“In this case…what you heard probably wasn’t even the half of it.”
Despite all I’ve seen, from the look on Joey’s face, I don’t want to know what comes next.
“For almost a year of their time in Hell, there were three of them. Until one of the fuckwits threw Ripper into the hole. They told Ry and Dax he’d broken his neck.”
My tired brain puts the pieces together mid bite, and I drop the crust onto the plate. “This Isaad…he’s American? He’sSpecial Forces? What the hell was he doing working for Faruk?”
Ford gives me a look that says I’m not firing on all cylinders. “You know better than any of us how to break a man.”
“You’re telling me Faruk turned a fucking Special Forces operator and kept him prisoner for six years?”
“That’s exactly what I’m telling you. This guy helped us get out, Nomar. Without him, none of us would be here. Not even you.”
“Lisette had to know,” I say, dropping my head into my hands. “Why didn’t she say—”
“No.” The strength in Joey’s voice shocks me enough to look up. “Lisette was a prisoner too. He—Faruk—controlledeverything.His men walked around like they owned the place, but the women…I saw seven? Maybe eight? They weren’t free. Someone escorted Lisette and Mateen to the lab in the basement twice a day. And waited outside until we were done. Even if she did know about Ripper, she couldn’t have done…anything.”
Fuck. Joey’s right. I know better. I’ve seen, firsthand, how years of conditioning can break a person.
Ford picks up his mug and heads for the kitchen. “Need more coffee, buttercup?”
She shakes her head and wraps her arms around her knees. If I knew her better, I’d try to comfort her. But I’d just make things worse.
The tablet beeps again. “Last call,” Ryker says. “Thermals show twenty-three signals, but we don’t know how well the scanner penetrates into the basement. We could be looking at double that number.”
Joey stifles a small sound and shrinks further into the leather cushions. In two seconds, Ford’s back at her side. “Nomar can monitor comms. Let’s go into the bedroom. You don’t have to listen to this.”
“Yes, I do,” she whispers. “I know the compound. And shit, Ford. Faruk had me for six days. Isaad’s been there for sixyears. I need to see this through.”
The two link fingers as Ryker’s voice comes through the speaker again. “Let’s go get our brother back.”
“Hooah,” another man says.
Followed immediately by two more voices. “Hooyah.”
Ford taps the screen and adds, “Oorah.”
Army. Navy. Marines. Their battle cries are legend, and though my Army service record is so fucking classified, there are only ten people in the whole goddamn country who know about it, I add my own quiet “hooah.”
The minutes drag so slowly, every second feels like an hour. Joey’s gaze is pinned to the tablet, where half a dozen green blips move around the property. Ford keeps rubbing her back, deep lines etched around his eyes. We’re getting too old for this life.
“He’s not out here.” On screen, Ryker’s green blip moves toward the house.
“Wait,” Wren says. “Stop. There’s…something. Where are you, Team Leader?”
“Twenty-five meters west-northwest of the front door.”
“Hold position.” On the right side of the screen, the view changes. Thermal imaging shows a faint reddish glow not far from Ryker’s location.
Joey jerks, sitting up so quickly, Ford loses his grip on his coffee cup and it tumbles to the floor. “I need to talk to her. Right now,” she says.
Ford opens a private comms channel. “Wren, Joey needs to talk to you.”
“Go for it, doc.”
“Um…Faruk has a well,” Joey says, her voice trembling. “The first day, he showed it to me. He said if I didn’t help Mateen, he’d throw me down there. With…the scorpions. There were marks on the walls. Like…someone had been tracking the days. So many days…”
“Oh God.” Wren says softly, then clears her throat. “Team Leader? Right in front of you. Maybe half a meter. Is there some sort of cover? Like you’d find on a manhole?”
