She turned on the water, washing her hands. “Washing up.”
“Fine. Just speed it up.”
Maybe this guy would tell her why they were holding her. If not this guy, maybe she could get the other guy to tell her. Or maybe not.
She opened the door and was surprised by a black bag they pulled over her face, blocking all light. She jerked away, but the guy was too strong and fast. Her wrists were caught behind her back, but the bindings weren’t as sharp or as painful this time.
Where were they taking her? Maybe she should have fought more. There was a possibility they would have killed her, but right now, with her hands bound behind her back, the likelihood of her making it out of this alive was diminishing by the second.
Chapter 4
Garnet wasn’tsure how long they’d traveled or which direction they’d gone. When she was finally allowed out of the back of the truck, the place didn’t look like Beirut. Actually, it didn’t seem like they were in Lebanon because it was way too quiet. Where had they taken her?
She had no names for the men who held her captive, so she tagged them in her mind as Tall, Short, and Grumpy. Tall wasn’t as nice as Short, and it didn’t seem like Grumpy had traveled with them to this new location. Tall shoved her, telling her to get inside. Short had been the one who’d cut her bindings off earlier and allowed her to use the restroom.
She still had no clue why they’d taken her. Were they going to force her to do something?
The bindings on her wrists came off, and she rubbed her hands and wrists. The blood had dried, leaving flakes that came off as she massaged her skin.
“Use the restroom.” Short pointed to the room to her right. She nodded and headed over, closing the door behind her. There were no windows in this room, so they didn’t have to worry about her escaping.
After using the toilet, she washed her hands and then her face. The towel she used was rough. The soap was likely homemade. There wasn’t any decoration in the bathroom to indicate where she was, and without a window, she couldn’t see any buildings or streets to give her a clue where they were.
She opened the door slowly, hoping to sneak out, but Tall was there, an angry scowl on his face. He pointed to the left. She moved out in front of him, hoping to avoid more confrontation but knowing something was going to happen that would push her too far.
“Sit,” Tall barked when they moved into a room with only a desk and a chair.
If she asked why they wanted her, would they tell her why? She didn’t want to think about the depraved things they might do to her.
Then Short entered the room and set a laptop computer down in front of her. She was both glad and terrified. They weren’t going to use her for sex, but they wanted her to hack into a computer somewhere. It would go against everything she stood for.
“We need access to the US military systems,” Tall said.
She stared up at him, unsure how to break it to him. “There are multiple systems, some of them closed with no way in. I can’t just break into the military’s system because there isn’t one cohesive system.”
He slapped his hand on the desk, and she jumped back. His lips curled with anger, and his eyes filled with hate. “You’ll break in and get us what we want.”
The ache in her head grew, and exhaustion still clawed at her. This man didn’t understand what the military systems were like, and she didn’t even know which one he wanted her to break into. It wasn’t like she could just get into the weapons systems and have access to all the weapons on ships and airplanes. Thesystem used to control drones was separated from the system used to control weapons on naval ships. The systems for planes were totally separated from everything.
“What do you want?” She might as well figure out what they were doing so that if she escaped, she could inform the government what these jerks wanted.
Tall’s hand flew, raking across her face, causing her head to snap to the right. Pain exploded through her face and head and then down her neck.
Being beaten wouldn’t help her focus. Breaking into military sites would take great concentration. Focus was key to hacking, especially into systems she designed to be unbreakable.
“Hey, hey,” Short said as he moved between them. “Don’t do that. Don’t hit her. Just let her work. Maybe she’s right, and she can’t just break into one system and get what we want.”
Tall threw up his hands and paced away. “They told us it would be easy. We just have to get the codes. It should be easy. Maybe she doesn’t know what she’s doing.”
Short put his hands on Tall’s shoulder. “No, they said she was the best. If she can’t do it, no one can, that’s what they said.”
Now Garnet had to know who had said that about her. Was someone in the government on the side of evil? Who would do such a thing?
Bean sleptduring the last part of the flight, waking when the plane touched down. Since they’d taken off in the States, their mission had become more defined.
Too much was popping off on this side of the globe, and they’d been chosen to come in and take over the rescue of a computer nerd who’d been working at the embassy. It seemed weird to Bean that a computer person would be taken instead of a diplomat. It wasn’t like they could make much change. If they’dkidnapped the ambassador, they might actually get something to happen.
He took a moment and stretched before getting into the vehicle that would take them to the embassy. The drive over was quick, and he started reviewing the information they had on the way over.
