Her hand patted violently at her empty hip, but she didn’t have her gun. She grabbed the water pitcher on the table and careened it at his head, showering him with water. “I’m going to give you a thousand lashes before I beat you, stone you, rip the child from your wife’s womb, hold you down to be sexually assaulted, and try to force you to sell out your country before you barter me for some other prisoner.” She brought her shaking hand to her mouth in an attempt to shove back what she had said.
Her mind disappeared. The wood table was rough against her back. Tied to the table with cloth straps, el-Saab forced a stick between her teeth and held her down. She saw a polished stick in a woman’s hand. She forced it inside and dug until…until her baby was gone.
Ian Chase’s arms wrapped around her. Whispering in her ear, he said, “Come on, let’s get you out of here.”
The man laughed. “Hmm, we broke her once. Perhaps I should show you what works.”
Gwen gasped for air, wanting to vomit. There was nothing left for her. She was desolate and broken. This would shut the door between her and Troy. Her career was gone. Everything was gone.
“You son of a bitch. You’re here because she deserves answers. Shut your mouth before I blow your head off,” Kip roared in return.
Gwen refocused and saw the man hadn’t budged from his seat. A closer look revealed Zach was holding his gun pointed directly at him.
“Gwen, this is CIA agent Suhail el-Saab.” Martin’s gray eyes glared at the agent.
She scanned each of the Chase executive’s faces. “Once more, I wasn’t asked if I wanted something,” she muttered. Her chest ached. If Ian wasn’t supporting her, she’d collapse.
“We’re sorry,” Wes said in response.
“Now that I’m here, I’m not leaving.”
Ian lifted his chin, and Wes vacated his seat for Gwen. He held the chair, and when she sat, Ian returned to the head of the table. “Suhail, start talking. One more out-of-line comment, and you will have a construction accident with a loose window.”
Goosebumps erupted over her body. “Why me?” she asked the sad, simple question.
Suhail smirked at her. “I couldn’t have cared less who you were. We received intel that a group of Marines were in the area. You filled my need for more credibility. By the time we got to where you were, you managed to pick off four of the rebels as the two you were with escaped. Who knew a woman could shoot?”
Gwen had nothing left to even react.
Zach used his left hand and slammed el-Saab’s head into the table. “I’m losing patience. One more nasty word, and I’ll remind you how well she can shoot.”
“All right. At that point, the only feasible thing was to take you. The caliph took one look at you, and he wanted to keep you. The rest was the order of things.”
“The order of things? She was an American and a Marine. You did nothing to help her!” Martin said.
“I got the caliph to let her share his bed. It brought her some comfort. And when we had a chance to trade her, I convinced the caliph to do so. They had no idea I was CIA too. I had no idea they wanted her to pay for something. I thought it was a rescue attempt. But, after all, she’s like a cat; she managed to live.”
This isn’t living. This is dying by inches.Gwen pushed herself up from the table and fled the room, slamming the door behind her. Kip and Martin followed on her heels.
* * *
Fani was fussingover Troy when Trask joined them. “How are you feeling?”
“Do you know how many times an hour I’m asked that question? Did you see these?” Troy waved the stack of letters Gwen put together for him.
Trask smiled. “We have boxes of them, here and at each branch plus at GNN. You did good. More than good.”
Troy looked up at the clock. “Gwen’s been gone quite a while. Have you seen her?”
“Yeah, she was working diligently at her desk. I’ll check in a couple of minutes,” he smiled.
Fani waved Trask close to look at him. “Troy was telling me how hard you’ve been working. How much time are you spending away from your family? You wife must miss you. Are you eating?” She opened her arms wide. “I will bring you food.”
“Thank you, Mrs. Bremen. Julian and your son gave me an opportunity where I make it home every night. When I worked for him on Bravo Team, we could be gone weeks on end. He is a very insightful boss.”
“Thanks,” Troy sighed.
Chapter 36
