Page 2 of Protecting Josie
When she’d first been taken captive, she’d screamed. Then begged and pleaded. But nothing she’d said or done had made a lick of difference to the men who’d taken her.
Memories flooded back as she watched the man in the next cell lay back down and close his eyes.
Ayden, her boyfriend, was in the military. Had been on R&R in Kuwait, and he’d begged her to fly over to see him. Things between them hadn’t been great for a long while, but Josie didn’t want to send him a “Dear John” letter while hewas deployed. Didn’t want to break up with him when he needed to concentrate on what he was doing.
She’d told him no; it was crazy for her to fly halfway across the world to see him during a short break, but he’d been extremely insistent. He’d even talked his sister and mother into trying to convince her. Genevieve—or Gen, as she liked to be called—and Millie had succeeded where Ayden hadn’t. Gen, his sister, had told her all about her own trip to visit her brother a few months prior. She’d made it sound wonderful…and perfectly safe. And Josie agreed that seeing a part of the world she’d probably never have a reason to visit ever again sounded kind of fun.
So, she’d agreed.
Even though her gut screamed not to, she’d taken time off work and gotten on a plane.
Even knowing Ayden was sleeping with a woman in his platoon, she’d still gone.
At first, things between them were good. She’d even briefly reconsidered breaking up with him. But after a few days, he’d turned back into the guy she’d come to know throughout their relationship. Selfish, derogatory, vain.
When he suggested they go on a boat ride so he could show her the area, Josie was already over the “vacation.” Even if that hadn’t been the case, she didn’t think a boat ride was a good idea. She knew enough about the area to know the waters around Kuwait weren’t exactly safe. Of course, Ayden just scoffed and talked down to her. Told her she didn’t know what she was talking about. Said she was a homebody who hadn’t ever been anywhere, who didn’t know anything about the world.
In the end, she’d let him pressure her into it. She’d gotten on the boat he’d rented for the day in her bikini and cover-up, pretending that everything was fine. Except it wasn’t. Ayden had driven recklessly, showing off, and wanting to see how close he could get to Iran.
Stupid. So damnstupid.
The boat motor died, he hadn’t been able to restart it…and the next thing they knew, a boat was coming at them, fast. Josie had been frozen in fear. The men in the boat didn’t give them a chance to say or do much of anything.
Ayden held his hands up to show them he was unarmed—and was shot on the spot.
Two men boarded the boat, threw Ayden’s body overboard, and hauled her ontotheirboat before heading back the way they came.
Josie had been terrified she was about to be assaulted, was reeling from what happened to Ayden. She’d begged them to take her back. Told them she knew nothing, was nobody, but all the men did was laugh. When they arrived at a ramshackle dock, they’d hauled her onshore, not caring that they were hurting her as they half carried, half dragged her through the city streets. She’d lost her flip-flops along the way and the stones under her feet left bruises and cuts that had taken weeks to heal.
They’d brought her to the cell where she still resided, and threw her in, seemingly amused by the terror on her face. A few men entered and beat her, yelling all the while. Josie had screamed and begged, to no avail.
The only positive throughout her entire ordeal was that she hadn’t been raped. She didn’t know why. Supposed itdidn’t matter. The men left her on the concrete floor, much as they had the man now in the cell next to hers, bleeding and hurting.
Someone came back the next day, threw a little metal cup at her, along with a piece of bread. He returned off and on for the next few weeks or so, but then the visits to her cell stopped entirely. Josie didn’t know why. It was a relief…but no visits also meant no food.
At four foot nine, Josie had never been a big person. Now with no food for who knew how long, and only water dripping ever so slowly down the wall into her cup to sustain her, she was nothing but skin and bones.
The bikini, which had fit so perfectly back in Vegas when she’d bought it, hung off her gaunt frame. The cute little pink cover-up that made her feel so pretty was tattered and torn. It was also a muddy brown color now, the spaghetti straps constantly slipping off her bony shoulders.
And her hair…Josie didn’t even want to think about what it looked like. The blonde strands were caked with dirt and who knew what else from the floor of her prison. She’d done her best to comb through it with her fingers to try to keep it from clumping together, but the longer she was here, the less she cared. Her finger and toenails were cracked and had black gunk caked underneath.
She was a shell of the woman she used to be.
More animal than human.
She was going to die here. One day, her captors would come in and be surprised to find a dead body lying in the cell. Or maybe they wouldn’t be. Maybe that was their goal all along. It wasn’t as if they could get any money for her. Or useher to exchange for someone the United States was holding captive. She was simply a stupid tourist who’d made the colossal mistake of getting on a damn boat with a cocky soldier.
She’d wondered more than once what Millie and Gen were going through. They had to have been notified by now that Ayden had disappeared. Had his friends told their superior officers that he and Josie had gone out for a boat ride? Did they even know? Had the boat floated back into Kuwaiti waters? Had Ayden’s mom told anyone that Josie was visiting her son?
She had no idea. Millie had never liked Josie much, though she had no idea why. Josie worked hard, minded her business, and was polite to everyone she met. And yet, Millie just hadn’t taken to her. Maybe she thought no one was good enough for her son. It made sense, she supposed, considering the fact that Ayden had always been a mama’s boy.
The sound of the man in the next cell snoring slightly brought Josie back to the present. She had a tendency to get lost in memories and her thoughts…because what else did she have to do? Time crawled here. She had no idea if it was night or day. She could hear life going on as usual outside the walls of her prison. In the early days of her incarceration, she’d yelled and screamed, trying to get someone’s attention, but all that did was make one of her captors come in and scream ather…and one time, enter her cell and beat the hell out of her. That had ended any desire she’d had to bring attention to herself.
Her eyes had adjusted to the low light long ago, and Josiecould see the man fairly clearly. She figured she was part mole now, living in the darkness and filth as she did.
The man had a beard that wasn’t bushy enough to have been growing more than a few weeks, a mustache, and fairly full lips. His fingers were long, and he had large biceps. He was wearing a T-shirt and a pair of camouflage pants, and that was it.
Her attention was drawn to his toes. It was silly, but his skin seemed to glow. He wasn’t covered in dirt, as she was. He looked…clean. And looking at his clean feet made Josie’s heart clench. It wouldn’t be long before he was just as dirty as her.
