she tell?
She was their prisoner. They seemed to think the U.S. government would pay her ransom, but she knew they didn’t negotiate with terrorists. Unless her own family came up with the funds, the money would never materialize. And she knew her parents would follow the guidance of the military and State Department. Even if they magically raised whatever amount had been demanded, they’d follow the direction of the government and refuse to pay.
Which meant her only hope was for the military to go in and get her. The Army’s Delta Force soldiers. A Navy SEAL team. If anyone tracked her to the mountains, it would be the Special Forces.
Would her kidnappers upload the video online? Would they send it to some Middle Eastern television network like Al Jazeera? Had the entire world seen it now? Her only hope was that her picture and video were broadcast everywhere.
They walked for ten minutes, Kim growing thirstier as her stomach rumbled. The sun beat down on her face, and she wanted to rinse off her dusty and dirty uniform in the river. Wash the grime from her skin. Normally, they at least fed her some flatbread or rice for breakfast. Drinking the river water wasn’t smart without purification tablets, but she’d survived on the water they’d given her so far.
The guy in front of her looked to the right, and Kimberly followed his gaze before gasping. In the distance, she saw a body lying on the ground. A body with blonde hair. A woman’s figure. Western clothes.
Turning to the side, she hunched over and vomited.
The men behind her started arguing loudly, and a rough hand yanked her up, forcing her to march on. Her stomach roiled, and she heaved again. She’d had no food or water, so it was only bile. She wiped the back of her hand across her mouth, feeling dizzy as they urged her onward.
Had they murdered the blonde intentionally? Was she sick or injured and finally succumbed?
Kim would never know, because they were marching her hurriedly toward the river. She stumbled, feeling dizzy, but righted herself. They’d hurt that poor woman every night. It was horrific and awful to see her body, but at least she wasn’t suffering anymore.
An hour later, Kim heard the sound of water before