“This is about what happened in Syria,” he said in shock, his voice completely void of emotion. “It all makes sense now.”
“What? What makes sense?” Coop asked, clearly frustrated.
“The woman in the picture is Lisa Warren,” Jake explained. “She was the CIA liaison assigned to Trevor’s and my Delta Force team.”
Mac sounded surprised when she asked, “The one Omar Hadim betrayed?”
Jake nodded. “Yeah. That’s her.”
“Wait,” Mac spoke up. “So, someone’s pissed about what happened to this Lisa chic, and suddenly decides to use Lexi as a pawn for revenge, nine years after the fact? Who would do that?”
Trevor tore his gaze from the picture and looked at Mac. “Someone who blames me for Lisa’s death.”
****
Lexi hurt. She couldbarely see out of her left eye, and every time she tried to move her mouth, the cut in her lip would split back open. Her face was a mixture of fire and throbbing pain, and the worst part was, she still had no idea why this was happening.
The man had continued to hit her until she lost consciousness, and when she woke back up, he used his phone to take her picture, and then he was gone. He hadn’t been back since.
She was going to die. Lexi knew it as surely as she knew her own name. She was going to die, and all she could think of was the fact that she hadn’t told Trevor she loved him.
She’d started to the night before while they were making love, but had stopped herself. Afraid it was too soon, Lexi had chickened out and decided to wait for the perfect moment. Now, that perfect moment would never come.
Hot tears fell from the corners of her eyes, and for the first time since she’d been taken, Lexi gave in to her fears. Sorrow and self-pity overpowered her will to fight. What was the point?
The ropes weren’t budging, no matter how much blood flowed from her torn wrists. She had no idea where she was or who the man was who’d taken her. Worst of all, Trevor had no idea where to even begin to look for her.
A loud sob echoed off the room’s bare walls as she gave up what was left of her resolve and belief that she would somehow get away. This man, whoever he was, wasn’t about to just let her walk away. And no matter how much she wished she could, Lexi simply wasn’t strong enough to get herself loose.
At least she’d get to see her mom again. It was the only silver lining in the dark and deadly cloud that overshadowed her.
Lexi’s heart rate kicked into high gear when the door to the room creaked open, and the man who’d taken her returned once more. He was carrying a white plastic bucket full of water and what looked like a large hand towel.
Was he going to wash her off? Clean up the blood from her wounds? That seemed odd, considering the fact that he was the one who’d spilled it in the first place.
She watched as he sat the bucket on the ground next to her and threw the towel over one of his shoulders for safe keeping. Without saying a word, he turned and walked away.
Okay, so that was weird. Lexi glanced down at the water, her dry mouth begging for a taste. Maybe that was his plan. He had to know she’d be thirsty, so he...what? Torturing her by sitting it next to her, but not allowing her to drink any?
Lexi was still trying to figure out the jerk’s plan when he came back into the room. This time he was using both hands to carry what looked like a homemade, wooden table. He grunted as he sat it down onto the floor.
The table’s legs were grossly uneven, making the top sit at an angle. She almost made a crack about the furniture’s clear lack of craftsmanship when she noticed two leather straps, one attached to each side.
Oh, God.Lexi still had no idea what he had planned for her, but she knew it couldn’t be good. She watched as the man left the room again, this time returning with a tripod in his hands. After setting it up, he pulled out the same phone he’d used to take her picture earlier and positioned it in a custom cradle on the top of the metal stand.
She decided to try talking to him. Stall him for as long as she could.
“If you’re planning to get ransom money for me, you’re out of luck.” Dang, that hurt. Lexi licked the cut on her lip and kept going. “I have no family left, and there’s maybe a few hundred dollars saved in a jar in my closet back home.”
The man turned and looked at her with disgust. “You think this is about money?”
Answering honestly, Lexi said, “I don’t know. I have no idea why you’re doing this.”
Her words seemed to agitate him even more. “I’m doing this because everyone’s forgotten. She died, and everyone just went on with their lives like nothing happened.”
“She? W-who is she?”
Crazed eyes bore into hers. “My fiancée.”
