Kidnapped by a SEAL - Makenna Jameison Page 0,7

the kitchen for a couple of hours while the other women were taking care of their children. Then after I’d finished cleaning up, I went back to my room before I snuck out to find you. At first, I was just going to leave you some bread, but one of the guards accidentally dropped a set of keys. I found them in the hallway.”

“They’ll notice they’re missing,” Emily said in a clipped tone.

“Yes. But they won’t say anything right away because they’ll get in trouble for losing them. I’m sure they’ll be searching the perimeter while they do the patrol. We’ve got a little time.”

Emily nodded, her mind whirling. Adrenaline coursed through her veins. At first, she’d been shocked when the teenager had shown up at her door, but now? She was wide awake and alert, ready to go. Part of her wanted to try and take out the guard patrolling the compound and steal his weapon, but they’d heard two voices before, not just one. She probably couldn’t fight off two armed men—not in her weakened state. And she couldn’t risk this child’s life.

“They’re coming back around,” Emily said quietly. “I hear voices.”

“Yes. After they’ve passed and are out of earshot, we need to get over the wall.”

“Was anything in those barrels we hid behind earlier?” Emily asked.

“I’m not sure, why?”

“If they’re light enough, we might be able to carry one and use it to climb over. Or roll it across the ground and then stand it up to climb on. Of course, then they’ll notice that the barrels are out of place and will know right where to come looking for us.”

“We’ll have to try to get out on our own first,” the girl said. “They would notice if we moved the barrels. There should be places to hide without them seeing us. There has to be another spot to climb over.”

“Shhh,” Emily whispered. “I hear voices.”

The voices seemed to be getting louder, and Emily froze.

Had they heard the two women whispering?

Her heart pounded in her chest, and her palms began to sweat. This was it, her one chance to get out of here. If they locked her back up, she feared she’d never get free. They’d have eyes on her constantly, and she’d be raped and possibly killed by the bastard running this place.

She fumbled in the darkness, looking for a weapon. Even if there was one, she couldn’t see a damn thing. She felt helpless. All that separated them from the outside was an unlocked door. One wrong move, and they could burst inside.

A voice shouted in Arabic, and then suddenly there was the sound of footsteps running in their direction. She glanced around frantically in the dark as the men came closer, but there was nowhere to hide in this small building. Nowhere to go.

The door suddenly burst open, and she screamed before everything went black.

Chapter 4

Ryker strode into the main building at Little Creek in his desert camo and combat boots, his duffle bag slung over his shoulder. He dropped off his gear, his biceps bulging from the heavy load, and headed straight into the bull pen for a briefing from their CO.

Hunter was already standing at the front of the room, eyes narrowed as maps and satellite imagery popped up on the large flat screen TV mounted on the wall.

“They found her,” Ryker said, eyeing his team leader. It wasn’t a question. He knew in his gut the reason their team had been called up for an op was because they’d found the missing American woman.

The woman whose necklace he’d been inadvertently carrying around with him all this time, hidden and forgotten about in his damn pocket.

“Affirmative,” Hunter said. “She’s being held at a terrorist compound an hour outside of Kabul. We believe she was moved around quite a bit over the past month before they brought her there two days ago.”

“Shit.” Ryker’s gut churned, and he scrubbed a hand over the stubble on his jaw. Was she being passed around among the men? Hidden for the past month until it was safe to bring her to her final destination? A single American woman being held captive in the Middle East was worrisome for a whole shitload of reasons. The fact that she’d been in enemy hands for an entire month made his blood boil.

He didn’t even know the woman, but he sure the hell knew what terror cells were capable of. What men who were monsters would do to an innocent woman.

“Do