Page 9 of Protecting Josie
She frowned and looked toward the door once more, then back at him. She curled her fingers into a fist and swung it in the air.
“Oh, them? It’s fine. They aren’t going to kill me. I’m too valuable.”
The woman growled deep in her throat once more. As if arguing with him.
“Did you hear me? Talking to my teammate?” he asked.
Her chin dipped.
“I could’ve left tonight. They were ready to implement their plan. But I’m not leaving without you. I can take whatever that asshole wants to do to me, but what Ican’ttake is knowing you’re still here while I’m free. Not happening, Spirit. So tomorrow, I’ll deal with whatever they have in store for me, then we’ll get the fuck out of here. Okay?”
Her eyes were big in her face as she simply stared at him.
“Right. I need you to take this,” Blink said as he reached into his ear and took out the tiny receiver. “I can’t have it in my ear when they come to beat on me some more. They’ll find it, and then we’llreallybe in a world of hurt. Put it in, and if you hear my team talking, let me know. I realize you can’t talk back to them, but if you tap on it, they’ll hear and know we’ve got ears, even if we can’t respond.”
The woman didn’t move. Her gaze went from his to the receiver in his hand, but she made no attempt to come toward him.
Internally sighing, he wished he could touch this woman just once. Reassure her that they reallyweregoing to be rescued from this prison. But he had no idea what she’d been through. It was possible being touched was the last thing she wanted from anyone.
Thoughts of this tiny woman being at the mercy of the assholes who’d been beating on him for the last few days made a red haze descend over Blink’s vision. But he forced himself to stay calm. She needed him in control, not out of his mind with anger.
He reached between the bars and placed the small receiver that looked like a little earplug on the floor. Shecouldn’t know how hard it was for him to give up the connection to his team. For a SEAL, communication was everything. And being in the dark about the plan made his skin crawl, but it couldn’t be helped. If his captors discovered the device, he was as good as dead. And it would suck to be killed right before a rescue.
Blink moved away from the bars and lay down on his back once more. The position took some of the pressure off his aching ribs. He didn’t know how much longer he had before the assholes came back to torture him some more. But he’d be ready. He had no choice.
CHAPTER FOUR
Josie stared at the small black device for what seemed like hours. Nate hadn’t moved since lying down, and finally she moved across the cell and snatched it up before returning to her place at the wall.
Glancing at what looked like an AirPod but smaller, memories rushed over her, almost painful in their intensity. How she’d used something like this on the plane ride to Kuwait. The music she’d listened to. How naïve and carefree she’d been, with no idea of the hell that awaited her.
Closing the door firmly on her memories, Josie put the device in her ear. She heard nothing. No static. No one talking. Nothing.
Looking over at Nate, she bit her lip and thought about what he’d done. His people were there to rescue him. He could’ve left hours ago. But he hadn’t. He’d stayed. Because ofher. Thinking about what he’d done made her chest hurt. Even knowing he was probably going to be freakingwaterboarded, he’d actually told his friend, teammate, whatever, to come back later, when they had a plan to get her out too.
It was overwhelming. Unbelievable.
She wanted to trust that rescue reallywason the way. But given how her life had gone lately, she was still having a hard time wrapping her head around how much things had changed from the day-to-day boredom and terror she’d experienced for who the hell knew how long.
For the first time in weeks, she allowed herself to think that maybe, just maybe, she’d get out of here. It was likely she’d probably die in the escape attempt, but if she was going to die here anyway, she’d rather die doing anything she could to escape the people who’d locked her away than simply give up and fade into obscurity, with no one ever knowing where she went.
Not that she had too many people back home who’d bother filing a missing person’s report. Maybe the guy she worked for would wonder why she’d never reported back in after her vacation. But he probably just assumed she’d decided to quit. And she hadn’t told anyone where she was going, because she didn’t have anyone close enough to really care.
If someone investigated, they’d see that she’d used her passport and entered Kuwait, but what could a police officer from the US do? Nothing. Someone would have to talk to the Kuwaiti police, and they probably weren’t too concerned about a missing American woman.
But the Armyshould’vemissed Ayden. They’d have done an investigation, and maybe, just maybe, they would’ve found out about her. But then again, she and Ayden hadn’t hung outwith any of his military buddies after her arrival. That was yet another red flag she’d ignored.
Trying to stop beating herself up for the decisions she’d made in the past, which she couldn’t change now, Josie concentrated on the present. There wasn’t much water in the cup after giving what she’d had to Nate, but she picked it up and swallowed the mouthful that had accumulated. She needed all the help she could get if she’d be expected to run when she got out of her cell.
How the hell were they getting out though? Josie had no idea how that was going to go down. Would his friends dress like their captors and literally come through the door? Would they shoot their way inside? How would they unlock the cells?
She had so many questions and no answers, so she did what she’d done over the last few weeks to try to stay sane. She closed her eyes and retreated deep within herself. It was easier to be numb and think about nothing than about all the horrible things that had already happened, and might still happen in the future.
Jerking awake, Josie had no idea how much time had passed, but once again there were men in Nate’s cell. This time they had no chair, but one man held Nate’s feet against the floor, another held one arm and a third held the other.
The man who spoke English was there as well. “You wanted some water?” he asked with an evil smile. “We’ll give it to you.”
A fourth man knelt at Nate’s head and covered his face with a filthy towel, pulling it tight—and the leader proceeded to pour a bucket of water over the cloth.
